Archived from groups: rec.games.roguelike.nethack (More info?)
I wonder if something like this has been proposed before ... in
hindsight, it's kind of obvious.
Basically the chess board would be a new kind of special room (like
anthives or beehives) that can only be generated in 8x8 rooms. You can
probably guess the layout, but I'll explain it anyway: 8 white pawns, 8
black pawns, 2 white knights, 2 black knights, etc., all arranged
exactly in the way you would expect from a typical real life chess board
layout. If black vs. white doesn't appeal to you (all would be humans),
then consider something like human pawn, human knight, etc., vs. elf
pawn, elf knight, etc.
That's the basic design, and I think would be fairly simple to
implement. However, it gets a bit more complicated ...
Add in some mechanism such that the chess pieces don't move until you
either step onto the chess board or attack them from range. This way,
if you're generated on the opposite side of the level from the
chessboard, it won't be all scattered up by the time you arrive there.
Give the pieces the same movement patterns they have in real chess.
Bishops can teleport to anywhere along a diagonal from their position in
one move; knights can move in L-patterns, etc. To keep things simple
pawns would be able to move one square in any direction in a turn, like
a regular monster.
Have the two factions fight each other. This would require some sort of
specific conflict code that only affects the teams against each other.
You would have the option of getting into the middle of the battle or
watching it from the sidelines and picking up the loot afterwards.
And here's where it gets REALLY difficult: make the chess board a puzzle
game like Sokoban. Somehow you control the pieces and you have to
"your" side to win, using normal chess rules. Except of course with
wandering monsters. This would require programming Nethack with some
sort of chess AI which would be a significant addition.
So, frankly, I don't think I'm up to the challenge of tackling this
task, but I think it'd be a hella fun addition to Nethack. The most
rudimentary steps of just adding in the new monsters and the chess board
design wouldn't be too hard and I think could be tackled in a few hours
- but I'd be really impressed if someone actully managed to work in the
mechanics, not just the pieces, of Chess into Nethack.
Or if this is too hard, put in checkers
--
~ Cyde Weys ~
Mana du vortes, mana du vortes
Aeria gloris, aeria gloris
I wonder if something like this has been proposed before ... in
hindsight, it's kind of obvious.
Basically the chess board would be a new kind of special room (like
anthives or beehives) that can only be generated in 8x8 rooms. You can
probably guess the layout, but I'll explain it anyway: 8 white pawns, 8
black pawns, 2 white knights, 2 black knights, etc., all arranged
exactly in the way you would expect from a typical real life chess board
layout. If black vs. white doesn't appeal to you (all would be humans),
then consider something like human pawn, human knight, etc., vs. elf
pawn, elf knight, etc.
That's the basic design, and I think would be fairly simple to
implement. However, it gets a bit more complicated ...
Add in some mechanism such that the chess pieces don't move until you
either step onto the chess board or attack them from range. This way,
if you're generated on the opposite side of the level from the
chessboard, it won't be all scattered up by the time you arrive there.
Give the pieces the same movement patterns they have in real chess.
Bishops can teleport to anywhere along a diagonal from their position in
one move; knights can move in L-patterns, etc. To keep things simple
pawns would be able to move one square in any direction in a turn, like
a regular monster.
Have the two factions fight each other. This would require some sort of
specific conflict code that only affects the teams against each other.
You would have the option of getting into the middle of the battle or
watching it from the sidelines and picking up the loot afterwards.
And here's where it gets REALLY difficult: make the chess board a puzzle
game like Sokoban. Somehow you control the pieces and you have to
"your" side to win, using normal chess rules. Except of course with
wandering monsters. This would require programming Nethack with some
sort of chess AI which would be a significant addition.
So, frankly, I don't think I'm up to the challenge of tackling this
task, but I think it'd be a hella fun addition to Nethack. The most
rudimentary steps of just adding in the new monsters and the chess board
design wouldn't be too hard and I think could be tackled in a few hours
- but I'd be really impressed if someone actully managed to work in the
mechanics, not just the pieces, of Chess into Nethack.
Or if this is too hard, put in checkers
--
~ Cyde Weys ~
Mana du vortes, mana du vortes
Aeria gloris, aeria gloris
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