Have you ever played Hero Academy?

[NathanDetr0it]

(08-03-2012 07:38 AM)GreatGonzales Wrote:  Compare this to chess, when I play chess I often will take a piece and move it to a space just so I can visualize the move, but then realize that it is a bad move and I return the piece to its original space.

Well, two things. First, sometimes I do wish Outwitters had an undo button, so that I could pre-arrange all of my moves (without expanding my vision over the battlefield, of course), look at the resultant position of a planned moveset, and think about distances and wit counts with my pieces already in their as-moved locations. Relying on my eyes is certainly easier and, as you say, more user-friendly.

Of course, I could teach my brain and imagination to visualize a complete moveset in my mind, without having to rely on the physical, visual feedback of making dummy moves on the board. Over time, (If I didn't suck at this so bad ) I might eventually be able to visualize whole sets of potential outcomes at a glance, and instantly make mental connections from one position to the next, and so on until the conclusion of a moveset or match.

Which is going to require a more strategic, inventive mind? Which translates to faster, more efficient decision-making on the board and in the real world? Or how about this: Which approach leads to better performance under pressure, like time or physical constraints?

I know those aren't the exact questions we're trying to answer here, but I think the answers are interesting.

The second thing I'll say is that I affirm your use of Chess as a good example: and what you described above is actually illegal in Chess (for the reasons above, I would guess). In any case in Chess you can only ever plan one move in advance before you are forced to adjust to your opponent's response, unlike Hero Academy's five.

EDIT: hey, just booted up HA for the first time in a bit and was reminded of another ick: Ads.