Anomaly Tracker is a small R/Shiny app that helps you plan and track searches on a grid for the game The Entreprenauts.

You can:

• Create one or more “grids” (maps made of squares)
• Drop different “probes” on the grid
• Mark each drop as a hit or miss, with a direction
• See which cells are still possible

It’s meant as a simple helper tool for players, not an official product.

⚠️ Disclaimer

• This is an unofficial fan-made helper for The Entreprenauts. It is not affiliated with or endorsed by the creators of the game.
• A large part of this code was generated and refined using ChatGPT (OpenAI) and then adjusted by a human. Use at your own risk.

1. Install R and RStudio (if you haven’t already):
   You can download RStudio Desktop (which also links to R installation instructions) from https://posit.co/download/rstudio-desktop/.

2. Double-click the project file (for example entreprenauts_anomaly_tracker.Rproj) to open the folder in RStudio.

3. In the RStudio Console, run:

   # First time only:
   source("install_packages.R")

   This will install all required packages before you start the app the first time. Then:

   # Every time you want to start the app:
   library(shiny)
   runApp()

4. Your browser should open the Anomaly Tracker app.

If all of that works, you can stop reading here and just use the app. 🙂

• Search
  • Pick an active grid and a probe type (radius).
  • Enter coordinates by hand or click on the grid.
  • Mark the result as Hit or Miss, and (for hits) choose a direction (N, NE, E, …, Below).
  • The app shows:
    • How many candidate cells are left.
    • (Optional) a debug overlay to visualise constraints and candidate cells.
• ALBS window (sub-area search)
  • Restrict the search to a smaller square region (center + radius).
  • Turn ALBS on/off and see its status as a short text line.
• Grids
  • Create new grids with custom sizes (rows/columns).
  • Delete grids (with a check so you can’t delete the last one).
  • See an overview table: grid name, size, ALBS active or not, and remaining candidates.
• Move log
  • See a full history of your actions for the selected grid:
    • Drops, resets, undo steps
    • Coordinates, radius, hit/miss, direction, remaining cells, etc.
• Colours
  • Use a viridis-based colour scheme.
  • Randomise/shuffle colours with one click.
  • Customise colours for:
    • Possible / tested / hit / miss cells
    • ALBS outline, impossible cells, grid lines
  • See a small preview of all colour roles.
• Settings
  • Toggle debug overlay and drop markers.
  • Add or change named probe radii (e.g. “RudimentaryProbe”, “BasicProbe”, etc.).
• Help
  • Short in-app explanation with tips on how to use each tab.

You need:

• R (version 4.x or newer is recommended)
• RStudio (recommended, makes things much easier)
• These R packages:
  • shiny
  • dplyr
  • purrr
  • tibble
  • DT
  • viridisLite
  • shinyBS
  • shinyvalidate
  • ggplot2
  • Optional for development: reactlog

If you’re not familiar with R, use the helper script instead of installing packages one by one.

This project includes a helper script: install_packages.R. If you already ran the Quick Start steps above, you can skip this section.

1. Locate the project file in this folder, for example:
   entreprenauts_anomaly_tracker.Rproj

2. Double-click that file to open the project in RStudio.

3. In the RStudio Console, run:

   source("install_packages.R")

The script will:

• Check which required packages are missing.
• Install only the missing ones.
• Print a message when everything is ready.

You usually only need to do this once on a given computer.

Once the packages are installed (see Quick Start above):

1. Open the project by double-clicking the .Rproj file (if it’s not already open in RStudio).

2. In the RStudio Console, type:

   library(shiny)
   runApp()

3. Your default web browser should open the Anomaly Tracker app.

4. Use the tabs (Search, Grids, Move log, Colors, Settings, Help) to interact with it.

• ui.R
  Shiny user interface (tabs: Search, Grids, Move log, Colors, Settings, Help).

• server.R
  Server logic:

  • Manages grids and probes.
  • Applies ALBS constraints.
  • Records the move log.
  • Draws the grid plot and colour previews.

• global.R
  Shared helper functions and data structures:

  • Grid creation and normalisation.
  • Path generation helpers.
  • Colour handling.
  • State saving/loading.

• install_packages.R
  Helper script to install all required R packages with one command.

• my_grids_state_default.RDS (optional)
  Example or default starting state for grids and settings (if provided).

The app automatically saves its state to:

• my_grids_state.RDS (in the project folder)

This file is created/updated automatically when the app runs. If you’re using Git, it’s best treated as local state rather than a file to commit.

You can also:

• Export the current state as an .RDS file (from the Grids tab).
• Import a previously saved .RDS file to restore grids, probes, and colours.

If you run into bugs, have questions, or want to suggest improvements:

• Open a GitHub issue in this repository, or
• Reach out on the The Entreprenauts Discord and mention the Anomaly Tracker helper.