Thomsen Solutions
Personal Projects
These are some personal projects I have been working on.
Hunt the Wumpus
The Wumpus has been attacking your village at night, before escaping back into its cave. You have been chosen to go into its cave to hunt for it. Fortunately, you are not defenseless....
"Hunt the Wumpus" is a puzzle game where you use clues to figure out where the Wumpus is hiding in a randomly generated cave, while avoiding the large bats and slime pits. Guess correctly where the Wumpus is, and you can fire your magic arrow and win the game. Guess incorrectly, and the Wumpus may get you instead!
The game is highly configurable, and each of the billions of possible mazes is guaranteed to be winnable -- though that doesn't mean it will be easy. Games using the default settings typically take 2-4 minutes.
The app is available for Android devices, and can be installed from the Google Play Store.
There is also a web version that should support most web browsers. That version of the game is available at www.thomsensolutions.com/wumpusgame.
Recent Version History:
Version 4.5 - Released June 15, 2024
- Added pinch-to-zoom gesture support.
- Fixed the alignment of tiles for exits with 5 rooms with large zoom levels.
- Increased the range of allowed screen panning.
Version 4.4 - Released May 25, 2024
- Added a new option to use express tunnels only for explored tunnels.
- Express tunnel settings combined into a single slider control.
Version 4.3 - Released December 16, 2023
- Added a Silent Mode option.
- Made the "Reset to Defaults" button text bigger, and added a dialog to confirm resetting the settings.
Version 4.2 - Released August 13, 2023
- Fix for unexpected player movement after starting a new game.
- Wumpus movement countdown doesn't start until after the player's first move.
Version 4.1 - Released July 3, 2023
- Fix for issues reading configuration data files.
- Fix for fast game speed after viewing initial tutorial dialog.
Version 4.0 - Released June 25, 2023
- Added support for Wumpuses moving.
Version 3.0 - Released March 20, 2021
- Added support for rooms with 5 exits.
- Rotate rooms displayed on boards with 4-exit and 6-exit rooms.
- Fixed bat display issues.
Version 2.2 - Released December 29, 2020
- Added a "Show Hints" option.
- Fixed the logic when firing on a bat near a Wumpus.
Shepard Scale
The Shepard Scale is a series of tones that appear to go up indefinitely. It is also sometimes called an "auditory illusion" or a "sonic barber’s pole". This application allows you to play a Shepard Scale so you can experience the effect for yourself.
This effect was first described by Roger Shepard in 1964. Each "tone" in the scale actually spans several octaves, and the ear is fooled because it notices the increasing base frequency, but doesn’t notice that the lower octave harmonics are becoming louder. The same twelve tones are repeated over and over, but each tone sounds higher in context than the previous one did.
I have written an app that demonstrate this effect, and includes options for changing the duration, tone type, and scale direction. The app is available for Android devices, and can be installed from the Google Play Store.
Recent Version History:
Version 3.0 - Released September 7, 2020
- Updates to support newer Android versions
If you have questions, I can be contacted at thomsensolutionsllc@gmail.com.