Let's Look At: Opus Magnum!

[@kyaptn]

*Northernlion* : "Steam says I've played thirteen hours, that's not true." [ ] Truth [X] Doubt [ ] Lie

[@MattyChalk231]

Magnum Opus the eggs favourite word. Zachtronics, eggs favourite developer. Opus magnum the new game. My eggs scrambled

[@TheCatNeverLeft]

I wanted to let you know this is basically a remake of the mechanics from Zachtronics first game on their old website. It was called the Codex of Alchemical Engineering and this game 100% does it justice.

[@THB192]

Well the difference is that Opus is a fun puzzle game and CAE is borderline abusive.

[@deluxeloy]

This video made me buy this game. I've completed it, most of the postgame, created my own puzzles, and had fierce competition with a friend. Good times. Now I'm rewatching the video... Are you ok, Ryan?

[@accountnamewithheld]

Talking as if he snorted a whole line of adderall to work this game out

[@HighLanderPonyYT]

That gif recording is really cool!

[@superskrub4209]

"Wow, that's a lot of drag and drop. Isn't there a shortcut?" There is

[@Akranejames]

"Opus Magnum is the nwest game from Zachtronics" Classic Egg.

[@marcelo01286]

Loved the game! I noticed that every player solution it's radically different from each other. And that make it so much better! Never ending possibilites. So, I've worked in large scale factories in Japan and my solution for every puzzle tend to be smaller, as it must be, because space is out of proportion expensive over there. I loved the way the machines worked and to see the that every inch is not wasted. I wish you guys could see it. It is efficiency as it's best.

[@mixluup]

I've actually never spoken to a screen while watching a video til now where all I could say is "what are you doing????"

[@y1minusyx1minusx6]

Yo same tho

[@kosmosyche]

The basic principle is very similar to Spacechem, actually. The biggest difference is in Spacechem your program was tied to the movement of the conveyor belt. EDIT: Ok, I'm buying this shit. Looks awesome.

[@Keisuki]

It is awesome. Short though. Hopefully there'll be a 2nd campaign like in Infinifactory and Shenzhen IO

[@Wiiiiiiilliam]

Finally I will understand all the twitter gifs!

[@raccoon351]

azazel?

[@dexdres5419]

I love that he loves these games but geez does his solutions break my heart haha

[@halfwing3306]

"if you like analytical things and solving problems it's exhilarating" - The man who got frustrated and said "things like this are why i stopped playing pillars" when he came across a common puzzle type in Divinity 2.

[@MultiWhatever007]

Also his KSP series is all that needs to be said about NLs problem solving and analytical thinking

[@iTzSparklez]

to be fair, every puzzle in divinity that hinges on you pressing the "are there any ghosts in this room" button is fucking stupid

[@arkurianstormblade4109]

or also "find that one friggin book/note in a 1km area"

[@Fusionv4]

Let's not forget how NL murdered Dragunova and her replacement in the accompany series when there was 2 easy ways to keep them alive.

[@sprankton]

Every time NL does a Let's Look At of a Zachtronics game, "It's not programming!"

[@totalmetaljacket789]

Sprankton If you don't write code, he's right.

[@legolas66106]

Well the official term is "visual programming" but it is still programming non the less.

[@totalmetaljacket789]

It's definitely a grey area of programming. If I drag and drop boxes that have words like "Type buttholes" into a list and it runs, did I write code? Kinda sorta, but I'm really not learning programming, I'm learning programming logic.

[@frechjo]

The format of your code doesn't matter. It may be text, diagram boxes, pixels, hex codes, punched cards... If a machine uses it as instructions, it's programming. You can even argue that text is just one way to represent ASTs, and programming is about building the ASTs.

[@totalmetaljacket789]

+ fede Then a whole lot more games than "programming games" are programming games.

[@lLenn2]

-It's not programming. It's a puzzle game about automation! Yep, that's programming alright!

[@totalmetaljacket789]

Tristan Verheecke I prefer the term fauxgramming.

