[ List Earliest Comments Only For Pages | Games | Rated Pages | Rated Games | Subjects of Discussion ]
Comments by JamesSpratt
Chess for Three
. Traditional pieces, three players, on a triangular board.[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]James Spratt is posting Yaron Gvili, programmer of the original Chess for Three Game, comments re the new triangular version: >>>Dear James, Thank you for your email. Your chess work is interesting and looks very professional. My connection to chess for three started about 7 or 8 years ago. I implemented it as a student, and as an active chess player. The game itself is a patent by Jersy Luberda from Poland. I will address the game in several manners. First, as a piece of art, it looks very nice, especially due to the closeness to regular chess. Second, the geometry of the board is clean. Note that the Polish chess for three has a 'hole' in the middle of the board, whereas your board is complete. However, the back rows of the polish game are easier to grasp. The pawns are far more powerful in your version of the game than the polish one, as well as the sliding pieces. Third, the winning goal of your game is different than the polish one. A player's strategy in your game would be to survive first and only then to attack other sides. When two players battle, the third one can wait and stay strong for the final attack. The polish game takes a different approach. The first king that is captured ends the game, and the winning side is te one who captured him. Therefore, each player must defend 3 kings and attack 2. This seems to create more opportunity for complications in the development of the game. I wish you all the best and good luck with your game. I would be happy to hear if there is interest in your chess variants. Sincerely, Yaron.<<<
Rules of Chess: The 50 moves rule. Answer to a frequently asked question on the rules of chess.[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]Hi, Hans: My comment is about the 'MAJON' award entry on Chessvariants' Awards page. In my opinion, that particular award should be disavowed and the link dropped. To pay money for an award I believe is undignified, and in your innocence you are providing this obviously greedy, predatory outfit with access to your constituents. I'd call their link 'spam;' their first priority seems to be money, not chess, and I don't believe that their admiration of this wonderful website is sincere, particularly if they're charging for it. If I read your own comments correctly, you've had your own doubts about them, and unless they are providing some useful service for Chessvariants, I'd drop them. Sincerely, James Killian Spratt, m.sc.
Navia Dratp Photos. Actual photos of this soon-to-be released game![All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]Since I haven't played this game, I don't feel qualified to rate it, although it appears to have excellent potential. It's a lovely figure of (the heroine?), a very intriguing package, and the dungeon-like promo pic is just right. I wouldn't mind seeing close-ups of the little sculpted pieces, and explanations of what they do. If you've gone to full injection-casting production, I wish you the best of luck. James Killian Spratt, m.sc.
Hi, Matt: I hope you can assure that the rare, powerful pieces really remain 'randomly' distributed; if anyone finds out they can be simply bought for a premium price, you'll kill the lower 90% of your market very quickly--kids who aren't rich, and I think the real prize pieces should remain luck of the draw. Just a thot, and again, good luck. James Spratt
Dear Editors: I have tried repeatedly to access the form to issue an open invitation to play a game, and keep being sent to a Yahoo window; my initial reaction to seeing that was 'Uh-oh, there goes the neighborhood.' How did a distinguished outfit like Chessvariants get mixed up with a cookie-monster like Yahoo?
I really like the new 'Printer-Friendly' element in the Game Courier displays. It's nice to be able to get printed pix of loaded situations in the games, and particularly pleasing for me to be able to capture my heavy investments in graphics in Imperial and Jetan-Sarang. Great touch! Fergus, is that some of your doing? EXCELLENT! James Spratt
Who has played Flying Chess, and is it any good? Gushy compliments to its 'truly visionary' inventor are not overly convincing, and smack of the fan-club toadying to the guru. The good Doctor may be a visionary, but I'd prefer to figure that out for myself based on the merits of what he has envisioned and, more importantly, how much others can enjoy it. Your enthusiasm is admirable, but the object here is chess variant games, not personalities.
Flying Chess. Some pieces can fly. (2x(8x8), Cells: 128) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]I'm inclined to give Dr. Eltis the benefit of the doubt. It sounds like a pretty neat game, and a new innovation, and the name is quite catchy. If it's got a few bugs, like Roberto says, this would be a great place to work them out, if it could be fielded here, technically, that is. There's a lot of clever, skilful people around here who've been a huge help to me.
Well, I think the whole issue of 'Flying Chess,' good game or bad, has been introduced in a very irregular manner, and is becoming a silly nuisance. Unless someone feels it important to go chase Dr. Eltis down and get the truth, or better, would the REAL Dr. David Eltis please step forward, I think the whole thing should be ignored. I'm not inclined to play stupid tag, or humor one who is playing too coy to speak for his own product.
