Comments by BobGreenwade

25. Poison. The Poison (or Poisoner, if you prefer) moves like a lame Knight -- it's a (1,2) move, but one of the intervening spaces must be vacant. However, it does not capture this way; it only captures by moving one space orthogonally (mnNcW).

Also, any piece that captures it is also captured, because the Poison is, well, piosonous. (I'm not sure this is programmable into the Interactive Diagrams.)

Like the Rope of a couple of weeks ago, this is for the chess/Clue hybrid I'm developing (once I get the board and one or two other issues figured out). Of weapons that don't appear in the original game, this one appears in the most expansions (including Clue: Master Detective and both VCR Clue games).

That's not the only place I'm likely to put this piece, either.

I think this game, while not quite ready to post as live, is ready for some third-party review. Some specific concerns on my end:

1. Is the text inconsistent anywhere (saying one thing in one spot, and another thing elsewhere)?
2. Is there an overreliance on Knight's leaps? (I probably could change some to Camels or Zebras.)
3. Is there a better name for the Healer?
4. Are the Healer, Crusader, Bongo, and Serval overpowered?
5. Is the Bodyguard's Hia power even possible in the Interactive Diagrams?
6. Also for the IDs, what should I do about Castling?
7. Will move diagrams be needed, or are the text descriptions enough?
8. Does the Satrap seem badly out of place here? Should it be replaced with something else? Any suggestions about what its replacement could be?

Also, a look at the (ostensibly) improved Sphinx:

I notice that you use LF in your piece descriptions, but CF when describing Castling. While they're functionally the same thing, you should choose one or the other (preferably CF; the L is rather going out of style).

Otherwise it looks like a fun set.

Bob , I wanted to say that the XBetza RA can be named by the sun god. That is a piece that moves as a rook or jumps 2 squares diagonally!

Ah, OK. I might be able to figure something out on that. (If nothing else, it'd make for an interesting counterpart to the Bede.)

I have the BZ present in one of my Grand apothecary games. There it is named Sangoma as Fergus has suggested to me.

At first blush, I was resistant to that, but since looking it up I actually like that name. I'll either change the Kuhani, or at least note the Sangoma name on the Thingiverse listing. (Sangoma might also be a good name for AZ, since an AN is a Hospitaller.)

Addendum: I just was pondering what would be good for a Gnu, and the range for that creature is southern Africa. That would be a good area for Zulu names like Sangoma (along with Umbusi and Indlovukazi). And that, of course, will lead to the central African okapi and the American (Salish) bison.

It's very nice seeing the Zebra compounds! I can use the Zebra/Rook for my Kuhani, and Zebra/Bishop for my Mtawala. I'll still need a Zebra/Queen for the Malkia, though (and a Camel/Queen for the Sultana would be a good sight).

Likewise, Zebrariders, Gnuriders, Bisonriders, and Buffaloriders are a "thing" (though I personally use them rarely).

Of course I have dozens of other pieces that I'd love to see symbols for, but asking for even a large share would be unreasonable. A couple that I would like to have, though, are the Bodyguard (from Hiashatar) and the Friend.

28. Walrus. This is a companion to the Dolphin, which moves three spaces orthogonally, and can leap to the second or third space if not capturing (it must slide to capture). The Walrus does that diagonally: B3mAmG.

The move is simple enough that I haven't bothered making a diagram for it, though I might if it's requested or recommended.

In building the appearance, I was surprised at how well the head came out. (The shaft needs a bit of tweaking, though.)

Yeah, I kind of have given up already on trying to do an Interactive Diagram with this -- not just for the Bodyguard's Hia power, but also for the Castling, and for all the promotions that happen.

What you say about the ordering of the lists is a good note. I'll work on that, and maybe the whole thing will seem clearer. What are you referring to by its "image," though? The symbol on a diagram, or what the piece itself would look like?

As for the Satrap, I think I'll go ahead and fix the move. (I blame Gilman himself for the confusion; too much cross-referencing without a bottom-line explanation just makes things harder.) This would make it, I think, mWmDcFcA... which, on second thought, would kind of call for a mFmAcWcD somewhere, so I may just dump the Satrap altogether for a Squirrel or something similarly circular. (I'll leave that part as-is until I decide.)

