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Comments by Ivan Roth
Berolina Chess. Different moving pawns. (8x8, Cells: 64) (Recognized!)[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]One of the best. I just thought about it the other day because I was messing around in Zillions, and realized that these pawns would be perfect for shatranj. That game has a problem with being too slow paced, and this would be the perfect fix! No double step, of course, nor any other pawn features not in shatranj. Pretty cool, right?
Alfaerie Variant Chess Graphics. Set of chess variant graphics based on Eric Bentzen's Chess Alpha font.[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]This is fantastic! One quibble though: It would be great if you could put all the expansions that directly add to this collection onto this one page, since they are really tucked away and difficult to find as it is.
Xiangqi vs Orthodox Chess. Missing description (9x9, Cells: 77) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]Umm... Here's a stupid question: Cannon to F3, couldn't the rook just capture the cannon, as would happen in orthodox xianqi?
Shatranji. A hybrid of Shatranj and Chessgi. (8x8, Cells: 64) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]Close, but no cigar. Shatranji is, in my opinion, still too powerful piece-wise for a shogi version. However, after some tinkering in Zillions, I realized something: If you just remove the rooks and pawns, it plays beautifully! Try it, and you'll be amazed at the improvement in gameplay.
Update: For those who find the above a bit sparse, it works just as well with the pawns in fornt of the king and general left in. This leads to a more restricted opening, but more opportunities in other areas.
Bario. Pieces are undefined until they move. (8x8, Cells: 64) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]Hmm. I think that Bario does screw with piece dynamics, although a queen is still very valuable in the endgame. Having now had a chance to play this physically, I agree that it is very fun, and that it stretches the mind in ways that normal chess doesn't (In particular, making sure not to trigger a recycle while your opponent has a realized piece that, once virtual, could immediately capture your king). I'm not sure about barionic, I might try it out if there's a zrf. By the way, this info page should be updated in light of the comment below which claims to have located the relevant article.
Now, I have never beaten Zillions at any game before, or even brought it to a draw, on any difficulty setting. In Bario, I bring it to a draw any time, always have the clear advantage in the endgame, and check frequently. This is all on the 'Expert' setting. I think the AI's main problem is that it doesn't understand the value of a queen, which cannot be substituted in capture. It allows its queen to be captured, leaving me with an advantage, since I am more careful. In general, it seems to have difficulty judging the relative value of the pieces. Is this a function of the implementation, or is the game itself too abstract for Zillions? I have yet to play this game against a human, so I may be missing something. Food for thought.
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