"an exercise for the reader"... :)

Okay, how about this: calculate some intermediate points, and store them in an x-y array. If a new piece tries to add points that are too close to an old point, it's a collision.

Actually, I like Dr. Mu's concept of transforming successful closed layouts, although I wouldn't necessarily do it as a 'parsing problem' because that gets trickier as pieces become more varied in length, angle and radius. Either the programmer or the program need to figure out what transformations work geometrically, and I'd much rather it be the program. Heesh's right to focus on successful layouts rather than random ones, because that will give you more solutions more quickly. Won't be as entertaining to watch, though! :D

Don Wilde
"There's more than one level to any answer."

In reply to Re^3: Closed geometry: a train track problem by samizdat
in thread Closed geometry: a train track problem by SamCG

Title:
Use:  <p> text here (a paragraph) </p>
and:  <code> code here </code>
to format your post, it's "PerlMonks-approved HTML":


  • Posts are HTML formatted. Put <p> </p> tags around your paragraphs. Put <code> </code> tags around your code and data!
  • Titles consisting of a single word are discouraged, and in most cases are disallowed outright.
  • Read Where should I post X? if you're not absolutely sure you're posting in the right place.
  • Please read these before you post! —
  • Posts may use any of the Perl Monks Approved HTML tags:
    a, abbr, b, big, blockquote, br, caption, center, col, colgroup, dd, del, details, div, dl, dt, em, font, h1, h2, h3, h4, h5, h6, hr, i, ins, li, ol, p, pre, readmore, small, span, spoiler, strike, strong, sub, summary, sup, table, tbody, td, tfoot, th, thead, tr, tt, u, ul, wbr
  • You may need to use entities for some characters, as follows. (Exception: Within code tags, you can put the characters literally.)
            For:     Use:
    & &amp;
    < &lt;
    > &gt;
    [ &#91;
    ] &#93;
  • Link using PerlMonks shortcuts! What shortcuts can I use for linking?
  • See Writeup Formatting Tips and other pages linked from there for more info.