Author: Lars Nonnenberg
Date: 19:32:16 03/10/00
Go up one level in this thread
On March 10, 2000 at 13:46:38, John Merlino wrote:
>On March 10, 2000 at 13:37:34, John Merlino wrote:
>
>>On March 10, 2000 at 02:08:02, Michael Cummings wrote:
>>
>>>On March 07, 2000 at 13:06:38, John Merlino wrote:
>>>
>>>>On March 07, 2000 at 04:22:43, Harald Faber wrote:
>>>>
>>>>>Hi John,
>>>>>
>>>>>Is there a way to increase the hash size in CM7000? It is said that FreeMem and
>>>>>other software show no difference in memory access, no matter if the ttable_size
>>>>>in the .ini's are set to 20, 25 or other values.
>>>>
>>>>Harald,
>>>>
>>>>I am very sorry to report that the development team has looked into this and it
>>>>appears to be a bug. They have no explanation for it, as the code that
>>>>initializes the engine SUPPOSEDLY did not change during the rewrite from CM6000
>>>>to CM7000 (since the engine itself did not change). However, what you report
>>>>appears to be true.
>>>>
>>>>Unfortunately, because CM7000 has been officially put to bed, there will almost
>>>>certainly not be a patch. Officially, since there isn't a way using the GUI to
>>>>change the hash table size, then this ability is considered one of those
>>>>"unsupported features". Therefore it doesn't warrant the time to create, test
>>>>and put up a patch.
>>>>
>>>>Also, considering the recent layoffs here at Mattel Interactive (the new boss in
>>>>town), no one is willing to stick their heads above their respective trenches.
>>>>
>>>>The development team tells me, however, that in the next version there WILL be a
>>>>way in the GUI to change the hash table to be anything you want, from 8K to
>>>>64MB.
>>>>
>>>>jm
>>>
>>>Hi John
>>>
>>>Good work keeping us informed
>>>
>>>Most know my dislike of CM7K, but CM6K is still a superior program in my eyes, I
>>>wonder if you know what the sales have been like, and out of interest which
>>>Chessmaster version has sold the most.
>>>
>>>And have they realised something that they did or missed in CM7K that they will
>>>not make the same mistake again in CM8K.
>>>
>>>That said, even being a mass market program, there are features regarding the
>>>engine, like setting hash tables, thatt have been around in freeware and old
>>>chess programs for years. And features that when people learn, and start to play
>>>better and grow with the program and thus use some of the more serious options
>>>that have not been in CM programs of the past and would be of use.
>>>
>>>Most people have not wanted this to be a professional program, as it is for the
>>>mass market. But some features would not be hard. They should by now have at
>>>least some idea how to satify both sections of their selling (mass and serious)
>>
>>Hi Michael,
>>
>>Given that the development team is looking at Winboard, the ability to set the
>>hash table size within the GUI, "infinite analysis" and the ability to log onto
>>an internet connection as a computer player, I believe that they are now tending
>>to lean towards features that can be considered to be for the "serious" player.
>>
>>CM7K was slanted towards getting young people to play, and towards cleaning up
>>complaints that were made about the supposedly confusing interface. I think that
>>CM8K is going to be more of the same, but with most of the new stuff geared to
>>intermediate and advanced players. Apparently there is going to be a pretty
>>advanced annotated endgame tutorial from Josh Waitzkin and the "rate my play"
>>feature is going to come back, but it will be in a slightly different form
>>(although it will be written by Bruce Pandolfini, who was responsible for the
>>well-known "Solitaire Chess" columns -- which is pretty much the same thing).
>>
>>jm
>
>Oh, you asked about sales figures. From what I gather, the Chessmaster series
>(all versions on all platforms) was the only one in Mindscape's entertainment
>group (includes SSI and Red Orb and Petz/Babies/Creatures titles) that "made its
>numbers". The CM series holds something on the order of 85% of the market share
>(from the PC Data archives which tallies only retail titles). I don't have
>actual dollar figures, but I can get them if you're interested.
>
>In other words, it did about as well as CM6K, which did very well. One fact is
>always amazing to me is that (according to registration forms sent in) close to
>75% of people who buy the latest version of CM for the PC are FIRST TIME BUYERS!
>You would think that after 12 years just about every "typical user" who was
>going to buy a chess program would have bought a copy of CM. It seems that
>there's always a new crop of folks who have never bought a chess program and
>keep CM's numbers strong.
>
>jm
Hi !
I´m one of those 75 % of first time buyers (concerning PC version) although I
got a copy of CM2000 on a Commodore Amiga long , long time ago. The reason why I
bought CM7K ( and I guess at least some of the following reasons also apply to
the rest of the 75 %) are:
1. The good GUI with the whole variety of different chessboards and
piece designs.
2. The terrific sound effects which already had impressed me in the
former Amiga version.
3. The comprehensive tutorial section (classroom) which I personally
consider one of the most innovative features in the last few years of
computer chess development.
I like especially those annotated games by Josh Waitzkin and with regard to this
I´m looking forward to the announced endgame tutorial in the next version. A
further possibility to improve the lessons is to let Josh give more advice on
training methods (for example how to find candidate moves, how to improve
ability to calculate deeply nested variaton lines etc, how to evaluate a given
position systematically etc.).
Concerning the "rate my play " feature, do we really need this ? Aren´t the
ratings in the "statistics window" reliable?
A final word about the recent discussion about mass market and the so-called
"serious player" stuff. What can be more serious for a real chess player than
trying to improve his playing strength ? I think chessmaster offers plenty of
possibilities to do so and probably more than the other "serious" chess programs
do. In fact what can you learn from watching different engines playing each
other via autoplayer or from running zillions of testsuits? I want to learn
chess and have fun doing so, not study statistics.
Regards,
Lars Nonnenberg
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