[ List Earliest Comments Only For Pages | Games | Rated Pages | Rated Games | Subjects of Discussion ]
Comments by RobertoLavieri
Kamikaze Mortal Shogi. Send your Kamikazes on suicide missions in this Shogi variant.[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]Nice graphics, Fergus!
Ultima. Game where each type of piece has a different capturing ability. Also called Baroque. (8x8, Cells: 64) (Recognized!)[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]Michael, I think the Leo is a good idea, but it is the need of diminish a little its power in this game. Unfortunatelly, Leo can conduct many stages of the openings with attack of pieces and checkmate threats, with an initial advantage for White. On possibility is that it moves like Queen, but limiting its action: it need an ADJACENT intervening piece for attack the next positions. I´ll try both of them in the next days. As it can be easely noted when you try the variant, FIDE-Queen is very powerful in Ultima, surprisingly it looks much more powerful here than in FIDE-Chess, and it is certainly more powerful than the Long-Leaper. Advancer is a little weaker, but LEO would be at least as powerful than the Queen. Peter: I have dowloaded the Rococo variants. I have not tried it yet, but I have the intuitive idea that the Archer is great for this game, but I have serious doubts about the Bird. Other thing: I have my own Gallactic Graphics and board for Rococo. I´ll send a copy to David and you, although Alfaerie are very nice too.
Rococo. A clear, aggressive Ultima variant on a 10x10 ring board. (10x10, Cells: 100) (Recognized!)[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]Peter, I have played a few quick games against Zillions. I´m greatly surprised of the Archer, it fits perfectly in the game and it adds new nice alternatives. i like it. As suspected, Birds are much more powerful than needed for the game, for this reason I prefer undoubtely the Rococo-Archer, more than the Bird-Archer and more than the original Rococo, this piece adds a lot to the game. It was not clear why two Long-Leapers in Rococo. With the Archer, one Long-Leaper is enough, and it is not necessary answer why. About Ultima, it looks fine with the Queen and the Advancer, but due the power of Queen the game play is notoriously different than in Ultima, I like it. I have not tried the Leo or the weak Leo yet, I´ll try to make a primitive code in the next days, and see what happens.
Michael: I have had the idea of trying some Optima pieces for Ultima, too, although it seemed natural the first try with the FIDE-Queen, due the fact that all the pieces in Ultima move as the Queen. The Advancer looks fine in conjunction with the Queen (really good, you can essay), but I disagree with the presence of Withdrawer, it is a weak piece that is difficult to manage for attack (or defense!) purposes. I´m not enterely disconform with the Coordinator, it is a weak piece, but it adds some interesting possibilities to tactics. If you can suggest sustitutes to Withdrawer and Coordinator, or to the combination Queen-Advancer, I can test them in the context of the game. The idea is a game that preserves ULTIMA´s essence, but with a rich, relatively clear, nice and beautiful game play, usually the primary good ideas are not enough, one can be only convinced (perhaps never at all, due the self-criticism that acts as an impulse of human beings, looking always for better things) after some careful play-testing. We are trying to offer alternatives for a consolidated game with peculiar fans, We have did some things that I think are good, but it is ever a hard work redefining a game looking for improvements, because it is not easy stablish clearly the colective criteria, and what things are the things that the majorities really want.
Peter, range-two Archers are particulary strong against Cannon-Pawns, its power limits a little the force of these pieces. Cannon-Pawns, originally thought as minor pieces, are not that in Rococo, they are, subjectively, almost as strong as some other pieces. With the Archer on the board, its power diminish enough that you can observe it clearly, but it should be sane. Range-one Archers are very weak, it is close the same thing than introduce a Withdrawer in Rococo, range-one Archers are only a bit more useful than a Withdrawer. I still support the range-two Archers, they fit very well in the game. But I´m inclined to add an additional rule: Archers can attack the King only if it is exactly two squares away. If not, Kings are very vulnerable to Archers in the ends of game. Exactly-two-squares-Archers can be tested too, its power must be in the middle of range-one and range-two Archers, but perhaps more close to the power of range-one Archers, I conjecture.
Ultimatum 
. Variant of Ultima that adds a FIDE-Queen and an Advancer in place of one Long-Leaper and one Chameleon.[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]The game goes very well with Advancer and Queen, but Withdrawer looks more weak in this game than in Ultima. Withdrawer is particularily useful in blocked positions, and the game tendence is to be open, but not as open as in Rococo. I want a Withdrawer´s sustitute, and I´m thinking in a one-Archer. Range-two Archer as proposed in the Rococo variant looks too powerful in this game (perhaps it is in Rococo too, it limits a lot the Cannon-Pawns action). Queen is very powerful in Ultimatum, more than Advancer, but the game is very playable and nice. Advancer is a relatively similar piece than Queen, and may be changed by another piece, but Í like the game play with the combination Queen-Advancer. I have made some tests with Queen-Cannons, but they are not good, the openings are, in most cases, forced by the action of the Cannon-Queen with checkmate threats. Have anyone some new ideas to be considered?. I dont want a game that one feel very far from Ultima(tum), so the selection of a Withdrawer sustitute is not easy, the range-one Archer is the best thing I have considered to the present. If I change the Advancer by another piece, I want a nice game play in combination with Queen. Difficult choice.
