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Comments by ultimatecoolster
What I think would be a good rating system would be to have every user that wants to judge, including those that are competing, view every contest entry, and rate the entry on a scale of 1 to 10, in multiple categories, e.g. Creativity, Playability, Analytical Interest, and Overall Enjoyability. Those that score the highest amount of points in one category compared to others will be first, second highest second, etc. within that category. If prizes cannot be equal or someone thinks they should not be equal, I think the Overall category winner should receive the main prize. If a limited judge system is chosen, however, I would be happy to be one of the judges, as long as I don't come up with a ridiculous amount of entries first, as I did with the upcoming contest! ;)
This could be played Apocalypse-style, also, where the squares don't have an outline either.
This thread is for ideas for themed Chess variants. With Halloween just around the corner, I've been thinking of creating a Halloween-themed variant. Here are the pieces I have so far: Witch - Moves as Queen, but can jump any number of pieces and cannot capture. Can also turn adjacent pieces into Frogs (0,3 or 3,3 leapers) . Ghost - Moves to any empty square on the board and immobilizes adjacent pieces. Frankenstein's Monster / Zombie - Moves as Wazir, but can be revived after the captor leaves its square.
I'm thinking of a piece called a Headless Horseman, which would move as a Gryphon or Aanca, but cannot capture when moving 2 steps or more: m . m . m . m . . m . m m . m m . . m . m . m . m m m m x x x m . . . . x H x . m m m m x x x m . . m . m . m . . m . m m . m m I would estimate it to be worth about 7 Pawns. Does anyone have other value suggestions, with reasons or playtesting?
Perhaps I could do that, if it's only for one move. I'd have to playtest it.
I guess you're right, Joe. I just based my assumptions of capturing move values on a theoretical piece that moves as a Shogi Pawn, but can only capture, being more valuable than a piece that moves as a Shogi Pawn, but can only not capture. I'll try to have the correct value up.
It should be worth 6, I estimate, to apply the 12 (value of the Gryphon + Aanca)/ 9 (value of the Queen) ratio to the Keen, which is worth 4.5 . I have also come up with a new piece, the Unicorn, which moves as an Advancing Mao-rider. Does anyone know the value of an Advancer? I estimate it to be about 10 or 11, being more than a Queen because it takes 8 pieces to be able to fully defend a piece from it. A Mao is worth about 2.5, I think, so we can apply the 2.5 (Mao) / 3 (Knight) ratio to the Nightrider, which is worth about 5 or 6, to make 10 (a bit less than an Advancer, as it only attacks 4 squares) / 9 * 2.5 /3 * 5.5 = about 5, same as a Rook.
It would be nice to have a piece that moves 3, 4, or 5 squares orthogonally to make a nice diamond shape with the major pieces' combined movement diagram.
It is strange that the Horse is more powerful than the Chariot, and that there is only one of them, which would imbalance the game if you thought is was worth less. What are your justifications?
Zombie dropping does not count as a turn, and is automatic.
I've been thinking about this variant for a while: Fool Chess (not to be confused with Graeme Neatham's Fool's Chess) . It would incorporate all kinds of Fool, Jester, or similarly named piece in Chess variants. For example, it could have the Courier Chess Fool, which moves as a Wazir, the FIDE Chess Fool, which moves as a Bishop, and even the Jester from Jester Chess, which imitates the last moved enemy piece. Does anyone know of any other Fools?
Actually, I might try to 'combine' these pieces into a sort of average, or use all of them in one piece, like my Super Asian Chess Elephant. Imagine a new kind of Falcon, which moves N spaces backwards as a Hunter Falcon Falcon, then N spaces forwards as a Hunter Falcon Falcon, then repeats either of those, and can move in any order of the moves I've said, thus resembling a Sissa, but with a Falcon name also somewhat resembling a Falcon Chess Falcon. I hope that George Duke is OK with me using a multi-path piece named a Falcon in a variant without credit, although it is not the same piece.
And another combination piece!: The Lion, which is a WFDAN + Omnidirectional English Draughts King. It has the abilities of every piece bar the Crocodile from Congo, and whose range is the same as the Chu Shogi Lion!
