Comments by BobGreenwade
PS: It occurs to me that, given the preceding, a Piececlopedia article on the Lancer might be in order. (I similarly see many applications of the Falcon besides my Falconer, including two versions of Shogi, also possibly warranting an article.)
Request withdrawn. :)
I've put in a diagram for the Lancer that I think is a bit clearer, and also added an optional power for the Wizard (under Options).
Does anything else seem confusing, unclear, or unbalanced? (Besides the creator, that is.)
Lev: With fully black/white versions of the Orda Chess Lancer?
If so, hold that thought for a bit; I've shot off an email to Musketeer about missing pieces.
I did hear back from someone at Musketeer, and was told that (1) at least some of what I suggested would be in the next release of Board Painter, and (2) a Version 2 was released some time ago.
I used the latter to find a reasonably satisfactory way to represent the Lancer. I've done the new graphics for the setup and Lancer move, and as soon as I'm done with this I'll upload and post them.
Is there anything else here I've missed, forgotten about, made worse, etc.?
The Terachess link is now corrected.
Is there anything else, or can the game be Indexed now?
Thanks right back at you, Jean-Louis, for your feedback and input.
Aquachess. One level underwater, one on the surface, and one in the sky, with many strange pieces. (3x(8x8), Cells: 192) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]I'm ready to have this one reviewed and commented on, to make sure that the piece movement is reasonable and the symbols are non-confusing before I make the movement diagrams.
For potential changes, I'm thinking of turning the Crab into a Crabrider, and limiting the distance that the Sphinx can move.
For most of the things I've thrown together, I've done some sort of calculations and/or careful comparisons to existing variants in an effort to keep things balanced. This is the only one that's mainly, as you say, "painting" boards with nice-looking pieces, so I'm not at all sure how balanced this is; I fear that I may have overpowered things, most significantly in the Air pieces.
I've actually never seen a copy of the Dragon Chess rules; this was more inspired by noticing a surprising number of pieces that are named for sea and air creatures. Learning of the Ship sealed the idea; coming across a Strato Chess set on Amazon (I had one when I was a kid) spawned the Air level.
I'd like to try this against an AI, but for some reason this old programmer is finding the idea of doing so rather overwhelming, and the sheer number of pieces in this is only a part of the reason. That said, any recommendations that would work for this one would be welcome.
Crab. Jumps as knight but only `narrow forwards' or `wide backwards'.[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]All this discussion on Crabriders, and all this time, and nobody thinks to even mention (much less post a diagram for) a more conventional Crabrider that just goes in a straight line like the Nightrider?
Aquachess. One level underwater, one on the surface, and one in the sky, with many strange pieces. (3x(8x8), Cells: 192) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]I'm going to give a shot to ID for Vanguard Chess, but I'm not sure how to do one for a 3D game like this one.
With as many pieces as I "borrowed" from other games here, I wonder if anyone else would want to "borrow" some of the pieces that I made up myself.
The Sparrow (oQcK) seems like the most likely, though the Jellyfish, Manta, and Seahorse all have their own interesting characteristics.
I could make a Note of it in the text, if I can figure out the (2D) Betza for those other three.
EDIT: I think I figured out the Seahorse as nN, and the Manta as B2caibW. For the Jellyfish, I'm not sure there's a way to write in Immobilizing with XBetza.
Vanguard Chess. Game on 16x16 board, with 48 pieces per player. (16x16, Cells: 256) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]I've added the point values for all 20 pieces (though admittedly an error or two may have crept in). I'll try to add the Betza notation (on the same table) at a later time.
Generic Chess Piece Creation System. This is a system for construction of pieces, using ideas from
RPG games.[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]I'm trying to figure out if trading places is represented anywhere on this list (for example, a Wizard that can trade places with any friendly piece sitting on a square that it can move to).
Aquachess. One level underwater, one on the surface, and one in the sky, with many strange pieces. (3x(8x8), Cells: 192) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]I only just realized (d'oh!) that the starting positions allow the Ravens to attack each other immediately, so some rearrangement is called for....
Vanguard Chess. Game on 16x16 board, with 48 pieces per player. (16x16, Cells: 256) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]I do think, though, that other than some minor tweaks, this game is ready to go.
(Unless, as I said previously, I missed or forgot an editorial note.)
Beast Chess. Replace conventional pieces with those that look like animals. (8x8, Cells: 64) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]I've switched up the beast pieces a couple of times to make sure things work right, but I think this is ready for the Index now.
Blender Chess. Bishops, Knights and Rooks can merge and separate. (8x8, Cells: 64) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]This is close to ready, but I could use some feedback on a couple of points:
1. Is the description clear on how pieces Merge and Separate?
2. Is there a better name for the Sorcerer?
Betza notation (extended). The powerful XBetza extension to Betza's funny notation.[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]I like the idea of using cc; it at least leaves that w open for something else. Listing my Hangman (captures by moving one space away) as ccK-bmK (or would that be bmK2?) is elegant.
On a different topic, is there a way to represent Immobilizing? I have a Jellyfish that Immobilizes anything within 1 square (though unlike the usual Immobilizer, it moves like a King).
Blender Chess. Bishops, Knights and Rooks can merge and separate. (8x8, Cells: 64) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]Yeah, QotN doesn't quite work for me. Like Amazonrider, it's a little too close to the name of an existing piece for my own comfort.
If all else fails, I probably will go with Elephant; that also has another application, though at least there's precedent for calling the QNN that.
Or... how about Virtuoso?
(It doesn't help that Piececlopedia doesn't have an article on the QNN, at least that I can find.)
Vanguard Chess. Game on 16x16 board, with 48 pieces per player. (16x16, Cells: 256) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating](Actually, I'm still considering giving the Wizard the ability to trade places with friendly pieces within its move.)
Blender Chess. Bishops, Knights and Rooks can merge and separate. (8x8, Cells: 64) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]I think, for now, and pending an editorial decision, I'll use Virtuoso.
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As far as I can tell, the Orda Chess Lancer almost is the historical use of the Lancer, not counting the theoretical problem-solving use.
I did find the Lancer in a few other games (Lancers Chess, 8-Piece Chess, and Full Cavalry; there probably are others) where the Lancer jumps any distance in a predetermined straight line, then turns to determine the direction of its next move. I also see Lancers with various other abilities in Pawn Shoji (which can truly be called the "historical" version), TigerChess, Wild Jokers, The Starbound Sliders, et al., none of which seem satisfactory to me. So, it's either a double-range Knight with an added 2-3 space capture-only slide, or the version from Orda Chess.