Master of Chess News

The time is now! ⌛

Play the demo. 🎮

Have fun. 💪

Share your feedback: [https://discord.gg/HYV8Zz8V2Q](https://discord.gg/HYV8Zz8V2Q). 🔊

Big thanks to Godot community, Arasan engine, and all the amazing folks on my discord. Without them there wouldn't be this game. 🙏

[h2]FAQ[/h2]

[h3]What features are available in the demo?[/h3]

The player creates his character, joins a tournament and plays out 5 matches against opponents of different skill. On his way he also goes through the training process (puzzle solving) and improves his abilities.

[h3]What features are not presented in demo, but will be in full game?[/h3]

More tournaments, rivals, development of the openings repertoire, handling of finances and time of your character while you slowly rise to the top of the chess world.

[h3]Will the game be available for MacOS or Linux?[/h3]

Linux version exists but it still didn't go through necessary testing for me to be confident of a Steam release. Mac version is not yet planned.

We're one step away from the demo finally being on Steam. The new build is 0.0.8 and it's awesome.

The demo drops on 26th July on Steam. Set those reminders!

If you can't wait to get your hands on it, there's an early build ready. Join the discord to get it: https://discord.gg/HYV8Zz8V2Q.

[h2]The New build[/h2]



I'm guessing most of the people interested in reading this already have tried the demo out. If you're one of those and want to know if you should refresh your experience, here's what is new:

• Added time increment logic (Fisher time). Not having enough time shouldn't be a problem any more.
  
• The sliders have been redesigned. I know it sounds trivial but it was a nightmare and I'm so happy with the improvement.
  
• Added display of possible squares your piece can move to
  
• Upgraded the display of moves on match screen, making it easier and prettier to follow the match
  
• Added more tooltips on the Tournament and Match Result screens for that extra bit of insight.
  
• Squashed a bug messing with the move line color on the board. It's a cleaner, bug-free experience!
  
• Many other smaller tidy ups that bring the game closer to what I have in mind
  
• I also again degraded the AI experience, it's again too strong. But I hope to get to the bottom of it soon enough.
  

[h2]What's next?[/h2]

The Steam release of course! Demo will be out on 26th of July, Wednesday. I'm excited, slightly nervous and full of expectations. I hope it goes well and gets some new players with fresh feedback.

You'll here from me again in three days. In the meantime, try out the demo and let me know what you think. Let's make chess fun for everyone!

The latest version of the Demo is out. It's 0.0.7 time, baby!

I planned for this to be the last 'hidden' build before I move the demo to Steam.

I've had absolutely amazing feedback from a lot of players and that makes me truly happy, but you can't make a great game if all you have are praises. That's why I want to get as much critique as possible.

Join my discord to give me your worst opinion about the game: https://discord.gg/HYV8Zz8V2Q.



1. What sucks the most?
2. What is the one feature that is really missing from the game that you really need?
3. What's the one feature that is there but it just shouldn't be there or is so poorly implemented it's driving you crazy.
4. What looks totally out of place?
5. What made you quit the game in anger while slamming your hand on the keyboard?

If you have answer to any of these questions post it on Steam community, post it on Discord, hit me on Twitter, Reddit, it doesn't matter. I'll get to it eventually. I'm not promising I'll change anything, but I can promise you I'll read it and take it into account while developing this game. And I also promise you I won't take it personal, so please do your worst!

[h2]New features[/h2]

New demo build brings some new features, some long awaited improvements (and also some deletions, but if no one notices it's like they were never really there).

[h3]Tip mechanism[/h3]


This s a feature that will change a lot about how the match played. For players that played the game before the change I'd really like to know if they consider it a step into right direction. Get a tip about your move and lose some energy as the result. It's simple and I think a quite good addition to the match experience. Let me know your thoughts!

I think it needs a little bit of balancing and nuance but it really changed the gameplay for the better.

[h3]Export PGN[/h3]


A small but handy improvement, based on feedback I got on Discord (I can't find who reported it, sorry!). Click on the export PGN button and it will copy the PGN content to your clipboard.

[h2]Improvements[/h2]

- Most of the time was spent on fixing and upgrading the AI. I think it's a lot better (realistic) now but it's probably still to strong for my liking. Let me know if it's any better!
- Create player screen got some love too. You can decrease your ELO now, and maximum ELO is only defined by players year of birth, not his selected month and day.
- Added Scotland, Wales and China
- Some blurry sprites have been improved (while not all of them are extinguished, but I have a great list compiled by my discord community master - Zokaper)
- Cursor has been changed and is more responsive (meaning it changes colors when he is over something interactable)

And many little ones that people probably do not care about that much.

