Features

• Summary: Daedalus is a program that allows one to create, solve, analyze, view, walk through, and most of all have fun with Mazes.
• Algorithms: Daedalus implements every one of the Maze creation and solving algorithms described in the following Maze algorithms page.
• Feature list: See the Daedalus documentation file for a comprehensive list of features, more information about the program, as well as help on all the actual commands within the program.
• Games: Daedalus contains its own macro language, through which one can write scripts to play games or do other advanced operations. Daedalus comes with 19 sample games (both Maze related and non-Maze related).
• Maze simulations: Daedalus can be used to simulate life size Maze plans on the computer. If you want to build a life size Maze, Daedalus can allow you to simulate walking through it before actually building it. If you've created a life size Maze before, Daedalus can allow you to still enjoy it after it's been taken down.
• Source code: Unlike most Maze creation software, Daedalus comes with its complete source code. This allows the programmer to see working examples of the various algorithms, and to customize the program even beyond what's provided by the macro language.
• Numb3rs: A Maze created by Daedalus was featured on the CBS show "Numb3rs". How many Maze programs can say they've been "advertised" on prime time television? ;-)
• New for version 2.3: Carleton Farm Maze, Mouse Maze, Custom Labyrinths.

Sample Mazes

• Creation types: Standard, unicursal, no dead ends, circular, triangular, hexagonal, octagonal, random angles, true random, over-and-under, 3D, 4D, 5D, spirals, arrows, biased passages, long passages, diagonal passages, symmetric, binary tree, nested fractal, recursive fractal, cubes, word, hypermaze.
• Solving: Daedalus can solve or help you solve Mazes in any number of ways.
• Labyrinth types: Daedalus can create unicursal Labyrinths commonly used as a tool for meditation and spiritual growth, just as it can Maze puzzles: Chartres replica, Classical, Cretan, Man in the Maze, Custom circuits.
• Analysis: Dead end types, distance from start, distance from solution, important passages, important walls.
• More samples: Daedalus, or earlier prototype versions of it, created all of the Mazes in the Maze Graphics section of my Maze Gallery page.

Screenshots

• Walk through #1: A 3D first person perspective view from inside the passages of a Maze, a "hedge" Maze under a clear sky. The same scene with texture mapped surfaces can be seen here.
• Walk through #2: Another Maze, this time with different colored walls, and under a night sky with stars and moon.
• Walk through #3: Inside the passages of a three dimensional Maze with pits in the floor and ceiling.
• Walk through #4: A Maze with semitransparent walls of several different colors, and also floor markings of various colors too.
• Walk through #5: Overlooking the passages of a Maze at sunset, with a map of the Maze overlaying the scene.
• Aerial view: Moving through a Maze seen from above, where only the nearest passages are visible.
• Overview: An orthographic 3D view of a Maze.
• Perspective view: A full color true perspective overview of a Maze.
• Escher room: Not Maze related but still created by the program: An orthographic Escher room with staircases at many angles.
• Medieval castle: Not Maze related but still created by the program: An orthographic ten story castle with towers and battlements.
• Platonic solids: Not Maze related but still created by the program: A true perspective scene of various geometric shapes.
• Perspective title: A single point perspective view of the word "Daedalus", overlaying a Maze, all created from within the program.

Simulation Screenshots

• Glacier Maze simulation: A reproduction of Glacier Maze, a wooden fence Maze in Montana. Find your way to four checkpoints in the four corner towers, going over and under bridges in the process. An overview of this Maze can be seen here.
• Carleton Farm corn Maze simulation: A reproduction of a corn Maze plan from Carleton Farm in Washington. Find ten checkpoints in the cornfield in any order, which spell out a secret message. There is a bridge in the center of the Maze.
• Stocker Farms corn Maze simulation: A reproduction of a corn Maze plan from Stocker Farms in Washington. Find your way through two separate Mazes in the cornfield. There are a couple bridges and a Halloween themed "Field of Screams".
• Survivor Maze game #1: A game based on an actual challenge from the TV show "Survivor". Race through the Maze as fast as you can, finding five checkpoints in order. A map of the default Maze in this game can be seen here.
• Survivor Maze game #2: Another Maze from the TV show "Survivor". Race through the Maze, finding five checkpoints in order, and returning to the center after each checkpoint. A map of the Maze in this game can be seen here.
• Survivor Maze game #3: Another Maze from "Survivor". Race through the Maze, finding four checkpoints in any order, returning to the center when done. This Maze can be done blindfolded! A map of the Maze in this game can be seen here.
• Survivor Maze game #4: A fourth Maze from "Survivor". Race through the Maze, finding eight checkpoints in any order, returning to the center after each. Weave through obstacles blocking paths. An overview of the Maze in this game can be seen here, and a map can be seen here.
• Survivor Maze game #5: Maze number five from "Survivor". Race through the eight floor vertical Maze, finding ten checkpoints in any order, returning to the start outside after each. A map of the Maze in this game can be seen here.
• Survivor Maze game #6: One more Maze from "Survivor". Race through the bird shaped Maze, finding six checkpoints in any order, going to the center atop the Maya pyramid after each. An overview of the Maze in this game can be seen here.
• Survivor Maze game #7: The final Maze from "Survivor". Race through five Mazes in sequence, finding a checkpoint within each that yields the key to the next area. A map of the Maze in this game can be seen here.

Game Screenshots

• 4D Mazes: Try to solve a four dimensional Maze with portals leading through the 4th dimension, from a first person view!
• 5D Mazes: Try to solve a five dimensional Maze, with all dimensions displayed at once and the whole thing animating!
• Gigamazes: The largest Mazes ever created! Try to solve a Maze measuring a billion passages by a billion passages.
• Word Mazes: Create Mazes in the shapes of words as seen here, or with solution paths that spell out a word such as seen here.
• Safari Maze: A 3D simulation of a Maze containing bridges and tunnels, where you need to hunt down four checkpoints then exit.
• 3D Pac-Man: A reproduction of the old arcade video game Pac-Man, but from a first person view!
• 3D Sokoban: The Japanese box pushing puzzle game, from a first person view again.
• Dragonslayer: A Dungeons & Dragons type game similar to Nethack, but from a first person view. Slay the evil dragon before getting killed by it or other unfriendly creatures.
• Mouse Maze: Try to move your mouse through the twisty path as fast as you can, without hitting a wall.
• Survivor squares game: A non-Maze related game based on the show "Survivor". Move from square to square trying to run the computer players out of room before they run you out of room.
• Fractal exploration: A non-Maze related rendering of the Mandelbrot set fractal, where one can zoom in on and render sections in 3D.

Downloads

• Daedalus 2.3 for Windows setup program: 100% freeware with no registration fee! :-) 1202K self-extracting zip archive file. Runs on Windows 95 and beyond, and all newer versions of Windows and NT. Comes with a copy of the Daedalus documentation file, a latest changes file for users of previous versions, info on the Daedalus scripting language, and the complete source code.
• Needed runtime: Daedalus 2.3 uses the VC8 runtime library, specifically version 8.0.50727.4053 of Microsoft.VC80.CRT. Most systems already have this (getting it from Windows Update or related official sources). However, if running Daedalus gives an error like "this application has failed to start because the application configuration is incorrect" then this runtime needs to be installed manually.
• Daedalus 2.3 raw files: The same files as in the setup program above except in a simple zip archive.
• Download.com: Daedalus can also be downloaded from CNET's secure site.
• SourceForge.net: Daedalus can also be downloaded from the world's largest Open Source software development site.
• SoftSea.com: Daedalus can also be downloaded from SoftSea.

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