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        Arimaa >> Off Topic Discussion >> real-time abstract strategy games
        
(Message started by: froody on Nov 19^th, 2009, 11:05pm)

Title: real-time abstract strategy games
Post by froody on Nov 19^th, 2009, 11:05pm

Are there any? What I'd like to do is make a game that feels like Arimaa, but is played in real-time.

I'm imagining the pieces as circular discs that slide around inside a big circle. pushing/pulling/freezing when the edges touch. Trapping/goaling could be done by pushing pieces out of the main circle, or to its centre, or to special zones? Both players control the movement of their pieces simultaneously in real-time. Pieces can move in any direction. Maybe at different speeds? Several (or maybe all) the pieces can be moving at the same time. (maybe you would allow both players to pause the game and change how their pieces are moving, then only allow action when both players have unpaused?).

I'm thinking it would have the same feel as arimaa to play. So you have the balance between fewer strong pieces against more weak pieces, the long term strategy, the capture/goal races, etc etc.

You get the idea? Could this work as a game? Has anything similar been done? How hard would it be for humans to play? How hard for computers?

It could also work in 3D : )

Title: Re: real-time abstract strategy games
Post by froody on Nov 19^th, 2009, 11:16pm

This is interesting. Icehouse: a turnless abstract strategy game.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Icehouse_%28game%29

That's the closest thing I can find. I guess real-time arimaa would be impossible to play without a computer.

Title: Re: real-time abstract strategy games
Post by clauchau on Nov 20^th, 2009, 6:46am

Good idea froody. I've been thinking about it too without much more detail than you have.

I remember having played Kung-Fu Chess a few years ago : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kung-fu_chess

The site is off but fans have revived the game as Tempest : http://www.tempestchess.com

It's a great experience - like Chess meets World Of Warcraft.

If I remember well, its main features are :

1) Time is now smooth, or at least fine-grained, not coarse-grained nor turn-based.

2) Space is still discrete and coarse-grained : the only available destinations are the usual 8x8 squares. Interactions only occur on them.

3) You and your opponent can move as many pieces as you want at the same time.

4) Except it takes time for a piece to reach the destination you asked for and I think you cannot change your mind about it.

5) Furthermore, once a piece has reached its assigned destination, there is an additional visible delay you must wait before you can move the same piece again.

Title: Re: real-time abstract strategy games
Post by nycavri on Nov 20^th, 2009, 9:18pm

The Icehouse system is what got me into this hobby in the first place. The game of Icehouse itself actually plays more like a sport than a board game, and needs a certain mindset (known appropriately as "cool") from the players.

There are a couple of other real time strategy games that I know of - Icetowers and Light Speed (port of Icehouse to cards) are the one's that leap to mind.