[@MrSummoner64]

To be fair, you have to have a very high IQ to understand Opus Magnum, without a firm grasp of the humors yellow and black, most of the levels will go over the average player's head

[@SuperSymn]

Alexsan An Opus Magnum tattoo probably won't even look that bad

[@Akranejames]

Also, getting frustrated at your Fuel solution sold me on the game X) You've managed to create the reaction for Comedy Gold pretty well, though.

[@relmz32]

"This game's not programming!" - NL Is literally a programming game. - Opus Magnum

[@totalmetaljacket789]

relmz32 It isn't real programming though, which is his point.

[@relmz32]

"Do a thing, then another thing, then this other thing, then loop?" Don't let the graphics fool you, you are literally programming an industrial machine.

[@totalmetaljacket789]

If you think programming breaks down to instruction, instruction, loop then no wonder you call this true programming. It's similar to programming, yes. In fact, I call these games fauxgramming. But it's still not true programming.

[@relmz32]

The instruction set of the language doesn't change the fact that it is a programming language. These games are more like programming in assembly.

[@jamma246]

The spatial challenges of this game - which are a major part of it - don't have much to do with programming, unless you are abstracting to absurdity.

[@gavinjenkins899]

Anyone surprised by these solutions obviously didn't watch more than 30 seconds of the factorio series

[@skizelo]

you put down 35 dollars worth of track to save on a 20 dollar arm

[@Krystalchan2009]

Zachtronics also made flash games called "The Codex" and "Magnum Opus Challenge". They play VERY similar to this so I would recommend trying it first to see if you like this type of game.

[@aSinkingShip]

Another NL logics trainwreck. I love it!

[@flackbyte]

This game is great. Chapter 5 is bullshit though. Also, I'm aware that I'm a dick for saying this, but NL's solutions made me feel good about myself, because they are inefficient as fuck.

[@Nerdule]

It's the Streamer Competence Penalty. Every time you try to do something on camera while talking and still moving fast enough to be engaging, you take like a 20 IQ point disadvantage. It's why *every* streamer is bad at videogames on-camera and just blatantly misses obvious, spelled-out stuff. It's mostly just because of the way that things like "shutting up long enough to actually *think* about what you're doing" and "reading stuff carefully and paying attention to your environment" and "noodle around for a bit trying stuff out and practicing" make for really boring content, so when you're live you have to *not do that stuff*.

[@flackbyte]

Yes, totally, but it's more fun to say that eggman is an egghead.

[@exxcalibur]

Dadliest game of 2017.

[@umbaupause]

The first solution was so good, cause by chance, the cycle didn't fuck up when it kinda messed around. He made that thing take two cycles for one molecule... XD

[@deluxeloy]

Judging by the amount of "this can be so much easier egg pls" thoughts I had, I think I'm gonna get this game once it's out of EA.

[@slayer58021]

As a 10 year watcher, it’s so neat but jarring hearing the change in his voice going back to rewatch older videos

[@PositronPlays]

I was hoping you were going to do a video on this after seeing all the Twitter Gifs. Seems neat!

[@toast2760]

yoooo the codex of alchemical engineering returns, I remember that game from years ago

[@sgbench]

That was the first Zachtronics game I ever played. I'm so glad he revived the concept with Magnum Opus :)

[@Sableonix]

It's cool to see you solve puzzles in your own way, NL.

[@mikheilmisha2475]

Just for efficiency purposes, have you tried to double click on those icons instead moving them so far by hand?

[@Darthgipsyjoe]

This is why I love watching NL play puzzle games, I always end up laughing so much my stomach hurts.

[@biglootums5243]

This video was 15000x more a Let's Play than a Let's Look At. New series let's gooo

[@Marconius6]

"The first thing you need to know about this game is it's a Zachtronics game..." Oh. Gods. It begins.

[@Chadworthy_]

Opus Magnum is my favorite puzzle game! Fun to see you play it!

[@maxybaer123]

Poor NL dosent have any idea how pistons work they can pivot thats why your getting terrbily optimised solutions when you go for space and area

[@crazedpostdoc]

*Damn I'm really invested in the story PLZ do a full playthru so we can watch the plot unfold!!!*

[@zoid_on_youtube]

Who wrote this description.

