Turing Tumble Community

Hello Turing Tumble Community!

Hello everyone! I wanted to introduce myself. My name is David Shapiro. I am a relatively new employee here at Turing Tumble. My main role is to help design new products and make improvements to Turing Tumble. I will also act as a moderator and admin for the Turing Tumble Community page. Please let me know if you have any questions. I am happy to help!

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Hi David–Thanks for introducing yourself. It would be nice if the pages were more interactive, but I guess that’s something that depends on us.

Hello Dave. Does “new products” include toys and games not based on the TT backboard?

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Hello Bob. Yes we are currently working on a new product that does not use the Turing Tumble system. The new product will teach a different scientific/engineering concept in a similar mechanical/puzzle-solving/story-telling way. Expect to hear more about in the next couple of months!

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yay! so glad this is getting added to.

I just submitted Elementary TT: Use Many Slots in the New Puzzles category. It is a challenge that was inspired by mimihess and eric, both of whom are members of this community. How can I get a message to them? I would like them to try the challenge and then give me some feedback. I don’t see a mechanism by which I can msg an individual, except as a reply. What am I missing?

Hello Dave, I feel like I have reached a limit to the basic idea and possibility of my Turing Tumble. It seems a fundamentally new part could open the door to a whole new range of puzzles and possibilities. Have there been any such new part proposed or developed?

Hi Randy,
If you have any ideas, we would love to hear them!

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A guide to the later puzzles would be very welcome, like the Teacher’s Guide to the first 30 puzzles. I know we’re supposed to learn everything we need from the previous puzzles but I’m honestly stumped by some of the later puzzles. Even when I build the solution as shown, I can see that it works but the theory of how it works and the computing concept being taught are beyond me. I need more explanation.

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Off the top of my head, here are some things I would like to see:

  • Randomizer: a flip gate that redirects the ball randomly
  • Column Collector: a container that collects balls in a vertical stack
  • Release Trigger: a part that can be placed anywhere on the board which triggers the release of another ball.
  • Weight trigger: a collector part that becomes a ramp after a certain number has been collected.
  • Hold and Release: a part pair where one part will hold a ball and then release it when the other part anywhere on the board receives and holds a ball.
  • Lift: a way to automatically return balls to the top of the board.
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In addition to the ones I listed, how about something like an led light or a bell that is triggered when a ball moves past.

Love these ideas! Thank you for sharing.

Hi David. Is it possible to create puzzles on this site? I’m new :sweat_smile:

I have had a few ideas such as a:
Randomized bit.
Elevator back to the top.
Color changer that you load with balls and when a blue comes in a red comes out and Vic’s versa.
A ramp that allows you to move the ball left or right by 2 spaces and only go down 1 space.
Finally a opposite of a crossways that means if the ball goes in the left comes out the left and goes in the right comes out the right.

I understand if you choose not to take these suggestions after all I understand that game development is an art form but I ask you test these both in can they be made and in do they improve the game :slight_smile:

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I have an idea for that but for the elevator it will need a lot of tech

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Hello! Thank you for forming a community. Will there be more graphic novels? My son was asking since he saw “To be continued .”

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@christinemkwan If we do another book, I am hopeful we will be able to include more of the story. At the moment we are working hard on another product that will be launching soon. The new product also has a graphic novel incorporated, but it isn’t about Alia.

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@Turingman Thanks for these suggestions! We actually do have a opposite of crossways that we call a “reflector.” Check out this custom part by @JohnZ: First Custom Part - Reflector

The elevator is something lots of people have asked for. We are finishing up a design for a ball reloader that makes it easier to pick them up at the end and then dump them out on the top. Hopefully that will improve things.

The color changer and randomized bit sound like fun ones!

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hi there. i just joined today and it would be nice if i could get a tutorial from a real person instead of a robot.

@TurningBoy I’d be happy to help! What questions do you have? My name is Alyssa and I’m a real person but can’t always answer every question. :slight_smile: