New puzzle creator

[Twan2797]

Hello All,

Because I do not speak german, I will post in English. I recently found an interest in the creation of sudokus, however I would prefer to create sudokus with constraints and a form of intelligence.

On Logic masters I found many puzzles with barely any digets given at the start o the puzzle, for which a specific path is necessary to solve the sudoku. I was wondering, what is the best approach to create such puzzles? Is it top-down, start with a solution and back track your way through the puzzle, or do you start blank and work your way up. All tips to get me started are much appreciated.

[CHalb]

Hello Twan2797,
I already looked yesterday for a good answer to your good question. That means, I searched for it here in the forum, because I know the right ideas and thoughts about this topic have already been discussed here.
Somewhere. Sometime. But I can't find it.
Maybe I will remember correctly, who was part of this discussion. Or someone else gives the right links. Or we start this topic here anew   .
And: Many of us can understand a good part Dutch, but certainly English is more useful for the international communication here   .

[Twan2797]

For some reason I wrote in english and it changed to dutch, no clue how. I have translated it to english now.

I searched the forums as well, as I thought it must've been discussed previously, however no result either. I look forward to create a new discussion on this.

[Realshaggy]

I usually start from a blank grid and that is the recommended method if you want this kind of "linear logical flow" and limited clues. However, there is one exception: if you know that there are very limited solutions, you should either start building towards a specific solution you know or make sure there is a solution left at every step (e.g. by using a solver). Non-Consecutive is an example for a constraint that is very hard to accomplish for a full grid without such tricks.

In general, you can write whole books about this topic. A good recommendation is "Puzzlecraft" by Thomas Snyder and Mike Selinker. The original printed version seems to be out of stock and very expensive, but I remember that there was a revised digital version with additional chapters available here: http://lonesharkgames.com/puzzlecraft-ho...of-puzzle/
There are also a lot of setter videos out there nowadays where they build a puzzle from scratch or revise their ideas.

[Pallando]

All tips to get me started are much appreciated.

I maintain a list of videos by setters on how to set puzzles:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hm3uGel8-yk HTS a Killer Sudoku | Setting the Sudoku #1 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IE1N6B6SHQA HIS Sudoku - Clover 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Jd5EgDpjGs HIS Sudoku: Lucy Audrin 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQtuXbF8fLg HIS The Miracle Square Sudoku 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-FqjjjBxYg HIS Sudoku: Aspartagcus 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=936S5jWQTYE How To Create A Sudoku Puzzle (aka Making A Sandwich!) 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-kjnNt8ClIA HTS A Classic Sudoku: Valtari by shye 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w5qLMJ8WfPM HIS Sudoku: zetamath 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qMR_V7txlTw How To Create A Sudoku Puzzle 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8DU5IQqUaw8 How To Create A Sudoku Masterpiece 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dw1-ooNXMFY HTS A Sudoku: DiMono Explains 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6b8fy6OZizU HIS Sudoku - Tyrgannus Speaks! 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f9cZbq8K-FI HIS a difficult classic Sudoku! 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2HBQuxrhDQQ HTS a Pencil Puzzle: Airlocks by Gliperal 
https://youtu.be/FxMp9_a7W_o zetamath sets a sudoku puzzle LIVE 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mwLcRk2S9E4 jovi_al sets a classic live  
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xG2Aj6anb5E Setting a Thermo/Kropki Pair in around 50 Minutes 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qpXWoKyp7dk&t=2s Setting the Nov 24 2021 GAS: Quad Max 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FxMp9_a7W_o zetamath sets a sudoku puzzle LIVE 
https://youtu.be/VH4wdhUi72U collaborative setting 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0GCPg3FclsI HIS logic puzzles (Cave) 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_H0_swfO_GE Setting a Variant Sudoku - Blobz 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hILiXNeWY2M HIS Sudoku: Tallcat 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5lY4RqCaLYs HIS Variant Sudoku: Telephone
https://www.twitch.tv/videos/883348100 Collaborative Sudoku Setting 
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLlpOSsHmIZE-v8kmXDfj8qbN0Gq2QkqrT Setting the Sudoku (A playlist of 5 videos by Peter C. Hayward) 
https://youtu.be/9yWlm6jHJeg zetamath sets a sudoku LIVE (MIA) 
https://youtu.be/UJMbQnHUFO4 Setting Stream 0: Fever Dream 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6NQOtM0udkc How I Set Sudoku: Lerroyy 
https://youtu.be/CwOuFsS9zy8 Creating an Approachable Puzzl


By the way, if anyone knows of a video that isn't on the list but ought to be, please send me a link!

[Twan2797]

Thanks for all the tips! I will definitely look at the book and the YouTube links.

I am happy to share I just published my first sudoku made