[h2]What's next?[/h2]

It's getting closer to the day I release the demo on Steam. Last time I tested it via Steam launcher it crashed only couple of seconds after I started! I hope that won't be the case any more.

So in order to do that I wanted to tidy up all the assets I have around marketing. Go and check which streamers, youtubers and bloggers I can contact about my game and try to fix a few nasty bugs that remained.

So in about two weeks (a little less I hope), when another blog drops here, I hope it will be from a guy that has a demo released on Steam. It's a big thing for me!

Thanks for reading and I'm looking forward to your opinions. Let's make chess fun for everyone!

Today is a great point in development of MoC: Demo is feature complete.

Today I've uploaded a new build of Master of Chess demo. If you're interested in testing it, join discord here: https://discord.gg/HYV8Zz8V2Q

Is it perfect? No. Is it bug-free? No way. But it's a valid reference point to what the demo will look like when it hits Steam.



[h2]The Latest and Greatest: What's New in the Demo?[/h2]

• Create your player feature is integrated completely. Feel free to start up the demo and create your own player.
  
• Match preview screen got a complete overwrite. The placeholder UI is now replaced with a full overview of both players strengths and winning percentages.
  
• 'Game crashes randomly' bug fixed! (or so I hope, I can't reproduce it any more!) It seems to be related to the way async code was handled in Godot and in the newest version 4.1 I had to switch the way async code is handled and even clear out some of the async logic.
  
• As mentioned, game is now migrated to beta version of Godot 4.1. We're running it bleeding edge as far as Godot is concerned. I'm really happy that Godot will hit stable 4.1 in the approximately same time as my game starts seeking stability too.
  
• A linux build! I decided to have a linux build because a) people asked for it, b) I hoped it would give me more insights into some game-crashing bugs.
  
• Numerous little bug fixes and tidy ups. I plan to write this up in a more professional manner in the future so I can list those out easily.
  

[h2]A Few Dragons Still to Slay: Current Issues[/h2]

• Chess AI Improvements: Chess AI received a lot of comments, with some finding it too challenging and others finding it not challenging enough. This feedback isn't contradictory; it points to the inconsistencies in the AI, which I'm aware of. Over the next week (and even month), refining the AI will be a major focus of my work.
  
• Enhancing User Interface: The user experience on the match review screen isn't the best. Navigating through a completed match should be a breeze, and I agree that there's room for improvement. I'm committed to making this experience better. Some UX issues, bugs still exist on the main match screen too. These need to be addressed.
  
• AI Responsiveness Issues: Some of you have encountered a problem where the AI stops making moves. This was an issue I tackled in early builds, but it seems to have reappeared. It's time I dive into it and ensure it's permanently fixed.
  

[h3]What's next?[/h3]

As mentioned, the Demo is feature complete and all that's left is to polish it up. If I could get the AI to be decent enough in the next week and add some Quality of Life improvements then all would be ready for a Steam release of the Demo in early July.

I'm so excited!

[h2]What's happening with the game? [/h2]

Last weekend I posted a short video announcement about Master of Chess Demo. It blew up on reddit, tripling amount of people on discord and doubling the wishlist count!

Join discord here: https://discord.gg/HYV8Zz8V2Q as it had a big revamp by two community masters to which I'm extremely thankful: @Taxtibe and @Zokaper



With all the new people that arrived there's been a lot more bugs reported, a lot more discussions about features and the look/feel of the game. At times I was overwhelmed but mostly I was extremely happy.

I'm happy because I'm finally sure: I'm not crazy. This game has real appeal to people who love chess as much as I do and I'm right in trying my best to deliver an awesome chess simulation game.

[h3]Enough with the pep talk. What's going on with the game? [/h3]

- Full focus is on fixing bugs and adding some UX niceties.
- I'm testing and figuring out the issues of the demo on Steam (it's still crashing fairly often)
- I'm updating to version 4.1 of Godot engine because it might resolve some of the bugs (and hopefully not introduce new bugs)
- I'm adding the Create your player screen and ditching the precreated campaigns


[h3]What's the plan for the future [/h3]

- Stabilize the demo (eradicate crashes)
- Fix more bugs
- Release a new demo build on itch.io next week
- Prepare a linux build (I am hoping this will give me more insight into why the game crashes, I'm still not sure!)

This gamedev journey was and continues to be a great ride! Cheers!