Author: Jonas Cohonas
Date: 21:40:21 09/30/01
Go up one level in this thread
On September 30, 2001 at 21:13:44, John Merlino wrote:
>On September 30, 2001 at 18:03:19, Roy Eassa wrote:
>
>>On September 30, 2001 at 09:09:45, John Robertson wrote:
>>
>>>On September 30, 2001 at 06:59:54, Kurt Utzinger wrote:
>>>
>>>... Chessmaster is significantly
>>>weaker than various other chess software that is readily available...
>>
>>
>>I strongly disagree with this. Very often, CM8000 is the *best* engine at
>>finding complex mates, and its general play is approximately at the same level
>>as that of other top programs.
>>
>>
>>>... Also the interface is more oriented towards a children's game
>>>than something designed for the serious chess player/analyst.
>>
>>
>>This I mostly agree with. It's the second-biggest problem with this program
>>(the biggest being that it requires the CD-ROM _every_ time).
>>
>>
>>Hey John Merlino, do you hear this? The engine in CM8000 is world-class, but
>>you guys crippled it in two key ways. Please fix these or come out with a
>>different version for adults -- with fewer glitzy features but not requiring the
>>CD-ROM each time!
>
>Regarding your two concerns:
>
>1) The "glitzy features" (or, to more accurately describe it, the "interface")
>are what sell the product to most people. The look and feel of the program also
>set it apart from other programs, which are mostly designed for serious chess
>enthusiasts -- not beginners. How many people who know nothing about chess would
>buy Fritz over Chessmaster?
>Additionally, the current interface has grown almost entirely with the help and
>requests of users (and some of them are on this board). The "room" metaphor, for
>example, came from many users saying that CM6000's interface was too confusing,
>in that there were very few visual cues to tell the user what was going on ("Am
>I playing a Rated Game? Am I online? Am I taking a tutorial? What do I do
>next?").
>Besides, what would you consider a "glitzy feature"? What do you think is
>something that NO "serious chess enthusiast" would want? Adding features is
>always better than REMOVING features, because every feature is used by SOMEBODY.
>
>2) The decision to require the CD was entirely that of The Learning Company,
>whether we wanted it or not. I have no idea what Ubi Soft's policy regarding
>copy protection is at this time, but I do know that the majority of the new
>programs are going out with some form of copy protection/CD requirement. So, for
>the next version, it will once again not be the decision of the development team
>as to whether the program requires the CD.
>
>So, in a nutshell, there will be no "hardcore" or "stripped down" version of
>Chessmaster (at least not any time soon), although it HAS been discussed several
>times over the years.
>
>Also, to say that the engine is "crippled" is a bit harsh, don't you think?
>
>jm
There dosen't have to be a "stripped down" version, only the option of either
the "Glitzy" or the "stripped down" version, for those who are interested in
using CM8 without all the features all the time. Also now that you can use
TheKing as a winboard engine, if you go through the trouble of using the
inbetween soultion, why not make TheKing run as a fully functional winboard
engine with book support and all and a CD check everytime you use TheKing as a
winboard engine outside CM8's GUI?
Regards
Jonas
This page took 0 seconds to execute
Last modified: Thu, 15 Apr 21 08:11:13 -0700
Current Computer Chess Club Forums at Talkchess. This site by Sean Mintz.