Index page of The Chess Variant Pages. Our main index page.[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]Being able to view logs of all past and ongoing matches of particular games via the new links is a nice touch. Good going, David and Fergus, it's a very desirable feature.
I'd just like to give David Short a big slap on the back for coming up with Double Chess. It is a GREAT chessgame. Where's th' rating box? How 'bout I just type in EXCELLENT!!?
Double Chess 16 x 8. On 16 by 8 board. (16x8, Cells: 128) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating] Spherical chess. Sides of the board are considered to be connected to form a sphere. (8x8, Cells: 64) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]I like the idea of spherical chess; I visualize 'globular chess.' Is there a graphic representation of a board (globe?) somewhere, showing shape of cells, etc.? Seems like magnetic--steel globe with little magnets in bases of pieces would work, and you'd have to be able to rotate the globe. Paint it up like Earth and play out some ominous metaphors.
Buongiorno, Roberto: What's the story on Bobby Fischer, anyway? (Sorry if I'm a little behind the times.)
Thanks, Roberto. I did some googling around myself on the matter, and am having trouble getting my head around the phrase 'wanted for playing a chess-match...'
Well, I hope they let him go to Iceland and be happy. I think nations and their evil, self-serving rules should go, anyway, but I guess some ambitious, pit-bull prosecutorial bureaucrat wants a promotion by busting a high-profile target, 'outwitting' the really, really smart guy with handcuffs and pistolpoint. I'm not impressed. As a chess champion, Fischer is a symbolic dominator, not a real one; the eternal struggle--the brain versus the mailed fist. I suspect he KNOWS what he's doing, always has, and I'll bet he's not stuck for chess partners, even in jail.
The Game of Three Friends. A variant on Chinese Chess for three players. (Cells: 135) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]Hi, Sean. How about the human politics during play? Do two weak players gang up on the strongest? I've found that typical in Chess for Three.
Hi, Fergus. (How ya been?) I just spotted your new Game Courier Ratings files, wherein CVP participants are rated by win percentiles. Although I hadn't really been keeping track, and now see that I should probably try a little harder (ennnnnhhh--), I do find it to be an interesting addition to CVP, and it IS nice to be taken seriously, whether I deserve it or not.
I'm unable to get an invitation to post in the Waiting Room. Is there a direct internal CVP link from the presets to the Waiting Room that bypasses Yahoo? Yahoo uses cookies, which are a vector for dataminers and other obnoxious, intrusive vermin; I have cookies blocked for that reason, and will not unblock them. In my understanding of your written rules in the User's Guide, an open invitation defaults to the CV Waiting Room, but doesn't seem to be doing so. How do I get an invitation from a preset to post in the Waiting Room without unblocking cookies or joining Yahoo. If anyone would like to play DOUBLE CHESS by David Short, and would feel up to posting an invitation, I'd sure take him or her up on it. We thank'ee.
Hi, Fergus: Thanks for trying to clarify the invitation process for me; I'm now reminded of the difference between the Waiting Room and the Yahoo Group. BUT, I'm still unable to post an Open invitation in the Waiting Room list. If my invitation shows up at the Yahoo Group as well as the Waiting Room, that's fine, but it's clear that the Yahoo Group will not pass the invitation on back to the CVP Waiting Room unless I join their group, which requires enabling cookies, which I won't do, and my invitations aren't showing up at either place. It sure looks to me like Yahoo is standing in the way. The Invitation boxes at the Presets have a box where you can enter 'Opponent's Email or UserID'; what's wrong with putting a link direct to the CVP Waiting Room in the drop-down selection there, thereby leaving Yahoo out of the loop altogether? I don't like outfits that INSIST on using cookies, which enable many intrusions on privacy and which convenience strangers' unstated ulterior motives, a common theme these days. What am I missing here? Seems that we had this same discussion a while back, and I don't recall ever straightening it out.
Hi, Fergus: Well, at first I concluded after your last that I had a browser setting wrong or the wrong plug-in disabled, but I went back to the Double-Chess (Short) Preset, as a control, and tried again. Again I got the notice that 'no invitation sent...', so, jaw in hand, scrolled back up and noticed that the 'Opponent's Email or UserID' box, which I had left empty as per instructions below, had been filled in by the default you mentioned, so I hit the Submit button again, and LO, it worked. I went hunting the CVPages to see if my invitation had gotten posted anywhere, and found it on the Open Invitations page--the format looks like the active logs--and in the active logs (the Moves page), but could not locate the Waiting Room page, which had previously had two highlit boxes saying 'Accept This Invitation' and 'Remove This Invitation,' respectively. Is the 'Waiting Room' a thing of the past by that name? SO, it seems to be working, and again, thanks. BTW, the invitation's for real, even though it was a test; I'll play two games of Double Chess.
