Author: Roy Eassa
Date: 13:25:13 10/01/01
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
I didn't mean that the engine is crippled, only that the overall use by the
people who post here is way less than that of Fritz, Chess Tiger, etc., because
of the unique GUI and/or the CD-ROM requirement. The engine itself is strong!
Also, let me hasten to add that I purchased Chessmaster 2000 way back when, then
2100, 3000, 4000, 5000, 5500, 6000, 7000, and 8000. I've been a pretty good
customer over the years! I also have a couple Macintosh versions.
I also didn't mean that features should be removed (necessarily), although I do
have concerns over resource usage. But the best idea, one that I didn't explain
well, was the idea of releasing a separate version as a module for
Chessbase/Fritz, or perhaps as a Winboard engine that doesn't require the CD (or
a new code number) each launch. Offer it as an additional element on the next
version's CD, and/or sell it separately -- in which case you can charge what the
market will bear and copy-protect the CD-ROM. Then The King will find itself
involved in a lot of the computer chess tournaments that it's now left out of,
and it will take its rightful place alongside the works of the other top-notch
chess engine programmers. (By the way, I would also urge the programmers of
Chess Genius and MChess Pro to come out with Fritz or Winboard module versions
so they aren't forgotten with time either.)
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