Comments by ChessShogi

Your using the wrong file for the diagram. For the morph trick to work, you need to use the betzaNew.js file.

You can also put in this code between the betzaNew call and the diagram definition to achieve the same effect without needing to change the Tokin's ID (also requires betzaNew.js):

<script>
function pieceTinker(m, d)
{
  piece = m[-6] & 511;
  if((piece == 1) && d == 0) { m[-1] = (m[-6] & 1024 | piece + promoOffset); return 2; }
}
</script>

I have made the edits I suggested and approved this page.

They're pretty close. However, if you want to stay true to the images I made, I should point out two things.

Firstly, you have three lines, indicating limited-range-5. Only the two outer-most of these lines are used for limited-range-4 in my reference piece for limited range.

Whenever a bulge transitions to a non-adjacent step, the border goes from straight to the rounded "hole" that indicates no move in  that direction. Take these images, for example:

Also, the piece list generated by the Interactive Diagram does not show the promotions. You have to enter those manually, like so (pieceType is the position of the piece in the list, starting at 1):

<ul>
<li onclick="ShowMoves(pieceType)">Insert HTML Here</li>
...
</ul>

Kirin (K) and Phoenix (P) have same IDs as King and Pawn, respectively, and the Dark Spirit adn Divine Sparrow have duplicate IDs (albeit with the latter having an exclamation-point prefix). For the former two, I think you meant KR and PH as in normal Kagamigi.

Also, the decision to have the Deva and Dark Spirit promote to something with the exact same move as its unpromoted counterpart is baffling to me. I know it very occasionally happens with Taikyoku Shogi, but there isn't really a reason to do this.

Hmmm...I guess you technically managed to make the page good enough to be approved without images. There's something you don't see every day. I am really on the fence here...

I guess I'll approve it and see what happens.

Oh...wait. Are there any restrictions on the directions you can jump Pawns in (apart from the Knight, whose directional restrictions are well-defined).

Already this is a much better submission than Black Swan (whose rules still do not answer a lot of the questions that I posted, and ended up giving me headaches, hence my lack of a reply thus far).

There is a typo, and a couple points that need clarifying.

All chess rulles apply, except for the promotion rules. 

Here "rulles" is misspelled.

If a King crosses into enemy territory it will get "dictatorial powers", meaning that the King will be allowed to move and capture twice in a row, provided it is not in check. 

This can be put before the line explaining the border between friendly and enemy territory. I think it flows better that way.

There's also a few points that need clarifying here:

• Is the second step optional? (I assume it is from the current wording)
• Can the two steps be made as a jump?
• Can the second step return to its starting square, even when this would skip a turn?
  • If it can skip a turn, are there any additional rules about turn skipping that we should be aware of?

Also, since there are Pawns starting one row back from the full row of Pawns, I must ask about the initial double step:

• If one of these Pawns lands on the starting square of another Pawn, can it still make a double step?

This and the original are interesting games (more so the original). However, I think a move that moves or jumps to the second square and then slides from that square in the same direction (jR/jB/jQ) would be much a more effective choice for the sliding moves. As it stands now, no single piece is capable of delivering checkmate with the help of its own King.

I meant an Interactive Diagram in the Setup section.

I guess now that I think about it, this is good enough for approval, considering that it is an army for CWDA rather than a standalone game.

@Fergus,

I think there should be a dedicated page for WIP pages (reviewwip.php or something similar), like the Review New Submissions page for Members-Only submissions, if there is not one already. Since it is now possible for a page to be either WIP (Authors-and-Editors-only) or Members-Only, this would make access to WIP pages easier. We can then have a link to the WIP page list on The Editor Page, or perhaps even on the homepage as well.

I believe the exclamation point does make for a distinct ID: DS vs !DS.

Distinct enough, I guess.

The Deva and Dark Spirit look much better now that they have their Maka Dai Dai moves.

I'll take another good look at this one tomorrow. It's getting pretty late for me right now, as of the writing of this Comment.

@Florin Lupusoru,

Please read this Comment all the way through, and wait until the end before judging.

Maybe it's just me, but I am struggling to see much of a difference between the last version and this one. While I do see a few improvements, the page largely looks unchanged.

The concept itself looks very promising, but the way the actual rules are worded makes them very unclear to me. Ideally, a Game page should be made so that the rules are easy to learn.

I think it would be highly beneficial for you to look at and study some of the published articles on this site to get a better idea of the standards that we have for our pages. The pages I have authored are a good place to start (e.g. Hectochess or Yangsi), as I have a good idea of what an approvable submission should look like in general, at least as far as Game pages and Preset pages are concerned. Your pages don't necessarily have to meet my level of quality to be approved. Your submission SPQR is already close to eligible, albeit still with a few kinks to work out in its current form, which I will eventually touch on in that thread. However, they need to do their job effectively and have at least some quality to them. This is something that all Editors on this site will generally agree on, so having a benchmark to follow will help.

P.S. I probably need to refine my review process as I just got Editor status last month. However, my points still stand.

I did already say that none of the seconded games qualify.

Does anyone want to second anything before the month is over? Of the games that have been nominated and seconded, each has problems.

@Fergus,

Perhaps some improvements, even minor ones, to the criteria could be made and/or are in order, if for no other reason than the fact that you said we were running out of eligible variants to be featured when you featured Hectochess.

One improvement we could easily make (which I vehemently recommend) is, for the computer program, replacing the preference for Zillions of Games with a preference for a free-to-play program.

SInce Zillions is a pay-to-play program (meaning it costs money), and you already have it and are accustomed to it, it is safe to say that the Zillions of Games requirement is a personal preference on your part. Unless you are a connoisseur in the types of games that Zillions is made for, you won't be likely to pick it up, especially with the price tag. It makes no sense to have a preference for a pay-to-play program for making to-be-featured Chess Variants when there are plenty of free-to-play options for doing the exact same thing, especially with the world in its current state.

