8PC Development and IMPORTANT VOTING
Hi! So many of you may know that 8pc in its current format is barely over a month old. Since starting this club we have grown rapidly and we are grateful and thankful to each and every one of you.
We've put together a small development team that we are looking to expand upon, so first, before I go any further, I need to ask if anyone here is familiar or has experience with any of the following:
- PHP
- Node.js
- Webhooks
- SQL Database building and website connectivity
If you are familiar with any of the above and you are interested in helping with the development of 8pc, please message me or glo_1 directly and tell us what you know.
Voting
We need your help! :0
For us to continue with the development of certain 8pc features we need to finalise certain concepts. What follows are some issues that need finalising so we can say: "This is how it is done in 8pc, this is how it will be from now on". The following are polls so we can see you're thoughts on how things should be done (but feel free to make comments as well). The leading candidate of such polls won't necessarily be what we eventially implement but it will give us a good idea of what you guys want and will help us consider what to put in place for final implementation.
Thank you for your help and consider all angles carefully before making a decision. Thank you.
Piece Colour Standardisation
In the long run we are hoping to have something similar to 4pc where players can choose the colours of individual players but where we can also offer options for those with visual impairments including different forms of colourblindness.
This poll concerns the main colours used in the standard model of 8pc.
Model 1 - The Current Model
Player 1: White
Player 2: Red
Player 3: Blue
Player 4: Yellow
Player 5: Green
Player 6: Purple
Player 7: Orange
Player 8: Black
Dead Pieces: Grey
The current model is the one that we have used since the start. It is the one we have gotten use to. It can be argued that we don't need to change the format that the colours are in because it is not an overly important issue and the concept is simple enough that we might as well keep what we have.
Model 2 - Orange/Purple/Green Switched
Player 1: White
Player 2: Red
Player 3: Blue
Player 4: Yellow
Player 5: Purple
Player 6: Orange
Player 7: Green
Player 8: Black
Dead Pieces: Grey
Same as the current model but the positions of Orange, Green and Purple have been changed for aesthetic purposes. The Colours "opposites" are mirrored on the otherside of the board down the y-axis.
Model 3 - Opposite colour, Opposite board
Player 1: White
Player 2: Red
Player 3: Blue
Player 4: Yellow
Player 5: Black
Player 6: Green
Player 7: Orange
Player 8: Purple
Dead Pieces: Grey
The colours of the players are the same but pieces that are considered "opposites" on the colour palette are also opposite on the board as well.
Model 4 - Opposite Colours, Same Corner
Player 1: White
Player 2: Black
Player 3: Red
Player 4: Green
Player 5: Blue
Player 6: Orange
Player 7: Yellow
Player 8: Purple
Dead Pieces: Grey
Colours that are opposite each other exist in the same corners. In Teams, White + Primary colours would fight against Black + Secondary Colours.
Poll
Consider which of the above is your favourite and tell us your favourite method here:
Which of the 8pc Player colour formats was your favourite?
Formal Notation
We need to formalise the notation we use for 8pc. We'll still use the colour indication method for colloquial usage but in terms of a long term notation we need something better. We will as well create a "Figurine" notation, but quite specifically we need a notation that does not depend on the colour of the pieces nor any particular language bias.
Note: Except for some instances, this section does not concern itself with the idea of the Notation format but only with the method we will use to indicate which player is moving in a particular instance.
Rather than defining what each set is I have instead chosen to illustrate an example of the same set of moves for each model. Each instance would be an example of what the notation would/could look like if we were to describe a move starting from that player.
Model 1 - Arrows Inward
Player 1: 1 🡹. h3
Player 2: 1 🡽. c7
Player 3: 1 🡺. c17
Player 4: 1 🡾. g22
Player 5: 1 🡻. q22
Player 6: 1 🡿. v18
Player 7: 1 🡸. v8
Player 8: 1 🡼. r3
Model 2 - Arrows Outward
Player 1: 1 🡻. h3
Player 2: 1 🡿. c7
Player 3: 1 🡸. c17
Player 4: 1 🡼. g22
Player 5: 1 🡹. q22
Player 6: 1 🡽. v18
Player 7: 1 🡺. v8
Player 8: 1 🡾. r3
Model 3 - Corner Arrows (Inward)
Player 1: 1 ↱. h3
Player 2: 1 ⮥. c7
Player 3: 1 ↴. c17
Player 4: 1 ↳. g22
Player 5: 1 ↲. q22
Player 6: 1 ⮦. v18
Player 7: 1 ⮤. v8
Player 8: 1 ↰. r3
Model 4 - Hyphens (no formatting)
Player 1: 1. h3
Player 2: 1. - c7
Player 3: 1. - - c17
Player 4: 1. - - - g22
Player 5: 1. - - - - q22
Player 6: 1. - - - - - v18
Player 7: 1. - - - - - - v8
Player 8: 1. - - - - - - - r3
Model 5 - Roman Numerals
Player 1: 1 i. h3
Player 2: 1 ii. c7
Player 3: 1 iii. c17
Player 4: 1 iv. g22
Player 5: 1 v. q22
Player 6: 1 vi. v18
Player 7: 1 vii. v8
Player 8: 1 viii. r3
Poll
Consider which of the above is your favourite and tell us your favourite method here:
Which of the Notation Methods was your favourite?
Terminology
We're not going to be using the word "Ply" to refer to "a round of moves". Whoever decided it for 4pc didn't read this: Ply (game theory). In chess, apparently a "move" is a "turn" taken by both players and a halfmove is literally one person making their action. This is contrast to other turn based games like GO where a "move" is one action from one player.
The terminology used in many games including chess is horribly unorganised. We won't let that happen in 8pc, so we will come up with intuitive terms that we will define as our norm from here on.
A singular action from 1 player
Move
Serve
Play
Go
Action
Shot
Trick
Bound
Smash
A set of singular actions taken by each player within a notated bound
Round
Layer
Spin
Set
Run
Poll
Which words do you like to describe a singular action?
Which words do you like to describe a set of actions within a notated bound?
How many checkmates in Teams?
We will still make all options available as variants, but this is for the amount of checkmates needed for victory in a Standard 4-vs-4 Teams game. 1, 2, 3 or 4?
Poll
How many checkmates needed for victory in 8pc Teams?
In FFT (2v2v2v2), should a players teammate be eliminated if they are checkmated/captured/resigned or stalemated?
No
Yes
Yes - but not if stalemated
Poll
In FFT should a teammate be eliminated if a player is checkmated/captured/resigned or stalemated?
Checkmate order for main gamemodes.
I saved the best for last. This is probably the longest, most difficult but most important question in this list, so do consider it carefully and join the debate if you are not sure...
This mostly concerns the checkmating order for FFT (and to a lesser extent FFA). It must be considered that we would preferably like to be consistent with how we are checkmating in all major gamemodes.
We will of course make variations available, so this section concerns the standard to be adopted and feedback and discussion in this area is vital.
In all Methods that follow, it is assumed that a checkmate position has been reached and that other players that follow try to interfere with the checkmate in some way (whether to prevent checkmate or claim it for themselves).
Method 1
The Player is checkmated immediately. Points are given to the player or FFT Team that made the checkmate.
Method 2
The Player is checkmated on their turn. Points are given to the player that delivered the last inescapable checkmate that was not interfered upon by other players.
Method 3
Capture the King.
Poll
When or how should a player be checkmated?
Thank you so much for working through all this. Your feedback will help us massively on our quest to making live 8pc a real thing.
- Eldar
