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I've been playing a few games of Pah Tum lately. As a recent game was nearing the end (there were no more scoring possibilities, just about 7 or 8 spots left to be filled)and it seemed light a big waste of time. Neither player had any more possible combinations of earning any more points. It was mathematically impossible. But as per the rules of the game, play continues until all spaces on the board are filled. What are the chances of getting the computer to automatically end the game when there's no longer a chance of any more points being scored? Therefore, when the game is technically, it will also become physically and officially over.
Tripod Tom: You can always aggree with your opponent on the outcome and one of you resigns the game or aggree on a draw, if that's the case. I suppose having the computer automatically check these situations would be computationally hard to do on every turn, and a big strain on the server (just think of how many moves are played each day by hundreds of players).
But I have a request for this and other situations - what if one of the players could call uppon such an algorithm manually? Take chess, for instance - it has precise rules about draws. Over a number of moves without capture anything, or repeating 3 times the same position. This puts a strain on the server if checked for every game, but if there was an option to call such algorithms at player's request, it would allow to quickly and automatically solve those games that now require a lot of explaining to do for beginner opponents or sometimes an administrator's intervention when you end up with a stubborn opponent that doesn't want to finish a lost or drawn game...
pauloaguia: It's much more likely to be a programming prioritization issue. Mathematical calculations are not much of a strain on the server, it's what computers are designed to do.