Zach's Projects

Could Tank AI just have the sprites and colors tweaked to avoid the wrath of Infotari? Or is there too much original Combat code left in it?

 

Also...

 

Back in my youth (so... long... ago...) a friend of mine and I created a variation on Chess we called "Football Chess". Essentially, the chess pieces moved the same, except the starting arrangement was different (and fewer players). One person plays offense, the other defense. The goal was to get the queen through the goal on the other side of the board (the center two squares). The rooks only serve as goal posts, and don't move (you have to go around them if they're in the way). If the queen gets through, offense wins. If the queen is sacked, the defense wins. Also, we played fast, too. I think we had 10 seconds to move, or the turn would be forfeited.

 

Here's a mockup using Video Chess pieces:

 

I don't know if that (or other variations) would be worth adding, but we had fun with it.

 

(Also, we had to "punt" a piece (a pawn, I think) like in paper football, for the extra point. Those hurt though, so I think we stopped doing it. )

 

I know there are other "Football Chess" variations out there, but I haven't played them.

 

Another variation we played was Speed Chess, although with a difference. You had a maximum of 10 seconds, and if you didn't move, the other player got to move one of your pieces.

 

Edit: Actually for speed chess, it may have been 5 seconds.

 

We were really impatient.

Hi there!

 

What, no Archon?

 

Greetings,

Manuel

What, no Archon?

I figure there is enough interest and talent out there that someone will pick it up. They are welcome to use my alternate board as long as they give due credit. That board will be tricky though, it takes 5 player color changes, 5 player shape changes, and 6 PF/BK color changes per line. It could very well require extended memory.

(If you use extended RAM and have some extra cycles, it would be nice to add a 6th sprite to the left of the board for vertical text.)

Could Tank AI just have the sprites and colors tweaked to avoid the wrath of Infotari? Or is there too much original Combat code left in it?

Could be done. If you are going to redo the art, you might as well start from scratch and completely avoid copyright issues. However for nostalgia reasons, I'd rather not do a tank game unless it's Combat.

 

As for the chess variants. I'll keep them in mind.

Another idea for a chess variant:

 

I always thought it would be cool to have a variant (probablyu only human vs human) that was like "real time" chess...every time you move a piece, the cursor resets to some "home" position, and besides that you can move as much as you want, no waiting for the other player...

Another idea for a chess variant:

 

I always thought it would be cool to have a variant (probablyu only human vs human) that was like "real time" chess...every time you move a piece, the cursor resets to some "home" position, and besides that you can move as much as you want, no waiting for the other player...

 

With limited Atari controls, this is actually a pretty novel idea. I don't think it would work with say, a PC, as dragging and clicking would be too fast and ruin the concept. It would definitely be unique to a 2600. It's like blitz combined with not moving too fast, thus advancing an attack too far. You would have to change the rule to actually capture the king though, or stop play when in check or something. I think the actual capture would be the best though. I really wish this game was higher on the list, I was really excited when I found out somebody had this in the works.

 

-JD

I've rearranged the list so that Four-Play is back at #1. I also intend to post a to-do list for finishing up Four-Play.

 

Kirk's idea for a chess variant is pretty good. I'm considering moving chess up on the list.