grimwerk: The puzzle isn't giving me nearly as much trouble as the really, really terrible javascript-based interpreters.
ZFR: For the first one, all the online ones worked for me. For the second code, out of 2 I found one worked and the other didn't (line breaks not done properly and spaces converted to when pasting; though I guess you could just type the code manually).
If anyone is having trouble, I could PM you the interpreters that worked for me (don't want to do it here, since it would give away too much).
That said, you could quickly write your own interpreter ;)
Or for the second code you could do it manually. I told bler NOT to do it for the main code since that's way too complicated, but while the second one is a bit obfuscated too, it doesn't need that much effort.
I'm not saying you
should do it manually, just that it
is an option.
Yes, to be fair to the authors of the first round interpreters, they worked nicely. I was speaking of the second round (and perhaps beyond) but was avoiding specifics. I've messed with three:
One allows you to enter code, but then creates a copy of your code in a layer over the controls. So I can't access the controls to start the interpreter.
The next looks as if effort has gone into the editing interface, but it doesn't feature a cursor. So I can't insert or modify code within the interface (which is ridiculous). I can edit elsewhere, and then cut and paste, but as you mention, all the line breaks disappear. (And they are significant!)
The third worked after a fashion. To get around textarea display issues (like being able to highlight the presently interpreted character) the author allows you to edit code in a standard textarea, but then allows you to create a copy outside the textarea which he can selectively highlight as the interpreter is running. But there are no instructions, so I'm required to guess that this is necessary. Plus, there is no feedback or error messages from the interpreter (unless the code itself generates output) apart from a subtle pink highlight *if* you've figured out the need to duplicate the code. So I messed with this a few times, assuming the code block wasn't valid. (And don't get me started on the author using an "end of program" character as what looks like a prompt.) It wasn't until I read about the language and wandered through the code myself that I decided it was valid, and retried until successful.
Anyway, just to be clear, I'm only bitching about the interpreters. The puzzle itself is good fun.
I am tempted to write my own interpreter. I really like the spatial control flow! It's like playing Spacechem. Or Jahooma's Logic Box.
