Subject: Actions

From: "Snow" <snowl@s...>
Date: Mon, 14 Aug 2000 11:20:47 +0100

A new version of the ruleset is at

http://www.egroups.com/files/l-nomic-d/

At the bottom of the ruleset is a update log.

The Turn and Gambits sections are still a little rough, but the whole
thing is approching usability. All we need now are a few Actions like
blocking, shunting and some gambits.

Snow's stupid idea of the day: Put the GSD header at the foot and call
it a footer. This put the details of the game state and player states
next to the Turns that have been taken most recently. On the down side
it means you have to scroll to the bottom to see what's happening.

-- Snow
Is the answer: hot lesbian action?

---

From: "Snow" <snowl@s...>
Date: Sun, 10 Sep 2000 16:40:56 +0100

> blocking, shunting and some gambits.

Blocking (1Re, 20mins, post): A player may block an adjacent station.
When a station is blocked no player may step to that station for 1
round.

Shunting (1Re, 20mins, post): If a Player occupies the same station
(and line?) as another player e may shunt that player 4 steps in the
direction the shunting player is traveling. If a Termius or Blocked
station would prevent the Shunt had it been a normal Move then the
Shunt may not be carried out.

[The following are ideas off the top of my head, please feel free to
dis' them]

Shockwave (2Bu, 40mins, post): If all interchanges on a line contain a
Stack with a Re Token a player on that line may play the Shockwave
action. The Shockwave action shunts all player on the line except for
the actioning player 4 steps away from the actioning player. [Which
way is "away" on the Circle and Northern Lines???]

Teleport (2Bz, 30mins, post): If a player occupies a station with a
Stack containing 3Gr e may play the Teleport Action and put eir piece
on any station on the Board with a Stack containing 3Gr.

Prison (2Bu, 2Bz, 30mins, post): If the circle line has 5 or more
stations with Stacks containing a Bu Token then a Player occuping a
station on the circle line may play the Prison Action to Block all
Stations on the circle line for 1 round. [No one can move in or out of
the circle line; players on the circle line (including the Actioning
player) may move off the circle line provided they are on another
line. If they are not on another line they are stuck there for one
round.]

Breed (0, 10mins, post): If a Terminus contains a Stack with 1 Plastic
Tokens and a Metal Token a Player occuping that Station may play the
Breed Action to gain 2 Plastic Tokens of the same colour as the one on
the Stack. The Metal Token is not destoyed after this Gambit is
played. [Issues: could not destroying the Metal cause abuse?]

-- Snow
TV programmers are pure evil; they are starting Angel before series 4
of Buffy TVS has finished _and_ putting it opposite the Robot Wars
international final, __and__ it's not on the BBC ___and___ they've
started beeping out South Park. Evil.

---

From: "Kevan " <kevan@s...>
Date: Thu, 14 Sep 2000 09:33:36 -0000

> When a station is blocked no player may step to that station for 1

Hm, would it not be nicer as "Blocking <Adjacent Station> (1Re, 
20mins, post): Chosen Station becomes Blocked for one round." with 
"Blocked" being defined elsewhere (since I imagine it'd be used in 
other contexts; Bulkheading, that rather nice "stacks become blocks" 
state, etc).

> Shunt may not be carried out.

Hm, I prefered the old version (or, at least, what I remember the old 
version as being, once tweaked for distance); "Shunting <Colocated 
Player> (1Re, 20mins, post): Chosen Player is moved four steps along 
any one Line, or less if they are stepped to a Terminus." Simplicity. 
And all that.

> [The following are ideas off the top of my head, please feel free to

Hmm. I'm really not sure about this keeping-track-of-Token-Stacks 
malarkey, you know. Although quite lovely when played on a real 
board, I think it's just going to hurt people's heads in email play. 
Knowing whether all the Interchanges on the Central Line have Token 
Stacks is quite fearsomely unintuitive and fiddly, if you've just got 
a list of various Stations on your monitor and a map pinned to your 
office wall.

Unless, unless, someone sits and codes an MCiOS-style interface which 
generates a map GIF and keeps track of Tokens and things as the game 
progresses. Go to the site, play your move, have it send a nudging 
email to the next player. That might be quite nice. Hm. Having 
trodden into the realms of cgi scripting since I last thought about 
something like this, it doesn't seem quite as fearful and fanciful as 
it used to.

Hmm...

K.

--
kevan@s...
http://uncertain.org/~kevan
"Her train of thought is underground, the map is yours,
but God knows what you'll make of it."

---

From: "Snow" <snowl@s...>
Date: Thu, 5 Oct 2000 21:39:11 +0100

> other contexts; Bulkheading, that rather nice "stacks become blocks"

OK.

> any one Line, or less if they are stepped to a Terminus."
Simplicity.

Does that mean you can shunt someone through a block? Or shunt someone
in the direction from which the shunter came? I have no objection to
having a shunt that will work in any direction the shunter wants, but
I don't think shunting thorough blocks should be allowed.

> a list of various Stations on your monitor and a map pinned to your

Well I have an alternative, but I think a lot of people are keen on
Stacks.

> something like this, it doesn't seem quite as fearful and fanciful
as

MCMapper/JMC were going in that direction, but I've got a job now so I
probably won't be spending too much time on them for a while.

-- Snow
Employed person.

---

From: David Lynch <david@d...>
Date: Thu, 5 Oct 2000 17:54:13 -0500 (CDT)

On Thu, 5 Oct 2000, Snow wrote:

> > generates a map GIF and keeps track of Tokens and things as the game >
> progresses. Go to the site, play your move, have it send a nudging >
> email to the next player. That might be quite nice. Hm. Having > trodden
> into the realms of cgi scripting since I last thought about > something
> like this, it doesn't seem quite as fearful and fanciful as > it used
> to. 
> 

A cold front, hurricane, and Christopher Columbus have united here to make
a long, cold, rainy weekend, and I just happen to have a woefully
underutilized web server here at school. I could see what I can whip up if
nobody objects.

- David Lynch -
david@d...