4D Minesweeper

4D Minesweeper

25 ratings
The Mine Equation
By Still Dreaming of the Stars
So, I kinda became obsessed with figuring this out, , I think Ive figured something out. This is an equation meant to make determining how many mines to put in easier.
   
Award
Favorite
Favorited
Unfavorite
Context
Warning, this is just me having figured out a good standard equation that can make figuring out how many mines to add into your games easier, you do NOT have to do it like this.
So, I became obsessed with this game recently, and then wanted to figure out what the perfect amount of mines would need to be put into each game when making a custom settings game, to have both difficulty, and a good percentage certainty of being able to figure out where mines are without just guess work. After a day or 2 of brain storming, I THINK I've figured out an equation for making it work, with tweaked numbers for harder difficulties if more of a challenge is needed which I'll explain how I got AFTER I say it. but for now, keep this image in mind. (couldn't draw the one for X, so I had to edit in paint.)
The Mine Equation
The Basics of The Mine Equation
So, there are 4 numbers that need to be found (A, B, C, and X(this is depending from person to person, X is determined, pretty much by YOU)), before getting the answer (D(Rounded up)), why its rounded up WILL be explained, so just, hold off on questioning it JUST yet.
  • (x₁/2) + (y₁/2) = A
    (1st set of numbers, being of (x₁,y₁), which are determining how many squares are in each board, across and down,)

  • ((x₂/2) + (y₂/2) = B
    (2nd set of numbers being of (x₂,y₂), which are determining how many boards are on the game grid, also across and down.)

  • 0.5X = C
    (Difficulty level, where X is the difficulty you want it at, ultimately deciding what number is multiplied. a quick list of what exactly details difficulty, Easy is around 1, so if you want easy, it can turn into 0.5*1, which equals 0.5. Which, in turn, means medium is 2, hard is 3, so on and so forth, whatever X is, is up to you and how hard you feel you want to make it.)
  • (C(A) + C)B = D(rounded up)
    (Number of mines to be put in.)
Example of The Mine Equations Usage
To put this fully into perspective of usage, lets use an example of this. Say, I choose these exact settings before punching in the mines count:


So, the first set of numbers, are 4 and 5, making (x₁,y₁)=(4,5). The second set of numbers, are 7 and 4, making (x₂,y₂)=(7,4). With the difficulty level, being a more easier difficulty, so lets say, somewhat easy, aka 1, making X = 1
  1. So, first, A, the first set.
    (4/2) + (5/2) = 2 + 2.5 = 4.5
    A = 4.5
  2. Then, B, the second set.
    (7/2) + (4/2) = 3.5 + 2 = 5.5
    B = 5.5
  3. Then, C, the difficulty value.
    0.5*1 = 0.5
    C = 0.5
  4. Finally, D, the mine count.
    (0.5(4.5) + 0.5)5.5 = (2.25 + 0.5)5.5 = 2.75*5.5 = 15.125(rounded up) = 15
    D = 15
So, the "perfect" amount of mines, for the mismatched input of 4, 5, 7, and 4, at easy difficulty, without recursive grid, the best mine count for it, is 15. Why anyone would ever use those settings? IDK, it was just an example.(After testing the example, it actually works out pretty well, huh).

Finally, as to why you should round up D?
Say you input 4, 4, 5, 5, what D turns into at easy, is it being equal 12.5, so to keep some difficulty, and because you cant input decimals into the mine section, rounding D up to 13 is honestly the best way to go in that usage case in my opinion.
Thats it, for now.
So, thats all, this was my first ever guide, and it was made after not having slept an entire night figuring this out, 8:31 A.M. EST as of writing this exact sentence. If ya have any questions, feel free to ask, I'll probs answer them here, im reserving some sections for if further are needed as well as if ya have any further ideas, please feel free to give some input on it.
4 Comments
Izuru 9 May, 2024 @ 5:04am 
using this formula, 6**4 grid (all values are 6) with 235 min, I got C equal to 5.6, X equal to 2.8. Out of 10 games with such settings, I managed to launch 6 (0 were found), then most likely (in my experience) none of the launched games is passable, there you can quickly reach the “end”, where you do not have all the information to do what 100% withdrawal. using this formula for a configuration where everywhere in the grid values there is 4, and min 55, we get C equal to 2.75, X equal to 1.375, although it is very difficult to pass such a configuration, there is almost always either no 0 found, or there is not enough information
prolvlwhaleswipez 6 Jan, 2024 @ 2:53am 
Looks good, will use this in my future games! Thanks.
Still Dreaming of the Stars  [author] 28 Dec, 2023 @ 3:37am 
Another addendum to update it, gotta change the original screenshot due to the added difficulty modifier
Still Dreaming of the Stars  [author] 10 Nov, 2023 @ 11:19pm 
Addendum: after some more testing, it seems to be that it DOES work with smaller boards, so that has been updated appropriately.