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        Arimaa >> General Discussion >> Board orientation
        
(Message started by: Cobra on Apr 5^th, 2009, 2:34pm)

Title: Board orientation
Post by Cobra on Apr 5^th, 2009, 2:34pm

When I play Arimaa in the game room, the pieces are arranged in horizontal rows and the rabbits advance vertically, whether up or down.

But on the front page of http://arimaa.com/arimaa/, the board in the upper right hand corner, which is captioned "From final game, move 31", is rotated from this. The starting rows of pieces are vertical.

The Wikipedia page at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arimaa uses horizontal starting rows, like game play.

The Arimaa animated tutorial uses vertical starting rows, like the snapshot.

The wikibook uses horizontal starting rows.

(1) Why the difference in presentation? When new to the game, it can be distracting.

(2) I saw mention of an upcoming book in a forum discussion. Which orientation will it use?

Thanks,
Chuck

Title: Re: Board orientation
Post by omar on Apr 5^th, 2009, 4:44pm

I tend to use a side neutral view when watching games as a spectator; unless I am rooting for one side or the other in which case I watch the game from the side I'm rooting for. But if I am watching a game along with others (like on a projector) I watch from a side neutral view regardless of which side I am rooting for (since others might be rooting for the opposing side and we have to share the same view).

When displaying positions I tend to be context sensitive. So if display a position and say "Silver to win in two" I would prefer showing that position from silver's side. Whereas if I am reporting on a game and my discussion is side neutral I would prefer to show positions from a side neutral view.

The side neutral view might take a little getting used to at first, but I think humans are flexible enough to handle viewing positions from any side; it's just that sometimes the software doesn't provide the flexibility to the author/composer to chose the view.

The position on the front page and in the animated tutorial were produced by me. The positions in the wikipedia and wikibook are produced by the community, but I think it only supports a view from the gold side.

The positions in the book are also all from the gold side.

This reminds me I need to change that snapshot to show a position from the final game of the 2009 WC. Any suggestions for which position to use.

Title: Re: Board orientation
Post by Cobra on Apr 5^th, 2009, 5:06pm

I see what you're saying, but it's hard for a newbie to tell. The traps are very notable features of the board, but they're in the same place either way, so I kept trying to see the board as in the game room.

I wonder if something can be added to the "side neutral view" to help distinguish it? Maybe a gold strip on the left side and a silver on the right.

Title: Re: Board orientation
Post by omar on Apr 7^th, 2009, 2:39pm

That's a good idea; a way to distinguish the orientation of the board would be good.