Symmetron! 44 . Most pieces move orthogonally or diagonally according to situation.[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]This is a competing entry to the 44 Squares Contest. But the list is not updated yet.
The game may be good, but I dislike a bit a powerful Archer, I prefer the weaker 1-Archer. Have you a ZRF available? (it is not necessary it is depured, little bugs can be fixed later, first the tests looking the better setup and calibrating pieces). I can make some tests on it. Have you tried ULTIMATUM (the last version, but the page has not been closed yet) and/or the proposed Rococo variant?. It is not easy give the best thing on this theme, but one can explore and take a look of the diverse ideas, good surprises arise every moment.
Mike, I played two games against Zillions, and I´m going to continue the tests in the next days. The game looks fine, but I´m still not convinced about the great power of Archer. Well, Shield is a good moderator, but Shield has some disadvantages when the game goes to ends with few pieces, it is difficult avoid drawn games in many instances (is it a disadvantage?, it depends on who is playing). The game play is nice, and really different than in Rococo, tactics are usually more elaborated, it has a very strange beauty. About a name, I suggest something around the Baroque music theme, what about BACH, FUGUE or LARGO-?
FUGUE : Nice and very adequated name!. Armony, power, strange beauty and brilliant complexity.
Contest to design a chess variant on 44 squares. Our annual N-squares chess variant design competition.[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]Have anyone noted that Symmetron!44 (Fourrière-Lavieri) is competing?. I can´t say it is going to win (other games in the contest are very good), but I think it is not so bad for being absolutely ignored. Please, actualize this page.
Symmetron! 44 . Most pieces move orthogonally or diagonally according to situation.[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]This is the 44 squares version of a game that has suffered a lot of modifications along a few months, Symmetron!, so the 44 squares game is defined and finished, but the big board game is still in the development phase. Once finished, we (Antoine and me) are expecting this game to be great and different. This big board version of the game may be a nice surprise; at least, I hope that.
Ludovic, Fergus: I have instaled fdshogi, last version, in two of three computers I have access (mine in house, and other two). I have had no problems with two computers with Windows 98 and Millenium installed, but I note the same message when I have tried to install it on the Windows XP, last version. I´m not sure what is wrong, perhaps some incompatibility, but I don´t know why.
Many Chess variants games with very powerful pieces or with pieces with great mobility show the problem of being very deep and calculations are not easy, usually the number of combinations grows in vertiginous manner, and one can´t see nothing a four or five moves ahead. Many of these games can be very nice in the game play, but cool tactics are the main attractive a player can find, being strategy a very difficult thing to think on. This is the reason of the need of 'buffer pieces', or 'catalizers', like immobilizers, shield or shielded pieces, reducers, etc, but not all the time the objective of give a more strategic game is reached. In this category may fit games like Ultima, Rococo, Dragonfly, Achernar, etc. Many of them may need an evolution, looking for augmenting the strategic value of the thought when these games are played. I´m re-thinking some Achernar aspects, the game is cool, but it is the need of many years playing this game for being capable of having some strategic ideas about it.
Game Courier Tournament #1. A multi-variant tournament played on Game Courier.[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]Four days remaining. SIGN UP!. Enjoy this Tournement with us!
Fugue . Based on Ultima and Rococo this game has pieces that capture in unusual ways.[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]I have tested this game and I find it really good. Personally, I prefer an Archer less powerful, but the game goes well with the selected pieces. At first view, the Shield may look as a piece that can´t fit well in the game, but once you have tried the game a couple of times, you like this piece, it acts a s a good balance to the attacking pieces, and the result is a game that is not as violent as Rococo, neither as defensive as Ultima, although the game tendence is still attack over defense, so it is much more close to Rococo than to Ultima. The openings are not irrelevant: some of them are very bad, others are good, but I have not detected openings that offer an absolute advantage to one team or the other if both are playing reasonably well, this game can develop an interesting openening theory, although openings can only prevent against quick strong attacks, you can´t say much about the results of the game because, as other games in this class, the game is very deep and strategy is a difficult task, and on the other hand, checkmate the King in this game is not so easy, King is a piece less vulnerable than in Rococo, due the presence of the Shield. Interesting game!.
