feature idea: AI-about-to-win warning

[simondorfman]

So I was playing against the impressive new Monte Carlo Beeline AI and I lost like this:

I didn't see it coming. So I was thinking, to give us humans a chance, add a feature to show when your opponent is one connection away from winning. Maybe even show two connections away from winning too. Or even three connections away.

Just an idea.

[skotz]

This is the craziest path I've seen so far.

[simondorfman]

thinking about this more, and with the current rules, more specifically, warn that the AI is about to win if:

1. there are two empty spaces where, if the AI plays on those two spaces on its next two moves, it will win
2. on human player's first turn, after growth happens, if there will be two empty spaces where, if the AI plays on those two spaces on its next two moves, it will win

[simondorfman]

I think this warning would also be nice to have in human-vs.-human games.

[skotz]

Likely this would need to be implemented as "is it possible for your opponent to win after a move-growth-move" instead of trying to analyze empty spaces. Essentially I would run an AI behind the scenes with a max depth of 4 (your move and then your opponent's 3 moves) to see if there's a forced win that could be avoided by selecting the correct move on your part.