Sudoku-plugin

Description

Sudoku plugin screenshot

Sudoku is a VDR plugin to generate and solve Number Place puzzles, so called Sudokus.

A Sudoku puzzle consists of 9 x 9 cells subdivided into 9 regions with 3 x 3 cells. The rules are simple. There have to be the numbers from 1 to 9 in every row, column and region. In the beginning some numbers are given. These cells are painted with cyan background color. The aim of the puzzle is to find the missing numbers. There is only one solution of a Sudoku puzzle.

The Sudoku puzzles are generated on-the-fly. The number of givens can be set in the plugin's setup page down to a minimum of 26 givens. The generation of puzzles with less than 26 givens takes too long. By default the cells with givens are symmetrically ordered. But this can be changed in the setup.

To solve difficult Sudoku puzzles some hints can be used. Incorrect cells are red and cells with ambiguous numbers are magenta. These hints can be disabled in the setup. With the green key a cell can be marked. A marked cell has green background color. With the yellow key the cursor is moved to the next free cell with minimal possible numbers. The red key set the next possible number for the current cell.

Each time the plugin is started from the main menu the same puzzle is shown. A new puzzle is only generated on VDR startup or if it has been requested by pressing the blue key. This key has two functions. If no numbers are set a new puzzle is generated. Otherwise all numbers are reset so that only the givens are shown.

Software requirements

VDR >= 1.2.6

Installation

See plugin installation

Setup

Parameter	Values	Default	Description
Givens count	26-81	36	Givens count of the generated puzzles.
Symmetric givens	yes/no	yes	Cells with givens are symmetrically ordered.
Mark errors	yes/no	yes	Incorrect cells are marked with red color.
Mark ambiguous numbers	yes/no	yes	Cells with ambiguous numbers are marked with magenta color.
Clear marks on reset	yes/no	no	Unmark all cells when the puzzle is reset.
Transparency (%)	0-100	50	Set the transparency of the menu.

Usage

Key	Description
Left/Right/Up/Down	Move the cursor in the puzzle.
1-9	Set the number in the current cell.
0	Remove the number from the current cell.
Green	Mark/unmark the current cell.
Yellow	Move the cursor to the next free cell with minimal possible numbers.
Red	Set the next possible number for the current cell - reset the number if greater numbers are not possible.
Blue	Reset the puzzle (if some numbers set). Start a new puzzle (if no numbers set).
Back	Quit the plugin.

Cell colors

Cyan	Givens
Green	Marked cells
Red	Incorrect cells
Magenta	Ambiguous numbers

Links

[1]

http://toms-cafe.de/vdr/sudoku

Plugin homepage

[2]

http://www.freedailysudoku.net

Free Daily Sudoku puzzles