Game Courier Tournament #1. A multi-variant tournament played on Game Courier.[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]Carlos Carlos, I think you can sign now. It is still one day and half left for closing the entering phase of the Tournement.
Maxima. Maxima is an interesting and exiting variant of Ultima, with new elements that make Maxima more clear and dynamic. (Cells: 76) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]The ongoing game against Tony, in the Courier System, is in an end of game that give me a doubt about rules, and it must clarified with the most logical solution. If one team is in Check, but it can win in one move by invasion of Palace, the invader team wins moving to the Goal square, because the objective is Checkmate the King or Invade the Palace with two pieces, so invasion to win removes the Check. But if candidate to invader is in a Checkmate position, it can´t remove the Checkmate invading the Goal Square remaining, because one of the objectives of the game, in this case Checkmating a King, was found at first, before the invasion.
This is not easy, and it seems to be unnecessary, though. I can´t classify 'Chess on a Longer Board...etc' as an Ultima variant.
Maxima. Maxima is an interesting and exiting variant of Ultima, with new elements that make Maxima more clear and dynamic. (Cells: 76) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]The actual implementation in Zillions uses the easiest 'Capture the King' rule, but it was made in this way because other conditions are more difficult to implement, due to some technical details. But officially, the object is 'Checkmate the King or Invade the Palace', and with this my intention was: 'the condition that occurs at first'. Now, some fine details must be resolved, and they are not immediately clear, like if you can reach a square to win with other non-royal piece being your King in Check, or not. My opinion is positive in this aspect, but if you are checkmated, one of the winning conditions have happened, and the game is over; but it is still another possibility: Can the King reach the second Goal square if the King is in check in this square?. I think yes, but a more difficult question: What about if the King is Checkmated when it reaches this square?. Perhaps the 'capture the King' rule, discarding checks or checkmates, as implemented in Zillions, is the easiest way to resolve it, but I dislike it, because I like the checks and checkmates, and I like the idea of the winning condition that happens at first.
Finally, I have decided that Mike Nelson proposal number one is reasonable for special ends in this game: 1.- You can win occuping the second goal square, inclusive if you are in Check: You have reached a win condition before the other, the object of the check was capture the King and end the game, regardless it never happens, but the move to the Goal have finished the game before the other win condition can be reached. 2.- If you are checkmated, and the other team can reach the second Goal square immediately after that, the checkmate is removed with the win condition of Palace invasion, the object of the Checkmate was capture the King in the next move, but it can´t happen, because the other team finished the game before that. 3.- You can reach the second square with your King inclusive if the move puts your King in Checkmate. This rules are consistent with the Zillions implementation, so there is not any problem!
FINAL REMARKS ABOUT SOME RARE SITUATIONS: This is all what must be said: You can´t make a move that puts or lets your King in check or checkmate, UNLESS this move is the invasion of the Royal Palace for immediately win the game. If one team has its King checkmated, but it can complete the invasion of the Goal squares in the immediate following move, this team can do that and win the game, due the fact that the Checkmate is a condition that allows a player capture the King in the next move, and this move can´t be played because the game is over after the invasion of both Goal Squares. This is the most logical way to resolve some conflicts in rare situations as mentioned. There are not rules changes, this is only an aclaratory in the rare cases explained.
I´m thinking on a strange variant of Chess: It is forbidden Check the enemy King. It is offensive, ignominious, and you can´t put the other King in Check or you lose. Start-up is the same as Chess, and all the pieces capture identically than in Chess, but with a new rule: once a piece has moved, another identical piec is created in the starting position of the piece that have been moved. You lose the game if you Check the enemy King, or if you are stalemated. I have not tested this variant for playability yet, so I don´t know how it works, but it should be interesting to see.
Fugue. Based on Ultima and Rococo this game has pieces that capture in unusual ways. (8x8, Cells: 64) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]George, I can´t undertand how you are able to measure the goodness of a Variant taking ratios of some things, or stablishing mathematical formulas for evaluate some characteristics. They are only measures and values that can´t indicate nothing really important is some cases, and in every case, the goodness is ever a subjective appretiation. What measures can I use to evaluate the quality of a music or an artistic paint?. My opinion can differ than others, and it is normal. How can I set values that allows me say, with some mathematical basis that a poem is good?. I like your poems on Falcon Chess, but I can´t figure how to say they are good because the ratio of some abstract numbers is 23/47.
First tests: Rule 2 makes the game endless in many cases: Pawns are not good pieces for this game. On the other hand, Contramatic exists, I have made a few tests with it, and I dislike the game play, but this is only my modest subjective opinion. Anti-Chess or something else around this idea: Rejected project, at least by my part, it was only an exploratory idea.
25 comments displayed
Permalink to the exact comments currently displayed.