Modern Art CG AI Article

[Shannon Appelcline]

Here's that article I mentioned on the AI of Modern Art: The Card Game:
http://www.boardgameinfo.com/content.php?497-Game-Decisions-AI-A-Look-at-Modern-Art-The-Card-Game

Shannon

[William Isham]

Hello,

I'm really enjoying Modern Art, another great game from Knizia! I have some suggestions for you to consider.

About the box beside each artist showing the number of cards played and total number of cards for that artist, such as "7/19", I recommended changing the latter number to show the cards remaining in the deck (that is, subtracting cards played in previous rounds). So in Round 2, if 4 cards were played in the first round, the box would show "7/15."

This would make it so the latter number has the same meaning in all rounds; how many cards are "out there." This is the more useful and important meaning: what do I care that there were 19 cards in Round 1, when only 2 cards are left in Round 4?

I realize this info is available, but it's awkward having to hold a finger on the box to see this information, especially if you have fat fingers! :-)

Another recommendation: I've never played it before, and so learned from your app. I think your Rules section could benefit from an additional page explaining the role of the exposed card at the start of each deal, how many cards are dealt at the start of each round, and especially a thorough description of the deck itself: that all "suits" don't have the same number of cards.

Thanks for being so available to us, and thanks for creating this wonderful card game.

Bill Isham

[Shannon Appelcline]

On 5/26/11 11:37 AM, William Isham wrote:
> About the box beside each artist showing the number of cards played and total number of cards for that artist, such as "7/19", I recommended changing the latter number to show the cards remaining in the deck (that is, subtracting cards played in previous rounds). So in Round 2, if 4 cards were played in the first round, the box would show "7/15."
>
> This would make it so the latter number has the same meaning in all rounds; how many cards are "out there." This is the more useful and important meaning: what do I care that there were 19 cards in Round 1, when only 2 cards are left in Round 4?
>
> I realize this info is available, but it's awkward having to hold a finger on the box to see this information, especially if you have fat fingers! :-)

I opted to show the full number because it's continually important as
the tiebreaker when two artists have the same number of cards played.
Earlier versions of the beta didn't have the info, and I found that I
was constantly looking it up to measure the risk of trying to push up an
artist.

I would have loved to show the current number of cards left, but it
ended up being too much info all on one screen.

If you have troubles with fat-finger syndrome, you should be aware of
the fact that I changed how buttons worked with Modern Art: The Card
Game. If you hit the wrong button, just keep your finger to the surface
and move it; the right info will pop up when you get over to the right
button.

> Another recommendation: I've never played it before, and so learned from your app. I think your Rules section could benefit from an additional page explaining the role of the exposed card at the start of each deal, how many cards are dealt at the start of each round, and especially a thorough description of the deck itself: that all "suits" don't have the same number of cards.

I appreciate the notes here. I'll ponder over info on suit counts and
the exposed card when next I look at the rules.

I tend to keep "advanced" info like the exact number of cards dealt out
of the rules, because I think it's more info than the vast number of
players on an iPhone want. It's the same "info overload" problem as
putting too much info on the screen causes.

For the info of folks on this list, the number of cards dealt varies
with the number of players. You can 6 cards to start rounds 2 and 3 with
three players, 4 with four, and 2 with five.

If I had two players implemented, you'd get 6, 6, and 3 cards in rounds
2, 3, and 4. (I'm going to put it in with I add pass-and-play
functionality this summer. For now I didn't think the AI was strong
enough to stand up to a single player; that usually takes an AI that's a
full order of magnitude better.)

Shannon

[Tim Jordan]

Actually I've never seen an explanation to the restocking of cards in rounds #2 and #3. Is it a set amount or whatever it takes to get back to a certain number of cards.

Sent from my iPad

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