Rayman Chess

[Haruka]

Some commercials about Chess collections have been appearing in the Portuguese TV, and I even remember to see a Super Mario chess in a shop.

This makes me think: how would be a Rayman Chess?

I'm planning in doing prototype sketches and complete drawings with angles of the board and the pieces. I think this would be a fun project, especially if someday I would create someday a hand-made chess board and pieces. But this isn't a priority. What I would like more is to draw sketches of the board and the pieces.

I've been thinking in a Rayman 2: The Great Escape theme since it is the best game of the trilogy, but I'm opened to suggestions of other kind of themes (Rayman 1 or 3 for example).

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Chess board

The good side (Extreme side): Vines
The good side (Extreme side until half of the board): Grass texture
The neutral side (Middle of the board): Mix of grass and wooden floor
The bad side (Extreme side until half of the board): Wooden texture
The bad side (Extreme side): Pirate flags, crates

Good side pieces

King: Rayman
Queen: Ly
Rook 1 and 2: Polokus pillar
OR
Rook 1: Clark
Rook 2: Carmen
Knight 1: Globox
Knight 2: Murfy
Bishop 1: Polokus
Bishop 2: Teensies or Grand Minimus
Pawns: Baby Globoxes OR these and other relevant characters

Bad side pieces

King: Admiral Razorbeard
Queen: Razorwife
Rook 1: Spyglass
Rook 2: Henchman 1000
Knight 1: Walking Shell
Knight 2: Ninjaws
Bishop 1: The General
Bishop 2: Henchman 800
Pawns: Helicopter Bombs OR other relevant characters

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Again, I am opened to suggestions.

[CheatCat]

Nothing beats the "chess" that should be in Rayman 3.

[iHeckler9]

Here are my ideas.

Chess board

The good side (Extreme side): Vines
The good side (Extreme side until half of the board): Grass texture
The neutral side (Middle of the board): Mix of grass and wooden floor
The bad side (Extreme side until half of the board): Wooden texture
The bad side (Extreme side): Pirate flags, crates

Good side pieces

King: Rayman
Queen: Ly
Rooks: Clarks
Knights: Globoxes
Bishops: Teensies
Pawns: Baby Globoxes

Bad side pieces

King: Admiral Razorbeard
Queen: Razorwife
Rooks: Barrel Pirates
Knights: Ninja Henchmen
Bishops: Zombie Henchmen
Pawns: Normal Robo-Pirates

[da1]

Heh. Funny.

Try to make more constructive comments please. - Holy Crap

[Holy Crap]

I'd avoid Henchman 1000 himself since he doesn't really fit with the pirates.
Plus he's RM only, but then so is Razorwife.
The General also doesn't really do anything, he's little more than a cameo.
I'd probably go:

King: Admiral Razorbeard
Queen: Razorwife
Rook 1: Barrel Pirate
Rook 2: Gorilla Pirate
Knight 1: Red Henchman
Knight 2: Ninjaws
Bishop 1: Zombie Pirate
Bishop 2: Spyglass
Pawns: Helicopter Bombs, Walking Shells

The pillars sound kinda silly for Rooks, I'd go with Clark/Carmen.

R3 doesn't really have enough good guys to make a decent team but Pirates vs Hoodlums could be fun.

King: Andre
Queen: Reflux (He's not female obviously but the queen is supposed to be the most powerful piece, and he's Andres right hand man at the end*)
Rook 1: Grim Keeper
Rook 2: Spinderoo
Knight 1: Hoodstormer
Knight 2: Lavomatrix
Bishop 1: Hoodoo
Bishop 2: Hoodboom (Stilts?)
Pawns: Grims, Hoodmongers

* On this note it might be best to reverse the roles of Razorbeard/Razorwife and Rayman/Ly. Ignoring the gender, the Queen is the most powerful piece while the king is not so great in combat and needs to be protected (which is the aim of the game). Rayman sitting around helpless while Ly goes around killing everything doesn't make much sense, and while Razorbeard isn't strong on his own he could and probably should be in the Grolgoth (maybe have him sticking his head out of the hatch to make it obvious he's there?). Do you get what I mean?

