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Medusa Shogi. Missing description (11x11, Cells: 121) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
💡📝Gary Gifford wrote on Sun, Jan 29, 2006 10:56 PM UTC:
Should anyone want to play Medusa Shogi:

1) The following link is to an updated Medusa Shogi pre-set that allows
the players to store captured pieces (pieces in-hand) on the sides of the
board.

/play/pbm/play.php?game%3DMedusa+Shogi%26settings%3DMedusaShogi

2) L.L. Smith has made a nice piece set for the Medusa Shogi ZRF
(Zillions) version of the game.  The pieces actually look like some
long-lost, but recently discovered hieroglyphic Shogi pieces.  I found
them very easy to use.  The ZRF (of which I have play-tested the first
versions) should be available in the very near future. I am hoping the Mr.
Smith's piece set will be made available to CV.

💡📝Gary Gifford wrote on Fri, Jan 27, 2006 11:12 PM UTC:
Fortunately L.L. Smith asked about castling in Medusa Shogi; sadly I
neglected to mention it.

Medusa Shogi allows for castling as follows:

a) Move your King 1, 2, 3, or 4 spaces towards the Rook on the desired
side.
b) Place that Rook on the square next to the King, and toward the center. 
Thus the left Rook would go just to the King's right; or if castling to
the right, that Rook would go just to the King's left.

Restrictions on castling are as in western chess.  The Medusa Shogi rules
have been updated.  Larry, thanks for that very important question.

Larry Smith wrote on Fri, Jan 27, 2006 07:55 PM UTC:
Sorry for the delay on the creation of the ZRF.  I was called out of town
this week.  So I just got back to working on it.  And I have a question:

Is the Castling move allowed in Medusa Shogi?

I know that it is not common to Shogi variants, but I would advocate
keeping this maneuver for Medusa Shogi.  This will allow the players to
quickly move their Kings into a fortified position.  It will also
differentiate Medusa Shogi from other Shogi variants.

💡📝Gary Gifford wrote on Fri, Jan 20, 2006 05:43 PM UTC:
As prompted by Larry's comments regaring Morph issues, I have updated the rules page with a Morph examples table. With Medusas, Morphs, and Shogi drops I really want to keep the Morph aspect as simple as possible. And now it really is quite simple. Basically, when a Morph captures a piece, that captured piece goes in-hand to drop. If it is a morph, it stays a morph. It does not matter if the Morph making the capture transforms (to the image of the captured piece) or not. The newly added Morph table (rules page) has several illustrated examples, including that of a Morph-Medusa being captured. Thanks for the comments and questions, they provided impetus to update the rules.

Larry Smith wrote on Fri, Jan 20, 2006 03:52 PM UTC:
I've also considered another possible dynamic with the Morph piece.

For example:

A Morph captures a Knight, it becomes a Morph-Knight and the player now
has a Bishop in hand.

Then if a Morph-Knight captures a Queen, it becomes a Morph-Queen and the
player now has a Knight in hand.

This will mean that when the Morph piece is actually captured, it will
remain in its current state for re-introduction.  So if it was a
Morph-Knight when captured, it will be re-introduced as a Morph-Knight.

And this will still maintain the rule that if a Morph absorbs another
Morph, it loses its morphing ability.  So if a Morph-Knight absorbs a
Morph-Queen, it becomes a simple Queen and the player now has a
Morph-Knight in hand.  Or does it?

And pieces which are simply captured(not absorbed) by the Morph are simply
placed in hand.

Needless to say, Medusa Shogi offers some very interesting twists in play
to Pillars of Medusa.

Larry Smith wrote on Fri, Jan 20, 2006 02:35 AM UTC:
I have a couple of questions:

1. Are all Morphs re-introduced as simple Morphs?  Or as their modified
status when they were captured?

2. The pieces which a Morph absorbs, are they placed in-hand or are they
completely removed from play.

Here are my suggestions to the answers of these questions:

1. Morphs, regardless of their status at capture are re-introduced as
simple Morphs.  This will increase the value of the modified Morph on the
field.

2. Pieces which the Morphs absorb are completely removed from play.  Thus
the player has the option of capturing the piece or absorbing it.  If they
capture it, they have a piece in hand to drop.  If they absorb it, they
have that piece already on the field.

💡📝Gary Gifford wrote on Thu, Jan 19, 2006 09:54 PM UTC:
Hi Larry: I have no ZRF plans and having seen a few of your ZRFs I'd be very pleased if you created one for Medusa Shogi. To my knowledge the updated rules should have all the information you would need. The existing Pillars of Medusa ZRF may have code you could use for the Morph and adjust for the Medusa. The pre-set has the needed font set (which includes Morph designators). Thanks for the offer and I look forward to seeing the final project.

Larry Smith wrote on Thu, Jan 19, 2006 06:22 PM UTC:
Do you plan to create a ZRF for this game? I would be happy to work on the project.

💡📝Gary Gifford wrote on Thu, Jan 19, 2006 05:55 PM UTC:
After giving Michael Howe's comment and the Medusa much thought, and after considering the power in the game and the idea of dropping that power 'Shogi-style' I made some Medusa changes. They now move like Kings, cannot capture (only immobilize); and when Medusas are captured they become pawns, as you suggested. Many Thanks.

💡📝Gary Gifford wrote on Thu, Jan 19, 2006 10:45 AM UTC:
Thanks Michael, your comment in part '... promoted pawns reverting to pawns when captured deserves consideration.' I think you are correct. I will likely make the rule change during lunch... with all Medusas turning to pawns when captured.

💡📝Gary Gifford wrote on Thu, Jan 19, 2006 01:41 AM UTC:
I now have a preset for Medusa Shogi which can be reached by the following
link.  However, I do not yet have a piece holding zone.  This means,
unfortunately, that players would need to keep track of their pieces
in-hand (plus their oponent's pieces in-hand)... By 'in-hand I mean the
captured pieces that you can drop. In time I hope to add a piece
holding-zone.

/play/pbm/play.php?game%3DMedusa+Shogi%26settings%3DMedusaShogi

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