I was pretty much prepared to hate this, to dismiss it as a silly exercise on both fronts--on introducing a "story" to a chess game, and on implementing a chess endgame in a parser game.
But no. In fact it ended up working for me. The story was a little silly, perhaps, but the "you won't get her back" aspect of it did elevate it a little; and as a chess ending, you're right, it's pleasantly surprising. In the end it worked for me far, far more than I expected.
Thanks for this! It was a really nice boost, and I really appreciated it, because I'd been slumping a bit with my writing. The effect was what I was hoping for: I didn't want to make some universal message, but I hoped one or two people would say "I don't enjoy chess but I did enjoy this."
Balancing silliness with something serious was something I wanted to do and I didn't quite succeed, but that's what post-comp releases are for.
Hope you find time to play the other ParserComp games, too! Authors do appreciate the feedback, and it's good to see as many votes as possible.
"Didn't quite succeed" might be true, but I think you came pretty close, which isn't at all bad for a comp entry. ;-)
And, yes, working my way through the other games. I know how civic duty works! (Also, now that I see your response, I'm like, "Oh, of course"; it's a name I readily recognize--warmly--from several years of rating IFComp games. :-) )
I enjoyed this game, though I was a bit confused for a while. Perhaps because I am not that experienced in chess and chess expressions and as English is not my mother tongue. I put a review here: Reviewing ParserComp 2022 - ADRIFT Forum
My main feedback is some better instructions (for less experienced players) and it would be nice to show the final moves on the board instead of just explaining what was done in text. I know some experienced players can remember the entire board but I can't even with very few pieces :D
And it should be possible to type "queen" to promote to queen again if the player changes his mind after typing "rook", "bishop" and "knight".
Thanks for this! As for the "queen" bug, I was embarrassed that one slipped through! It could actually lock the player out of finding all accomplishments, and it wasn't the only way.
Someone actually reported it (and other bugs) at my GitHub site. So I had it fixed locally, and your note reminded me I wanted to push the changes I'd made once I'd tested them enough. So hopefully an update will follow soon to itch.io.
I should stop by the Adrift forum more often. I remember enjoying it when I was there. Thanks for taking the time to review. It's not easy work--I'm behind on reviews, but the more I see, the more motivated I am to try and write them myself.
I agree the instructions could and should be punched up. I let a lot of time slip, and it's something I want to work on for a quick post-comp release.
Anyway, I was in a bit of a slump the past week, but nice comments like this helped pull me out and get me close to what I hope is an update with no regressions.
Comments
Cool new cover! ^_^
Thanks, glad you noticed it! It's probably the last of the updates unless there's a catastrophic bug.
I was pretty much prepared to hate this, to dismiss it as a silly exercise on both fronts--on introducing a "story" to a chess game, and on implementing a chess endgame in a parser game.
But no. In fact it ended up working for me. The story was a little silly, perhaps, but the "you won't get her back" aspect of it did elevate it a little; and as a chess ending, you're right, it's pleasantly surprising. In the end it worked for me far, far more than I expected.
Thanks for this! It was a really nice boost, and I really appreciated it, because I'd been slumping a bit with my writing. The effect was what I was hoping for: I didn't want to make some universal message, but I hoped one or two people would say "I don't enjoy chess but I did enjoy this."
Balancing silliness with something serious was something I wanted to do and I didn't quite succeed, but that's what post-comp releases are for.
Hope you find time to play the other ParserComp games, too! Authors do appreciate the feedback, and it's good to see as many votes as possible.
"Didn't quite succeed" might be true, but I think you came pretty close, which isn't at all bad for a comp entry. ;-)
And, yes, working my way through the other games. I know how civic duty works! (Also, now that I see your response, I'm like, "Oh, of course"; it's a name I readily recognize--warmly--from several years of rating IFComp games. :-) )
I enjoyed this game, though I was a bit confused for a while. Perhaps because I am not that experienced in chess and chess expressions and as English is not my mother tongue. I put a review here: Reviewing ParserComp 2022 - ADRIFT Forum
My main feedback is some better instructions (for less experienced players) and it would be nice to show the final moves on the board instead of just explaining what was done in text. I know some experienced players can remember the entire board but I can't even with very few pieces :D
And it should be possible to type "queen" to promote to queen again if the player changes his mind after typing "rook", "bishop" and "knight".
Thanks for this! As for the "queen" bug, I was embarrassed that one slipped through! It could actually lock the player out of finding all accomplishments, and it wasn't the only way.
Someone actually reported it (and other bugs) at my GitHub site. So I had it fixed locally, and your note reminded me I wanted to push the changes I'd made once I'd tested them enough. So hopefully an update will follow soon to itch.io.
I should stop by the Adrift forum more often. I remember enjoying it when I was there. Thanks for taking the time to review. It's not easy work--I'm behind on reviews, but the more I see, the more motivated I am to try and write them myself.
I agree the instructions could and should be punched up. I let a lot of time slip, and it's something I want to work on for a quick post-comp release.
Anyway, I was in a bit of a slump the past week, but nice comments like this helped pull me out and get me close to what I hope is an update with no regressions.