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I've made a partially complete level finder (you just type in the level number and it does its thing) 'cos I was bored. I didn't know if there was something like this out on the net, but anyway...
This is my 'second go', the first one I tried doing in c++ but I got too confused so I converted it into pretty visual basic.
As I said, it ain't complete, so the best I could do wsa figure out the corresponding first syllable and third syllable of the level number, but the middle one is a heck of a lot more tricky! :p At the moment it gives the wrong 2nd syllable for nearly every level!
So now instead of having a 1 in 32*32*32 chance of finding the level name, you have a 1 in 32 chance of finding the name. Hellllooo trial and error...
The middle syllables to choose from are:
OUt QAz INg OGo QUe LOp SOd HIp KOp WIl IKe DIe In As Mp Di Oz Ea Us Gb Ce Me De Pe Ox a e i o u t y
Oh, and the address is
http://members.ozemail.com.au/~gregandbe/pop.zip ~7KB
and that funny saying in the middle is from an arcade game that was poorly... um... converted/ripped to PC

I have no real use of it now (having not played Populous since nearly its original release, maybe I should be), but I find the thing very funny.
How did you figure the levels name encoding, anyway ?
(I archived it to be featured later when SMS Power will expand)

I reckon populous was cool since I got it when I was about 9
Song by Rolling Stones... (Ack! I don't listen to rolling stones)
"Tiiiiime, is on my siiiide...., Yes it is..."
No, really!
Statistics: there are 3 syllables to each level name, and
over 5117 levels + 5 hidden messages to type in at the 'password' screen (SANTIAGo, STOCKHOLm, PIXIe, CODETOGo, STEVEANDJo). There are 32 syllables to choose from for each part of the level name. So, the easy part: open up populous.sms in text editor. There is a section in plain(?) english that lists all the syllables (do a search for CODETOGo and look a few lines below it :)... anyway, if you play pop. enough you will find that the first syllable is very repetitive after level 0 (genesis). As a matter of fact the first part of the level name keeps cycling through a list of 32 syllables -> very easy to guess the correct syllable when given a level number...
arrayOfFirstSyllables[(5*level number) MOD 32]. Simple! As for the third syllable, well it follows a pattern involving adding 13's and 14's on a MOD'ed list of 32 syllables (its sort of tricky to explain). The second syllable does follow a pattern which I can figure out (~1min per lvl name) but it would be terribly annoying to program... heh maybe I should just post the source for the program!

Author	Message
Greg Cox Guest	for anyone interested in populous level finding Posted: Tue Oct 09, 2001 4:17 am
Greg Cox Guest	I've made a partially complete level finder (you just type in the level number and it does its thing) 'cos I was bored. I didn't know if there was something like this out on the net, but anyway... This is my 'second go', the first one I tried doing in c++ but I got too confused so I converted it into pretty visual basic. As I said, it ain't complete, so the best I could do wsa figure out the corresponding first syllable and third syllable of the level number, but the middle one is a heck of a lot more tricky! :p At the moment it gives the wrong 2nd syllable for nearly every level! So now instead of having a 1 in 323232 chance of finding the level name, you have a 1 in 32 chance of finding the name. Hellllooo trial and error... The middle syllables to choose from are: OUt QAz INg OGo QUe LOp SOd HIp KOp WIl IKe DIe In As Mp Di Oz Ea Us Gb Ce Me De Pe Ox a e i o u t y Oh, and the address is http://members.ozemail.com.au/~gregandbe/pop.zip ~7KB and that funny saying in the middle is from an arcade game that was poorly... um... converted/ripped to PC

Bock Site Admin Joined: 08 Jul 2001 Posts: 8649 Location: Paris, France	Funny Posted: Sun Oct 14, 2001 1:06 am
	I have no real use of it now (having not played Populous since nearly its original release, maybe I should be), but I find the thing very funny. How did you figure the levels name encoding, anyway ? (I archived it to be featured later when SMS Power will expand)

Greg Cox Guest	Hey Bock, sorta easy sorta hard Posted: Mon Oct 15, 2001 4:46 am
Greg Cox Guest	I reckon populous was cool since I got it when I was about 9 Song by Rolling Stones... (Ack! I don't listen to rolling stones) "Tiiiiime, is on my siiiide...., Yes it is..." No, really! Statistics: there are 3 syllables to each level name, and over 5117 levels + 5 hidden messages to type in at the 'password' screen (SANTIAGo, STOCKHOLm, PIXIe, CODETOGo, STEVEANDJo). There are 32 syllables to choose from for each part of the level name. So, the easy part: open up populous.sms in text editor. There is a section in plain(?) english that lists all the syllables (do a search for CODETOGo and look a few lines below it :)... anyway, if you play pop. enough you will find that the first syllable is very repetitive after level 0 (genesis). As a matter of fact the first part of the level name keeps cycling through a list of 32 syllables -> very easy to guess the correct syllable when given a level number... arrayOfFirstSyllables[(5*level number) MOD 32]. Simple! As for the third syllable, well it follows a pattern involving adding 13's and 14's on a MOD'ed list of 32 syllables (its sort of tricky to explain). The second syllable does follow a pattern which I can figure out (~1min per lvl name) but it would be terribly annoying to program... heh maybe I should just post the source for the program!

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