This game knows you're cheating...

[theOtherGuy]

I've given up on a few levels. Decided to just cheat and look up a solution. I followed it to the button, even overlayed it on top and compared, and yet it fails for me.

Spacechem is watching you...

[theOtherGuy]

Nevermind. Has to do with weird timing. I stuck a pause right before where it was failing for me, and it worked (albeit I had to keep resuming it myself).

[iteration2]

Originally Posted by theOtherGuy

I've given up on a few levels. Decided to just cheat and look up a solution. I followed it to the button, even overlayed it on top and compared, and yet it fails for me.

Spacechem is watching you...

Out of curiosity, can you post an example? I'm not sure why pauses would fix anything, but there is one thing I can think of that can change the outcome of a reactor but NOT show up graphically in any way: Each bonder has a hidden priority. If multiple bonders are activated simultaneously, but an atom only has enough remaining valences for 1 of the bonders to create a bond, the game will always prioritize one bonder over another.

Sometimes this is crucial for the reactor to work correctly, but there's no way to visibly tell which one has priority. If this seems like it might be the problem, try shuffling the bonders around.

[PieceOfMind]

The only other time a pause might change anything is in one of the missions that allow you to use control switches, and the timing of the opening/closing of those switches can be the difference between success and failure.

[hellion9999]

I've tried about 13 solutions for "Slightly different 1 - 2",
NONE of them work.
It just tells me "Reaction error".
Talk about encouraging me to use a save game, I'm trying to figure out how to actually play this game first.

[PieceOfMind]

Originally Posted by hellion9999

I've tried about 13 solutions for "Slightly different 1 - 2",
NONE of them work.
It just tells me "Reaction error".
Talk about encouraging me to use a save game, I'm trying to figure out how to actually play this game first.

If you can post a pic of your solution, we'll be able to help you figure out what's going wrong.

[Whiplashr]

Originally Posted by hellion9999

I've tried about 13 solutions for "Slightly different 1 - 2",
NONE of them work.
It just tells me "Reaction error".
Talk about encouraging me to use a save game, I'm trying to figure out how to actually play this game first.

Now really... who's encouraging you to use a savegame? That's a wholly unfair statement. Just because you can't find proper solutions..

This is the first game I find it a pity for people to rush through in this manner.. even though I freely admit it took me several hours to get through to the point of the achievement. But I was really loving the hell out of this game, and found those early levels really helped prepare me for later.

They seemed so hard at first.. now any of the first two worlds those puzzles are so damn easy.

[PieceOfMind]

Originally Posted by hellion9999

I've tried about 13 solutions for "Slightly different 1 - 2",
NONE of them work.
It just tells me "Reaction error".
Talk about encouraging me to use a save game, I'm trying to figure out how to actually play this game first.

Here's a solution you could copy, if you must:
http://spacechem.net/solution/slightly-different/28499

I'm not sure what's going wrong for you but I'd suggest that you make sure that every single symbol and what's on each symbol are the same. For example, for the output sybmols, it's important to have the correct omega or phi selected. Omega is the one that looks like a 'w'. Phi sort of looks like a pitchfork. To select the correct thing on the symbol, sometimes you have to right-click the symbol.

If it's still not working, just watch the reaction and see if you can tell what's messing up.

Finally, as I suggested before, post a pic and we'll be able to help you straight away.

[Whiplashr]

Yes I'd bet that the problem he's having with solutions is likely to be input/output that uses non standard (to it's color) channel. That's the most common mistake I can think of when copying a solution. And things like Bond+ vs Bond-, etc.