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Re: [pbmserv-dev] Stymie enhancements



On Sat, Mar 06, 2004 at 06:08:56PM -0500, Randall Bart wrote:
> 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

How about...?

>        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

Which leads to

>        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

Or something....

-- 
 /  \__  | Richard Rognlie / Sendmail Ninja / Gamerz.NET Lackey
 \__/  \ | Work like you don't need the money    www.gamerz.net/~rrognlie
 /  \__/ | Love like you've never been hurt      <rrognlie at gamerz.net>
 \__/    | Dance like nobody's watching -- "Satchel" Paige