[Kde-games-devel] kigo

[Tadeusz Andrzej Kadłubowski]

On Oct 22, 2009, at 6:37 PM, Matthew Woehlke wrote:

Hello,

> IMO that's going to have to be some insanely good tutorial, I guess. I
> do know the basic rules (maybe not basic /strategies/, but that's not
> what you said), and I still get utterly dominated even by the easiest
> setting.
>
> Which... is the point. Right now I don't see kigo as at all useable by
> casual players. (I suppose the same would be true of, say, chess.
> Actually it's true of kfourinline also, which is why I never play it.)


In my opinion it is essential to give usability hints that handicap  
is a valid way of balancing difficulty of the game.

If you choose a small board (say, 9x9) and 9 stones of handicap,  
you'll very likely to win even against the highest difficulty setting  
of GNU go engine. In such tight space 9 stones for free make a huge  
difference.

The preferred way for a total beginner to play is to set the engine  
difficulty to the lowest (which is plenty enough for novice players),  
choose a rather small board (it's easier to grasp for novice players)  
and a very high handicap. Then, as the player builds skill he lowers  
the handicap and enlarges the board. When you can win on standard  
19x19 board with no handicap, then you're ready to bump the engine  
difficulty level, or start giving handicap to the engine.

Best regards,
-- 
tadeusz andrzej kadłubowski