• Soyweiser@awful.systems
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    4
    ·
    2 days ago

    Sorry what is the link between bioware and towers of hanoi? (I do know about the old “one final game before your execution” science fiction story).

    • YourNetworkIsHaunted@awful.systems
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      6
      ·
      2 days ago

      So I don’t know if it’s a strong link, but I definitely learned to solve the Towers when playing through KotOR, then had it come up again in Mass Effect, and Jade Empire, both of which I played at around the same time. From a quick “am I making this up?” search, it’s also used in a raid in SW:TOR, and gets referenced throughout the dragon age and mass effect franchises even if not actually deployed.

      • Soyweiser@awful.systems
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        3
        ·
        edit-2
        2 days ago

        Right, yeah i just recall that for a high enough bit of towers the amount of steps needed to solve it rises quickly. The story, “Now Inhale”, by Eric Frank Russell, uses 64 discs. Fun story.

        Min steps is 2 to the power the number of disks minus 1.

        Programming a system that solves it was a programming excersize for me a long time ago. Those are my stronger memories of it

        • YourNetworkIsHaunted@awful.systems
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          4
          ·
          2 days ago

          It’s a solid intro CS puzzle for teaching recursion. I think the original story they invented to go with it also had 64 disks in a temple in, well, Hanoi. Once the priests finished it the world was supposed to end or something.