5 ms·

Show HN: A simple image puzzle generator

56 points by lnenad 2y ago

Hey HN, I built this simple puzzle generator to play around with wasm a bit. It's open source if anyone wants to play around with the code https://github.com/lnenad/puzzlip https://github.com/lnenad/puzzlip

throwaway313374 2y ago
[dead]
horsellama 2y ago
nice app it could be fun to also animate the puzzle solution
- lnenad 2y ago
  Thanks for the suggestion :)
clutch89 2y ago
It's interesting that the pieces don't get moved, only rotated.
manucardoen 2y ago
really nice. Unfortunately once I spotted the score tells you you've hit the correct rotation, I just looped over all the squares clicking each one until my points went up.
- lnenad 2y ago
  Ah, that is why I have added the number of moves and the ideal number of moves :)
tobr 2y ago
This could be a nice distraction, but unfortunately the interaction latency makes it feel so sluggish I can’t get into flow.
- tartoran 2y ago
  I get no interaction latency, perhaps because I made the tile size a little larger and there are fewer tiles. Give it a try. As someone suggested, the pieces only rotate which make it easier for finishing the puzzle.
- paulirish 2y ago
  Yeah I get 100-250ms of latency between input and presentation. https://trace.cafe/t/UFXm7ASLQg https://trace.cafe/t/UFXm7ASLQg
- arcastroe 2y ago
  I wouldn't call it sluggish. It's just that the tiles only update on mouseup events, rather than on mousedown events. Your own finger's turtle speed is the only source of latency ;) But I agree that applying different styling to tiles on both hover events and mousedown events would make it feel snappier. (I've only tried this on desktop. Haven't tried it on mobile)
  - tobr 2y ago
    That’s not the problem, although it doesn’t make it better.
- lnenad 2y ago
  What browser, OS? On windows both Firefox and Chrome have no discernible latency for me at least.
  - tobr 2y ago
    Safari iOS.
b450 2y ago
Seeing the image come into focus is pretty satisfying, and the half-solved puzzle looks pretty cool. Nice job
- lnenad 2y ago
  Thank you :)
thomastjeffery 2y ago
Would be even more satisfying if 180 degree turns were less common. I also wonder how hard it would be to tile with different shapes. Hexagons or squares and octagons could be really neat.
- lnenad 2y ago
  That is my plan, to do a honeycomb structure. :)
causeisunknown 2y ago
The easiest option is still too hard for my son.
- dankwizard 2y ago
  I've got some bad news for you...
doodpants 2y ago
Neat, but the "Diffictulty" slider is a bit of a misnomer, IMHO. Puzzles with more pieces just take longer. I'm not sure what would be a better label, though. (If I were feeling uncharitable, I would propose "Tedium", or perhaps "Carpal Tunnel Risk" :-) I wonder if there might be a way of changing the difficulty without changing the number of pieces? Like maybe putting gridlines between the pieces, so that you can't actually see the seamless connection between two correctly-oriented pieces?
- lnenad 2y ago
  Hmm, I don't know to be honest, usually difficulty translates to spending more time and the pieces being smaller does it make it visually harder to discern right?
  - carltg_ 2y ago
    Not really, time doesn't make something difficult, just tedious. For the cat puzzle, smaller pieces doesn't really make a difference. Once you get a corner it is easy to line up and knock them down. So, just tedious
Jeremy1026 2y ago
I'd love to see a button added to show what pieces are wrong. There are a couple of images with heavy vignette so the edges are pretty indistinguishable. It'd be cool if I could get the incorrect pieces bordered or similar.
- lnenad 2y ago
  Good idea, thank you!
knowitnone 2y ago
this is nice. would also be fun to solve it with computer vision
yungtriggz 2y ago
Wild that you've posted this once a year for the last 3 years. Love it
- lnenad 2y ago
  Haha, I didn't get any response previously and will be getting laid off soon so extra free time...
  - yungtriggz 2y ago
    godspeed
dankwizard 2y ago
Have had this bookmarked for a very long time and go back to it semi regularly. Any chance you can load a bunch of stock photos into the various categories? I think there's only ~8 or so in each.
- lnenad 2y ago
  Wait really?? Wow, that's awesome to hear. I'll increase the count.
  - dankwizard 2y ago
    Best news I've heard all day!

