Human Resource Machine - [ADDTO] Guide

A Basic guide to getting to grips with Human Resource Machine.

Introduction

Hi!

If you're reading this, then you, like me, want a personal slave to carry out commands.

Welcome to the Human Resource Machine!

Below I'll cover the gameplay basics, the functions of each, err, function, and a walkthrough to get you both lights on levels 1-10.

Note that some levels need to be done twice in order to achieve both lights.

Happy programming.

Year 1 - Mail Room

And here is the 1st level. The man at the top of your screen is your manager, click on him for a chat, examples and more. He won't be used much during the start of the game but will become useful later on for telling you exactly what outputs are expected.

On the right side of the screen you will see your objective, written on what looks like a post it note. For level one, it's simple. Using the available commands, move items from the inbox (left of screen) to the outbox (right of screen)

As we only have 2 commands, Inbox and Outbox, it doesn't take a genius to work out how to complete this level. Note, if you make a mistake, the manager will shout at you and you'll have the option of reviewing your steps and "debugging" them before trying again.



Now, press the play button and await satisfaction.

Upon completion of a level, your level stats are revealed. There are 2 extra criterea for full completion represented by the lights on the elevator. They are as follows - (note that each level has different requirements)

Year 2 - Busy Mail Room

Congratulations on your promotion!

Year 2, like year 1, doesn't ask much from you. Notice we now have a new function, JUMP. We'll be using this... A lot.

The Jump function is literally that. JUMP from one part of the running order to another of your choice. It's helpful to see an example.



As you can see, we have programmed INBOX, OUBOX, JUMP [to start].

When we press play, the command line will repeat itself once we get to jump because we ordered it back to the start of the queue.

Pressing play will make short work of this level, but you'll notice you didn't achieve both extra criteria. That is because we used to many moves. This is simply remedied.



Without the JUMP command, be are cutting our total moves down by 1/3. Top Programming!

Year 3 - Copy Floor

Another promotion, another new challenge, another new function! This time it's COPYFROM.



You'll notice we have tiles in the middle of the floor. These will be both your best friend AND your worst enemy in the puzzles to come.

This is where COPYFROM comes into play. PLace it into your run list and select which tile in the middle of the floor you want to COPY FROM. Get it? As the mission objective states to ignore the inbox and move the letters B U and G into the outbox, we should do just that.



Et Voila.

Year 4 - Scrambler Handler

You know the drill, another promotion and more things to learn.



Now we are learning to use COPYTO - like COPYFROM, but, like, backwards. COPYTO will allow us to copy an Inbox item into the spare tiles in the middle of the room.

The task in this level is to take 2 items from the inbox, then reverse their order before sending them to the outbox. This is a breeze with our new command, because we can essentially store items to use later.



Told you.

Year 5 - Coffee Time

Tough level, but I'm sure you can manage this one on your own.

Year 6 - Rainy Summer

This time we'll be learning to ADD. It's like being back at school, isn't it?



Nothing more to say about ADD - it will ADD whatever is in your hand to whatever tile you tell it to add too. Easy.

The objective in this level is simple. WIth our new function, add the value of 2 items from the inbox and take to the outbox. We'll need to use what we learned in the previous level to solve this so copy and add away.



Fin.

Year 7 - Zero Exterminator

You'll notice at the end of Year 6 the path splits into 2. I'm a strong believer in numerical order, so that's how we'll do this, even if it means jumping back and forth.



This level introduces a neat new function - JUMPIFZERO. That is to say, it functions like the JUMP command but only if the block you are holding is 0.

When we see the objective of this level, it's clear why we need it. Take every item from the inbox that ISN'T a zero and put it in the outbox. With our new function, it doesn't take long to realise what we need to do. Just make sure we place or JUMPIFZERO command at the right time in the process and all will run perfectly.



Perfect.

Year 8 - Tripler Room

Surprise surprise, nothing new to learn in this room, although we do need to utilise what we already know in a slightly different way.



The objective in this level is to take an item from the inbox, triple it's value and then send to outbox. Without a multiply function, we'll have to rely on ADD. How many ADDS triple? 3!



Note that there are only 2 ADD commands - because we already have 1 in our hand.



Nice.

Year 9 - Zero Preservation Initiative

It's like playing opposites... Now instead no zeros, we need JUST zeros.



Using the logic applied in the last level, it should be fairly evident what we need to do here. Place you JUMPIFZERO command wisely and the level will complete itself.



But wait...



You can see that we've failed one of the secondary objectives. Like in a previous level, it seems that more... Is less. Yeah.

Rewrite your script in a lengthy fashion and that second light will be yours for the taking.

Year 10 - Octoplier Suite

OK, so now things start to get a little more complicated. Our objective in this mission is to take an input, muliply it by 8 and then send to outbox. Without a multiply function, and with only 5 tiles to store in, this may feel tricky. However, we can use our pre existing functions in a new way yet again - compound multiplication.



COPYTO and ADD are our friends, and we'll be using both functions in the same tile multiple times.

I remember when I was a kid playing with a calculator in school. On some models, if you pressed 2+2 then = you'd get 4. press = again you'd get 8. = again 16 etc... We'll be using the same principle on this level.

Below the objective it gives us a hint that this level can be completed with 3 ADD commands. Using this knowledge and the anecdote above, we can produce the solution below.



Looks good to me.

Year 11 and Onwards - Coming Soon

I'm currently on year 20, but want to spend a few days enjoying the game before rushing a guide out. I'll add more over the next few days.

If anyone notices any errors please let me know, and thanks for looking.

[Marpfie]

lol your year 9 is overly complicated. Just a simple change of putting output above input and changing the jumps accordingly gives you both objectives at once

[docStrangluv]

Thanks for the guide. Super helfpul. I like it because, unlike other guides I have seen, you actualy explain why and not just how. Nice work. Really hoping you continue on.

Have some treasure for your trouble

[Potato Punch]

Year 17:

-- HUMAN RESOURCE MACHINE PROGRAM --

JUMP d
a:
b:
COPYFROM 5
c:
OUTBOX
d:
INBOX
JUMPN f
INBOX
JUMPN a
e:
COPYFROM 4
JUMP c
f:
INBOX
JUMPN e
JUMP b

[siggisv]

Year 9, both objectives at once:
-- HUMAN RESOURCE MACHINE PROGRAM --

JUMP b
a:
OUTBOX
b:
c:
INBOX
JUMPZ a
JUMP c

[Sarg]

Beat the game in one sitting tonight. Was really fun! Going back to optimize some levels now, but if anyone needs any tips on just completing any levels, let me know!! I'll help ya out!

[Cyberspark]

Year 2 got patched. It'll now flag an error if you don't use a 'Jump' command and add a new item to the inbox when you retry to force you to add more terms.

The solution to this is to add all the "Inbox" and "Outbox" commands needed followed by the "Jump" back to the start.

[AshMaker]

How about some help on Year 17?