Holy muck. It's possible to solve the Timesaver with a random setup of 12 cars, in Train Misconductor. The crucial difference between a model railroad Timesaver switching puzzle and the level in our game is that there's much less rolling resistance in our game, so you can prototypically kick and fly-switch cars. It's difficult to pull off in a confined space (intentionally--in early builds it was actually too easy), but it can just barely be done.
(Long post follows the cut)
I forgot to get a photo of the starting conditions. But the spawners are arranged like this:
if that gives you a rough idea. This level uses a random number of cars between 0 and 12. A previous version of this level had a random number between 4 (slightly easier than the default 5) and 7 (the maximum that I've seen referenced as a solution to the model train switching puzzle), but I redesigned the level to request the same type of car for each spot on the sidings (as in the original timesaver, each spot on the sidings corresponds to a specific type of car).
The 0-12 range is subject to change; it's possible I might split it up into difficulty ranges of 4-6, 7-9, and 10-12 at a future date.
The end conditions for this randomized exercise are this:
It was about an hour in that I slowly began to be surer that this would actually be solvable. I didn't know if it would be at first. Spotting the red/yellow/blue boxcar had been a massive ordeal, but it was also the hardest car to spot, and by the time I started to work on the others I got a better feel for how to do switching in this extremely confined environment.
At this point I was getting very close and was even starting to plan fairly far ahead--notice that the steel pipe flatbed and the white refrigerated boxcar are in their final arrangement. For a moment I was worried about how I'd deal with the lesbian pride boxcar, until I realized that for pretty much the first time, the run-around loop was open.
I was worried I might have hit a roadblock (or buffer stop, so to speak) around here, I think because I wasn't sure how to get the sea monster reefer where I wanted it. But I figured it out. (the steel flat and white reefer had to be moved out of the way and there was at that point plenty of room to do so)
By the way, one difference between (at least the two most famous) model railway switching puzzles and Train Misconductor, is that in the original you are generally not allowed to spot cars 'in the foul' of switches. Like, in the inglenook, there's a track that fits 5 cars, and two tracks that fit 3 cars. However, strictly speaking, I can fit four cars on one of the 3-car tracks, it will just end up blocking the other 3-car track. This is still a pretty heavy restriction, but according to the 'rules' you are not allowed to do so. You can only uncouple a car if it's 'in the clear.' For Train Misconductor the only rules are the physical geometry of the level and Newton's @msasterisk's Laws of Motion Locomotion.
The ability to put cars where they're not supposed to go is quite crucial to many of the more complicated levels, and as you can tell I made heavy use of it here.
(also technically on the original Timesaver you're meant to only be able to uncouple at specific spots on the track with uncoupler magnets, rather than reaching in and uncoupling manually. Again, in Train Misconductor this model limitation is removed and coupling can be done anywhere)
At this point I could see the solution, it was just a matter of actually performing the moves.
You may be wondering why I never use the spur up at the top. There's actually no switch there, it's essentially a decorative track. The original physical model Timesaver had a track there and in a two-player game it was used as an interchange for two players to exchange cars, adding a coop component to otherwise a competitive game. In Train Misconductor it's there to imply a connection to the mainline. The level currently has no scenery, but when scenery is added I intend for there to be a chain-link fence and gate to make it clearer to the player that it's not a usable track.
This was a doozy (goozy?) of a level, but finishing it was immensely satisfying in particular because I wasn't sure at first if it was even possible. There were lots of moments where I was real stumped, but there were also still some nice relaxing sections where it was just a matter of doing the right moves. Though there were also many many challenging moves, and the move count is so high because of how many times I had to retry each flying switch to get it right.
Fly-switching is very much an advanced technique (and banned on most railroads these days), so generally levels are not designed to require it.
More about Train Misconductor:
If you're just joining us:
Train Misconductor is a puzzle game under development by myself and MsAsterisk. It's set on a narrow gauge railway on the alien planet Gymnome, and inspired by model railway shunting puzzles. You control an Advanced Steam tank engine, switches, and couplers in order to move cars to their individual spots within a rail yard, each level representing a different railyard layout.
More about the Timesaver:
The Timesaver is a model railway switching puzzle invented and popularized by John Allen in the 1970s, in which five cars must be moved from one siding to another, with specific limitations on the number of cars that can fit in each siding. The goal is to complete the puzzle in the least time (or, in one variant, the fewest moves)
Here is a video of a Timesaver being performed.
