Re: Why is Chessmaster XI still crap?

On May 10, 3:26 am, The Calaf <ca...@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
I shelled out the $20 for Chessmaster XI and found, just as I
suspected I would, that the computer opponents still only take a
nanosecond per move in rated play, thereby ruining the simulation of
playing a real person.  

A real person would ordinarily take a nanosecond for one move, 20
seconds for another, and perhaps two or three when stumped.  You'd get
the chance to evaluate the position the entire time.  

A real person would also ask for a draw or possibly resign.  None of
the players do this.

So how does a game make that much money if its most important
particular, gameplay, is fatally flawed?

In my opinion, these are very minor problems compared to the more
annoying issues of:

1) The Mentor Lines window regularly drawing poorly (with one-half a
line below the bottom of the window) and getting stuck if you take
back a move when analyzing a game. The drawing problem is also present
in the Thinking Lines window.
2) How long you have to wait when launching the program before you can
actually start playing a simple game of chess. I have a fast machine,
and it takes three mouse clicks (once the app starts up) and 45-60
seconds before you can make a move. Chessmaster 9000 (my favorite
version) takes less than 10 seconds.
3) The new tutorials are very badly scripted. There are many cases in
which Josh Waitzkin asks you "what would you play here", and then the
program won't let you make a move, but instead goes straight on to
Josh's explanation of the best move. True, there were many MINOR
tutorial errors in CM9000, but none that were this obviously bad such
that they actually reduce the quality and usefulness of the content.
4) I appreciate the ability for the new engine to use multiple CPUs or
cores, but if I enable that setting (thankfully, it's off by default)
there are many times in which the program (and my entire computer)
will completely hang for 10-15 seconds before becoming responsive
again.

The new content from IM Josh Waitzkin and GM Larry Christiansen is
excellent, and is probably worth the price of admission by itself. But
if I want to analyze a game or just play chess, I use CM9000. Once I'm
done with the new content, I'll never launch CM GM again (just like I
did with CM 10th Edition).

jm
.

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