In my variant, I could have the aforementioned falcon, a piece called a fool which moves as a Wazir or Renniassance Chess Duke, and an elephant which moves as a Wazir, then Alfil, or Alfil, then Wazir, or as a Waffle, which makes altogether a bent-path bonanza!
How about this Falcon? : Moves as Hunter Falcon Falcon , but after capturing moves at a 135 degree angle off of the piece. It is what Mats Winther would call bifurcating, and mimics the hunting style of a real falcon.
I don't know what to say, but that seems like a really weak piece, according to Betza's magic number. The awkwardness explodes exponentially, making it probably worth a maximum of 1/8 of a Pawn. Have you tested this piece? To quote David Paulowich, it strikes me as almost as bad an idea as the original Shatranj Elephant. Only worse. Much, much worse.
I'm thinking of making a 3-player variant with a piece called a Roc, which is a giant mythical bird thought to eat elephants.
Pat does not exist? I assume you forgot to translate stalemate, correct?
Yeah, I guess my old Falcon is more creative. I've never seen any piece other than a Sissa that is a multipath that can move an unlimited amount of spaces. You seem to have misunderstood my piece, which can only capture on the square it finishes its move on, but your version is great because then it can swoop like a real Falcon. Well, that leaves at one more piece for my next variant. I think it could be an Elephant (any ideas?) , and I could rename the Falcon as the Hawk, so to fit in nicely with a Seirawan chess set. ;) (And no, I'm not H. G. Muller.)
What I meant was moving without leaping in one kind of move N squares, then moving without leaping in another kind of move N squares. I don't think most of them count, because they simply repeat a short multipath move, and the others are leapers, which I view as moving one square at a time, 'hippogonally', 'dromegonally', etc. I'm sorry if I sound conceited. I am not trying to make my definition so narrow that I had to have an original piece.
Mein gott! I just got an idea! The 'OTHER HALF'ling! It does the moves that a regular piece can do that a Halfling cannot!
You are incorrect that the Gold General is the Japanese version of the Wazir and the Silver General is the Japanese version of the Ferz. The Gold General is the Japanese version of the Ferz and the Silver General is the Japanese version of the Alfil.
Where can a Cruiser plant mines? Also, your diagram for the Cruiser's movement is incorrect. The C needs to be shifted to the left or the m's to the right.
This post has been removed for excessive foul language.
To quote David Paulowich, it strikes me as almost as bad an idea as the original Shatranj Elephant. Here is was referring to the nonleaping Camel in Cardinal Super Chess. Combining with a nonleaping Zebra is like adding a Trebouchet to the Alfil. Both pieces are dreadfully awkward on the small board, but these lame Falcon components do not even have the tactical opening value that normal long leaping pieces have. The Falcon needs a larger board, just as a Camel and Zebra do. Unfortunately, this makes it incompatible with the Pawn and Knight. It's like fitting a round (multipath) piece in a square (riders/leapers) hole. Perhaps you should consider revising Falcon Chess.
With my new evaluation of George Duke's Falcon, I admit that my own (the multipath non-bifurcating one) is almost as weak, or even weaker. I am considering tweaking it to be able to 'fly' , i.e. pass any amount of pieces, so to make the board less cramped. Can anyone tell me if this would make it too powerful? I know that the Bison has a very high tactical value through forking and jumping over the enemy's Pawns in the opening. I would much appreciate it if someone could playtest my new Falcon, and my original Falcon (the multipath bifurcating one).
It's earlier in the thread. Here's how it moves: Moves a forward Bishop, then backward Rook, then forward Bishop, moving the same distance each step, without jumping. Can also move bR bR fB and all other combinations of two fB moves and 1 bR move, or two bR moves and 1 fB move, just like George Duke's Falcon, but moving unlimited and having the step directions restricted to the fB and bR moves. Also, it does not have to land on a piece to capture it. It simply has to step on it at the end of a fB or bR step. Note that this mimics the hunting style of a real falcon. There is a restriction, however, that it may only capture 1 piece in a turn. The alternative form can also move without being restricted by other pieces. If you can, implement in on the Falcon Chess board with one side having George Duke's Falcons, and one side having my Falcons replace his. An optional second test if my Falcons lose is to use the unrestricted version instead. Here is an example of when it moves 2 bR fB X bR. Starting position with lines showing how the Falcon will move. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . p . F . . . . . . | \ | . . . . . . | . | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Step by step: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 . F . . . . . . 3 2 1 . . . . . . 3 . 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ending position. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . F . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
By the way, to the editors: I cannot go past the last few items in comments. When I click Next 25 Items, it goes to different threads, like Zhou Xia. Can you fix this so I can see the earlier discussion? And is there any way of renaming a thread?
