I created what I think is a more attractive board for Amazons.

I'd like everyone's opinion.

I don't care for the color combination, or the White Queen, or

the circles of the current board… so I made a change to all

three.

The new board (and an image of the current board beside it) can

both be target=“v”>found here.

Notice the White Queen now has slightly more “white”

inside it. This is to help differentiate it further from the

Black Queen, which I find too similar.

The circles have been replaced with a “3D box” to help

give the impression of depth, and thus it's not something that a

Queen or arrow can pass over.

If enough people like the new board, maybe Richard will give

players the option of using this one, like he did with Twixt and

Hex.

This was my first post using html… and I can see I made a few errors. (The spacing and the link.)

Sorry!

Ed I like the new design.

I like the board you created. I think I prefer it to the one we use, though I don't object to either.

Actually, I think the image of an object (coin or box) blocking a square is an unfortunately necessary congruence to the physical game. If Amazons were a conputer-only game, I think it would be better to simply remove the square altogether. Put a black border around the board, small black borders around each square, and any square knocked out would also become enirely black.

Berry and Dvd, thanks for your comments.

Yes, if the border around the board was black, and if the blocked squares were also entirely black, that would probably give the impression of a “hole” and that might be okay. Still, I'm not so sure I'd prefer that. The more I look at my “3D” box, the more I like this. (Of course, I'm partial, since I created it.) I tried five or six different sizes and styles before I settled on the box that I did.

Of the new boards you've put together, I think brown one (top right) has the best contrast between the light and dark squares, something I think think the old board sorely lacks. I'm not sure whether I like the boxes being brown as well, though… but all things considered I do like it best of the options, and it's a vast improvement on the old board.

I've never gotten around to playing amazons here because I always disliked the board so much – it seemed to easy to misread diagonals without a checkerboard. If a new board becomes available, I'll pretty much have to play…

Thanks for your comments, Jeff.

I've decided I like the board in the lower left the best. If you look closely, you'll see that these boxes are slightly smaller than the boxes I used in the other two boards. I've decided I like this smaller size box the best.

At Richard's PBeM server, the squares where the arrows land are entirely blocked out with red, while the rest of the board is subtly checkered.

The result is easy to understand & esthetically pleasing.

I think that entirely blocked out squares is the best idea because the result is the clearest, although all four of the designs presented here, including the one we use currently, are fine.

Well, it's been a little more than three years since my original post (amazing how time flies) and I STILL hope that someday Richard can give us a choice of alternate boards to play on, like he does for a couple of other games here.

http://www.edcollins.com/amazon-boards.gif

The changes I made are…

The White Queens have a little more “white” inside them.

There is a dark border separating each square, and an edge around the border.

The squares alternate light and dark, like a chessboard. (It's easier for me to see important diagonals with alternating square colors.)

The color combinations of the board we are using now are REALLY hard on my eyes. I give three different ideas.

The round circle is replaced with a “three dimensional” box, which I prefer. Note the two different box sizes.

Richard? A choice for the users please? Thanks.

Ed - tried greasemonkey?

No, in fact I only recently (4 or 5 months ago) began using Firefox. I don't have any of the add ons I've heard about. I'll look into it.