Shinogi Chess Club (tuxdb.com)

As more people make their way through the game and post videos online I've begun to feel somewhat dissatisfied with the AI move decisions and had a few quick ideas to iron out specific issues. Though I originally intended to release a larger patch with many more features, I decided to rush these initial fixes out quickly since they're extremely important to the gameplay and some players are still in the middle of their playthroughs. So without further delay, here's the new changes!

Update Details

Patch Download Size

Windows - 30.7 MB
Mac - 23.2 MB
Linux - 23.8 MB

Changelog

Added extra detail objects for interior hallways
Fixed rendering bounds for a few characters
AI: Now factors in board state for Spawn Pawn weight
AI: Chance of Spy sacrifice reduced further; based on board state
AI: Makes less mistakes on Normal mode as more pieces get lost
AI: Further adjusted King capture and Spawn weights on each opponent
Added Checkmate indicator UI icon to player status banner

The goal of these AI changes is mainly to make the opponents act more like a human without drastically increasing the difficulty. In doing so, however, this patch probably does make matches a little tougher, particularly towards the endgame as it does a better job saving its King. Like version 1.0.2, this is another breaking change for match guides or walkthroughs. Previously, certain move types such as Spawning a Pawn would be weighed based on a constant value, adjustable per opponent. This was done for performance and algorithm simplicity reasons, as doing a whole minimax algorithm on these moves would increase the waiting time. But this resulted in some funky moves, particularly when the AI was sure to lose a piece since the average value of all moves becomes negative. In such a scenario, the AI preferred the constant value since it wasn't based on any board state. This resulted in terrible moves which can even ignore King danger and may even cost it the game. With version 1.0.3, the AI now precalculates an average board weight value by running standard minimax, which is reused for all these "constant value" moves. This is possible thanks to new code that allows for "no move" turns as part of the initial search. So once this search completes, the AI stores that value as a baseline to use for Pawn Spawning and the previous 1.0.2 system that guards against poor Spy moves. This means that if an opponent is about to lose their King, that negative weight is still applied to the Pawn Spawn possibility and it becomes more likely to favor a saving move. This also applies for any sort of piece loss too, not just the King, making the summon Pawn move only likely when the AI deems it is safe to do so. Finally, there's a new UI icon that pops up under a player banner once they have acquired Checkmate! This should help add clarity to the state of the game and more clearly display which player is ahead in objectives. That's all for today, and thank you again to everyone that has tried out the game! The launch week is now over but I'll continue to monitor the game for issues and start work on that larger update. If you run into any bugs or have any questions, feel free to post here in the discussions or contact me on Twitter! Enjoy the update :) -Matt

[ 2022-06-07 18:43:16 CET ] [ Original post ]

Shinogi Chess Club

RobProductions Developer

RobProductions Publisher

May 2022 Release

Indie Strategy Casual Singleplayer Multiplayer Tags

Game News Posts: 12

🎹🖱️Keyboard + Mouse
🎮 Full Controller Support

7 user reviews (7 reviews)

https://www.ninetypercentstudios.com/

Steam Store

Public Linux Depots:

[2.95 G]

Shinogi Chess Club is a hybrid-genre experience that combines Visual Novel storytelling with free-roaming 3D exploration and a playable strategy game! Uncover the secrets of Yoshino High School, compete against various AI opponents in the Spring Championships, and join the Shinogi Chess Club!

In the far future, the world has been plunged into an economic depression. One prefecture in Japan has managed to stay afloat by investing in a new board game variant called Shinogi Chess. Companies, governments, and institutions have all shifted their focus towards getting their best representatives to play for public amusement.

Yoshino High School is one such institution. Their Shinogi Chess Club is on the verge of being able to compete in the Spring Championships, an annual competition bringing fame and fortune to the city's best players.

In the midst of this huge event, an upcoming competitor, Himiko Masaki, attempts to improve her skill in the game in order to chase down leads and stop a dangerous organization that's threatening the school. But when she acquires a mysterious supernatural ability, her sense of self is put to the test. With the help of the Shinogi Chess Club members, Himiko must navigate these challenges and discover just how far she is willing to go for the truth!

Acting as a successor to the acclaimed Burden of Proof, Shinogi Chess Club advances RobProductions' iconic visual novel hybrid style. Free roam the 3D environment throughout the story as you explore Yoshino High School in third person!

Discover vital clues as Himiko investigates a dangerous organization
Explore the Shinogi Chess Club Room and other key locations around the school
Compete with the best of the best in the Spring Championship tournament

In this world, the entertainment craze of the future is a brand new variant of traditional chess. One key difference is the addition of new objectives and new piece types, which add a whole new layer of strategy for each turn. But the main feature of Shinogi Chess is piece stacking. Place pieces on top of each other to create a stack, which allows you to move both pieces at the same time!

Face off against various opponents who are introduced through the story segments. Learn their strategy by studying their personalities in order to effectively counter their moves. Discover new features of the game by experimenting with different stack types, plan your approach with move highlighting & a full reference book, and employ mind games to psych out other players with Hidden Pieces!

Full standalone story experience set in the world of Burden of Proof
Meet the members of the Shinogi Chess Club & solve a series of mysteries at the school
Battle a variety of opponents in fully playable Shinogi Chess segments
Test your skills & play custom battles in the flexible Practice Mode
Explore Yoshino High School using the 3rd person controls
Challenge your friends to Shinogi Chess with local multiplayer via Practice Mode
Adjust the AI difficulty to your liking or use the Story Mode setting to skip the challenges entirely
Revamped visual novel interface with adjustable text size & autoplay
4k screen support & compatible with any framerate
Native versions for Mac OSX, Windows, and Linux
Support for common input hardware, including the Xbox & DualShock controllers
Complete subtitle support and other common accessibility features
Full original soundtrack & album release

MINIMAL SETUPOS: Ubuntu 18.04+
Processor: Intel Core i5 @1.6GHz or EquivalentMemory: 4 GB RAM
Memory: 4 GB RAM
Graphics: Nvidia GeForce 820M or Equivalent (OpenGL 3.2+)
Storage: 5 GB available spaceAdditional Notes: Older hardware is supported. but may suffer from performance issues.
RECOMMENDED SETUPOS: Ubuntu 18.04+
Processor: Intel Core i5/AMD Ryzen 5 @3.2GHz or EquivalentMemory: 8 GB RAM
Memory: 8 GB RAM
Graphics: Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060 or Equivalent
Storage: 5 GB available space

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