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Mats W (Kålroten)
| | Posted on Saturday, February 18, 2006 - 2:55 am: | |
Surakarta
This implementation of this historical game is attractive, but has a major fault. Nigel Pennick says:
"Surakarta has a board and and a mode of play which relates it to protective designs which are found throughout Asia and as far away as northern Europe. Grids or patterns with corners like Surakarta are close relatives to the medieval European cosmographic mosaics found in many cathedrals, which symbolize the four elements and the Quintessence at the centre. The Surakarta plan also relates to a variant of the labyrinth design found in England and France. The turf maze on the common at Saffron Walden, Essex, is the sole surviving ancient English turf labyrinth with this design, though an outsize copy of it was made in the early 1980s at Milton Keynes. Another major example formerly existed at Sneinton, Nottingham. It was destroyed in 1797 by enclosure and ploughing of the common on which it was situated. This maze was the subject of a famous nineteenth-century engraving, frequently reproduced, which shows penitential monks traversing it on their knees." (Pennick, N: 'Games of the Gods', p.217).
Evidently, the traversing of corner circles is central to this game. It has a ritual significance. The problem I have with this implementation is that the corner circles are, in fact, never traversed. They are only traversed in a logical sense. Could not someone capable have a look at this problem? My idea is that one can traverse the circles by way of forced "add-partial" moves on positions located on the circles. When Zillions makes a move it will look continuous. I could measure the positions on the actual board pattern if somebody else will make the code.
Mats |
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