Got it. In the words of the great Larry Smith, 'Okey-dokey.' Nyuk-nyuk!
It's not evil twins, it's evil QUADRUPLETS!!! **Cackle!!**
Hi, Fergus. I've got a little problem, which is my fault: in Double Chess game no. david_64-whittlin-2006-30-580, in my last move it seems that I neglected to 'send' after verifying the move, and clicking on the game in the logs would not permit me to pick it back up. (Sorry, David!) Furthermore, to clean up my email Inbox, I had deleted all my former moves, and can't go back to one. What should I do to get my move back? Thanks, James
Hi, David: Looks like that took care of it. I'd forgotten that trick; sorry to be so slack, and thanks.
Sh-SHAY, Roberto!!! *hic!* Th-THAT sh-shoundsh like a WI- *hic!* WINNER!! B-but Ah'll B-BETCHA we *hic!* cudnen--cudddnnn--*hic!*--CUDDENT play it HERE!! F-F-FERGUSH wud SHMACK ush!! *hic!* WOONCHOO, F-Fergush??!!?? SSHAY, you call that a Q-Q-QUEEN??!!?? I thought*hic!*hic!!* QUEENZHZH wur s'pose ta be sh-*hic!* sheckshy!!!.... (THUMP!)
No-o-o-o-o, F-Fergush--*hic*--I DON' wanna play basheball with YOU!! *hic* (S-Shaint Paddy'll GITCHOO fer that..) *shnicker!!* *hic!* Oh, hey, I was at the foundry not long ago and saw a set of Alice-in-Wonderland chess pieces being cast, and thought how splendid to use for Alice Chess. (That's all I need, another inspiration! BUT...) And yeah, I'm still working on the Paladin pieces, AND Sarang pieces, AND...
Bishops
. Commercial four-player game.[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]I think 'feminized' pieces, or entire teams, even, are a pretty cool idea, and in keeping with the open-minded spirit of our times. I've had people ask me for just the female counterparts to make a whole female side for my Jetan-Sarang sets (there's a link to the graphics etc. in the alphabetical index under Je), so that one side would be all females. I made counterparts for all the male pieces, naming them by just dropping the final consonant on the male names, and empowering them with slightly different but similar moves, e.g., Than (male) moves two orthogonally, and Tha (female) moves one OR two orthogonally, based on the theory that male and female have different survival strategies which average to equal in the long run. Panthan (male pawn) does not move straight backward, but Pantha (female pawn) does, with no loss of face; we understand the differences and forgive them, y'see. Girls have one bag of tricks to help them get through life, and guys another, different set of assets, and that's that. The overlap is that we're all playing the same game, which you might call 'Seeking Pleasure and Avoiding Pain,' or 'Stiff-Arming the Reaper'. As long as we remember it's a game, vive les differences, sez I, and anyone who gets hot about gender issues can take it somewhere else, as far as I'm concerned; I don't see it as a war that anyone wins. Pink works well with black, white and gray; four good connotations to counterpoise--happiness, evil, purity and doubt.
Introducing Economy in CV's?. Several chess variants based on economic principles.[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]Stock? Board? Bank? Doesn't sound very chessy to me... War's more fun. (Hey, call me simple, I don't mind...nyuk...)
Bishops. Commercial four-player game.[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]Hi, Gary: I think I know what you mean with the 'pink' business. Someone wanted me to do some doll-heads, hands, etc., and after seeing the doll-show, it dawned on me that they're overdoing their gender roles, in the same way macho tough-guys overdo theirs, and I feel some revulsion for it, sort of like they're trying too hard to be what they have no choice about anyway. Thanks for the kudos on Sarang; I put a lot of work into that whole thing, and still am. I think I'm still in a couple of games of it here, too, if someone would make a MOVE!(Yeah, I know it's new and tricky..) Big Suzie sez she's decided not to beat you up after all, you MCP you...(har-de-har-har!)
I filed for a copyright for my Chess for Three game, and it was returned 'Denied.' The explanation was that since the board is a geometric shape, it can't be copyrighted (as opposed to other board-games whose boards contain artistic graphics,like, say, Risk or Monopoly) the precise text of any particular version of a rules page can be copyrighted, although its intellectual content can't, and the sculptural patterns of the pieces physically produced in 3d can, although their moves cannot. I don't see anything wrong with just giving something to the world once in a while; share the joy!
Just an observation on how the page-changes at the comments lists are defined: I note that 'previous' comments are actually the newer ones, and that going from old to new comments seems backwards, and it seems to me that this might be confusing to newcomers. What would be wrong with 'Newest Comments' and 'Previous Comments?'
