V-Twin study

Visualizing the geometry and sound of a Harley-Davidson v-twin engine: p5.js sketch. Run this animated sketch at the slowest speed and observe that the flywheel mass pushes each cylinder through compression, without direct assistance from the power stroke. Also, the longer exhaust period of 405 degrees is produced by the left (rear) cylinder.

Mechanical circuits

spintronics simulator: simulator.spintronics.com?linkID=1564
sim code: github.com/upperstory/spintronics-simulator

Submerged!

Noi viviamo sommersi nel fondo d'un pelago d'aria. -Evangelista Torricelli

Gameforge: War-Game Strategy Guide

The following advice/opinion is primarily for War Game (present level 216), but also applies somewhat to Knight Game.

Reinvest collected hourly payments and objective earnings into income production. Spend attribute points primarily on attack offensive strength and secondarily on oil(fortitude) - this helps perform assignments(quests). An assignment in Fireland requires 95 oil while later, in Hawaii, an alliance size of 973.

Realize that these games are not continuous play...after depleting resources on objectives, attack opponents, build up income production and then set the game aside. Opponents take 8% per successful attack and can be repeated several times until health is below 24.

Sometimes a higher level player attacks unprovoked. If this happens, check to be sure the opponent is not in the alliance(order). Remove the player if they are poaching.

Each player's country flag is displayed. It might be advantageous to attack an opponent during their sleep cycles.

At some levels/ranks and alliance/clan size combinations, some or all opponents may be artificial players with random names. Watch for player profiles where the number of assignments(quests) and battles(duels) won/lost are displayed as a dash (-). Also, there is no comment tab on these players. These opponents are dynamically generated for an even match up and often yield little rewards. They can be useful to bring health down below 24.

One major difference in Knight Game, is the lack of dedicated defense objects. Instead, this function is performed by Vassals, which also produce income. Tip: buy as many Beggars as possible. ALL of them are used in duels.

Additional links:
http://mafiagameapp.blogspot.com
http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/669052-war-game/64582658
http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/669052-war-game/64582709

Referrals

Article on the imminent conversion of games to HTML/canvas (or svg!): jump
Great article on the mathematics of experience points (XP) as a progression mechanism in games: jump
Helpful tool to figure out a formula given a set of numbers (such as XP at each level up): jump
Super impressive chess program in just 1023 bytes!: jump

Clash of Clans Strategy Guide

Below are tips for Clash of Clans, serving as guidance from level 4 onward. First, focus on upgrading resource acquisition and storage. Note that upgrading the gold mine requires elixir while upgrading the elixir collector requires gold. Be aware that operations are halted during upgrade of the mine and collector, thus sometimes it is necessary to simply wait for resources to build up before proceeding.

After upgrading the Town Hall beyond the first level, build additional mines/collectors so only one is down during upgrade. Remove obstacles to find gems. Be careful with some of the interface elements as it is easy to accidentally spend hard-earned gems. Save every gem to eventually afford a third builder hut for 500 gems.

The first 19 levels is mostly about building a solid home-base with good resource collectors, seeking opponents with weak defenses, and collecting trophies. Difficulty might be found in the single-player "Fool's Gold" and "Immovable Object" challenges...these levels require some ingenuity or additional research at the laboratory.

Build a strong defense by creating a double-wall around cannons, archer towers, and resource storage. Mines can benefit from defense protection when placed just outside the wall within range of defense units. Check that opponents cannot deploy forces within the wall...when moving an object, watch for the highlighted areas on the ground to be certain there are no holes. Lay traps and bombs on the interior and reinforce the inner wall around the secure area. (see diagram above) The interior can serve for resource storage or for housing the town hall and eventually additional defenses like the wizard tower.

When attacking an opponent, if there are undefended buildings in the corner areas, deploy a troop to each building at the start of the battle rather than waiting for the collective to spend valuable time running to every corner near the end.

The gem box yields 25 gems and recurs every 8 days (on average).

Additional strategy...
General: jump
Attack: jump
Layouts: jump
Top 6: jump

Further reading:
http://clashofclans.wikia.com/
http://toucharcade.com/2013/09/30/clash-of-clans-guide-how-to-win-without-spending-real-money/

CoC shares mechanisms found in other games: building construction (like OGame), resource collection and management (like Edgeworld), multi-player combat (like Edgeworld), clearing obstacles (like DragonVale), re-arming defenses after use (like Edgeworld), and freemium play (like Dark District).

http://virtualeconomists.com/blogs/news/10823889-6-free-to-play-design-lessons-from-clash-of-clans-to-engage-players-and-increase-profits
http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/185406/Clash_of_Clans_5_keys_to_success.php
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strategy_video_game

Also interesting are the copies of Clash of Clans: jump

Star Wars: Tiny Death Star Strategy Guide

Inheriting its game mechanics from Tiny Tower, sales can be maximized in the same way within a Tiny Death Star: After building 20 or so levels, focus on re-stocking only 3-coin inventory. See the prior article for a bit more on this. Work toward evicting any Bitizen not in their dream job. On each apartment floor, try to keep one slot open for a new move-in. (Evict any new tenant if no dream-job is available.) Save Imperial Bux to upgrade the elevator.