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Do you guys read the whole stim and constraints before diagramming? or stim, then diagram, then constraints, then diagram?

I've never read a book that addressed this. My nerves always get me flustered, even on this decision!

cord wrote:Do you guys read the whole stim and constraints before diagramming? or stim, then diagram, then constraints, then diagram?

I've never read a book that addressed this. My nerves always get me flustered, even on this decision!

If you're talking about LR, use the search function, theirs a ton of threads on the topic.

You mentioned constraints though, which leads me to believe you're talking about LG? I list my elements as I read those, then once I understand the game type, I set up my diagram, then I diagram the rules as I read each one, altering and adding to my diagram as necessary. I think this is pretty standard.

yea im talkin about LG man..

cord wrote:yea im talkin about LG man..

Didn't read the post title, my mistake. Yeah, do it as you go, leaving the diagram (whatever way you do it) open for changes according to the constraints and any inferences you may make.

what do you mean by elements?

can you give me a step by step of your process?

cord wrote:what do you mean by elements?

can you give me a step by step of your process?

The elements are whatever you are grouping/ordering. H,I,J,K,L,M and N or whatever it happens to be. I'll list those basically as I read them. The stimulus and then maybe the first rule or two usually tell me what kind of game it is (the first rule could be something like "every one sings once, and never at the same time", telling me that I have standard ordering game), so I create my diagram accordingly. Then I diagram the rules as I read them. For something thats direct like "Andrew goes first", I would place that element (A) directly into the diagram. If it's something conditional, or just something that wouldn't go into my template easily, I just diagram it off to the side. Examples of these would be "If A goes third, B goes fourth" or "D and B are never in the same group".

Again, I think this is pretty standard, though I'm sure some do it differently. This is just what works for me. It's important to leave your diagram open to change though. Most of this stuff is covered in any prep material I've worked with (Powerscore, Manhattan, Velocity).

HTH.