'Any up to four pieces within a 'box' formed by any four cells may move in concert with the seniormost piece--the 'leader'--moving as he does in his normal move and landing in the same position relative to him at the end of the move. Only the 'leader' must be clear to move, and the others travel under his auspices for that move.' I call it the Squad Move, and I think it's a lot of fun. If properly done it enables compound captures and sudden, nasty surprises. It works well in Imperial and Jetan-Sarang, but I think those games have so many unknown pieces in them that many people are hesitant to try them, so how 'bout in a game everyone knows already? Would anyone like to try it with standard Chess, or maybe Double Chess? We'll have to find a preset that doesn't enforce rules. Any takers?
Alfaerie Variant Chess Graphics. Set of chess variant graphics based on Eric Bentzen's Chess Alpha font.[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]Agreed! Clear, sharp and well-employed at CVP, hence familiar and easy to use. The only thing I'd alter about any of them is the 'added-on' look of some of the adaptations of the knight/horse's head; it would help to break the outline of the horse in a place or two to make it look like it was designed a-purpose to be a Cavalier or whatever else. But maybe that's just fuss-budget Meester Arteeste's problem, nyuk-nyuk.
Jetan Variant Graphics. James Spratt's graphics for Jetan variant Game Courier presets.[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]Thanks, Joe. Yeah, you do get kind of fond of a few of those little Barsoomians, especially some of the little Barsoomianettes. I think ERB would approve, and am glad you do, too. I like highly-detailed graphic icons, although I realize they're not essential to play. Tony put up several presets for Jetan a while back, and we rassled with the colors for a black-and-orange board with black-and-orange figures as an alternate board (which really should be the official first preset) and, although it's not filled out yet, I think it's stunning. It's there in the Alphabetical Index under Jetan presets. The mapboard is a real 2' x 3' board I made for the 4-inch sculpted set, painted as a map of ERB's Mars. If you mean adding more decorative Mars-Art graphics, I might do some around the border sometime, kinda low-key so's not to distract. Thanks again for the positive rating, too!
I just moved twenty-seven pieces in one legal move. Twenty-seven. Twenty...Seven. WHUMP! and they're out there. (Jetan-Jeddara on GC. Now Tony's gonna whip my butt. Maybe.)
Four Handed Chess (I). Information on different variants of four handed chess on plus-shaped board.[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]I made a three-player game a while back, and the same things apply as to any more-than-two-player game--the King need not respond to 'check' (it may not be his TURN next,) the King may go 'suicidal,' (interpersonal play ALWAYS causes weaker players to gang up on a strong one, and you might trust the following player not to take advantage of your King's exposed condition,) and the pieces of a 'dead' King must be dealt with somehow. It hadn't occurred to me to remove the dead King's pieces; I decided to let them remain as obstacles, capturable at leisure as required by the surviving players (on a real table it's fun to have a bigger stack of 'prisoners',) and actually your 'pandemonium' which ensues by removing the dead King's pieces would be quite exciting, and in a way, for him, a revenge from the grave. 'Kill ME, huh?! Well, here's some confusion for ya, ya dogs!' What fun. Good idea and thanks for it.
Hi, Roberto: That Puerto Rico game sounds very interesting; is the metaphor based upon a new land to be plundered/'developed,' and how do the end-games tend to run? I mean, is it zero-sum, like winner-take-all, or could it leave two players in balance? I wonder if it's in stores around here (NC/USA).
Aw-w, c'mon, guys; de gustibus non disputandum est.
Hi, Roberto: Thanks for all the info on 'Puerto Rico.' I can see why the American market might be slow to pick it up-- but then that may be from ignorance of it, not sensitivity. Maybe I'll see if Walmart's got it:-) 'Evolver' sounds a lot like 'REvolver,' and with such a powerful program I'd want to know for sure which way it's pointed before hooking into it; with my none-too-sophisticated user skills, maybe I'd better google around on it some more.
Well, y'know, we can all get hot sometimes about things we care about; welcome to humanity. Shucks, now I'll have to take back all the rotten things I said about you to my cat. That's so sad because it confuses him, and when he gets confused he's hard to deal with; he already thinks I'm a sap. (smilie)
Roberto, I went to the local Walmart store, which is the biggest department store in this town and on earth, I'm told, and was advised that they do not carry the Puerto Rico game, which is the #1 game on earth. I find that to be very odd, wonder why, and now am even more curious about it. (This particular store brings in so much money that the city police department put a branch office in the building; states are actually altering their laws to accommodate the chain, I hear.) Veritas semper vincit, doesn't it?