[@livingfailure3413]

omg

[@Marconius6]

By the way, the piston can rotate. The game at no point says it cannot rotate. Egg is an egg.

[@NickCombs]

46:00 This is the game for me

[@IsaacClodfelter]

This game looks like so much fun. I hope it blows up and people flood twitter with these beautiful gifs.

[@psmitty840]

Before Zachtronics had all the games it does now, I used to play their web based Codex of Alchemical Engineering. Shortly after I beat that one, they came out with the kinda-xpac Codex of Alchemical Engineering: Magnum Opus. This game looks like those games quite a bit actually, and was maybe more what they were going for, just without a budget.

[@macymacerator8115]

Seeing someone do something horribly wrong is the best way to drive people to go do it right. Good job.

[@timotg91]

This was pretty cool game and I wouldn't have seen it without your video. Thanks

[@alastairdouglas1737]

I hate watching these videos but I can't stop

[@bitzero5199]

I've played the game for 2 days, and I'm in chapter 3 already! Love this game!

[@MrTommyx03]

Thanks for making me aware of a new zachtronics game

[@legion999]

I knew NL would be playing this the moment it showed up in my discovery queue

[@alexg111]

Dear Northernlion, If, in the future, you want to make this same joke again about famous Zachs/Zacharys, here is a compendium of some other Famous Zachs of History: Zach Braff- Actor/Director, star of "Scrubs" Zachary Quinto - Actor, starred in "Star Trek" and 2000's show "Heroes" Zach Galifianakis- Actor, star of "Hangover", "Tim and Eric's Awesome Show" Zachary Taylor- general, politician, 12th President of the United States Zechariah- biblical figure, father of John the Baptist; (see, also Zechariah- Prophet, unrelated to John the Baptist) Unfortunately those are the only five/six I could find. Apparently the famous Zacharys of the world have heavily beaten the odds of what seems like an otherwise unmentionable existence.

[@Theray0evan]

until NL realizes that forcing his only way to solve things and try and error is the worse way to solve things; is the reason why people struggle so much watching him in certain games (i.e. rimworld, Zachtronics games and so on)

[@BS-nw1qr]

I feel, like you can improve efficiency of NL's process in many cases by using three-armed turner instead of one-armed.

[@Tauposaurus]

You can increase efficiency by just rotating right once instead of turning left 5 times.

[@lordtsani7239]

Your struggle makes me joyous!

[@AndrewPM12]

IT'S HERE! TIME TO SHOUT AT MY SCREEN :D

[@MultiWhatever007]

programmer btw you need to have a very high iq to understand my arrays humour

[@IntelligenceCorn]

Well, you aren't the 0th person to make a joke about arrays.

[@Joker1rulervids]

I find it uncomfortable that he titles himself to be a programmer but never had a programming job. Sure he probably knows stuff but with no actual experience other than book examples and some low-level homework I won't acknowledge it

[@taterman1234]

You can't handle my arrays, programmer. They're too complex for you.

[@a3aan240]

Hugh Jass ah... You need to watch rick and morty to understand the joke?

[@truant6910]

all three seasons.

[@patricktan7120]

Someone please make a compilation of this man saying “get out of jail free card”

[@LeftNut600]

Let's get a series on this!

[@DysnomiaATX]

I love how the 3 things they measure are basically Fast, Good, and Cheap. You get at most 2.

[@MrZelnoth]

Zachtronics games are fantastic, but I do fit the stereo type of being a computer engineer. Did you try TIS-100 NL? It's a shorter game from zachtronics, but probably my favorite one as of yet.

[@totalmetaljacket789]

Zelnoth I'm a programmer and I hated TIS, but I also hate assembly so that might explain it.

[@dampersand]

I already bought this based solely on your tweeted solutions. No regrets.

[@brantcasavant]

I’d love to see an LP of this.

[@ivanspoljaric9267]

3:52 "I'm gonna use the p word" I died

[@ronnielopez295]

Good video your twitter posts looked interesting and now i want this game

[@TroZ_Games]

Why are you dragging the commands instead of using the keyboard shortcuts? They make putting the instructions in so much faster! I'm not going to mention the designs of your 'solutions'.

