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[pbmserv] New game: Pyloff
Fellow gamers,
A new game Pyloff has been added to the server. This is a 3D Go
variant similar to the recent game Pylon, but has simpler rules and
is more like Go-like in nature.
I think Pyloff is easier to understand and more interesting than
Pylon, and has more tactical potential. Please challenge me to help
test it out:
pyloff challenge <yourname> camb
and/or
pyloff challenge camb <yourname>
The help file is appended below, and can also be found here:
http://www.gamerz.net/pbmserv/pyloff.html
Cameron
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Help for the Game of Pyloff
Introduction
Welcome to the network Pyloff server. The challenge command is
described here. Other commands are the same as for all pbmserv games.
pyloff challenge [-size=number] userid1 userid2 [.. userid4]
starts a new game for between two and four players.
The -size parameter sets the size of the board (default is 6).
Introduction
Pyloff is similar to Go, except that it's played with marbles which
may stack up to form piles. A special capture rule is used to resolve
potential problems with retrieving buried pieces after capture;
captured pieces with any piece(s) resting directly upon them are not
removed but remain alive in the game.
Rules
Players take turns placing a piece (marble) of their colour at any
valid empty point. A point is valid if it is: 1) a board point, or 2)
supported flatly by four existing pieces.
Connection: Two pieces of the same colour are connected if they are
squarely adjacent to each other, or one rests directly upon the other.
A group is a visibly connected set of pieces which may visit multiple
levels.
Freedom: A piece has freedom if it is adjacent to at least one valid
empty point on the same level. A group has freedom if at least one of
its member pieces has freedom.
Surround capture: After playing a piece, all enemy groups without
freedom are captured and removed from the board, with the following
exception: captured pieces that directly support one or more
higher-level pieces are not removed, but remain alive in the game.
No suicide rule: It is not permitted to place a piece without freedom,
unless that move captures neighbours to create its own freedom.
Ko rule: It is not permitted to repeat a previous board position (this
has not been implemented so is up to the players' discretion).
Over/under rule: A connection passing over an enemy connection cuts
it. Buried pieces (those with a piece directly above them) do not
count in any connections; groups must be visibly connected.
Players may not voluntarily pass, but are forced to pass if there is
no legal move.
The game ends when neither player can make any further move. The
player with the most pieces in play wins.
Multiplayer: Multiplayer Pyloff is played using exactly the same rules
as the two-player version.
Examples
An X piece at 'a' captures the O group, which has no remaining freedoms.
| . . . . | . . . .
| |
| _____ | _____ _____
| / \ | / \ / \
| a | x x | . . || x x | x x | . .
| | x x | || x x | x x |
| _____ \_____/ _____ | \_____/ \_____/ _____
| / \ / \ / \ | / \
|| o o | o o | x x | . | . . | x x | .
|| o o | o o | x x | | | x x |
| \_____/ \_____/ \_____/ | \_____/
| / \ / \ / \ | / \
|| o o | o o | x x | . | . . | x x | .
|| o o | o o | x x | | | x x |
| \_____/ \_____/ \_____/ | \_____/
| / \ / \ / \ | / \
|| o o | o o | x x | . | . . | x x | .
|| o o | o o | x x | | | x x |
| \_____/ \_____/ \_____/ | \_____/
+----------------------------- +-----------------------------
An X piece at 'b' does not capture the O group, as it still has two
freedoms (marked '*') after the move.
| . . . . | . . . .
| |
| _____ | _____ _____
| / \ | / \ / \
| b | x x | . . || x x | x x | . .
| | x x | || x x | x x |
| _____ \_____/ _____ | \_____/ \_____/ _____
| / \ / \ / \ | / \ / \ / \
|| o o | o o | x x | . || o o | o o | x x | .
|| o o | o o | x x | || o o | o o | x x |
| \_____/ \_____/ \_____/ | \_____/ \_____/*\_____/
| / \ / \ / \ | / \ / \ / \
|| o o | o o__|__x x | . || o o | o o__|__x x | .
|| o o | o / \ x | || o o | o / \ x |
| \_____/ \__| o o |__/ | \_____/*\__| o o |__/
| / \ / | o o | \ | / \ / | o o | \
|| o o | o \_____/ x | . || o o | o \_____/ x | .