Hi, Joe; interesting, my brother's VOMA Greensboro, finishing out 30; didn't want to go management because he likes his soul too much. Kitty says he's allergic to you, too; three dogs! Fer shame.. Dogs have masters, cats have staff. Hey, how 'bout a 'Postal Chess' variant? Lessee, pieces are the Inspector, Supervisor, Letter Carrier, Mailbox Lurker, Mean Dog and Wild-Eyed-Laid-Off-Just-Divorced-Guy-With-An-AK.
Well, hey, Larry--SHAZAM!! Bullseye! POIFICK! I couldn't have come up with a better move for him myself! (Hey, I've used some of the moves you came up with in the Jeddara game; Tony's not quite up to dealing with Warlord yet, but we'll cross that bridge, too. Someday. I hope and 'speck.) There's another 'Postal' piece, too, called the 'Franker.' He's the guy who runs the automatic franking machine when the congressional mail comes through--5000 pieces of letter-size not-quite-cardstock rocketing through a little ditch in a stainless steel table at nine hundred and seventeen miles an hour, and one corner of one gets folded and hung on the little wheelie-thing and in seven nano-seconds the whole batch is 5000 little greasy paper accordians that you can't throw in the trash where they belong; the lucky recipients of these mangled missives will wonder if it's some kind of joke. The Franker gets to straighten these pontifical pennings out, one by one, after disassembling the hunnertandeightyseven-piece mechanism in order to extricate the last two thousand and twelve, which have become compressed into a block of the most incredibly strong material known to man, separable only by exacto and microscope. I am open to input on precisely what the Franker does when this delightful event occurs. Blow in place, maybe. Go Supervisor hunting sounds likely. Head for the nearest bar. Stack up three or four more 5000-packs and see if you can blow the jam free with Overdrive. I dunno. I'm too close to the problem--y'see, it was part of an earlier, checkered life, in nightmares of which I still awaken, trembling, drenched with sweat, in the wee, still hours.
Hi, Joe: A good size for Postal Chess might be 12 x 12, with a limit of maybe 15 different pieces, some of which are unique and some symmetrically placed. So far we have 12 named pieces, and I think to maintain the character metaphors, they should be divided into Travelers (long-sliders) and Confined (those who work in the Mailroom/Station/Annex.); the Travelers would be free to go anywhere on the board, and the Confined would be kept to the, say, 5 home rows. So how 'bout this for a piece set: Inspector: Travels as Q Supervisor: Confined, any 3, square or diagonal, in any combination Registry Clk: Confined, any up to 3 in a straight line, sq. or diag. WELOJDGWAAK: Travels any 2; sequential captures if possible; must be bracketed by at least 2 pieces to capture; defending side may move as many pieces as GWAAK captured on his rampage to attempt to confine him, once per rampage. Letter Carrier (walker): Travels any 1 space in any direction Franker: Confined, detonates if Supervisor gets within his 3 x 3, and disappears 204B: Confined, detonates if Supervisor gets within his 3 x 3, taking out 8 surrounding cells with him On-Break Clerk: moves any 1 in any direction, but doesn't move unless Supervisor is within his 3 x 3 Route Inspector: Travels as Rook Route Carrier: Travels as Bishop Mean Dog: Travels any 2 LOLIAB: Little-Ol'-Lady-In-A-Buick: Travels any distance at random; player picks up LOLIAB, closes eyes, and plunks her down somewhere on the board. Cannot be captured, but may not function if completely surrounded. Just working suggestions.
Maybe we oughtta change the thread-name, or include an Elk in the piece set, as though the Post Office is in Colorado, maybe. Another suggested piece, duh: the MAIL. Only travels if moved with another USPS piece. Win condition: Get the MAIL to the other guy's home row? (So don't LOSE the MAIL!!) Another suggested piece: Postal Assistant (Confined, filler, doesn't move unless shoved out of the way by Inspector, Supervisor or 204B.)
Well, now I'm starting to wonder who it is who really should be confined. Hey, maybe we could put some cops into the game; they could move any one if solo, any two if in pairs, any three if three adjacent--strength in numbers. Do some ride-alongs (maybe he'll let us shoot his gun at something!); Cop could be the one who finally takes out WELOJDGWAAK--the others just stop him. It's got potential. I still like the Elk loose in the mailroom; Franker can aim the congressional mail at 'im an' let 'er rip, yee-haw! So who's gonna do the preset for it? I'll play it.....
I'm inclined to agree with you, Joe. We're all our own judges of comments and games anyway, and it's actually a plus that person X actually says anything, good OR bad, qualified or not. I say let's give 'em all a chance to say what they feel, good or bad, qualified or not. The exchange is more important than any one specific item that is exchanged.
