So after reading "Getting the World Record" I was brimming with ideas on how one could improve upon their work, only to be squashed upon reading "Losing the World Record." All parties involved has done an excellent job breaking the game, and aside from the (really) hard questions of understanding game, there's not much left except further exploring the parameter space.
I simmered on the latter overnight, and a few thoughts occurred to me:
- a parameter for fullness (holes + filled blocks that are below the "surface"). It might be its own parameter, or used to augment other parameters to discourage behavior that might lead to a the end game.
- reachable surface height: rather than taking the lowest height of the surface, compute the reachable height of the following piece
- an alternate definition of reachable surface height: the lowest point any of the seven pieces can reach (perhaps augmented by the number of pieces that can reach it)
I simmered on the latter overnight, and a few thoughts occurred to me:
- a parameter for fullness (holes + filled blocks that are below the "surface"). It might be its own parameter, or used to augment other parameters to discourage behavior that might lead to a the end game.
- reachable surface height: rather than taking the lowest height of the surface, compute the reachable height of the following piece
- an alternate definition of reachable surface height: the lowest point any of the seven pieces can reach (perhaps augmented by the number of pieces that can reach it)