If you want something with rule enforcement options, there are several options, such as ChessV, Ai Ai, Jocly, or Ludii. I would highly recommend listing H. G. Muller's Interactive Diagrams as well, as it is extremely flexible, and has become at least somewhat well-known and adopted by the site's contributors (for me this was a godsend). Each has its own advantages and drawbacks, but these would likely better serve as examples while having the preference as "a free-to-play program" in general.

Ok, this looks better. But I do have a few more things to ask here.

If a King gets "dictatorial powers" it will only be allowed to keep the enemy King at two squares distance.

This seems a bit redundant, unless you are trying to say that the King cannot use this power to deliver check. In that case, simply say that the dictatorial powers cannot deliver check.

Also, does the King lose these powers if if moves to its own half of the board?

If a Pawn reaches a promotion line and does not promote straigt away, it will have to advance to the next promotion line in order to be eligible again for promotion. 

If a Pawn reaches the last rank, is it required to promote? This would make a lot of sense, as it keeps you from accidentally leaving a Pawn as a "dead piece".

P.S. It seems that there are a couple of grammar issues here and there in your submissions. These shouldn't matter too much, as long as people can understand what you are saying.

If it helps any, try looking at Fergus Duniho's On Designing Good Chess Variants page.

An excellent experimental variant. Need I say any more about a concept so simple and brilliant that it works with any practically any board with an even number of ranks, and with odd numbers of ranks with some adjustment?

You are already listed as the author of this page.

This looks good as an extension of Chukaga (short for Chu Kagamigi like Chusei is for Chu Seireigi).

So close... However, a few things are worth mentioning. (Also, take notes for your other submission, Black Swan)

I. Kings and Dictators

Modest note:

"Crossing back into own territory will not make a King lose its "dictatorial powers"."

"Once a King becomes a Dictator it will remain a Dictator till the end of the game."

These sentences can be merged into one because they carry one sense.

Though so many paragraphs is not normal in my honest opinion, a blocks for each rule can be very useful for better finding the corresponding rule in the text, which is much more useful than correct visual looking.

Lev makes some good points here.

In particular, you could (and probably should) omit two sentences about Kings and Dictators and simply say that a King immediately promotes to Dictator when it crosses into enemy territory.

However, in doing so, you would need to make a separate image for the Dictator and ideally show it in the Pieces section, since it does not appear in the initial setup. Fortunately, the Musketeer Chess Board Painter (which you probably used when making the board image) lets you save the images in its image list. Simply save an appropriate-looking image and upload it to the page's directory, and you should be good.

It may also be helpful to mention that the second Dictator step cannot jump (per I understanding), to avoid confusion from Chu Shogi players, who may think the Dictator is equal to a royal Lion.

II. Paragraph Structure

This issue is way more prominent in Black Swan. It is okay to run sentences together sometimes. The point of a paragraph visually is to divide the text up so it doesn't look like one giant mass of text, making the text easier to read.

In this submission, this isn't a problem.

Redundant Sentences (My own observations)

One of the guidelines for approval is "Write clearly and briefly, so that you are quickly understood." Part of this is avoiding redundant sentences, especially if you could say the same thing by tweaking another sentence.

1. The same is true for the corresponding enemy Pawns.

2. The four Pawns on the third rank can still get a double move if they land on the fourth rank, the starting position of the 12 Pawns. 

The first sentence (1) is redundant, because it is generally understood that the rule applies to each player. To fix this you can replace the second sentence (2) in the Rules section the following:

"Pawns can still make a double move if they land on the starting square of another friendly Pawn."

This is simpler and doesn't depend on the rank number.

The King can also be called Emperor, without changing anything about the rules.

This sentence is unneccessary, and in fact counterproductive. In general, it is best to give pieces one distinct name and only refer to them by that name. However, in keeping with Roman terminology, you could call the King a Consul. (I am a bit of a history nerd, and recently watched Oversimplified's Punic Wars videos. Once this game is approved, I think I might favorite it.)

Man, I am absolutely loving the new Navigational panel on the Game Courier interface.

Only problem I can see is that it doesn't take into account the PHP flip variable in set files, which results in the second player seeing the pieces flipped in sets where image orientation matters, such as Shogi sets.

This looks good.

I think the double King step when not in check would have been an interesting idea though. But to be fair, its hard to do King promotions or enhancements well since the King is the target piece, and needs to be able to be checkmated for decisiveness in more traditional Chess games.

Now for Black Swan...

@Jean-Louis Cazaux,

I'm sure the Queen+Alibaba compound piece has been invented before. It's a simple enough piece that this is pretty much inevitable.

However, since this game is not part of your Cazaux family of games, the piece will not share the same name as your piece. However, I might rename the Queen in this game, since it is different enough from the Chess Queen that such a change would be beneficial.

As for your version of the piece, I think piece names work best when they are paired with a matching or appropriate symbol. The Medusa name would be ideal if you want to continue using the symbol you are using now.

François Houdebert managed to fix the Shogi Two Pawns bug (where a Tokin capture on a file allowed more than one Pawn to be dropped on that file) in his Jocly implementation of Seireigi.

@François Houdebert,

What did you do to fix that bug in the Seireigi implementation? Please let H. G. Muller know so we can get it fixed for Shogi and Mini Shogi, as both have the same bug. If you guys have already fixed it, we can ask Fergus to flush the server cache.

Also, if you guys decide to copy the Seireigi Shogi implementaton over to the Chess Variant Pages, I would prefer it to simply be named Seireigi for consistency reasons, but the current name works as well.