[iHeckler9]

Good ideas HC, but usually the rooks, pawns, knights and bishops are the same.

[Haruka]

I like your ideas HC, I've also been thinking that for the Queen it isn't obligatory to be a female character, plus I know it is a powerful piece.

I recently was thinking in the Knights being Ninjaws and Henchman 800 too. The Barrel Pirate for a moment I was thinking it could be a rook.

I would like to hear more suggestions from other members. (I personally never played chess so I'm not keen in the rules and I don't have an advanced knowledge of the pieces functions)

[Cairnie]

This is tempting me to just grab a whole load of fimo and take up sculpting again. :}

[Haruka]

This is tempting me to just grab a whole load of fimo and take up sculpting again. :}

That's what I said .

I like to model statues too, and now that I have modeling tools it will make things easy than everything done by hand.

But I will go for air-drying clay (or ceramic oven clay) instead of FIMO. FIMO here is sold in small blocks of several colours, and it is quite expensive.

[MLII]

As much as I love the idea, what would you do about Rayman's limblessness? :0 Would he be wearing a robe dress thing or what?

[Haruka]

I would find out a structural solution.

Maybe soon I'll start to make sketches.

[MLII]

Good good C: I love your sketches~

[Haruka]

By the way, Rayman 2 high-quality texture rips would be quite useful for the board surface. I think Drolie posted a link once but I can't remember where.

EDIT: Nevermind, I found it.

[Holy Crap]

Good ideas HC, but usually the rooks, pawns, knights and bishops are the same.

That would be boring.

[Cairnie]

@Haruka: I've had Fimo before but not the special oven to bake them in, plus when I tried storing them it melted the plastic film AND the paint of my pencils.

@iHeckler: What do you mean bishops, knights and that the same? They all have their different board patterns and stuff.

[Haruka]

All the pieces don't need to be obligatory equal. As long as they are identified in the manual or in the base, I don't see that as a problem.

[spiraldoor]

iHeckler means that the two white bishops should be the same, the two white knights should be the same, the two white rooks should be the same and the eight white pawns should be the same. Obviously this also applies to the black pieces. And he is right. A game of chess where every single piece is unique would be terribly confusing. The players shouldn’t have to consult a manual every time they want to make a move.

[Haruka]

iHeckler means that the two white bishops should be the same, the two white knights should be the same, the two white rooks should be the same and the eight white pawns should be the same. Obviously this also applies to the black pieces.

I understood it before.

And he is right. A game of chess where every single piece is unique would be terribly confusing. The players shouldn’t have to consult a manual every time they want to make a move.

The Super Mario chess doesn't obey that a lot, but I still think as long as they are identified well they could be different. I could make up a base with the name of the character and the type of piece too, without having to look to the base surface of each piece.

[DesLife]

A game of chess where every single piece is unique would be terribly confusing. The players shouldn’t have to consult a manual every time they want to make a move.

Come on, the players would remember the function of each piece.

[spiraldoor]

A game of chess where every single piece is unique would be terribly confusing. The players shouldn’t have to consult a manual every time they want to make a move.

Come on, the players would remember the function of each piece.

Unlikely. It’s bad enough if the white king’s bishop, the white queen’s bishop, the black king’s bishop and the black queen’s bishop all look completely different – in normal chess these four pieces have exactly the same shape. Drastically altering the design of each one to squeeze in as many Rayman characters as possible is not conducive to an enjoyable game experience. And when you factor in the completely different-looking white king’s knight, white queen’s knight, black king’s knight and black queen’s knight, as well as the completely different-looking white king’s rook, white queen’s rook, black king’s rook and black queen’s rook, in addition to the possibility of multiple variations of different-looking pawns on both sides... it would be a mess.

Here’s a realistic version if anyone’s interested:

>>>>>White – Robo-Pirate<<<<<
King – Admiral Razorbeard
Queen – Grolgoth
Bishop – Spyglass Pirate
Knight – Ninja Henchman
Rook – Gorilla Pirate
Pawn – Henchman 800

>>>>>Black – Hoodlum<<<<<
King – André
Queen – Reflux
Bishop – Hoodoo
Knight – Hoodboom
Rook – Spinneroo
Pawn – Hoodmonger