Many Faces of Go version 12!

David Fotland's venerable Many Faces of Go is making real news in Go circles again.

First, it's been updated to version 12, and mixes in the recently developed Monte Carlo Tree Search (MCTS) algorithms by Sylvain Gelly, et. al, enabling it to play as strong as 2 kyu on single core machines. That's 3 dan, in 9x9 games!

Second, it won two gold medals (for normal and 9x9 play) at the 13th World Computer Game Olympiad (2008) in Beijing.

Third, the graphics are more visually appealing than the ancient, two dimensional Windows versions that have been floating around for years. This is a small point but it counts a lot. The board now shows a kaya grain and the stones mimic slate and shell. The effect is understated, but it looks right — except under Wine, where the stone shadows are white instead of black. Of course, Macintosh OS X still sets the highwater mark for best Go graphics on any computer, bar none; on Windows, CGoban 3 and PANDA gGo also have attractive board graphics, IMHO.

And fourth, it runs out of the box under Ubuntu Hardy, in Codeweaver's CrossOver Linux Standard!

[Update: The Trading Centre in the U.K. uses CopyMinder, a "call home" type copy protection nanny, which does not play well with Linux, at least on my system. I could not run the full-feature, time-expiring demo because of CopyMinder.]

The version 12 evaluation copy (at Smart-Games) does NOT expire, but it has a few disabled features — e.g., you can only play handicap games by registering, computer opponents stronger than 18 kyu require registration, fuseki study halts after a few stones are placed, Go problems are really simple, etc. One thing you can do is replay those games of Shusaku which are included in the library. A standard, reasonable demo, easily paid for and registered at Smart-Games.

Five stars out of five.

Many Fogs vs. Vista

I had an "E.T. call home" problem getting my Windows XP copy of Many Faces of Go version 11 to run with Vista, which I managed to get installed on Thursday. The copy protection scheme requires Many Fogs to validate the running program with a site somewhere on the web, but because of a wrinkle in how the downloadable version is set up as a "trial" install (i.e., a "demo"!), I couldn't launch the program.

Until I wrote a note to the author, and that produced a fix. Thank you, David Fotland! Great support!

UPDATE: 10:48 PM - Well, it worked for awhile... :(
UPDATE: Sunday, 7:27 AM - The third-party copy protection site is CopyMinder. I've uninstalled MFoG and will ask for my money back if this isn't resolved. Many Fogs isn't the only paranoid game maker out there, of course. Snowie (the backgammon game) and ... ummm ... well, Microsoft come suddenly to mind.

Many Fogs

Ten things I hate about Many Faces of Go:

1. Version 11.2 costs $85 for the download edition (no VAT if you're in the U.S., though);
   
2. The download edition calls home each and every time you start it up, making an internet connection to see if you're running a "legal" copy (unlike honor system competitors like WinHonte 2);
   
3. MFOG was written using the exceedingly quaint Visual C++ Microsoft Foundation Classes multi-document architecture from a decade ago, piling up an unbelievable amount of clutter in a short time — in other words, every single 9x9 game you've played in the last 40 minutes is still active when you quit, so you get to close them all one by one, or bail out with "exit without saving," which quits the program entirely;
   
4. The go problems tend to be repetitive, in practice;
   
5. The fuseki study tools are bald and unexplained;
   
6. The joseki study tools are bald and unxplained, but more interesting if you've ever run Kogo's Joseki Dictionary in a good sgf viewer/editor like MultiGo 4;
   
7. The commands are distributed in a menu system and across a toolbar set without evident plan or organization — there is, in other words, no way to progress from simple stuff to advanced stuff by means of tabs or other elementary interface tools;
   
8. As strong as it is, the Go engine plays dull, when you find your level and can play an even game against the machine — Go++ and WinHonte mix up the opening better, as, bewilderingly enough, so does igowin (the free Many Faces of Go 9x9 come-on player);
   
9. The games library is sort of organized, some of it lightly commented, but in the absence of tutorial guidance, a bit recherché — despite its pretensions, this is not your virtual Go sempai.
   
10. And I hate that I keep using it, over and over, as though the promise of dawning light were not about to wink out yet again. But, like Sigmund Freud said, "If you don't pay, you don't get better"... so who knows?