|| o o | o o | x x | || o o | o o | x x |
| \_____/ \_____/ \_____/ | \_____/ \_____/ \_____/
+----------------------------- +-----------------------------
An X piece at 'c' captures the O group. Note that the pieces which
support higher-level pieces are not removed.
| . . . . | . . . .
| |
| _____ | _____ _____
| / \ | / \ / \
| c | x x | . . || x x | x x | . .
| | x x | || x x | x x |
| _____ \_____/ _____ | \_____/ \_____/ _____
| / \ / \ / \ | / \ / \
|| o o | o o__|__x x | . | . | o o__|__x x | .
|| o o | o / \ x | | | o / \ x |
| \_____/ \__| x x |__/ | _____ \__| x x |__/
| / \ / | x x | \ | / \ / | x x | \
|| o o__|__o \_____/ x | . || o o__|__o \_____/ x | .
|| o / \ / \ x | || o / \ o | x x |
| \__| x x | o o |__/ | \__| x x |__/ \_____/
| / | x x | o o | \ | / | x x | \ / \
|| o \_____/ \_____/ x | . || o \_____/ o | x x | .
|| o o | o o | x x | || o o | o o | x x |
| \_____/ \_____/ \_____/ | \_____/ \_____/ \_____/
+----------------------------- +-----------------------------
The O overpass cuts the following two X pieces (over/under rule).
_____ _____
/ \ / \
. | o o__|__o o | .
| o / \ o |
\__| o o |__/
/ | o o | \
. | x \_____/ x | .
| x / \ x |
\__| o o |__/
/ | o o | \
. | o \_____/ o | .
| o o | o o |
\_____/ \_____/
. . . .
Notes
Higher level plays are strong, as the lower-level pieces that support
them remain fixed and cannot be removed from the board (unless the
higher level pieces are themselves captured and removed).
It's relatively easy to make groups safe with multiple eyes on
different levels. However, the fact that players cannot pass means
that they may eventually be forced to fill in their own eyes and
render groups unsafe.
Some eyes that initially appear safe may become unsafe as pieces build
up around them offering opportunites to attack.
Adjacent friendly pieces on the outermost row or column of any level
cannot be cut, as it's not possible to bury them or separate them with
an overpass. Edge moves can therefore be quite strong (especially if
they support higher-level pieces) despite the fact that the edge
removes a potential freedom. Edge play becomes increasingly
predominant as the levels build up and the ratio of edge points to
interior points increases.
Removing buried pieces from connection calculations means that players
do not have to remember the colour of hidden pieces, except when it
comes to counting the score at the end of the game.
The board, when fully stacked, forms a pyramidal or cannonball
stacking. The maximum number of pieces that may be played on a board
of size n is given by the pyramidal number Pn = n (n + 1) (2n + 1) /
6.
Board size Max pieces
3x3 14
4x4 30
5x5 55
6x6 91
7x7 140
8x8 204
9x9 285
10x10 385
11x11 506
12x12 650
13x13 819
... ...
19x19 2,470
A game of Pyloff will therefore take several times as long as a game
of Go on the same sized board. For example, a 10x10 Go board has room
for 100 pieces whereas a 10x10 Pyloff board has room for 385 pieces
(although these limits will never actually be reached).
Each ball in a cannonball stacking has up to twelve connected
neighbours, however only the four squarely adjacent neighbours on the
same level count as freedoms in Pyloff (as in Go), not diagonally
adjacent neighbours on the next level up/down. This is for two main
reasons:
1) It makes groups easier to surround (otherwise captures would rarely
occur); and
2) It means that some members of surrounded groups may remain
uncovered (otherwise only singleton captures would remove pieces from
the board).
Some multiplayer Go variants relax the connection definition so that
enemy groups may consist of stones of any colour except the current
player's. Pyloff maintains the stricter definition - that any group
may only consist of one colour - to encourage captures.
Translating Pyloff to the hexagonal grid is complicated by phase
problems; for any packed level there are two ways to pack the level
above, both of which are valid but incompatible. The square grid is
better suited to ball-stacking games of this type.
Syntax
The move syntax is:
pyloff move board# userid password a7 (place a piece at A7)
pyloff move board# userid password swap (swap sides - second move only)
History
Pyloff rules copyright (c) Cameron Browne in February 2006.
The name Pyloff derives from the fact that pieces form piles and are
taken off the board following capture. This is in contrast to the
related game Pylon, in which captures result in pieces being added to
the board.
Implementation and Help file by Cameron Browne, February 2006.