Pyramid Chess

[Egeides]

I was lurking here and there using Google and I felt here: http://www.mylinea.com/promethee/utopie_thomas_more_uchronie_science_fantasy/omnitheque/arrakis_dune/

I saw just a line about Pyramid Chess. Knowing Herbert, there's more to know... What is that, where is it coming from... Anyone knows anything about it?

[Vanguard3000]

I've seen a page of chess variants once that had a Pyramid Chess link, but that link was broken as well, unfortunately.

All that is known about Pyramid Chess/Cheops is that it has a nine-level board, and the object of the game is to place your opponent's king in check, while having your queen at the apex of the pyramid.

[Egeides]

Could be interesting to really make such a game and to make it playable... Wonder which rule it has/would have.

[Dante]

I imagine it would be extremely complicated. Let's invent it! :)

[Vanguard3000]

Let's invent it!

Dust Scout, all I have to say about that is: ;)

[Egeides]

Why that? Would it be easy to program?

[Apollyon]

It's a nervous twitch :D

[Vanguard3000]

You'll see. Maybe.

[Dante]

"You'll see"? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

" ;)" ?

Mentat Computation: HE'S INVENTING IT!

[Vanguard3000]

There's alwasy the possibility that I have a nervous twitch, and was portraying it in the first post and, in the second, I was merely predicting that you will not be blind a few seconds after you read the post.

[TMA_1]

I cant totally speak for vanguard, but we are both working on a version for it. I have come up with most of the rules, piece characteristics, board layout and all around stratagy behind the game. Ill post the info soon, with vanguard helpin out.

[TMA_1]

Hey vanman, let me know whats happening by the way. :)

There are various rules that have been invented.Ill just give an example of some that I think are okay to mention.

There are nine junctions, each junction is a seperate level of the board.

On each junction, there is a jump point, whne you enter a jump point your opponent chooses the drop zone on the next junction. (All special tiles are colored by the way).

There are tiles called "high ground" tiles. These tiles enable units to protect against any lower units than themselves on the hierarchy. For example.

If a priest is on a tile, a swordsmen could not successfully kill the unit because he is a lower piece on the hierarchy.

The units that are used go as so.

Conscript: Are identical to Pawns of old terran chess.

Swordsmen: Identical to the knights of old terran chess.

Priest: Identical to bishops of old terran chess.

Machine: Identical to castles of old terran chess.

Sardaukar: Can move and attack in all four 90 degree and diagonal directions. Can only move one tile at a time though.

Cannonier: Can attack in all four 90 degree directions. Can only attack an enemy when it is two or more tiles away. Cannot attacked when blocked directly or from one block away. Also when a friendly unit is in the way.

King: Identical to old terran chess.

Queen: Identical to old terran chess.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

lots more stuff, that is just a bit of the info I have made. vanguard has been a big help with this.

[Egeides]

A comment... Chess tends to be very straightforward in its rules. Its rules are simple, what is complicated is all the possibilities it brings. It's one of the factors that brang the game to its apotheosis. Like Chinese's Go.

[TMA_1]

I have had that question before and let me explain

Cheops is not chess. it is an extremely distant varient.

you are takening the two dimensional and bringing it into the third dimension. Not only that but if you read the basic rules in Dune, it is totally opposite from the stratigic simplicity from chess. dont confuse our reality with that of a story. especially when it is about a future that includes so many complications like Dune. You might also want to cut on the verbiage, because it could be confusing to others, and english itself is a hard language to master, as well as good and worthless placing of those words. just a suggestion man. :)

[Egeides]

Thanks for your advice.

TMA, do you know anything more than Vanguard about pyramid chess?

But my point is that the nature of good "cult" games such as Go and Chess is the variety of strategies while having straight forward rules. It's the same thing as in nature: beauty is found where rules are universal and simple. Guess I'll have to take a look at this pyramid chess game...

[TMA_1]

read the DE on pyramid chess, and I am not discussing whether or not vanguard knows more than me on the subject, he probably does. THe point is not much is talked about it so it has to be invented from scratch. There arent many rules, considering it is put into the third dimension and things are added to it. I dont wish to remake chess, because I dont have the genius to do that.

these are the rules that me and vanguard tentitively agreed on, still have to work with it.

Nine levels

Queen must reach the apex

king must be cornered (check mate)

high grounds offer a three dimensional game style to an otherwise two dimensional tradition of chess, as well as jump and drop points.

there are some new units that are added in order to help make the game fresh and new compared to old style chess.

If these ideas arent to your liking you can always come up with your own ideas. I cant totally speak for van man but your ideas might be better than ours. I hink though that the plan is a good one.

There arent really any more rules to the game me and van man made in cheops compared to chess. Chess is a million times more complicated than Go in the sense that there are different units and different unit movements blah blah.

[Egeides]

I think that the first thing to do would be to be able to play it, so that we can test. A first thing to test would be the basic framework: chess with exactly the same moves except in 3d. I played chess for quite a while so I guess I could test strategies a bit :P But I'm pretty limited since I just played for fun and anyone who studied chess beats me easily.

[Tio_Holtzmann]

Wasn't there a description of some of the pieces in one of the Prelude books? Rhombur Vernius and Leto Atreides I playing each other? Some pieces are Navigators, some are BGs? Or am I just imagining things/mixing this up with Dune Tarot?

[TMA_1]

yes they talk about pieces like cymeks and stuff. and no I am not adding that kind of crap in there.hehe

I put in stuff like machines, sounds a little more Dunish and archaic.

[Tio_Holtzmann]

TMA, what have you based the pieces on?

Twould be cool if someone invented that holo-chess game format like the one in Star Wars 4. Cept I suppose we'd have to it solido rather than holo to avoid infringing copyright.

What do you think of the cheops board out of Children Of Dune (series)? I thought it didn't have enough levels or was high enough. Plus all the pices looked the same, but then again, it is chess.

[Andrew]

TMA, what have you based the pieces on?

Twould be cool if someone invented that holo-chess game format like the one in Star Wars 4. Cept I suppose we'd have to it solido rather than holo to avoid infringing copyright.

What do you think of the cheops board out of Children Of Dune (series)? I thought it didn't have enough levels or was high enough. Plus all the pices looked the same, but then again, it is chess.

You mean CoD miniseries? To me it looked basicly like a chess board (in size) and of course I'm sure the pieces were not exactly like "chess" but probably similiar.

[TMA_1]

well since I couldnt find them in franks books or the DE, I will name them myself of course. I am trying to look in the DE again since it has a good bit on cheops.

[Egeides]

Do we know when the game was invented? It can help to see the situation around.

Hey, it seems I'm gonna put myself on this fun enigm too. Building an "advanced chess game" seems a nice challenge :)

[Acriku]

You can always watch a Spock episode where he beats the Captain at the Pyramid chess game ;)

[Tio_Holtzmann]

any chance of a sketch or something, i'm not great at visualing objects from text?