Hi, Gary, Hi, Jeremy: Agreed, it's much better if commentors, or people putting in ratings, especially, say something intelligent and constructive or critical about whichever game they're commenting on, but maybe a lot of them aren't articulate enough in the variant patois to be confident enough to expound a bit, or care that much. If what you're against is the idea that some stranger could zip in from nowhere, anonymously condemn a game with a bad rating, and disappear, I can see how that would be irritating--to let people get away with cheap shots like that--it doesn't sit just right with me, either. (Case in point--what if, in our governmental elections, voters were asked 'why?' they voted for whomever, as they voted? Now think about why they aren't asked 'why?')
Postal Chess? Piece icons, no problemo; board, no problemo. Drawing I can do, presets I can't. I'd advance on my end of it if someone'll volunteer the other parts so it could be posted and played. We're working on how to convert (many) piece icons to CVP format to fill out some of the collections that players like but that are missing a lot of the funner pieces. Like the Pepperoni for Pizza Chess that we all know and love so well, and the Pied-bill Snaihu for--uh, what was that for again, Jeremy? *cackle!*
Dragon Chess (tm). Commercial board game played on a large board with a new piece -- the Dragon.[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]Nothing made for profit is made as well as it can be made--the profit could have been applied to making the product better. Employers (of creatives) in the US hold copyright by default, unless otherwise agreed in writing, which is rare, which further compromises product quality; the (hired) creative, not having a long-term interest in the product, need only please the boss between paychecks. 'Front-line' control is when the sales staff direct product development based on previously-observed market interest in similar products, i.e. 'copycatting' or 'knocking-off'; 'back-line' control is when the creative staff comes up with something really original, which is rarer. The boss is usually interested in sales, not originality or even, really, product quality. This may account for some of your complaints.
Um, I think that was Greg's question; since I get an Active-X Alert, to accommodate which I won't trouble myself one keystroke, I can't see their site, have never seen the game, and it doesn't look like I will unless they authorize a (maybe temporary?) preset here from which to derive some qualified suggestions for improvement, I'll never know enough to even ask any questions about it. Jianying, you might be right, about the inexperience part; we don't know how much we don't know, do we? But when you put dollars and deadlines into creativity equations, they don't balance any more. It might be a really good game; the box looks very nice.
Hey, Joe (where you goin' wit' dat guninyourhand? Da-dum-da-dum-dum..nyuk-nyuk!) Sounds like it's gonna need a pretty big board, with all those details. I like it well enough to fiddle with it a bit, maybe it'll go somewhere. Email me, and we'll show it off if we get somewhere, howzat?
Dragon Chess (tm). Commercial board game played on a large board with a new piece -- the Dragon.[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]I had one of those tan-vs.-brown Renaissance sets as a teen in the sixties, too, and I have no idea what happened to it. FWIW, we might salute these folks for stumping up for the tooling to cast the extra (dragon) piece; they might have contracted for a run of standard Ren. pieces, if they're the same as the old ones, but the Dragon must be new. Plastic injection molds are complex precision machines and very expensive, and to make one for a chess-set indicates a serious commitment. The ubiquitous plastic picnic fork and knife are made in exactly the same kind of mold, but sold cheap by the millions, are not nearly as risky an investment; you've gotta sell a LOT of either to justify the tooling costs, and chess sets are a much lower demand item.
I'm a Ferz, Get Me Into There!. Inspired by title of Chas. Gilman's game, "I'm a Wazir, Get Me Out of Here!" Object is to get your Ferz to Z5.[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]Hey, Ferdinand's one of the Emperors in Imperial, too. Th' boy gets around, doesn't he?
Pre-Grandchess. Eric Greenwood realized that Christian Freeling's Great Chess could have arisen with this more normal looking position.[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]Seconded! Thirded! JEREMY, YOU da MAN!! I see things shapin' up all over this place.
Abstract Chess Pieces. Icons of chess and chess variant pieces.[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]Very nice, very logical and easy to learn. Though I'm no expert, the collection seems pretty comprehensive, too. Just a thought--you could take piece icons to further abstractions, using mere line combinations to indicate moves, such as Pawn | Rook + Queen * (needs 8 points) Bishop X, etc. You could even call them the Bar, the Plus, the Asterisk, the Eks, etc. Abstract sets, in my thinking, are all that's needed for play, yet we remain childlike and earth- and history-bound enough to still love our little Kings and Queens and all their little helpers.
