Improve end of game

[Gitoffthelawn]

Towards the end of the game, if one person has just a queen left, and the other person has 3-5 pieces, it can take many random moves to end the game.

I haven't come up with a good solution for this that doesn't totally change the game, but I think this area could perhaps use some improvement.

[CorruptedArk]

I appreciate the feedback. I agree that most solutions would significantly restructure the game. Bloodthirst mode already helps shorten games by making the moves more predictable and aggressive. I suggest giving that a shot and seeing if it does what you want. If that isn't what you want, more specific suggestions would help me decide what to change.

[Gitoffthelawn]

I've tried bloodthirst mode a few times, and it does help. It changes the game a bit because things are no longer random, but that's how it goes.

One idea I have is to have a mode where bloodthirst is turned on only when the number of pieces held by either player is below x, and allow the user to define x before the game. I think this could create a good balance and a fun game.

[egorguslyan]

Maybe it will be good, if the king will be more important. In bloodthirst mode king's death will cancel bloodthirsty for other pieces. In normal mode king's death will give bloodthirsty for opponent's pieces. I will try to add "Important king" mode if this sounds good.

[Gitoffthelawn]

@egorguslyan That's an interesting idea. Currently, unlike regular chess, the king has no special value except that it's very useful at the end of the game if you're playing in bloodthirst mode.

[CorruptedArk]

I can see the motivation for this change, but I have concerns about adding too many gamemodes. One of the great things about this game is the simplicity of it compared to regular chess, and too many modes could make it too confusing, especially when it overrides the behavior of another mode. Also making the king relatively unimportant compared to other pieces was a subtle commentary on my opinions about authoritarianism. So, I think I'm going to keep the king as it is on this repo and on the official releases, but I encourage you to customize the gameplay to your tastes in your individual forks