[@sgbench]

Probably because he doesn't know about the shortcuts and/or wants to make it easier for viewers to follow what he's doing

[@i_am_ergo]

Puzzle games like this can be fun for absolutely anyone. NL, unfortunately, does a piss poor job of presenting them in an engaging way.

[@jaypham3393]

Play "No Heroes Here" with the crew!

[@wafflecopter208]

I could make that with 2 less redstone

[@Akixkisu]

More of this content please.

[@dylgotbyl]

At first I thought it looked stupid, but It looks pretty badass I think I might Be good at it

[@fyfrrez]

Hexagonal SpaceChem! I love it. =)

[@AshlynOne]

I actually have no idea what any of those games you listed in the intro are.

[@cason1029]

44:25 LUL

[@cristiancordova6955]

I started the video, inmediately clicked 44:25. *LUL*

[@touhoe]

Phew! Thought I was hot garbage at this game; turns out I’m just your average old garbage!

[@AlekVen]

NL, "average" and "most common" are different.

[@nremac]

Does Ryan study programming?

[@arduenn]

The best part starts at 15.25, where his brain begins to hurt.

[@toasthut]

*rob making fun of someone saying something wrong voice* mmmmmm nwest

[@Anton333221]

Toasthat HE SAID A WORD WRONG...WHAT A FUCKING IDIOT AHAHA

[@BonesG36]

just gotta say, this would drive me insane trying to get the most efficient version of everything...

[@ChiliConCarnage]

This looks amazing, but so-oooo difficult!

[@LarssonTheBear]

8:00 bought.

[@DNLKTV]

That was pretty hilarious to watch.

[@notaplant09]

Pistons totally do rotate NL

[@playr1077]

this reminds me alot of a flash game called The Codex of Alchemical Engineering

[@casualuser8515]

More Opus Magnum videos!!!

[@FalscheHoffnungen]

Next Poison Mushroom when???

[@HighLanderPonyYT]

Ikr! D: Pls. D:

[@cavycorp9136]

watching nl play this compared to quill makes it so much better

[@qaypod]

In the 1. puzzle why bother tsking the extra step

[@brady157]

Dude, I didn't knwo they made games personally made for me. RIP Exams

[@MalcontentFlower]

00:38 Never heard of them.

[@dukepotato244]

Zach Braff needs some love.

[@yaksher]

Why does the king need so many stamina potions? Shouldn't making 1 by hand be enough...?

[@Ketsuekisan]

A Zachtronics game? Oh boy, time for more of NL's "DAE programming."

[@Taliesin2]

Zachtronics, sounds familiar... they are a 90ies europop-group aren't they?

[@wleon4068]

I think you would have to have some kind of degree in chemistry to be able to understand this 'game' [or simulation]. Having watched a few videos on this and having the game myself, I'm still absolutely lost.

[@HighInquisitorBonobotheGreat]

This game looks awesome

[@batham1185]

This game looks like the best game.

[@Radditz770]

I remember playing this game on kongregate. Good on the developer of making it into a proper game.

[@blazikeaton7478]

Radditz770 Wait. THIS is THAT game? Huh. Played it once, gave up on the first level.

[@Radditz770]

Blazi Keaton well I mean it's the exact same mechanics, names, elements and all that stuff. It's either the flash game dude making it into a proper game or a really bad case of extreme stealing. I assume it's the former and not the latter xD

[@blazikeaton7478]

Radditz770 Or it's just coincidence. You never really know, man.

[@sadpancake8531]

I went through the game completely, use the keyboard, so it turns out much faster.

[@FreyrFox]

Really fun game. My Stabilized water machine: i.imgur.com/ayLC3Km.gif . About as good as I can get the cycles while being the cheapest and smallest.

[@FirstLast-gm9nu]

ryab doesnt understand the difference between clockwise and counterclockwise

[@Donovarkhallum]

"that pivot wont work lets do one of these bad boys instead" uses same pivot