Most programming games are only indirectly related to real computer programming, but this game is just straight up assembly programming. Definitely one of the more intimidating programming games I've tried.
I really liked this game when I played it a few years ago. I never finished it, but I got to like 90%. The last few levels were too hard for me, but I really enjoyed getting as far as I got! One thing I really like about this game is how the kind of code it has you write is actually strikingly similar to how low-level assembly code for real computers works!
By the time I finally completed the final level, I realised I had basically just implemented a sorting algorithm in assembly code, under the guise of a cute game!
9:54 Currently doing a lot of ARM assembly coding and yeah, I can confirm that branching over a bunch of lines at the start of the loop and only branching back when you need to is a bit counterintuitive but definitely more efficient. Also use conditional jumps as the looping jumps where you can, it means that the loop automatically exits whenever a condition isn't satisfied, which will save you a jump statement.
This is true. But in the game it seems the main reason to do it is because there are no complementary conditions (only branch on zero, no branch on nonzero) which is interesting. I'm not sure if there is real hardware out there like that. It saves very slightly on hardware and reduces instruction set size, but necessitates use of one extra instruction in some cases.
This is an ingenious way to teach people how assembly language works - every command so far has an equivalent in ASM. Honestly, I would love to see this little game used as an introduction to programming in elementary schools.
I agree, especially after studying assembly code all last semester, and seeing all these commands that actually mirror assembly coding really well with all the conditional jumps and whatnot
I saw how the "floor" space is used and thought "wait isn't that just assembly?" Glad I'm not the only one! Now if only Tyler would get his hands on TIS-100...
I'm taking an Assembly class and we just went over looping and decision-making 28 hours ago... The logic you have to use here is nearly identical to assembly! (Although you don't need 30 lines to do "Hello World" in this game)
Fun fact: The jump is essentially just a goto statement, a simpler yet less sophisticated way to loop your program. Also, the way the floor has tiles that are indexed perfectly mimicks an array.
On the topic of "putting code in the beginning and then jumping over it." Jumps in general are bad practice in high level languages due to dramatic loss of readability. Instead we just use loops, as you may know loops are jumps but with the inability to jump to different locations over and over. It either jumps "in" on a true condition or jumps out on false. Your code is essentially: while(notDone) { If(!firstTime) { //"skipped code" } //"not skipped code" } This pattern really doesn't need to look this way. The 2nd block of code always runs first and the first block of code always runs second, this reduces readability. It should reverse the order and run the 2nd block first: While(notDone) { //"not skipped code" //"skipped code" } If you want to make sure "skipped" code doesn't get run an additional time on the last iteration, you can check if last and break. This may cause a couple more lines of code to be run (checking conditions) but it improves readability by making the order the code will execute clear. Of course... this game is mimicking low level assembly code with the jump and branching commands. The lower the language the more efficient you want the code to be readability is prioritized AFTER speed and memory usage. tl;dr: those skipping the beginning code loops are fine in the type of language this game emulates, but not in higher level languages.
9:55 putting code in the beginning and jumping over it is how a lot of low level languages work, most famously C. They just hide the initial jump by declaring a "main" function that the compiler uses as the destination for the entry jump. Given that this game is basically Assembly it makes sense you'd do the same here.
This is a great game to watch. One of my first I watched in it’s entirety. The story is not bad so it’s a shame your missing it And yes it gets harder and more interesting while introducing more mechanics of a similar quality
Comp sci student here, good game. Reminds me of the jankiness of assembly. The player is a register, the floor is a memory address, input output is io.
This game is pretty much assembly programming. If I remember correctly, the sequel, 7 Billion Humans is about parallelised (aka. multi-threaded) programming.
Hey Tyler, the Steam community for this game are doing a hive mind thing where they're looking for the MOST efficient ways to run the level. Some of the later ones can go FAR below the requirements.
After you finish this game, there a sequel called “7 Billion Humans” which is a similar game but your code gets executed by multiple humans simultaneously instead of just the one. Basically just multithreaded code.
More top notch content from Tyler’s editors. That joke about being locked in the basement was hilarious. Also, on a completely unrelated note, the blue hair is a good look for Tyler. Very cool.
