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BGonline.org Forums
My opinion on the bots. Which is better? It depends.
Posted By: Michael Petch In Response To: Should I switch from GNUbg to XG? What about BGblitz? (Frank Berger)
Date: Tuesday, 10 May 2011, at 5:44 p.m.
There is no clear cut winner to the question of which bot to choose. Over the years I have directed people to Frank Berger's BgBlitz2Go (I don't use it personally because I use a stupid phone that doesn't have Java!). BgBlitz is also very cross platform running on a wide variety of platforms. It also has a far less cluttered interface that some may find appealing.
When XG came out I only had one concern that was clarified by Xavier (That was related to its *remote* connection to GNUBG). Beyond that I purchased it, I do use it. I think the graphics are appealing (but not a selling point for me - I use 2D mode!). Like GNUBG is it becoming a Swiss army knife and the user interface is becoming unwieldy to some first time users (Please note, this is also said about GNUBG so nothing unique). I do a fair amount of support for XG for people I know that migrated from GNUBG. XG is the better bot strength wise, and speed wise. But you do need a license, and it does cost money (A turn off for a lot of people in the intermediate category). It doesn't run natively except in a windows environment and isn't my first choice for a mobile phone at this time. Yes you can remote desktop (or vnc) from your phone to a desktop PC and run pretty much ANY bot, but what about offline?
GNUBG may be weaker than XG, less polished UI, and slower but it has a price point that is hard to beat (Free). This makes it a good entry level bot in my opinion for those trying to understand whether they want to take a plunge into truly advancing their skill using a bot. GNUBG also has a philosophy of freedom. You can download it, modify it, view the source code, and redistribute your version (providing the changes are made available). You can modify it for your own personal use without giving back to the community if you so choose. The freedom with GNU software is not a reference to price (You can sell GNUBG if you choose as long as the license is adhered to!) it is a reference to your freedom to use and modify the product for your own purposes. I use GNUBG for simulations and large batch processes that are easily done via Python and other scripting languages. GNUBG is cross platform but doesn't have strong support in the mobile market, and will not appear in the Apple App Store unless GPL software and Apple's terms of use/licensing model are changed.
Snowie is still used by some. One strength I think it had was that its user Interface was pretty clean and in my opinion very user friendly. The cost though is less than user friendly. But no one can deny it was a work horse for many early on. And unfortunately is no longer supported.
JellyFish of course is a weaker bot in comparison to most of today's bots, but had its following back in the day. Like Snowie it just isn't supported anymore.
Despite my bias of being a GNUBG developer if someone asks me which bot I use - I have to answer "It depends on what I am doing". if someone asks me "Which bot do you recommend", I have to respond "What is it you want to do, and what resources can you expend to achieve that goal?". If someone asks me "Can I get help from you for bot X" I am happy to render assistance for all of them. I believe in promoting the game of backgammon regardless of what bot people choose to use.
There is no "one bot fits all". I believe if you were to talk to Xavier, Frank or any GNUBG developer (including me) they would tell you the same thing - each bot has strengths and weaknesses. Among the bot developers, I'd say we have a good relationship. I have always found Frank and Xavier open to ideas, and changes, and a willingness to improve interoperability between the products. Backgammon is much better off when people work together
My Thanks to everyone from Gerald Tesauro, Fredrik Dahl, Olivier Egger, Johannes Levermann, Gary Wong, Frank Berger, Xavier (and any other notable bot developers I didn't list) who have created software to advance our understanding of the game. I also thank all those who support(ed) their efforts.
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