*Official*Cosplay Chess 2011!

[Mazoku_Xellos]

It has come to my attention that it is time we begin discussions about Cosplay Chess for Sakura-Con'11.

This thread will be used for all three games, Main, Late Night and Unscripted.

In the future the rules will be posted, as will the game piece lists.

But for now, we're going to talk about what we would like to see for each game in 2011!

[Solex]

Woot! All 3 games are coming back

hmmm. hard say for me right now though. I thought this year's went great overall.

[Kato Shiroi]

Looking forward to doing my tiny bit for Queen and Country and the glory that is Cosplay Chess!

*Salute*

Kato ~ Yor Cosplay Chess Pixie

[L2Phantom]

But for now, we're going to talk about what we would like to see for each game in 2011!

Kings that are hilarious and spontaneous, just like this year (at least for after dark). Couldn't, stop, laughing! Zapp Brannigan, cute girls for him to prey on... that about sums up my desires Thanks for taking over one of my favorite events at con.

[LtCommanderRichie]

I absolutely cannot wait to get in on this again. I don't know what I want to do quite yet, but Ukitake might make another appearance. If not, I'll see what else I have.

* 3* This is my favorite Live Event at Sakuracon, there's no way I'm missing it.

[Mazoku_Xellos]

Alright...

So, the theme for the Main Game this year is leaning heavily towards New School vs Old School, in the way of anime & video games. Any ideas for what you guys want to see for the Kings?

[Houston]

Zapp Brannigan, cute girls for him to prey on.

I second this motion.

As soon as registration for this opens, I'm there. As far as what I want to see for cosplay chess this year? More great, talented people to work with, and more time to rehearse! :p

[Huntress]

OMGoodness! I am so excited! I'm also stoked the adult game will be returning! I thought all the games were a lot of fun this year and I will deffinatly be applying for next year XD As much as I can see everything went well!

Hahahaha maybe I'll sign up the Toot Braunstein(Drawn Together) I've been working on for the After Dark game *snicker*
http://fc03.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2010/ ... ntress.jpg

[dark_zen]

Ah man, I can't wait! Really hoping my ankle injury will be completely healed up by then, or I'll hafta find a character with a limp.

Anywho, what I would like to see for next year
-I think we should go back to the board on the stage format as opposed to a fool 360, I think it'd gives us more options in term of special effects/attacks, random occurrences and whatnot. Metrocon really has this format down, and I think what helps is that there is a backstage for them to really do those plot twists

-More rehearsal time, and make rehearsals MANDATORY or at least make proper contact with your opponents in advance. There were some really great fights we had this year and ones that were missing a little spike. Preparation really made the difference. And it really is unfair to folks who really worked hard to set up their fights to see another series of people not take their role too seriously. Even more frustrating if you can't even find your opponent during the con.

-Add another rehersal time on Friday afternoon, more rehearsal is a good thing. And this would probably help the folks who are in teh cosplay contest.

[SailorGundam06]

-More rehearsal time, and make rehearsals MANDATORY or at least make proper contact with your opponents in advance. There were some really great fights we had this year and ones that were missing a little spike. Preparation really made the difference. And it really is unfair to folks who really worked hard to set up their fights to see another series of people not take their role too seriously. Even more frustrating if you can't even find your opponent during the con.

-Add another rehersal time on Friday afternoon, more rehearsal is a good thing. And this would probably help the folks who are in teh cosplay contest.

This and this. You can't have enough rehearsal when it comes to fighting. I have stage combat experience, and epic fights can be epic, but can also be dangerous if not rehearsed well enough. Not being able to meet up with my opponents was really really hard last year, and, with two battles in one game, I felt like they got a little cheated out on something that could have been a lot better if we'd had more time to plan, choreograph and rehearse. I can't emphasize enough how important practice is for epic fights to happen safely and still look awesome. It was drilled into my head for an entire semester in college, and I've seen people get hurt even with a ton of rehearsals and considerations.

SO VERY IMPORTANT!

What we might want to do is make changes at the pre-meeting in piece positions as necessary. People at the pre-meeting should be considered for positions that have battles. People who don't show up to the meeting get put into positions that don't battle as much, or get replaced by people who may not have applied but came to the pre-meeting as alternates. People who come to the games themselves as alternates will then fill in with those remaining pieces that have little to no fighting. Assign them ahead of time here on the board, absolutely, but anyone who doesn't show up gets replaced with people who are there who may not have been able to sign up here on the board ahead of time. That way, we know people who are fighting will be battle-ready and have time to rehearse. Just a thought.

