chessbox

[whatchamacallit]

Hello all,

a short while ago, I tried out chessbox on a flight from Dublin to Munich. This was the first time in years that I played chess, but I found the plugin quite good. The graphics are okay and the computer is playing okay, too. Only a few instances occurred to me how the plugin could be made better and more playable. Perhaps one of the Developers or someone else capable of programming is interested enough to do this? I can´t do this myself. The points I thought of in particular are these:
-   Whenever the computer makes a move, it should actually show you which piece it moved from where to where. Now, after more or less thinking time, the change is made instantly, so it´s hard to figure out what the computer did.
-   There should be a limit to the time the computer spends thinking about his next move. Whether that time is the player´s decision or fixed doesn´t really matter, but sometimes during that flight the computer spent so much time thinking I started to doubt whether it was going to make a move at all while I could easily see my mistakes and the opportunities arising for my adversary.
-   As well as some way of showing you which piece the computer just moved, there should be a graphical or text display of the pieces each side has lost already. Sometimes your move depends on what the adversary has left in store, so it would be nice to know without thoroughly searching the board.
Well, this is pretty much everything I could think of that could be done to make this plugin more enjoyable. It would be nice if someone would find enough interest in the game of chess to make these changes and either publish a new version of the plugin or simplz incorporate it into CVS.
Greetings,

whatchamacallit

[Llorean]

I *think* Force Play achieves your second request already, but I'm not sure (haven't tried it): http://www.rockbox.org/twiki/bin/view/Main/PluginChessbox

The other two seem like things you don't get with a human opponent anyway. (But I do see where they'd be nice to have.)

[mnhnhyouh]

I play a fair bit online, and most programs show what piece was last moved, and, just like when you play a human, you can see the removed pieces, they are next to the board.

I will have a peek at the chess program, though I fear your requests are beyond me

One problem with showing which pieces are taken would be the screen space used, though the sides might be a good place to put them.

h

[whatchamacallit]

Hello, moderator with the unspeakable name,

the sides of the screen were exactly what I was thinking of. The screen isn´t square, so the chessboard doesn´t take up the whole breadth of the screen, but there are about 5mm of background on each side which should be enough.
As to the showing what the opponent did, it wouldn´t strictly have to be graphical and on the board, but a numeric display beside the board would already be a progress. Anyone playing chess should be able to locate a piece by coordinates.
Greetings,

whatchamacallit

[mnhnhyouh]

Hello, moderator with the unspeakable name,

whatchamacallit

I have had a look, but only a brief one. There is a lot of code there!!!

I will print it out this week and see what I can see.

Not a moderator by the way. My little badge signifies that I have made a wps that works with a current build.

h

[whatchamacallit]

Hello mnhnhyouh,

so you´re an  Artist with an unspeakable name  

Thank you very much! I´m greatly interested in all things IT, so maybe I´ll try a little coding myself, but right now, there´s a seven-month-old Dada at home who keeps me from doing so (even when I´m not in Germany, but in Dublin, that´s what seven-month-old Dadas do  .
Greetings,

whatchamacallit