Atomix (video game)

Infobox VG
title = Atomix


developer = Softtouch
publisher = Thalion Software
distributor =
designer =
engine =
version =
released = 1990
genre = Tile-based transport puzzle
modes = Single player, 2 player
ratings =
platforms = MS-DOS, Amiga, Commodore 64, Atari ST
media = Floppy disk (1)
requirements =
input = Keyboard
preceded by =
followed by =

Atomix is a 1990 2D transport puzzle video game created by Softtouch (Guenter Kraemer) and published by Thalion Software.

The object of the game is to assemble molecules from compound atoms by sliding the atoms around. This has to be done in a set time limit for each level. There screen contains a small preview window showing what each molecule should look like. The tile-based playing field contains a number of atom blocks, as well as walls. The player can move an atom around by selecting it, and moving it up, down, left, or right. The catch is that, when moving, an atom block will not stop moving until it hits a wall or another atom block. Even if it is the last atom to complete the molecule, it will keep moving past the almost complete molecule. Since it is not possible to stop anything in mid-movement, it requires careful planning to align all blocks properly. Of course, each level has a strict time limit.

Levels

The first level is water (H₂O) with three atoms in a horizontal layout. The second is methane (CH₄) in a cross-shape. Further levels use increasingly large and complex molecules, many with diagonal links which are harder to make. If the player runs out of time (except on a bonus level), the game ends, unless the player buys an extra credit from his score (which is rather expensive). The game has 30 levels, the first nine of which are listed below.

* 1 - Water
* 2 - Methane
* 3 - Methanol
* 4 - Ethene
* 5 - Propene
* 6 - Bonus Stage 1
* 7 - Ethanol
* 8 - Propanol
* 9 - Ethanal

About every five levels there is a bonus level, which is filled of Erlenmeyer flasks rather than atoms. The flasks are filled with different amounts of liquid, and have to be put in a set pattern. The gameplay is basically identical to regular levels.

Computational complexity

When generalized to puzzles of arbitrary sizes, the problem of determining whether an Atomix puzzle has a solution is PSPACE-complete. [citation
author = Markus Holzer and Stefan Schwoon
title = Assembling molecules in ATOMIX is hard
journal = Theoretical Computer Science
volume = 313
issue = 3
month = February
year = 2004
pages = 447-462
url = http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.tcs.2002.11.002] Some heuristic approaches have been considered. [cite book | author = Falk Hüffner, Stefan Edelkamp, Henning Fernau, and Rolf Niedermeier | chapter = Finding Optimal Solutions to Atomix | series = Lecture Notes in Computer Science 2174/2001 | publisher = Springer | id = ISSN 03029743 | title = KI 2001: Advances in Artificial Intelligence : Joint German/Austrian Conference on AI, Vienna, Austria, September 19–21, 2001 | pages = 229 | year = 2001]

References

* [http://thalion.atari.org/games/atomix/atomix.html Atomix] at Thalion Webshrine
* [http://www.rottentomatoes.com/g/pc_games/atomix/ Game overview] in Rotten Tomatoes.
* [http://watomic.sourceforge.net/ wAtomix] , an open-source clone for Windows.
* [http://www.linuxsoft.cz/en/sw_detail.php?id_item=162 KAtomic] , an open-source clone for KDE.
* [http://jens.triq.net/atomix.php Atomix] , an open-source clone for GNOME Desktop Environment.
* [http://atomix-ds.over-blog.com/ Atomix DS] , a homebrew version for the Nintendo DS.
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