A glimpse at ZunTzu 2

This is the place to contribute to the next version of ZunTzu.

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GJK
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Post by GJK »

phillies wrote:
GJK wrote:How does a board game have counters with 3 or 4 sides to them?
They are called "block" games (Columbia Games, e.g.,), are commercially successful, and work by stacking the unit counters on their thin sides, and then rotating them around a horizontal axis. The unit counters are made of wood, are a quarter-inch or so thick, and are more or less stable with any of their six faces facing up.

The other alternative, in that ultraradical Avalon Hill game 1914, is that each unit is represented by two unit counters, each of which is two-sided. ZunTzu is likely less limited.
Hi Phillies,

Yes, I'm very familiar with block games and how they work and Zun Tzu (in it's current form) can simulate that quite easily as you can simply rotate the pieces. The only difference is that "up" (from the table top) would have to be represented by the northern facing of the game piece in Zun Tzu. Multiple counters per piece is of course currently do-able in Zun Tzu as well (just swap pieces). Yes, I realize that it would be nice to have a single piece represented by multiple sides so that you don't have to rotate or swap pieces, but Jerome's premise for Zun Tzu has always been that he wants to simulate a boardgame that is on a PC screen, not convert a boardgame to a PC game where you have features that aren't possible with board and counter games alone.
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Pokke
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Post by Pokke »

he wants to simulate a boardgame that is on a PC screen, not convert a boardgame to a PC game where you have features that aren't possible with board and counter games alone.
Agreed! It's what makes ZunTzu shine, compared to others.

If you want to see what the opposing goal could lead to: try to play the Vassal version of Combat Commander for instance. And then shiver and weep. All these "extras" included makes playing a quite simple game a "job" as all the rules are implemented and forced upon the player but it's not clear how to do what you want to do, etc. To me it always felt as if the gamebox designer wanted to show off with all these features of Vassal at the cost of playability.
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jacknozwad
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Re: A glimpse at ZunTzu 2

Post by jacknozwad »

Jerome wrote:Hi!

Here is a glimpse at the current state of ZunTzu 2.
Hello, I just wanted to ask how this project is doing? I'm ready to buy and can't wait to play my modules on ios!
Lose 2 sanity if you read this.
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btrhoads
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Post by btrhoads »

I know a testing phase should start soon. He mentioned re-writing a piece of code that threw a monkey wrench in to the project. That was a month ago or so. He is working on it eventhough the forum is pretty quiet. I am excited to try the iOS version too.
sharky6000
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Post by sharky6000 »

Looks really cool, nice work. I know that these projects can take a lot of work and finding motivation without the financial incentive is sometimes quite hard, so I sure hope it is a success.

I will echo the concern of the move toward tablet devices, since I too want to keep playing games on my computer. I'm particularly sad that Linux support is getting put to side; I suspected the move to C++/OpenGL was specifically to make it more cross-platform.

That said, I totally understand that there are only so many hours in the day and that the tablet support will most likely be a priority. I have the skills and motivation to help support Linux, I'm just not sure I have the time... but maybe we could change with some convincing. :D If you are interested, feel free to send me a BGG geekmail (username sharky6000).

Thanks for the great work! Projects like ZunTzu really add to my board gaming experience. :D
Heath
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Post by Heath »

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Bill Barrett
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Post by Bill Barrett »

Yep,

I saw that too.
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Bill Barrett
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Post by Bill Barrett »

Shadoglare
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Post by Shadoglare »

Soooo it's now been about 10 months since the last update.... any thoughts of just releasing the thing as open source? It would appear whatever enjoyment you got out of coding v1 is no longer there...

I was also hopeful that v2 being coded with OpenGL might mean some Linux compatibility...
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Bill Barrett
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Post by Bill Barrett »

Actually the last time we heard from Jerome was on Dec 6th:

http://www.zuntzu.com/forum/viewtopic.p ... ight=#5227

And yes, we all miss him.
Shadoglare
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Post by Shadoglare »

The topic or post you requested does not exist
:?
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Bill Barrett
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Post by Bill Barrett »

Oops, sorry. That was a link to a private thread :wink:

But no, we haven't heard from him for four months :(
Shadoglare
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Post by Shadoglare »

Bill Barrett wrote:Oops, sorry. That was a link to a private thread :wink:

But no, we haven't heard from him for four months :(
Ah OK - I pulled up his profile and saw a couple of others things he posted... no updates, really, just signs that he's still around.

Which had me worried at first - when you said "we all miss him" I was suddenly worried that the reason for no updates was that he was struck ill and I had somehow not seen anything about it :oops:
phillies
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Post by phillies »

GJK wrote:How does a board game have counters with 3 or 4 sides to them?
Avalon Hill 1914 did this. The material realization was two pieces of cardboard having the same ID number on both sides.
tycho216
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Post by tycho216 »

Pokke wrote:
he wants to simulate a boardgame that is on a PC screen, not convert a boardgame to a PC game where you have features that aren't possible with board and counter games alone.
Agreed! It's what makes ZunTzu shine, compared to others.

If you want to see what the opposing goal could lead to: try to play the Vassal version of Combat Commander for instance. And then shiver and weep. All these "extras" included makes playing a quite simple game a "job" as all the rules are implemented and forced upon the player but it's not clear how to do what you want to do, etc. To me it always felt as if the gamebox designer wanted to show off with all these features of Vassal at the cost of playability.
My sense exactly! Vassal is too cumbersome. What I love about zuntzu is it is transparent. I don't feel like I am using a piece of software so much as playing a boardgame. The right-mouse's zoom in/out feature is excellent, as I can easily navigate around the screen without having to think about it. Zuntzu has always felt 'fluid' and 'clear' ... So much so that I often prefer this over a boxed game even when I have both.
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