56 points by lnenad 2y ago

throwaway313374 2y ago

[dead]

horsellama 2y ago

nice app it could be fun to also animate the puzzle solution

lnenad 2y ago
Thanks for the suggestion :)

clutch89 2y ago

It's interesting that the pieces don't get moved, only rotated.

manucardoen 2y ago

really nice. Unfortunately once I spotted the score tells you you've hit the correct rotation, I just looped over all the squares clicking each one until my points went up.

lnenad 2y ago
Ah, that is why I have added the number of moves and the ideal number of moves :)

tobr 2y ago

This could be a nice distraction, but unfortunately the interaction latency makes it feel so sluggish I can’t get into flow.

tartoran 2y ago
I get no interaction latency, perhaps because I made the tile size a little larger and there are fewer tiles. Give it a try. As someone suggested, the pieces only rotate which make it easier for finishing the puzzle.
paulirish 2y ago
Yeah I get 100-250ms of latency between input and presentation. https://trace.cafe/t/UFXm7ASLQg https://trace.cafe/t/UFXm7ASLQg
arcastroe 2y ago
I wouldn't call it sluggish. It's just that the tiles only update on mouseup events, rather than on mousedown events. Your own finger's turtle speed is the only source of latency ;) But I agree that applying different styling to tiles on both hover events and mousedown events would make it feel snappier. (I've only tried this on desktop. Haven't tried it on mobile)
- tobr 2y ago
  That’s not the problem, although it doesn’t make it better.
lnenad 2y ago
What browser, OS? On windows both Firefox and Chrome have no discernible latency for me at least.
- tobr 2y ago
  Safari iOS.

b450 2y ago

Seeing the image come into focus is pretty satisfying, and the half-solved puzzle looks pretty cool. Nice job

lnenad 2y ago
Thank you :)

thomastjeffery 2y ago

Would be even more satisfying if 180 degree turns were less common. I also wonder how hard it would be to tile with different shapes. Hexagons or squares and octagons could be really neat.

lnenad 2y ago
That is my plan, to do a honeycomb structure. :)

causeisunknown 2y ago

The easiest option is still too hard for my son.

dankwizard 2y ago
I've got some bad news for you...

doodpants 2y ago

Neat, but the "Diffictulty" slider is a bit of a misnomer, IMHO. Puzzles with more pieces just take longer. I'm not sure what would be a better label, though. (If I were feeling uncharitable, I would propose "Tedium", or perhaps "Carpal Tunnel Risk" :-) I wonder if there might be a way of changing the difficulty without changing the number of pieces? Like maybe putting gridlines between the pieces, so that you can't actually see the seamless connection between two correctly-oriented pieces?

lnenad 2y ago
Hmm, I don't know to be honest, usually difficulty translates to spending more time and the pieces being smaller does it make it visually harder to discern right?
- carltg_ 2y ago
  Not really, time doesn't make something difficult, just tedious. For the cat puzzle, smaller pieces doesn't really make a difference. Once you get a corner it is easy to line up and knock them down. So, just tedious

Jeremy1026 2y ago

I'd love to see a button added to show what pieces are wrong. There are a couple of images with heavy vignette so the edges are pretty indistinguishable. It'd be cool if I could get the incorrect pieces bordered or similar.

lnenad 2y ago
Good idea, thank you!

knowitnone 2y ago

this is nice. would also be fun to solve it with computer vision

yungtriggz 2y ago

Wild that you've posted this once a year for the last 3 years. Love it

lnenad 2y ago
Haha, I didn't get any response previously and will be getting laid off soon so extra free time...
- yungtriggz 2y ago
  godspeed

dankwizard 2y ago

Have had this bookmarked for a very long time and go back to it semi regularly. Any chance you can load a bunch of stock photos into the various categories? I think there's only ~8 or so in each.

lnenad 2y ago
Wait really?? Wow, that's awesome to hear. I'll increase the count.
- dankwizard 2y ago
  Best news I've heard all day!