RE: [spoon-discuss] Political Robot Grid Tafl

["Craig" <ragnarok@xxxxxxxxx>]

>> Shouldn't be necessary.  All you really need is for a table
>> row to be a grid cell with X and Y coordinates and an index
>> built on them.

>Right, but a sparse grid works only if finitely many of the cells
>contain something that needs tracking.

Algorithmically-placed initial debris, with tracking of what debris has been
added or removed, as well as the positions of the pieces? Then, we can know
that if it isn't on the list, a formula will predict the presence or absence
of debris there.

Or how about living debris, where debris appears and vanishes according to a
Conway's Life type of system? Perhaps pieces are always alive but don't die
the way debris cells are. Each checkpoint, you announce your move, all
pieces move, and the debris changes by a generation. When new debris
appears, it belongs to the player who controls the largest number of cells
involved in its creation, unless each of those was owned by a different
player, in which case it is given a controller at random from the set of
players not involved in its creation. Then, players could have both robots
and debris. With the scoring as given, you'd want other people to have as
much debris as possible so you can capture it for points.

We could then eliminate the Hnefi and have it just be about the pawns and
debris. You move your pawns in ways intended to allow you to capture other
people's stuff more easily, as that gives you points. This includes
influencing their pieces to create debris that isn't yours but which you can
capture. There could also be a bonus for having debris that is yours appear,
smaller than the debris-capture bonus, so that if you can create
hard-to-capture debris of your own, that's good?

How about going back to the energy thing, also? Each move costs you one
energy per five spaces you wish to move, plus one additional energy. Each
new debris of yours gives you one energy. Each time a debris of yours dies
spontaneously, you lose two energy. Each time you capture a piece of debris,
you steal ten energy from its controller. Each time you capture a robot, you
steal twenty energy from its controller and gain an additional five energy
out of the ether.

 -- Teucer

"Wow, you're lucky. I'm only oppressed by gnomes in my toaster oven."
 -carbon

ragnarok@xxxxxxxxx
teucer@xxxxxxxxxx


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