| Author |
Message |
Mats W (Kålroten)
| | Posted on Tuesday, April 04, 2006 - 2:02 pm: | |
The Tablut/Hnefatafl implementation on the Zillions CD follows wrong rules. I don't know what sources the Zillions implementation is based on, but according to experts at the Historical
Museum, Stockholm, the king can be captured like any other piece, by sandwiching it between *two* pieces. It is only at the center position that four
pieces are needed to capture it. On the squares directly adjacent to the central square three pieces can capture the king, since the central square is used as a capture-square. Otherwise only two pieces are necessary, and one piece is enough if the king is positioned to any of the corner squares
(since these are capture-squares). If four pieces are needed to capture the king, then the attacker's game is hopeless.
This is very bad because such implementations are like desinformation. Anybody can realize that it doesn't work. I will make a correct implementation
of Tablut in Zillions. Likewise, the Burmese chess implementation is wrong, because, among other things, it says that one can only re-introduce a captured General. But, in fact, one can only re-introduce a lost General. Moreover, pieces are dropped on the board. But I've already made a correct implementation of Burmese chess. Likewise, Fox and Geese is wrong. I have made a correct implementation of that, too. I wonder how many of the games on the CD are faulty.
Mats |
Mats W (Kålroten)
| | Posted on Wednesday, April 05, 2006 - 10:20 am: | |
I have now implemented Tablut (9x9) (which was discovered by Carl Linné) and Brandubh (7x7) with the correct rules, researched by the Historical Museum, Stockholm. I have tested Tablut on the computer and it seems very well-balanced, but probably White should win in the end (hunt games are never theoretical draws). In Brandubh the win should be faster for White, but it's not easy. This implementation shows what a sophisticated game this is. It was immensely popular during the Viking era.
Tablut.
Mats |
Mats W (Kålroten)
| | Posted on Thursday, April 06, 2006 - 7:24 am: | |
Bugfixed today! (you need to download it again).
I think this is clearly the king of hunt-games. No wonder why it was so popular. I have fabricated pieces myself, with a sort of plastic which can be baked in ovens. The result is black and white pieces which look like porcelain. I made them round with flattened bottom, which is the most common variant.
Some glass manufacturer ought to create replicas of that glass bead game at the Historical Museum, Stockholm. Everything relating to Vikings is selling. The black pieces are opaque, while the "white" pieces are transparent blue, with bubbles. They are round with flat bottoms. The king is a blue sitting figure.
Mats |
Greg Schmidt (Gschmidt)
| | Posted on Thursday, April 06, 2006 - 7:38 am: | |
Would you be able to post a picture of your handmade game somewhere as I'm sure we'd all like to see it.
-- Greg
P.S. There's an intersting page showing some handmade games at:
http://www.boardspace.net/english/handmade.html |
Mats W (Kålroten)
| | Posted on Thursday, April 06, 2006 - 7:58 am: | |
Sorry, I don't have a picture and no digital camera. I made an inlay on the king, like they did on those artefact pieces. But, I made a cross, which was silly. That's a Christian king. The inlays on the Viking games are often round, often of iron. In one case which I saw, a tri-cross (curious). Sometimes it's not inlays, but metal fastened on the bead. |
Mats W (Kålroten)
| | Posted on Friday, April 07, 2006 - 2:15 am: | |
I forgot to mention that the pegged pieces which I've implemented in the graphics are also authentic. In Grettis Saga, the game "Halatafl" is referred to in quite a dramatic scene where þorbjörn Öngull þórðarson is sitting at a gaming board. His stepmother comes by and insults him, and after a short argument, she runs a playing piece through his cheek. þorbjörn hits her so hard that she later dies. It is my conjecture that "Halatafl" refers to the very board that Hnefatafl was played on. It was also used for another game which I named Halatafl.
Mats |
Mats W (Kålroten)
| | Posted on Sunday, April 09, 2006 - 11:12 am: | |
Correction: the promotion rule is correctly implemented in Burmese chess on the Zillions CD, but the drop moves are missing. But there are many variants of Burmese chess.
I have created a relative to Burmese chess, namely Swedish chess. Pieces are dropped, but movement is just like regular chess pieces. |
Mats W (Kålroten)
| | Posted on Sunday, April 09, 2006 - 11:15 am: | |
One might also argue that Tafl is correctly implemented, because that's how Linné described it. However, it doesn't work. White's advantage is overwhelming. The interpretation of the rules I implemented (Tablut) works very fine. |
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