You should play a game called "Pawnbarian". Its like chess, mixed with a rougelike, mixed with a card game. Pretty fun too. I think you would enjoy it.
Ah I have fond memories of playing this game years ago. I remember that I kept getting stuck, and after caving once and looking it up I kept doing it. I remember the last one I actually did was the Fibonacci one and I felt so extremely proud of my self
Omg aliensrock I THANK YOU SO HARD "World of goo" was my childhood game on my tablet After my tablet broke, I didn't remember the game's name and it was lost for me I searched 1 MONTH and I couldn't find it BUT YOU, YOU SHOWED ME THE NAME NOW I CAN PLAY IT :) You deserve my repsect Aliensrock (And also your videos are cool)
Programmer here! In general, we don't work in a linear system like this game, instead (in an actual coding language) I'd create a function before starting any hard coding that could do whatever is being "skipped over" in game and call back to that function when needed. Hopefully that makes sense. If not... I'll try to simplify it, haha
@@ak72915 But those levels have two jump statements at the end already, serving that purpose. So the jump at the start could in fact be saved by putting the code after it in between those two jump statements, I think. And IMO, doing it that way makes the code clearer as well, since then the instructions are in order of execution of the loop iteration. Since Tyler/the editor asked whether it's "good practice" to put the code at the start and jump over it, I would say no, it's better practice to put it at the end :)
This is intended as a critique of the game, not of Tyler. Just finished watching the Busy Mail Room level, and as a programmer, I feel obligated to say that while some actual programming languages have the equivalent of the jump command, it is horrible practice to use it at all. Using it the way it is used in this level would also create a program that never terminates or more likely would generate an error and crash once the in-box was empty. A while loop that runs "while the in-box is not empty" would actually achieve the desired result, and it wouldn't offend any actual programmers. Seriously, jumps are one of the easiest ways to accidentally create a program that never terminates which is bad. EDIT: Just finished the whole video, and oh boy. I was hoping that something resembling proper loops would be introduced, but no, just more jumps. As a puzzle game, this is fascinating. As a programmer, this is upsetting. Unless it's supposed to be assembly code or something. I'm familiar with high level programming like Java and C++, not assembly code so maybe it makes sense in that context.
One game I'd like to see Tyler play after this is Little Inferno, mostly just because of the story, the gameplay gets a bit boring with the wait timers, and the puzzles aren't the hardest, but it's still a pretty and enjoyable game ^.^
I'd love to see you play this game further. Last time I played, I wasn't nearly good enough at programming to complete it, and I'm not sure I would be now.
I personally loved Human Resource Machine, but it gets very difficult near the end, especially the optional levels. I had to look up a walkthrough for at least 5 levels.
9:55 - "good practice" This is done by professional that doesn't know how to code, don't try at home as there is a high risk you will be judged for hell
Given that it looks like your only method of doing loops is a simple goto (essentially), it's surprising that there is not an incredible amount of spaghetti code going on. The thing is, most developers/coders are going to be used to more verbose languages, whereas what this game presents is a dialect of stripped-down assembly. Most best-practices kind of fall apart when you get that low-level, and need a set of best practices that a lot of devs are not aware of (myself included. Well-written assembly is black magic as far as I'm concerned).
Being a programmer and watching this is infuriating, gotta remember Tyler isn't a programmer and is doing brilliantly given that. Just the little inefficiencies or things which are more complex than necessary... Probably doesn't help that I'm watching this right after finishing up working on a hobby project (web dev, for anyone curious)
![HIWWHEE | OHM [Official MV]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/OJJLtTLqLag/mqdefault.jpg)
Yes! I really hope this becomes a series along with the sequel, 7 Billion Humans
Oh man I was so confused, I thought this WAS 7 billion humans, but was extremely confused bc I recognized none of the levels. XD
@@TriCutNinja lmao.
I fully agree. I voted for 7 Billion Humans in the patreon poll bc I love the game so much. Hoping for more of both of these games in the future
Tyler's hair looked really good in blue. The editor did a fantastic job.