Chess (Variant) Graphics by Jean Louis Cazaux. Icons of chess variant pieces.[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]I think these graphics need more work; they don't look like much effort went into them. One must remember, when doing artwork, that there are 100 ways to portray anything, 3 good ways, and ONE best way, which very few artists are able to achieve on the first effort. I'd suggest drawing several versions, walking away for a few days between efforts, then coming back to appraise them with a fresh eye, at which point improvements will be obvious. There's no point in hurrying something that might be around forever. A player's connection to a game is via the icons; a good game deserves good icons.
Ha-ha! Well, all right, Stephen, if you say so; but regarding art from the past--I think 'Mona Lisa' is awfully darn' homely--I mean, LOOK at her--, and 'Pieta' has Mama at 7 foot 8 inches to Sonny's 5 foot 6 or so, so Jean-Louis isn't the only arteeste who could have done it better. (I'm not saying a word about some of the things that I did that I wouldn't mind doing again better, either. Hopefully we grow as we go, so, M. Cazaux, ou etes vous? (Peut-etre il est mon malodoreuse francais? Ou que j'ai votre nom misecrivee dans l'article a erbzine? Pardon, je sais c'est tres tard, mais je le fixerai toutes de suite!)
Bonjour, Magritte. I believe you are misreading me. I was not lecturing M. Cazaux, who I have no real reason to believe is reading this anyway, and who I will readily admit probably knows more about chessvariants than I, but who I will not readily admit knows more about art than I ( www.sprattart.com ), nor was I making any comparison between his icons and mine. I have never said that my Jetan icons were any standard of excellence, either; those particular icons are patterned after real sculpted pieces four to six inches tall, and I'll be the first to admit that they are a bit difficult to distinguish at 60 pixels if you are not an ERB Mars fan who already knows something about them. My comments were intended to be helpful, based on decades of hard-won experience, and no reflection on M. Cazaux, whom I note that you are not, and who is probably a very nice guy who could polish his icons a bit.
While we're on the subject of graphic icons for chess variant pieces, and I have volunteered to draw up some new ones for various games, it seems like a good time to solicit some input from users regarding features that might make the pieces more enjoyable. This might be hard to do, to describe theoretical pictograms, but some aspects that could be universally applied, such as representationalism, abstraction, coloration, and--what else?--might be definable enough to serve as guidelines prior to taking pen in hand to draw. Thoughts, anyone? Fergus, Christine, thanks for your ameliorative efforts; I can get too close to things sometimes.
Chess (Variant) Graphics by Jean Louis Cazaux. Icons of chess variant pieces.[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]After several days of prompted pondering, I now realize I was holding these icons to a standard of representational accuracy, which only applies here in small measure, but which has ever been a critical concern with my own artwork. Without going into human recognition patterns and windows of art imprinting, I'm content with the fact that others like them well enough to so pointedly reject my critique and provoke my further education in what makes a piece-set good. Magritte, thanks for the lesson. Jean-Louis, maybe the Editors will let me make it up to you with a better rating, which maybe I ought to do twice to get the average up.
Well, all right, maybe the Editors will let me get away with another 'Excellent' if I point out that I've studied this set with considerable care in the last couple of days, and noted a few more of its merits, such as: a. It is a large, fairly comprehensive set, and an inspirational foundation upon which others have built, to great effect b. Piece-moves and names are clearly described next to icons c. Icons are all readily distinguishable, if not all readily identifiable (I finally deduced that the Hunter is a drawn bow and arrow, pointing upwards, and the heraldic ones must be memorized) d. I have learned a lot in these exchanges, some of which I'll pass on to the next thread. Big Smilie.
I don't know if drawing a piece in a way which describes its move, or including some kind of graphic move indicator, like the Drapt pieces, is practical, mainly because the icons may be adopted for another variant later and its move altered. I tried marking the bases of my Jetan variant sculpted pieces at first with graphic indicators, but that locks you in to one type of move for that piece, which isn't always desirable if you want to use the same piece differently in another variant. A few things I realized while studying Jean-Louis Cazaux' set: Icons can be either instantly recognizable by most people, such as most animals are, or they must be memorized, such as abstract or heraldic images must be. While abstract or heraldic icons can lend dignity to the look of a board, they can steepen the learning curve of a new game a little due to the fact that a new player must first labor to remember what the pieces are, in addition to how they move. That's okay if you like the game to look more mysterious to newcomers, or make them work a little harder; the experienced player will have a stronger advantage over a newcomer at first, also. All the icons in a set should look like they were drawn by the same hand. Consistency of size, color, or line quality and execution tend to unify any single piece with its brothers. Although realistic draftsmanship can be a nice feature, it is not a necessary feature, except for easy piece identification at first; consistency of 'look' across a piece-set is more important, and there are an infinite number of ways to stylize icons homogeneously. I am partial to realism, or possibly a cartoony but recognizable type of whimsy, as the best look for icons, based on my experience with art, which has always shown me that more people like realism than abstraction, mostly because they can tell if you got it right or not. I've always had to keep an eye out for the new customer because I believe that to expand the client-base I have to make it easy for them to recognize the subject, then show them something new about it (content) and feel that the same thing is true with any form of art, such as chess icons.
