Quick Start (In Work)

  • A playable implemetation of 3D Chess with planar moves and advancement squares.
  • The 3D board is a cube of cubes (8x8x8).
  • Each tile is the bottom of a cube.
  • An 8 color board includes the 2 bishop colors (tile faces) and the 4 duke colors (tile edges).
    • Bishop: white | black
    • Duke: gold | silver | ruby | jade

Green Panels (tied into the undo system - the Game panel)

  • Setup Panel: Click on the Make Board button to create a board, flanking trays, and pieces.
    • The two ten-boards are not ready yet for pieces and trays.
  • AdvSq Panel: Click on the Place button to see an advancement square, then move it around.
    • Rook: red
    • Bishop: green
    • Duke: blue
    • Note the exensive feedback on the features of advancement squares, important jargon.
  • Gambit Panel: Use the Quadrant|Linear|Duplex|Ovelap buttons to capture the existing advsq.
    • All enabled (these are not yet under state machine control, use with discretion).
  • Move Panel: Use to pretend move pieces (not yet rendered) - it is a test of the Move buffer in the undo system. Supporting panels:
    • Camera Panel: Play with zoom, POV, etc.
    • Game Panel: undo working for all four state buffers - load and save now work.
    • Viewer Panel: Animation rotates the board back and forth around the Z-axis between settable limits and a range of velocities.
      • Really helps to see the planar nature of the moves.
      • Use in conjuncture with the camer panel’s POV radio buttons. Inwork Panels:
    • Moves
    • Compasses (versatile slip and slide of advasqs)

Setup Panel

  • Click on Make Board to put a static 8x8x8 board into the scene.

AdvSq Panel

  • Click on Place.
    • A rook source tile shows up.
  • Click on Grow and Shrink a few times.
    • Changes size of the advancement square.
  • Play with the buttons (Next Quad, Next Plane, Next Piece).
    • Note the jargon used to describe advancement squares.
  • Also play with the Stride input field (move around the perimeter of the advsq).
    • Note how various properties of the stride tile change.
  • Uses vi keys (ijk, IJK) to move advsq around the board.
    • Note that tiles in advsqs can extend off the board.
    • Use the Offboard Visibility slider to affect their opacity.

Gambit Panel

  • Accumulate advancement squares on the board to build an understanding of how moves and pieces interact.
  • Clicking a button freezes the current advancement square as part of the gambit.
    • Any advancement square can be frozen as a pure quadrant move.
    • The stride tile must be on an end tile to freeze as a linear move.
    • The stride tile must be duke duplex tile (apex in a face quadrant) to freeze as a duplex move.
    • The stried tile must be an overlap tile (brook, qtile, hotspot, or Feynman) to freeze as an overlap move (queen, stack).

Move Panel

  • Primarily it is intended to list the moves of the game.
  • Currently serving double duty as a test vehicle for creating reversible moves for the undo system (Game panel).

Game Panel

  • Then try the undo/redo/rerun buttons.
  • Movement in 2D is natural, evolution has programmed us to perceive lines, and motion along them.
  • Movement in 3D chess is counter-intutitive.
  • A line has only two possible directions, but a quadrant has 4 (6 for the bishop).
  • 2D: there are only two types of lines, and only two of each, for a total of 8 directions.
  • 3D: there are three types of planes, three rook, four bishop, and six duke; thus a total of 60 directions.
  • Annoying bug - undoing back into board construction is not yet working.

Camera Panel

  • Zoom In|Zoom Out buttons
  • Ascend|Descend buttons (changes viewing angle into the board)
  • POV buttons (Player perspectives - White|Black, side perspectives - Neutral|Negative).

Viewer Panel

  • Show|Hide trays
  • Change the gap between the flanking piece trays and the board (0 - 3).
  • Change the level separation (1.0 - 2.0).
  • Toggle Animation (rotation around the z-axis)
  • Jitter Range (how far the rotation goes).
  • Jitter Speed (how fast the rotation goes).

Interface (in development)

  • This interface is designed to help you visualize how pieces move (and are blocked) in 3D chess.
  • Most of this interface is not needed in 2D chess, evoluation has programmed your brain to see trajectories.
  • There are no trajectories in 3D chess, a consequence of planar moves and advancement squares.
  • The major thrust of this interface is provide the players with visualization tools.
  • Rules are not yet enforced, but the graphical interface allows players to determine if a move is legal.
  • Obvious point - physical boards do not enforce the rules, the players do.
  • Raycasting demonstrated by toggling circles on clicked tiles.
  • (You are witness to how the ‘sausage’ is made.)

Next Steps

  • Move pieces from trays to board.
  • Move pieces around the board.
  • Move pieces back to the tray.