Indeed, blue hair looks good on Tyler.
No it doesn’t at all it looks disgusting
😈
Tyler's hair looks good as blue. Indeed it is.
Indeed 'sips tea aggressively'
Props to the editor for drawing out your plan so cleanly
The editing is so good, it's very funny and extremely helpful, bc I suck at coding logic puzzles. lol
Especially the banging his wife part.
Bro he's got the best editor I've seen
How can a single TH-camr do such a variety of games and keep me engaged it's mystical
He is definitely single ;)
@@gregoryzelevinsky9837 lol
He's above average size AND speed
And on top of that, his hair looks pretty good in blue! It’s incredible!
The question answers itself: Variety.
Most programming games are only indirectly related to real computer programming, but this game is just straight up assembly programming. Definitely one of the more intimidating programming games I've tried.
cries in bitburner
When I first saw the jump I was like "this sounds like asm" and as it went on it became "oh this IS asm"
Tyler-these puzzles get *mega tricky* later on and more complex objectives are introduced. I'm super excited to see you play more of this game!
Oh no not TIS-100 again now I’m getting flashbacks
TIS is so cool
@@pikminman13 I loved that game, it's one of my favorite games.
Probably because I'm a developer, but still.
Is it just me or did Tyler’s hair look really good when it was blue?
Is that good? Are you free now?
It totally looked good in blue.
It definitely looked great!
Oh yeah he do look good
It looked amazing
As a developer this is actually super relaxing watching someone else do it rather than me. Keep going Tyler! I really love your content.
I really liked this game when I played it a few years ago. I never finished it, but I got to like 90%. The last few levels were too hard for me, but I really enjoyed getting as far as I got! One thing I really like about this game is how the kind of code it has you write is actually strikingly similar to how low-level assembly code for real computers works!
By the time I finally completed the final level, I realised I had basically just implemented a sorting algorithm in assembly code, under the guise of a cute game!
If TIS-100 is the Communist Manifesto, this game is Imagine by John Lennon.
@@giorgitsiklauri1283 that's a remarkably good analogy lol.
Oh, i remember this game.. Was it.. 7 years ago?.. Classic
Damn, and here I felt it was released just a couple months ago.
TH-cam says it came out in 2015, so that would be eight years ago
@@DiamondRoller37 ha, nice try. 2015 was just a few years ago…. right?
9:54 Currently doing a lot of ARM assembly coding and yeah, I can confirm that branching over a bunch of lines at the start of the loop and only branching back when you need to is a bit counterintuitive but definitely more efficient. Also use conditional jumps as the looping jumps where you can, it means that the loop automatically exits whenever a condition isn't satisfied, which will save you a jump statement.
This is true. But in the game it seems the main reason to do it is because there are no complementary conditions (only branch on zero, no branch on nonzero) which is interesting. I'm not sure if there is real hardware out there like that. It saves very slightly on hardware and reduces instruction set size, but necessitates use of one extra instruction in some cases.
Yea, even division isn't exist on several ARM processors, wonder if this game has that kind of problem solving
This is an ingenious way to teach people how assembly language works - every command so far has an equivalent in ASM. Honestly, I would love to see this little game used as an introduction to programming in elementary schools.
It’s so weird actually knowing how to code watching one of these videos
I agree, especially after studying assembly code all last semester, and seeing all these commands that actually mirror assembly coding really well with all the conditional jumps and whatnot
@@weakspirit_ I saw the conditional branches and immediately started nerding out, it makes me way more excited than I should be for this game
I saw how the "floor" space is used and thought "wait isn't that just assembly?" Glad I'm not the only one! Now if only Tyler would get his hands on TIS-100...
it's like BASIC
no functions, only goto :/
I'm currently studying assembly and I had the exact thought lol
I think hair dye is the next steam purchase for Tyler considering how good the hair looked in blue.
I'm taking an Assembly class and we just went over looping and decision-making 28 hours ago... The logic you have to use here is nearly identical to assembly!
(Although you don't need 30 lines to do "Hello World" in this game)
Fun fact: The jump is essentially just a goto statement, a simpler yet less sophisticated way to loop your program. Also, the way the floor has tiles that are indexed perfectly mimicks an array.
