Skip to main content

Kingdom of Loathing, iWork Edition

Today's post comes live from my Control4 training course, via my MacBook Pro.  Obvs, this' a MSExcel blog, but today i'm using Apple's Numbers.  We'll see how it turns out, as i have little to no faith in Mac's approximation of MSOffice.  All the nerdery of being surrounded by fellow home-automators has got me playing my favorite browser-based, multiplayer RPG, KoL.

Me!

While completing the Me and My Nemesis quest in The Secret Tropical Island Volcano Lair, it became necessary for me to decode the Rave Disco Combos in order to make the ravers drop equipment (rave visors, baggy rave pants, pacifier necklaces, etc.) which would increase my Raveosity.

The Secret Island Volcano Lair

These combos consist of three discrete steps (Break it on Down, Pop and Lock It, and Run Like the Wind), and are randomized per player per ascension.  Since there're three steps, and each combo consists of each of the three, the total number of potential combinations is a permutation problem, 3! = 6 combinations.

Rave Combos

The preceding table is where i created the six combos (via a base 3 counting system), tested each on a raver, and eventually discovered Rave Steal, which enabled me to steal the Raveosity-raising equipment i craved!  Huzzah!

Pop-and-Lock Raver
 
[Side Note:  Apparently, Numbers doesn't have the ability to save spreadsheets as pictures (if anyone knows otherwise, please comment).  I also have OpenOffice running Calc in Windows Vista in Parallels, but unfortunately, that doesn't appear to give me the ability to save as a picture either.  So i exported the file from Numbers as a PDF, opened it in Adobe (Vista-side), took a screenshot, opened that in Apple Preview, selected, cropped, and uploaded.  Ta da!]

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Zombie Cafe Optimization

In this game, one has a stupid zombie staff that one gets to serve disgusting meals to idiotic customers.  Naturally, it was my favorite. Once a zombie chef finishes preparing a meal, they place the serving dish on a counter.  From there, zombie waiters can obtain one serving of a meal to deliver to a seated customer.  Since the amount of time it takes for a single customer to be served has a trickle down effect on the entire restaurant (quickly serving customers yields higher tips, rapid turnover increases profit and prevents customers from leaving angrily due to inadequate seating, extended service times increase the overall number of waiters needed to serve a steady flow of customers, etc.), obviously it is crucial to optimize this factor of game play. One element of the serving process that greatly affects service time is the location of the serving dish, since this modulates the amount of time for a stupid zombie waiter to obtain a disgusting dish, bring it t...

Grocery Store Sale Comparisons

I'm collecting more data and refining these graphs!  Featured above are the items generally priced above one dollar per unit. This graph showcases those items which typically cost less than one dollar per unit. Above and below are data tables, featuring item descriptions and sale expiration dates. The above tables streamline the data for the graphs.  The databases below are used in formulas within the cells of the above tables to reference the appropriate values from the more detailed tables farther above and populate the appropriate cells.

Walk It Out

You know how every electronic these days is constantly telling you to walk? Well, I'm not the type to ignore a robot, so I literally get to steppin'.  But how much to step?  How many steps?  How often?  The fitbit app demands 5 days of exercise per week. It doesn't start tracking "exercise" until you've been "exercising" for 15 minutes.  So that's our daily lower limit.  The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services 2008 Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans recommends adults perform moderate-intensity aerobic exercise such as a brisk walk a minimum of 30 minutes, five days per week (or a total of 2 hours, 30 minutes) to reduce the risk of disease later in life.  So that gives us a goal of 150 minutes per week.  I also feel it's important to take into account how lazy I've been of late. I walked a mere 51 of 150 minutes last week.  Ouch.  OK, so my goal is 150 minutes a week, but let's throw in a...