I've dug around to find the location of David Howe's Alfaerie set additions, and for the life of me I can't find that goofy Frog I swear I saw in it somewhere. He was so funny-looking I almost fell out of my chair laughing; I want to know what that Frog has been smoking. I think it was at the bottom of a long piece-list of a new game that Jeremy posted not long ago. Is there a complete list of the Alfaerie pieces somewhere? I've noticed that there are lots of fractions of that set here and there; I've also looked for some kind of Piece Index that a user could go to to find out what piece does what, what it's called, what its other names are, what other graphic versions of it look like, etc., but what I can locate seems piecemeal and scattered. Piececlopedia seems fragmentary, too. The Alfaerie set looks like it's building into quite a toolbox of generic pieces that could be used for almost anything. They look clear and workmanlike to me.
That's the one, Antoine, and thanks. Ha-haaaaaaaa! He looks like he swallowed a crawdad that's diggin' its way out, O he'p me! Archabbot preset, boy, that's one helluva piece collection. It'd be hard to improve on it. I think I'll stick to sets by request for specific presets and maybe play with some different looks, different stylizations, explore a little. Joe's waiting for a Postal set and Jeremy's got some whopper projects.
Chess (Variant) Graphics by Jean Louis Cazaux. Icons of chess variant pieces.[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]Jean-Louis, je le regret que nous avons levee' du mauvais pied; je ne suis pas la meme 'James' qui a vous votre premier 'Pauvre' donnee'. Sommes bonnes?
Thank you, Magritte; yes, a very stimulating and productive exchange. C'est bon.
Gary, I could do the 8 Spearmen, if you don't mind them looking sort of like the Pikeman in Imperial Chess. I'm thinking about expanding that piece-set, but maybe you'd prefer your own look? Jeremy, the Bent pieces are going to be difficult to symbolize, I think. I'm a little in the dark about background colors, so I'll just send you what I've got so far in jpg and you tell me if you can work with it or not. Once I know we've got the technical part of it whipped, I'll feel freer to get down to drawing.
You could diversify the SISSA by having a Sissa, a Rook-Sissa, who'd be obligated to make the rook-leg first, then the bishop-leg, and a Bishop-Sissa, who'd be obligated to make the bishop-leg first, then the rook-leg of the move. Maybe symbolized by a character holding two weapons--swords, maybe, with one held vertically to symbolize the rook move, the other held at an angle to symbolize the bishop move. The Sissa could hold his at the same height, the Rook-Sissa could hold the vertical one higher, and the Bishop-Sissa could hold the diagonal one higher.
Gifford Graphics for Pillars of Medusa. Missing description[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]Terrific graphics, Gary. (Having just read the instructions, a short clarification:) I like the bright, strong colors; I like the fact that the capital pieces are multi-colored, underlining their relative importance, and I like the way they look on the board for the Mini-Pillars-of-Medusa game, where I first spotted them. Now I'm prompted to go digging around to see what other interesting piece-sets are hiding in the links.
Well, actually, I was checking out the game logs, vaguely looking for someone sorry enough to make a good opponent for myself, and those pieces from the Mini-POM game just sort of jumped off the page at me, different, bright and striking, and the more I looked the better I liked, so you can paint that E on yer sail, as far as I'm concerned. Well Done. I happen to like variant piece-sets as much as variant games, and I like the strong colors of some of the sets and boards, like icing on the cake of this site, supported by the soberer and more utilitarian alfaeries and their kin, and I think there's room for some more. I'm still muddy on the extra bandwidth costs of complex sets like that, but I'm learning, slowly, how complicated it is to make the icons for them.
Alfaerie Expansion Set 4. More Alfaerie graphics![All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]Well, I don't have any pieces in it yet, so I can rate it. Done. Good job, David, Christine and the rest of you. As Jeremy says 'it's a wonder what a little organization can do.' (Umm, just a suggestion--couldn't you turn the Archers so they're facing the enemy instead of their buddies to the left? Hey, don't hit me! :-)Did you know that many professional archers from olden days had chronically deformed spines from pulling their heavy bows for years and years? No OSHA back then, Ah reckon.
77 comments displayed
Permalink to the exact comments currently displayed.