Seth Cooper Staff Lv 1
We're introducing a new puzzle today. It's also a new type of puzzle: one where you have to explore far from the starting structure. You've had a preview of this in the exploration map, and this map (Exploration Map in the Social tab) will be an important tool for these new puzzles.
Exploration Map
The exploration map shows a point for each protein structure you make: whether it's by pulling the structure, wiggling, shaking, or rebuilding. Each point has two values associated with it: the Foldit score and how different the protein is from the starting protein. This map shows the protein structure "landscape": the different types of shapes it can take, and the score Foldit gives each shape. You might be exploring a new region on the map that initially gives you a worse score, but by working hard in this new region, you may find the correct shape and get the highest score.
Many of you have probably noticed this in an intuitive sense: when we look at the top scorers for many puzzles, we see some of the most bold explorers: people who explore new regions, and then work hard to improve the score in these new regions.
In evolver puzzles, you start with a protein with some score. Before you get a ranking in the puzzle, you must improve the score. In these new exploration puzzles, you must change the protein significantly before you can get a ranking. Foldit also remembers the original structure, so your score won't count if you go back to a similar shape to the start. Keep in mind that for these exploration puzzles the red dot on the exploration map will represent the starting structure's score (even though you are unable to reach that score without changing the structure significantly).
Rosetta sometimes has problems exploring this landscape. We want to see if we can learn from human players how to explore more effectively. So be bold, be creative, and have fun!