4 ms·

Python Maze Generator

68 points by TonyNib 13y ago

magicarp 13y ago
This is super cool, and surprising to see since last week I implemented something similar in ClojureScript. Mazes are awesome. http://jeffcarp.github.io/maze/ http://jeffcarp.github.io/maze/ Code: https://github.com/jeffcarp/maze/blob/gh-pages/maze.cljs https://github.com/jeffcarp/maze/blob/gh-pages/maze.cljs
TonyNib 13y ago
There's probably better ones avaliable now on github, but this one caught my eye. I was wondering, are there any examples of mazes (real or programs) where the structure, rules or walls change based on a certain algorithmic pattern? So that you've not only got to find the right way out, but you must crack the code before a way out is even possible. Kind of like the movie Cube: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0123755/ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0123755/
- mistagiggles 13y ago
  There is a (First person, 3D) game, Antichamber, that has some elements of this. The room/corridor around you can change by looking, such as: Walk up to dead end. Turn around. Corridor is no longer there, a dead end instead. Turn around again. There is now a brand new corridor in fron of you. (These changes never visibly happen, but happen when they are out of view) Another (more maze like) example can be seen here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v4JxhiNz8ec https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v4JxhiNz8ec (first video I found, there a probably better examples)
yalue 13y ago
I was expecting a simple explanation of some maze generation algorithms, but was very pleasantly surprised with the path-length based visualization stuff. What I mean is that there is more to this page than the title suggests!
dudus 13y ago
This one has a nice 3d effect to my eyes, where the dark blue on the left appears to be farther than the rest of the maze. Can someone explain? http://www.janthor.com/maze/rainbowpath.32.32.1128433606.84.png http://www.janthor.com/maze/rainbowpath.32.32.1128433606.84.... Zoom in for a better effect
koblas 13y ago
One of the things that I continue to notice is that in the machine generated mazes there are always lots of dead-end paths off of mainline path. While when a human makes a maze by hand there tends to be fewer quick dead end paths and a branch will usually take you 4+ squares before you realize that it's non-terminal. I would think that either there is an algorithm or metric that would score mazes to make them more "realistic". Any references?
- epidemian 13y ago
  This article has a description and demo of many different maze generation algorithms: http://weblog.jamisbuck.org/2011/2/7/maze-generation-algorithm-recap http://weblog.jamisbuck.org/2011/2/7/maze-generation-algorit... I like the mazes generated by the Hunt-and-Kill and the recursive backtracker algorithms the most. They both generate mazes with long dead-end paths.
acomjean 13y ago
sometimes I think there is a very fine line between math visualizations and art. I keep thinking it would be interesting to take an image (like a face) and let it show through the maze instead of colorizing it.
dec0dedab0de 13y ago
FYI Bluecoat Threatpulse has your site listed as "Adult/Mature Content;Entertainment"
- j2kun 13y ago
  It's probably the adult and mature content elsewhere on his domain.
  - dec0dedab0de 13y ago
    Yeah, that will do it.
- stared 13y ago
  Maybe it is like xkcd footnote: "Warning: this comic occasionally contains strong language (which may be unsuitable for children), unusual humor (which may be unsuitable for adults), and advanced mathematics (which may be unsuitable for liberal-arts majors).". Many crazy things do not work for "normal adults".
keithxm23 13y ago
There should be an epilepsy warning! @_@
jpwright 13y ago
This is awesome, thanks for sharing! The rainbow coloring is an interesting technique for visualizing the structure of mazes. For those interested, I wrote a similar maze generation tool in Python which includes implementations of Kruskal's algorithm, Prim's algorithm, and recursive backtracking, and can output similar images. https://github.com/jpwright/maze.py https://github.com/jpwright/maze.py
stared 13y ago
Such maze patters reassemble Lightenberg figures: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lichtenberg_figure http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lichtenberg_figure They are created by electric discharge going through path of least resistance in insulating materials.
rblatz 13y ago
Well my work has this site blocked and categorized as Adult. Anyone know what may have caused that? This is the first time I've actually ever come across a blocked site at work.
thesquib 13y ago
His site has a whole lot of chastity belt images and drawings- I'd say that's why this site has been marked as adult.