[twtmc]

The main problem with replacing people is actually changing all the names and getting everything printed off in time to accompany the changes. Doing it with a whole bunch of pieces makes things REALLY difficult as I'm sure we saw with the late night game's oopsy-daisy mistake on the move list. What I would like to do some time in the near future is start a project to make a program or even just excel spreadsheet with VB that makes it really easy to input chess games and replace pieces, fully updating board layout and move lists.

[SailorGundam06]

Well, I can understand that as far as keeping records and stuff, but, again, that's why it would be done right then and there. Of course, if you are going to be printing out a program to hand to the audience, then that might make it harder for things like no-shows and substitutions. Unless this is planned and coreographed months ahead of time like Metrocon does, then there's always going to be at least two or three that need to be swapped out for various reasons. But, doing it months ahead of time now makes it harder for non-locals or people who aren't on the boards to participate.

[Kato Shiroi]

Great comments from everyone, Arigatoo!

I'm jotting things down as we go and working with my co-coord to make improvements. Every bit helps and makes our games better.

Cheers!
Kato

[SailorGundam06]

Actually, I'm taking some notes, too, and I'd love to find out more information about how things are run in general. I'd like to attempt a cosplay chess idea at I-CON here on Long Island some time if we can find the right kind of space to host it in.

[Huntress]

I do agree it would be nice to have more practice time, I remember talking to my opponents a little bit before game time about what we wanted to do, but never really had much time to practice, and I remember goofing slightly during my Yukiko's bout with Squall/Leon. Maybe a scheduled time just for practicing battles, also to block and make sure they're safe. Let your opponents know ahead of time what props you have, or even if they aren't sure where your character is from, fill them in on how they would react to their character, or if you plan to "summon" others and so on.

Edit: Also I noticed there was some issues with "certain" pieces that kept interrupting peoples fights, without their knowledge and almost seemed to hurt someone (I'm not positive they were hurt, but it looked like they winced.) Also they were concerned with this piece breaking their prop. (If you want more clarification please pm me) My friends in the audience and also other pieces noticed this too. This pre-meet-up might help us avoid these situations somewhat. Or if theres a way to issue some sort of warning or a briefing of stage combat safety for those not to experienced with the game yet.

[SoulReaperRukia]

Sweet. I hope I get to play this year. It is the best part of the con after all. XD

[Kato Shiroi]

Indeed, one of the points of the required pre-game meeting is to talk about safety. We instituted this several years ago and it's helped to reduce accidental injuries as well as help new players learn how the battles work.

We also use this meeting to double check the players selected for the games, select alternates and let the players work out battles between themselves.
On idea we are discussing is reserving that room for a longer period of time for those who wish to work out their battles or see about reserving more time before the game for players to practice battles.
Nothing definite yet, just ideas at this point.

[Mazoku_Xellos]

Hey everyone!

Thanks for all the wonderful ideas! Kato and I are going to be meeting when I get back from Boise, Idaho to discuss how we're going to tackle Cosplay Chess for 2011.

Keep the ideas coming, the more we hear from you guys, the more we know what to do to improve things!

Michi
Cosplay Chess Coordinator

[Kiaros_Mokushi]

But for now, we're going to talk about what we would like to see for each game in 2011!

Kings that are hilarious and spontaneous, just like this year (at least for after dark). Couldn't, stop, laughing! Zapp Brannigan, cute girls for him to prey on... that about sums up my desires Thanks for taking over one of my favorite events at con.

I definitely agree with this one. And it was actually Giovanni who was team captain, but having good actors for the roles of King (and even Queen) are important.

As far as rehearsals go, it is definitely important to have at least 2x in which to practice, but also remember that having to many practices cuts into time for people to enjoy the con. As far as myself, I will probably be there as Hei (Darker than Black), and a friend of mine and I are intent on participating. If anyone needs help with stunts and fighting, we would be glad to help. We both hold the rank of Shodan in Kyokushin (I'm the Karate Club President at WSU) and from what we saw at the late night, the chess game could use more action to compliment the comedy. I'm not saying that last year's was bad, but we want to participate and help make 2011's better than before.

What someone suggested in regards to using a program to coordinate the moves is a good idea. Most chess programs come with a 2-player mode which could be used to keep track of the pieces and help organize. And coordinating the battles based on characters and roles (as previously stated) is important as well (for instance having 2 characters who don't really fight or have a way of winning fight would be a poor substitute for 1 character that can win through reasonable means, and another character).

[Mazoku_Xellos]

Alright~

I am home from Kumori-Con, so look for applications to be opening up for ALL THREE games within the next two weeks or so. I need to make some quick adjustments to the application before I do anything.