The unfortunate part of my experience with 3D printing is that I have a dual-extruder machine, and I'm used to using a specialty support filament that breaks away easily. I forget that others don't have that option. In the case of the Walrus, though, they looked a little fragile from the start, but it wasn't until the full-size picture appeared here that I could see how extremely fragile they'd be -- I'd worry about them even with that specialty filament.

Either way, by the time you'd posted the above, I'd managed to re-do the Walrus, with the problem addressed two different ways: the tusks are thicker, and they actually embed into the bezel so supports may not be needed.

The heat here in the northwestern US started to affect me pretty badly by the time I was done, which is why it took until this morning for me to post it up.

The Satrap is now replaced with the Squirrel; and I've rearranged the pieces on the list, the tables, and even the setup board so that rotary companions are together. I also added a few quick notes explaing some of the new pieces' names. Hopefully that makes things a little easier for you (and folks like you), Bn Em.

I almost went with a Turtle instead of the Squirrel, since the move (Q4AD) fits with the theme better; and I may still go that way even though there are already a lot of new and obscure pieces in this set.

Thanks! Embedding the tusks' tips into the bezel wasn't deliberate, but once I realized what it meant I decided to roll with it. :) I'm also applying that principle to re-molding my Sabertooth.

I meant the diagram image, so that it's easy to relate the Pieces section to the setup diagram (the listing of pieces helps too, but I always find it harder to deal with as it doesn't have as obvious a visual correspondence)

   Given that I use Musketeer Board Painter, that may be more easily said than done. Still, I can give it a shot.

Further improvements might include matching the order of promotees with their predecessors...

So basically, where the Hospitaller and Templar are the first promoting pieces on the starter list, the Healer and Crusader would be first on the First Promotions list?

That kinda is what the table is for, actually.

...and (if feasible) analysing the pieces' moves to find a more intuitive order...

Meaning, list the pieces (at least, in the first section) in order from least to most powerful? I think I can manage that.

On another note, do you happen to know of a mFmAcWcD piece? And that mNcAcD sounds like a fun possibility, if it has a mAmDcN to go with it.

31. Sultana. We've had the Caliph and Canvasser for a while, but I don't see any counterpart anywhere combining the Queen and Camel. Charles Gilman suggests calling it the Acme, but I prefer keeping with the Arabian/desert theme, so I propose Sultana (QC).

It's not often I find such a perfectly suitable icon on Board Painter for a piece, but the "crowned Camel" clearly has some background. I just happen to think that Sultana makes a bit more sense as a name than Crowned Camel or Acme.

The real challenge of this design was making it visually distinctive and recognizable from the back, so the player can easily tell what it is without turning it around. The "crown" has a curved crease along the back that hopefully will do the trick. And of course the gem does the same for the front.

OK, I'll look at what I can do for re-ordering the lists. I've also decided to go with the Turtle after all rather than the Squirrel, and the Turtle's longer move calls for a reworking of the layout order (and since I have to redo the diagram anyway, I might as well).

As for mFmAcWcD, if I'm having to work that out myself, I think I'd rather go for a Muslim (or pre-Muslim Persian) religious title. The names do tend to go secular one way, ecumenical the other.

Similarly, I'll try to come up with a couple if names for the mNcAcD and mAmDcN (probably animals, most likely an equine or feline for the first and a rodent for the second).

(Since none of these four pieces are for this game, and I've barely started work on the one that they are for, any further discussion of them probably should go on my own page.)

I'll try to simplify the discussion on Checking and Checkmate, among other things by putting it all in one place.

Just so you know, H.G., I haven't forgotten about this, and I hope to get to it some afternoon soon. I have a few other adjustments to make as well (among them yet another change in the Helepolis' move).

Is the Bodyguard's Hia power even possible in the Interactive Diagrams?

Unless H.G. adds it as a Spell (I don't think he has already?) I expect not without effectively doing the same yourself

Regarding this... my first-blush impression of the brake Spell was that this was what it was for, but on further examination it seems I was mistaken. Hia power would need a variation on brake.