68 points by TonyNib 13y ago

This is super cool, and surprising to see since last week I implemented something similar in ClojureScript. Mazes are awesome. http://jeffcarp.github.io/maze/ http://jeffcarp.github.io/maze/ Code: https://github.com/jeffcarp/maze/blob/gh-pages/maze.cljs https://github.com/jeffcarp/maze/blob/gh-pages/maze.cljs

TonyNib 13y ago

There's probably better ones avaliable now on github, but this one caught my eye. I was wondering, are there any examples of mazes (real or programs) where the structure, rules or walls change based on a certain algorithmic pattern? So that you've not only got to find the right way out, but you must crack the code before a way out is even possible. Kind of like the movie Cube: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0123755/ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0123755/

mistagiggles 13y ago
There is a (First person, 3D) game, Antichamber, that has some elements of this. The room/corridor around you can change by looking, such as: Walk up to dead end. Turn around. Corridor is no longer there, a dead end instead. Turn around again. There is now a brand new corridor in fron of you. (These changes never visibly happen, but happen when they are out of view) Another (more maze like) example can be seen here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v4JxhiNz8ec https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v4JxhiNz8ec (first video I found, there a probably better examples)

yalue 13y ago

I was expecting a simple explanation of some maze generation algorithms, but was very pleasantly surprised with the path-length based visualization stuff. What I mean is that there is more to this page than the title suggests!

dudus 13y ago

This one has a nice 3d effect to my eyes, where the dark blue on the left appears to be farther than the rest of the maze. Can someone explain? http://www.janthor.com/maze/rainbowpath.32.32.1128433606.84.png http://www.janthor.com/maze/rainbowpath.32.32.1128433606.84.... Zoom in for a better effect

koblas 13y ago

One of the things that I continue to notice is that in the machine generated mazes there are always lots of dead-end paths off of mainline path. While when a human makes a maze by hand there tends to be fewer quick dead end paths and a branch will usually take you 4+ squares before you realize that it's non-terminal. I would think that either there is an algorithm or metric that would score mazes to make them more "realistic". Any references?

epidemian 13y ago
This article has a description and demo of many different maze generation algorithms: http://weblog.jamisbuck.org/2011/2/7/maze-generation-algorithm-recap http://weblog.jamisbuck.org/2011/2/7/maze-generation-algorit... I like the mazes generated by the Hunt-and-Kill and the recursive backtracker algorithms the most. They both generate mazes with long dead-end paths.

acomjean 13y ago

sometimes I think there is a very fine line between math visualizations and art. I keep thinking it would be interesting to take an image (like a face) and let it show through the maze instead of colorizing it.

dec0dedab0de 13y ago

FYI Bluecoat Threatpulse has your site listed as "Adult/Mature Content;Entertainment"

j2kun 13y ago
It's probably the adult and mature content elsewhere on his domain.
- dec0dedab0de 13y ago
  Yeah, that will do it.
stared 13y ago
Maybe it is like xkcd footnote: "Warning: this comic occasionally contains strong language (which may be unsuitable for children), unusual humor (which may be unsuitable for adults), and advanced mathematics (which may be unsuitable for liberal-arts majors).". Many crazy things do not work for "normal adults".

keithxm23 13y ago

There should be an epilepsy warning! @_@

jpwright 13y ago

This is awesome, thanks for sharing! The rainbow coloring is an interesting technique for visualizing the structure of mazes. For those interested, I wrote a similar maze generation tool in Python which includes implementations of Kruskal's algorithm, Prim's algorithm, and recursive backtracking, and can output similar images. https://github.com/jpwright/maze.py https://github.com/jpwright/maze.py

stared 13y ago

Such maze patters reassemble Lightenberg figures: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lichtenberg_figure http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lichtenberg_figure They are created by electric discharge going through path of least resistance in insulating materials.

rblatz 13y ago

Well my work has this site blocked and categorized as Adult. Anyone know what may have caused that? This is the first time I've actually ever come across a blocked site at work.

thesquib 13y ago

His site has a whole lot of chastity belt images and drawings- I'd say that's why this site has been marked as adult.