[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]

[pbmserv-dev] Stymie enhancements



After playing a few games of Stymie, I think it needs some enhancements.

1) Swap rule. I had thought that because the first move is single and the subsequent ones are double this game wouldn't need a swap rule. Though I moved first in game 107 and then lost, and Schep moved first in game 106 where I think I have finagled a victory, it looks to me like an octagon near the center is too good a start. Adding the swap rule would fix this.

2) I find the board a little hard to read. OTOH, the ConHex board looks really good. Cameron chose the format for displaying ConHex out of necessity, because you move on the vertices but fill the spaces, but it works well and looks good. A current Stymie board looks like this:

A B C D E F G H I J K

      ---   ---   ---   ---   ---   ---
     /   \ /   \ /   \ /   \ /   \ /   \
11  |     |     |     |     |     |     | 11
     \   / \   / \   / \   / \   / \   /
10    ---   ---   ---   ---   ---   ---   10
     /   \ /   \ /   \ /   \ /   \ /   \
 9  |     |     |     |  h  |  v  |     | 9
     \   / \   / \   / \   / \   / \   /
 8    --- h ---   --- h ---   --- v ---   8
     /   \ /   \ /   \ /   \ /   \ /   \
 7  |     |  h  |  v  |     |  H  |     | 7
     \   / \   / \   / \   / \   / \   /
 6    --- v --- h ---   ---   --- h ---   6
     /   \ /   \ /   \ /   \ /   \ /   \
 5  |     |  v  |  h  |     |  v  |     | 5
     \   / \   / \   / \   / \   / \   /
 4    ---   --- v --- h --- v ---   ---   4
     /   \ /   \ /   \ /   \ /   \ /   \
 3  |     |  v  |  h  |     |     |     | 3
     \   / \   / \   / \   / \   / \   /
 2    ---   ---   ---   ---   ---   ---   2
     /   \ /   \ /   \ /   \ /   \ /   \
 1  |     |     |     |     |     |     | 1
     \   / \   / \   / \   / \   / \   /
      ---   ---   ---   ---   ---   ---

A B C D E F G H I J K

I think it would be a lot better if it looked like this

A B C D E F G H I J K

      ---   ---   ---   ---   ---   ---
     /   \ /   \ /   \ /   \ /   \ /   \
11  |     |     |     |     |     |     | 11
     \   / \   / \   / \   / \   / \   /
10    ---   ---   ---   ---   ---   ---   10
     /   \ /   \ /   \ /---\ /|||\ /   \
 9  |     |     |     |-----|||||||     | 9
     \   /-\   / \   /-\---/ \|||/|\   /
 8    ---------   ---------   ---|||---   8
     /   \-/---\ /|||\-/   \ /---\|/   \
 7  |     |-----|||||||     |--H--|     | 7
     \   /|\---/-\|||/ \   / \---/-\   /
 6    ---|||---------   ---   ----H----   6
     /   \|/|||\-/---\ /   \ /|||\-/   \
 5  |     |||||||-----|     |||||||     | 5
     \   / \|||/|\---/-\   /|\|||/ \   /
 4    ---   ---|||---------|||---   ---   4
     /   \ /|||\|/---\-/   \|/   \ /   \
 3  |     |||||||-----|     |     |     | 3
     \   / \|||/ \---/ \   / \   / \   /
 2    ---   ---   ---   ---   ---   ---   2
     /   \ /   \ /   \ /   \ /   \ /   \
 1  |     |     |     |     |     |     | 1
     \   / \   / \   / \   / \   / \   /
      ---   ---   ---   ---   ---   ---

A B C D E F G H I J K

The Hs indicate the most recent move.
--
RB |\  Randall Bart
aa |/  admin@RandallBart.com  Home: 1-212-965-1786  Barticus@att.net
nr |\  Cell: 1-917-715-0831   I LOVE YOU  Work: 1-212-343-1234 x3016
dt ||\                 Mark Twain on War: http://twain-war.cotut.com
a   |/            Smart Greek Dude: http://aristarchus.brainthru.com
l   |\ DOT-HS-808-065          The Church Of The Unauthorized Truth:
l   |/ MS^7=6/28/107          http://yg.cotut.com mailto:s@cotut.com