'This game is played on an 84-hex board.' Copying and pasting, eh? ;)
How about instead of having the Ninnies capture two squares, you give them the ability to move 90 degrees to the arrows on their current square? It would prevent them from getting trapped in the Fortresses. Other than the additional moves for the Ninnies and Fuddy-Duddies, this is an excellent Xiang Qi-like variant.
I meant in the way that it does not move at every step as indicated by the arrows. How about Ninnies that can move one step as indicated by the arrows, then one step 135 degrees to that, with the ability to pass a piece encountered on the first step? I admit it is rather awkward, though it accurately depicts the Xiang Qi Pawn's move.
I thought this was intended as a technically serious game, but I now understand it is not. In keeping with simplicity rather than trueness to Xiang Qi, I now endow this game with a rating of 10/10.
Is it not obvious by my initial description, e.g. Knobby Humanoid for Pawn?
I did suggest the board could be improved in the notes section. I am embarassed to ask this after my perhaps ill-taken comments on your similar game, but would you like to make the new board?
Although I do not know how powerful the Dreadnaught is, I think it would be more aesthetically pleasing if you had two, the second positioned in front of the first and the Fighter moved forward one space.
How about this Lion: moves without capturing as Squirrel, but captures by igui as King?
The board is perfect except the space in front of the King is forward instead of backward. Also, I said these pieces corresponded in no way to their Shogi counterparts. It was necessary to reverse the Silver and Gold to make an aesthetically pleasing arrow setup (1 2 3 4 4 3 2 1) , and because if I implemented it the normal way, the Silver would always be able to move sideways in the opening position, which it normally cannot do. I'll see if I can reverse it, if possible. Then again, you can always just put the Gold in the Silver's spot and vice versa. When I say rotated, it can be either way.
I just noticed: there is a blue and white line on the right side of the right Gold spaces.
Thanks for the board, Fergus. In regards to rotated pieces being more powerful: Isn't that the point? Golds are more powerful than Silvers in Shogi. The only problem is the Bishop being stronger than the Rook. Any suggestions?
Shhh, Kuyan! (or Judith, I don't know which is your given name and family name) It makes the King seem imbalanced if you say that!
Fergus: Yes, it is a 3D game. the boards are connected orthogonally by their centres and all other connections are implied from that. Triagonally means by using the non-standard diagonal (ND) also known as the 3D diagonal, or 'triagonal' as analogy with diagonal modifying 2 dimensions of location.
That's only correct for Pawns, actually, pieces only are changed (other than Xiang Qi Pawns' river promotion) if they were promoted in the game they are currently in. It would be interesting to see people wonder whether they should promote, though.
Does anyone know of any women that are fans of chess variants? The only one I know of is Christine Bagley-Jones. Web demographics say this site primarily is viewed by middle-aged men.
While the Ice Queen is somewhat creative, the other pieces I think you overuse in your variants.
This game is remarkably similar to my own Complete Permutation Hexagonal Chess.
How about the Anti-Cannon, which reverses the Xiang Qi Cannon's capturing and non-capturing moves?
Oh, darn! Did I recreate this topic as the name was being changed?
I don't understand why they can't move to adjacent squares. Is this supposed to make them on par with their non-zigzag counterparts? Also, you got my hopes up of someone using Ralph's Zigzags, which are the same as crooked pieces, but move two steps after each turn instead of one.
I'd like to see an (incorrectly or loosely) Ironic Chess. Anybody up?
Doesn't the board need to be one rank longer?
This isn't very Chess-like at all, and the Lions are an extreme kludge for holes in the board.
I mean doesn't it need to be one rank SHORTER? So Soldiers can't actually enter the river and there are two cells between them and their opponents, making it the same as Xiang Qi? I haven't tried out the Zillions implementation, because my computer is broken and I have had to use a public computer.