This editor is freaking dope and the subtle things they do really make the videos a lot more enjoyable than they already were. Thank you editor ❤️
On the topic of "putting code in the beginning and then jumping over it." Jumps in general are bad practice in high level languages due to dramatic loss of readability. Instead we just use loops, as you may know loops are jumps but with the inability to jump to different locations over and over. It either jumps "in" on a true condition or jumps out on false. Your code is essentially:
while(notDone)
{
If(!firstTime)
{
//"skipped code"
}
//"not skipped code"
}
This pattern really doesn't need to look this way. The 2nd block of code always runs first and the first block of code always runs second, this reduces readability. It should reverse the order and run the 2nd block first:
While(notDone)
{
//"not skipped code"
//"skipped code"
}
If you want to make sure "skipped" code doesn't get run an additional time on the last iteration, you can check if last and break. This may cause a couple more lines of code to be run (checking conditions) but it improves readability by making the order the code will execute clear.
Of course... this game is mimicking low level assembly code with the jump and branching commands. The lower the language the more efficient you want the code to be readability is prioritized AFTER speed and memory usage.
tl;dr: those skipping the beginning code loops are fine in the type of language this game emulates, but not in higher level languages.
I played this game through about 5-6 years ago. Loved it.
I loved the picture of Tyler with blue hair, he should bring that back in the future!
We need to have this series finished! Watching this game was such a blast from the past
9:55 putting code in the beginning and jumping over it is how a lot of low level languages work, most famously C. They just hide the initial jump by declaring a "main" function that the compiler uses as the destination for the entry jump.
Given that this game is basically Assembly it makes sense you'd do the same here.
As someone who is trapped inside the basement, can confirm Tyler's hair looks really cool when it's blue
This is a great game to watch. One of my first I watched in it’s entirety. The story is not bad so it’s a shame your missing it
And yes it gets harder and more interesting while introducing more mechanics of a similar quality
I hope you do an entire series on this. I love this game and would love to see you go through the puzzles
Comp sci student here, good game. Reminds me of the jankiness of assembly. The player is a register, the floor is a memory address, input output is io.
This game is pretty much assembly programming. If I remember correctly, the sequel, 7 Billion Humans is about parallelised (aka. multi-threaded) programming.
I love how this game calls it jump and not loop, reminds me of assembly!
It even has the "reversed" branches!
Hey Tyler, the Steam community for this game are doing a hive mind thing where they're looking for the MOST efficient ways to run the level. Some of the later ones can go FAR below the requirements.
After you finish this game, there a sequel called “7 Billion Humans” which is a similar game but your code gets executed by multiple humans simultaneously instead of just the one. Basically just multithreaded code.
More top notch content from Tyler’s editors. That joke about being locked in the basement was hilarious.
Also, on a completely unrelated note, the blue hair is a good look for Tyler. Very cool.
This assembly is old school. The NASA Apollo Flight Computer in the 1960s had a more full-featured programming language.
You mentioned the creators made World of Goo, but the artstyle so looks a bit like Little Inferno. Same creators?
Yes
You should play a game called "Pawnbarian". Its like chess, mixed with a rougelike, mixed with a card game. Pretty fun too. I think you would enjoy it.
Oh my god I have played this game so many hours and never once finished it, I was so hyped when I saw that you are playing it!
Isn’t the creator also the one that made that game which you burn things?(Little Inferno) They just have a such distinct art style
This does give me world of good vibes, i used to played that game everyday at the library
Ah I have fond memories of playing this game years ago. I remember that I kept getting stuck, and after caving once and looking it up I kept doing it. I remember the last one I actually did was the Fibonacci one and I felt so extremely proud of my self
This game is like programming in Assembly
The floor are like registers, and you can store and load
Edging us on the Vampire survivor... evil
Man, I don't know what it is about Tyler today, maybe it's the blue hair but it really gets me going.
Man, these editors are killing it, they always pull the giggles outta me
OK but what are the odds I JUST installed this on my phone again for the first time in years and Tyler here goes and uploads a video about it?!
