The following information has been copied from the developers website. I haven't had the time to write up my own review yet. If you like rubix cube puzzles then you are in for a head crunching treat. Make sure you read the instructions below before you start to play the cubes (or other shapes, lol) as they are quite complex and you'll just get frustrated and probably delete the game in frustration. Please do post a note to let us know how you got on. The developer asks anyone who actually completes the puzzles to contact them. Details can be found below or via the main website.
You'll find a whole load of Rubix puzzles on the main download page, too many to mention here.
Ultimate Magic Cube
The program works by first having a platonic solid as a shape. There are 5 platonic solids: Tetrahedron, Cube, Octahedron, Dodecahedron and Icosahedron:
Then cutting planes are added to the shape. There are 3 types of cuttingplanes: Cuttingplanes which are parallel to the faces of the shape, 'parallel' to the points of the shape or parallel to the edges of the shape. Here are three pictures to make it clearer:
These 3 types of cuttingplanes can also be mixed together on one shape:
This gives almost limitless possibilities, from traditional puzzles:
to mixed cubes, some of which are all new:
The second feature of UMC is to connect any cubies you like to make certain rotations impossible (a so called bandaged puzzle). This can greatly increase the difficulty of a puzzle.
The third feature of UMC is to allow the cubies to have an orientation by giving the outside coloured stickers faded colours. Thus a cuby not only has to be on the right spot, but also has to have the right orientation:
System requirements:
Windows XP or Vista (I haven't tried UMC on older operating systems, but it might work), NVidia 5000 series videocard (or ATI equivalent) or better, Directx 9 or better.
Download Link:
You can download The Ultimate Magicx Cube HERE
Magic Cube 4D:
MagicCube4D is a fully functional four-dimensional analog of Rubik's cube plus dozens of beautiful new 4D puzzles besides just the hypercube. The image above shows the 34 puzzle in its solved state. You can interact with the above image by clicking HERE to get a feeling for how it works. Then download the full-featured application below and try to solve it.
The program is packaged in an executable jar file which should run on any system with a Java virtual machine installed. Save it to your desktop or anywhere you like, so long as you can find it later. Simply double click it to launch. Please read the FAQ which can be accessed HERE for a more complete description of the puzzle. The Java applet or application should run on any machine, but if either one fails to start you probably just need to install a current Java virtual machine. You can get the latest version of Java HERE
Thank you to Don Hatch and Melinda Green who developed this puzzle on and off starting in 1988. Jay Berkenbilt and Roice Nelson later joined and made major contributions. Don and Jay were the first to have solved the puzzle making extensive use of macros. Roice was the first person to solve the puzzle without using macros. For his solution he extended Philip Marshall's 3D "Ultimate Solution to Rubik's Cube" into 4D. You can learn Roice's solution if you don't feel like trying to solve it yourself first.
Download:
You can Download Magic Cube 4D HERE
Magic Cube 5D:
Mouse Dragging:
Dragging the mouse with the left button down will change the orientation of the puzzle (3D view rotation).
Dragging the mouse with the right button down will zoom in and out.
Twisting:
View rotations and twisting with buttons: Clicking on the left or right side of buttons affects the direction of the twist.
Twisting by sticker clicking involves clicking 2 different stickers in succession. You first click any 2-colored sticker, then you click a second sticker to determine where you want the first sticker to go. The set of clickable second stickers is limited by what you clicked first, but will be visually obvious. (please see the MC4D mailing list archives for discussion about why 2 clicks are necessary).
Sticker clicks are currently limited to 2-colored stickers only. This limits rotations to only happen along coordinate planes, but any of the possible puzzle states are still possible (some just take a few more rotations to get to). We might extend this in the future to allow non-coordinate plane rotations, in which case you would be able to click other sticker types. NOTE: The 2^5 can not be twisted in this manner because it has no 2-colored stickers! You have to use the buttons alone for that puzzle.
If you start a twist with a sticker click, you can press ESC before clicking a second sticker to abort that twist.
Left and right arrow keys cycle through the set of clickable second stickers in case you have trouble selecting them with the mouse alone (the 5D to 4D and 4D to 3D projections lead to some stickers appearing directly on top of each other).
Ctrl-clicking a 2-colored sticker provides a way to do overall cube (view) rotations in a manner similar to MC4D. Simply ctrl-click a sticker of any face besides the +-V faces, and the cube will rotate such that the clicked face will move to the "center" position (-V face).
Ctrl-z will undo a twist or view rotation.
Slice mask support. By holding down a number key or a set of number keys, you can control the slice(s) done by a twist. For example, holding down the '2' key on the 35 puzzle will twist the middle slice. By default the first slice is assumed.
Macros:
To record a macro, press the start button, do some twists, then press the stop button. A new macro will then appear in the list.
Macros are relative to absolute coordinate axes. This means you might need to do view rotations to get pieces to the locations where a macro you've recorded will affect them. I like this because it is analogous to how I solve the 3D cube (first moving the view around, then performing a sequence).
Right-clicking a macro in the list gives a context menu with the option to rename or delete it.
Double-clicking a macro will run it. Ctrl-double-clicking a macro will run it reversed.
Sticker Highlighting
F1-F5 will cycle the highlighting on certain stickers between 3 different states (dim, normal, high). F1 cycles 1-colored pieces, F2 cycles 2-colored pieces, etc.
Although 2-colored pieces are the only selectable ones (because they are important for twisting), you can press the shift key while hovering on any sticker. This will highlight all the stickers of the cubie, regardless of face visibility or sticker highlighting settings.[/quote]
Reference accessed HERE
N.B.
If you conquer this cube, send your log file to roice "at" gravitation3d.com to get your name listed in the MagicCube5D Hall of Insanity.
This program requires an OpenGL accelerated graphics card, and will require you to install the .Net 2.0 Runtime. It will also place a shortcut on your desktop to the program.
You can Download Magic Cube 5D HERE
