Zillions of Games Pente
Posted:
Nov 24, 2000, 10:34 AM
[I just joined this club. But first I read all 272 messages. That's a lot!]
I'm the person who implemented Pente for Zillions of Games. ZoG already had a two-player version of Pente, but I'm primarily interested in multi-player Pente, so I implemented it myself.
If you haven't played Pente with three or more players, you've missed the full Pente experience! It is completely different in character from two-player Pente.
I've played lots of 3-, 4-, 5-, or 6-player games against my friends. The ZoG version will support up to 9 players, in any combination of human and computer opponents. Unfortunately, I have so far failed to capture full human-like strategy in the computer opponents. But it's still fun, and it supports many different rule variants, including regular, Russian, Ninuki-Renju, and Keryo Pente.
Go there to see a picture of a game in progress on both the regular 19x19 board and the 17x17 hex board. (Even if you don't own ZoG, you can download my rules file and read my comments on multi-player rules, history, and strategy.)
When we play, our policy is that if you can prevent the next player from winning, you must do so, unless you have a win on the current move. To make this work, we've added the rule that after any player becomes dangerous (four pair-captures), all moves must be turtled (played upside-down) for 30 seconds in order to give the other players a chance to object to the move. After 30 seconds the move cannot be backed out.
I'm interested in any discussion about either two-player or multi-player Pente.
This message was originally posted at Yahoo's pente group.
Posts:
8
Registered:
Dec 16, 2001
From:
Oklahoma City
Age:
40
Re: Zillions of Games Pente
Posted:
Nov 24, 2000, 10:12 PM
[Welcome to the club.]
Man, I love four player Pente, but I've always played in teams. I'm not a fan of three player because the person who plays directly before you can screw you up by playing poorly. I've never played with more than four - sounds cool.
-Sean
This message was originally posted at Yahoo's pente group.
Posts:
260
Registered:
Dec 16, 2001
From:
Maryland
Age:
53 Home page
Re: Multiplayer Pente
Posted:
Nov 26, 2000, 10:34 PM
>When we play, our policy is that if you can prevent the next player from winning, you must do so.
Not only do you have to prevent the next player from winning (blocking a four or fifth capture) AND preventing the third player from winning (blocking one side of an open four) you should not create an impossible situation for the next player (my dilemma situation). For example in three player pente, if the person who moves just before you makes a closed four, you do not have to block it, but can leave it for the next player. BUT you cannot make a threat such as an open four while leaving the closed four unblocked -- now the next player has to block one side of your open four AND the closed four of the third player. If you create such a dilemma, my program will let the other player win.
Anyone want to play multiplayer pente on PBEM?
-MM
This message was originally posted at Yahoo's pente group.
Re: Multiplayer Pente
Posted:
Nov 26, 2000, 11:03 PM
Here is the text from my ZoG rules file explaining how we handle such dilemmas when we play. Note that the following describes a different rules interpretation than that described by mmammel8. The actual rules which come with Pente are unclear on such issues, so before starting a multi-player game, be sure everyone agrees!
In a multi-player game, each player must play to keep the next player from winning, unless the current player has a move which wins immediately. In a two-player game, you win by making two threats, of which the other player can only counter one. In a three-player game, you win by making three threats. Two of the threats can be countered by the other two players, and you win with the third one on your next move. In a four-player game, you win by making four threats, and so on. An N-player game requires a move which makes at least N threats if the current player is to win.
If there are already threats on the board, you must counter one of them if not doing so means someone else will win. Otherwise, you are allowed to make another move, possibly adding your own threats. So if the next player can win and you do not have a winning move yourself, you are forced to counter if you can. If the player after that can also win, then the player before you is forced to counter them if they can. If the three players who play after you each has a winning move, you are forced to counter the one who plays next, the player before you is forced to counter the one after that, and the player before the player before you is forced to counter the threat by the player who plays after the player who plays next. If N - X of the following players are forced and you are not, you win if you can find a move which makes at least X threats.
In an actual game, suppose the players are A, B, C, D, and E. A has just made a move, but before B moves, B, C or D speaks up, `you can't make that move because it lets E win`. A then must take back their move and play somewhere else. If no-one sees the forced win coming (or only E sees it, and doesn't say anything) before B moves, then A's move stands.
We usually add to the above that A's move must be turtled (played upside-down) for 30 seconds before it becomes official, if any other player is dangerous (has four pair-captures).
Any comments or suggestions? How do the rest of you handle multi-player forces? If any of the early Oklahoma players are on this list, I assume that there are multiple colors of pieces because the game was played by more than two people from time to time. How was it done back then?
This message was originally posted at Yahoo's pente group.
Re: Zillions of Games Pente
Posted:
Mar 7, 2001, 11:46 AM
If the player before you is a poor player, just make an open-three off to the side somewhere. Then as soon as the player before you makes a single winning threat (forcing the player after you to block them), you turn your open-three to an open-four and win, because it would take both of them to block you. (If they're really bad, you may have to help them get up to four pairs
This message was originally posted at Yahoo's pente group.