After the TV said "an army of machines has surrounded the city" I was expecting you to say "that's not good for the economy."
oh wow Tyler's hair sure did look great in blue!
Omg aliensrock I THANK YOU SO HARD
"World of goo" was my childhood game on my tablet
After my tablet broke, I didn't remember the game's name and it was lost for me
I searched 1 MONTH and I couldn't find it
BUT YOU, YOU SHOWED ME THE NAME
NOW I CAN PLAY IT :)
You deserve my repsect Aliensrock
(And also your videos are cool)
A lot of this game's "optimization" is to have the page wrap-around instead of your most often used go-to command.
Programmer here! In general, we don't work in a linear system like this game, instead (in an actual coding language) I'd create a function before starting any hard coding that could do whatever is being "skipped over" in game and call back to that function when needed.
Hopefully that makes sense. If not... I'll try to simplify it, haha
Seconding. That said, this game is working in assembly, and that is absolutely the sort of trick you can pull in assembly to optimize code.
@@gideonrabson4600 Oh really? Sad to say that I haven't really dug into coding in assembly yet.
@@ak72915 But those levels have two jump statements at the end already, serving that purpose. So the jump at the start could in fact be saved by putting the code after it in between those two jump statements, I think.
And IMO, doing it that way makes the code clearer as well, since then the instructions are in order of execution of the loop iteration. Since Tyler/the editor asked whether it's "good practice" to put the code at the start and jump over it, I would say no, it's better practice to put it at the end :)
Good to see older games like this. I have a feeling SpaeChem would be one game you would enjoy as well.
This is intended as a critique of the game, not of Tyler. Just finished watching the Busy Mail Room level, and as a programmer, I feel obligated to say that while some actual programming languages have the equivalent of the jump command, it is horrible practice to use it at all. Using it the way it is used in this level would also create a program that never terminates or more likely would generate an error and crash once the in-box was empty. A while loop that runs "while the in-box is not empty" would actually achieve the desired result, and it wouldn't offend any actual programmers. Seriously, jumps are one of the easiest ways to accidentally create a program that never terminates which is bad.
EDIT: Just finished the whole video, and oh boy. I was hoping that something resembling proper loops would be introduced, but no, just more jumps. As a puzzle game, this is fascinating. As a programmer, this is upsetting. Unless it's supposed to be assembly code or something. I'm familiar with high level programming like Java and C++, not assembly code so maybe it makes sense in that context.
Tye-dye Tyler needs to be a thing
This game brings back memories. My IT teacher may or may not have torrented the game for me.
Man I must be on something, I could have sworn Tyler had played HRM or 7 billion humans before on his channel.
Thank you for considering my and probably others' suggestion!
10/10 editing I didn't even realize it wasn't part of the game lol
I LOVE this game spent HOURS trying to find the best solutions
If you hac the "if zero, jump" you could further optimize the Octoplier by adding an if zero, jump to the outbox because 0*8=0.
The editing is always on point ! Amazing video quality, keep on (Aliens)rockin' !
LOVE this game! Please play more Tyler!! (also the sequel 7 Billion Humans is really fun)
One game I'd like to see Tyler play after this is Little Inferno, mostly just because of the story, the gameplay gets a bit boring with the wait timers, and the puzzles aren't the hardest, but it's still a pretty and enjoyable game ^.^
this is quite reminiscent of assembly programming; i like it!
I love how this programming puzzle game make players code assembly language, which is every computer doing in their basic level.
putting code in front and jumping over is basically making your own functions, good practice indeed 👍.
I'd love to see you play this game further. Last time I played, I wasn't nearly good enough at programming to complete it, and I'm not sure I would be now.
I personally loved Human Resource Machine, but it gets very difficult near the end, especially the optional levels. I had to look up a walkthrough for at least 5 levels.
I know its overplayed but I always love watching a fun run on peglin
DUDE! I remember NerdCubed playing this back in the day, so many memories. Awesome game.
This is giving me flashbacks to my computer architecture course.
cant believe you did all that with your mind, i feel like i need the visual guide just to comprehend it
Thank you for the video Tyler and editors!
