Comments by wmwragg
There is an initial Mischia Game Courier settings file now, so Mischia can be played via Game Courier, the link is in the "Notes" section. I haven't delved too deeply into Game Courier development, so it may not be perfect, especially as I derived it using the built in conversion utility for converting playable diagrams into Game Courier settings. Let me know if anyone sees any issues.
Mischia online with Game Courier. A small chess variant on a 6x6 board that plays similar to chess. (6x6, Cells: 36) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]I'm having difficulty working out how to use the correct "0-0" notation for castling. I can't find any references to input and output notation options for castling in Game Code. Any help would be greatly appreciated. I'm not even sure the "0-0" notation is even valid notation for Game Code, as when I test the settings file for Mischia, castling is just notated algebraically as a two space move of the king. So perhaps this isn't actually an issue?
Betza notation (extended). The powerful XBetza extension to Betza's funny notation.[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]I'm trying to work out if it's possible, with the extended XBetza notation, to allow capture as normal, but allow swapping with only friendly pieces that aren't the same as the swapping piece. As an example, for a Bishop I have mudBcB, which allows capturing as normal, and swapping with any friendly piece, but that also allows swapping with another friendly Bishop, which I don't want to allow. Any help appreciated.
Thank you HaruN Y and H. G. Muller, that was just what I wanted. It took a little while to understand the capture matrix, but I think I have it working now:
captureMatrix=.=.!...../.=/.=...!...
In the variant I'm working on only Pawns and Bishops can encounter the same friendly piece as themselves, so only they need to be prevented from swapping with each other.
Interactive diagrams. 
Diagrams that interactively show piece moves.[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]I'm working on a variant of Mischia, a small 6x6 chess variant where the pieces can swap with their own pieces, but take opponent pieces as normal. If I use betza.js the pieces are allowed to swap with the King, which is what I want and expected, but the AI falls over with an error when the opponent moves. I assume this is due to betza.js not being fully compatible with the ud extended Xbetza notation. I switched to trying it with betzaNew.js, and while the AI now works, I cannot swap with the King anymore, it flags it as an illegal move. I'm assuming that betzaNew.js is a testing script, I was just using it to test my new variant to see if it's interesting and fun enough to create a variant page for. If it is I'll use the betza.js script on the variant page and disable the AI. I'm wondering if there is some change in defaults that I missed which would make the betzaNew.js diagram able to swap with a King? I can't seem to embed a working diagram in the comment section, but here is the diagram code I am using:
files=6
ranks=6
promoZone=1
promoChoice=*Q*R*N*B
holdingsType=1
symmetry=mirror
graphicsDir=/graphics.dir/alfaeriePNG/
squareSize=50
lightShade=#E0E0E0
darkShade=#FFFFFF
graphicsType=png
royal=K
captureMatrix=.=.!...../.=/.=...!...
swapping shatranj pawn:P:mfudWfudFcfF:pawn:a2-f2
swapping knight:N:mudNcN:knight:f1
swapping bishop:B:mudBcB:bishop:b1,e1
swapping rook:R:mudRcR:rook:a1
swapping queen:Q:mudQcQ:queen:c1
king:K:K:king:d1
firstRank=1
rimColor=#C1C1C1
useMarkers=0
borders=1
enforceRules=1Ah right, that makes sense, cheers for looking into the issue. Also I just wanted to thank you for the interactive diagram work, it makes testing out chess variant ideas much easier than previously. Your work is much appreciated.
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Thank you for your kind words, and glad you're enjoying it as much as I do. Your comment pretty much sums up this chess variant perfectly. I especially enjoy the way that control of the available squares, and freeing up more squares through sacrifice, plays more of a role in this variant than in traditional chess.