As I said before: Is this supposed to make them on par with their non-zigzag counterparts?
Actually, it could be longer if you wanted the board less crowded and still having the properties of an imaginary river, and you could push the Cannons forward, so they are 2 ranks in front of the Horses.
I admire that. Do you want to play a game with me on Game Courier?
I'm sorry. It was actually inspired by the Pancake piece.
There is one thing I don't like about this game, however. The Palace is smaller and the Mandarins weaker. Only one Mandarin is needed in the opening and middlegame, the other being restricted by the first, just serving as Cannon fodder. I realize there is no way to make a larger Palace and more powerful Mandarins without violating a regularly shaped Palace and the General and Mandarins occupying the lowest rank of it.
All this river talk is making me CV design hungry, actually. I want to create a game with the same real river as Christian Freeling's Congo. I'm open to collaboration! ;)
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It would be great if you could! Does anyone want to create another game with a River with me?
The board is not symmetrical. The only way to make it symmetrical would be to switch one of the Queens with one of the Kings. I have seen this mistake in many Chess variants that incorporate both Chessmen and Draughtsmen.
Thanks, but you did not get the Cavalry move correct. It moves as the Xiang Qi Elephant or the Xiang Qi Horse. You implemented it as a Moo.
Do you mean being able to move on the squares on the XQ side? That would ruin the magic of the river! :(
I hate rifle pieces. How about the Ranger moves as it does, but captures 2 or 3 orthogonally?
I hate Grand Chess. It's like having Rook connection spoon-fed to you and the Pawn promotion is terrible. It's called promotion for a reason. It's not called rescuing. And if you do have that rule, why make the Pawns able to check? They cannot consummate the capture. I understand that modifying you setup's Rooks will give an undefended Pawn, but please understand.
An additional rule: As soon as a piece can capture, it cannot move further. Otherwise interboard travel is unrestricted by the other side's pieces.
Added some clarifications for the Pawns' Dabbaba movement.
You are wrong. Although Xiang Qi has no freezable pieces, it has pieces that are bound to their own side of the board.
Another clarification: The Western side should go first, and the Cannons should turn into Grasshoppers as soon as they cross the River, and not after. This nullifies the quick attacks they can make in the opening.
It is, however, possible that the game is already balanced. Larry, you should run it on Zillions. Fergus: You should note that the Queens are only offensive Queens for Xiang Qi. They freeze when they cross the River.
It seems that it is very easy to recover from material loss.
I agree with Peter Aronson, regarding the power of a royal Knight. Does Joe Joyce have anything to say?
It looks a bit difficult to capture the Squirrel, with only the Crow and Pawn uncovered by its capture range.
This game is terrible. One can easily draw by moving pieces back and forth along the first and second rank, and if there they are blocked, it is draw by stalemate. The only way to win this game would be if stalemate were a loss.
It moves normally, with the River being non-existent when coming from the Eastern side, traveling until it is possible for it to go to one of the 4 squares surrounding a standard destination point, then goes into one of them, and continues its path as the new piece until the legal move of the new piece would be surpassed if it went farther. Is this clear?
The Knight is permitted to land in the 'Magic River' before translating, but can only temporarily be in the Magic River. The Magic River is not a rank for the Horse. Pieces cannot deeply penetrate except for Rooks/Chariots and Cannons. They turn into their counterparts immediately after crossing the Magic River. And the move can capture.
In my original version, Pawn promotion does work as such. I have not decided on the facing Kings rule. I will decide as soon as someone playtests my game without it and with it.
Cavalry occupying a Hill or Haven square may also be captured by a Standard using the normal Chess method of capture by replacement.
Why?
Why?
Why can't it capture Infantry in the Hills and Havens also?
This page needs a rewrite. I also keep seeing these: .--. |FF| |FD| .--.
Does anyone here think one of the pieces sounds edible?
I think they should be able to land there, but also be able to be captured by replacement. Why is there this distinction?
It is carrying the Diamond. It cannot drop the Diamond. I will have an ASCII diagram up soon. Thieves get a permanent promotion.
The reason you can take your own pieces is so you can anticipate if your opponent's capture was real, then recapture.
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