Would love to see you finish this, tried this game myself a couple years ago but never managed to get past the later levels
9:55 - "good practice"
This is done by professional that doesn't know how to code, don't try at home as there is a high risk you will be judged for hell
So for 11:43, i wrote the code Tyler wrote into x86 assembly (the coding format this game most closely resembles.
1. section .data
2. len: db 8
3. section .bss
4. addr0: resb len
5. addr1: resb len
6. addr2: resb len
7. buffer: resb len
8. section .text
9. global main
10. main:
11. ;(01 jump)
12. jmp 25
13.
14. ;(02 copyfrom 0)
15. mov r1, [addr0]
16.
17. ;(03 outbox)
18. mov rsi r1
19. mov rdx len
20. mov rax, 1
21. mov rdi, 1
22. syscall
23.
24. ;(04 inbox)
25. mov rsi, buffer
26. mov rdx, len
27. xor rax, rax
28. xor rdi, rdi
29. syscall
30. mov r1, [buffer]
31.
32. ;(05 copyto 0)
33. mov [addr0], r1
34.
35. ;(06 inbox)
36. mov rsi, buffer
37. mov rdx, len
38. xor rax, rax
39. xor rdi, rdi
40. syscall
41. mov r1, [buffer]
42.
43. ;(07 sub 0)
44. sub r1, [addr0]
45.
46. ;(08 jump if negative)
47. js 15
48.
49. ;(09 add 0)
50. add r1, [addr0]
51.
52. ;(10 jump)
53. jmp18
I forgot they made world of goo, i just remembered Little Inferno when i saw you post this video!
ty tyler for selling your soul to the corporate ladder, very cool!
Oh boi I have been waiting for this one for a LONG time.
I hope you gonna finish it, and it won't be just another 1 time wonder... :)
There is a sequel called "7 Billion Humans" that is also very recommended :D
They made world of goo and little inferno, which are both incredible games
2:27 You could have just done this:
[ ]
[->inbox]
[outbox->]
[jump]
I never thought he'd play Human Resource Machine!
Given that it looks like your only method of doing loops is a simple goto (essentially), it's surprising that there is not an incredible amount of spaghetti code going on. The thing is, most developers/coders are going to be used to more verbose languages, whereas what this game presents is a dialect of stripped-down assembly. Most best-practices kind of fall apart when you get that low-level, and need a set of best practices that a lot of devs are not aware of (myself included. Well-written assembly is black magic as far as I'm concerned).
Gosh, I can’t believe how great Tyler looked with the blue hair!
Please do every level in this game. I’d love to watch you do it.
You should also try 7 Billion Humans, it's really similar and from the same developers but more recent
Please keep playing I've never been able to finish the last levels!
Man I wanna play Human Resource Machine again, I last played it in high school and got through a few levels
Such a good game, enjoying seeing you give it a spin, and can’t wait till some of the later levels.
Absolutely love this game and the developer, too! I wish it could turn into a series.
This game and its sequel are excellent, especially the second game! Hope you play both through, but if the first gets old, don't skimp on the second!
Coder weighing in! The jump command is interesting, it combines if-statements and methods (aka functions) into a single concept. I like it!
This game reminds me of Assembly, with the registers on the floor and the “check if zero” the closest thing to modern if-statements
Being a programmer and watching this is infuriating, gotta remember Tyler isn't a programmer and is doing brilliantly given that. Just the little inefficiencies or things which are more complex than necessary...
Probably doesn't help that I'm watching this right after finishing up working on a hobby project (web dev, for anyone curious)
The company also made Little Inferno
I do quite enjoy this game! I hope to see more of it!
I don usualy like games like this but Aliensrock just hits diferent
I wished blue-haired tyler had more screen-time.
After all, he looked quite cool like that.
**whispers** I gotchu editor ;))))
Tyler, you should also try "7 billions humans". It's another game from same developers
Now Tyler needs to play 7 billion humans after this
Hell yeah! Programming games are my favorite type of games! :D
Love this game. What a classic
Dang yo Tyler's blue hair looked something Ty-ler-iffic!