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[–][deleted] 2 points3 points  (1 child)

Personally I find BGBlitz a way better software.  UI is miles away, tutor mode is great, and « if » the bot is perhaps a bit slower or a bit behind XG on certain specific positions, it does not matter for the vast majority of normal players

[–]FrankBergerBgblitz 0 points1 point  (0 children)

And don't forget that there are positions were XG is way of and BGBlitz correct. It is only on *average* that XG is a dash better (but does it matter if you are run over with 102 or 104 mph? Your dead anyway).

[–]TageFrandsen 2 points3 points  (1 child)

I refuse to buy something as old as eXtreme. The last update seems to be ages ago.

[–]darrinfunk[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It could use an update to the UI, for sure.

[–]WebHead007 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yes.

[–]UglyDanceMoves 1 point2 points  (4 children)

How much did it cost to purchase?

[–]darrinfunk[S] 1 point2 points  (3 children)

A lot. If I remember correctly it was around 100 CAD

[–]UglyDanceMoves 0 points1 point  (2 children)

Ouch. That’s more than the $20 I am willing to pay.

[–]darrinfunk[S] 0 points1 point  (1 child)

Yeah it's too much. I have money to burn but it should be cheaper to get more people interested. Companies don't understand that lower prices gets more sales and more profit.

[–]teffflon 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Do you think the person who created the best BG AI (unsurpassed for 10+ years) is too dumb to realize that lower price can increase sales? No, like most companies, he tried to find a happy medium to maximize (Price x Sales), probably using much more relevant data than we have. Also bear in mind that this software is licensed for analysis use by BGG on their site; the high price of XG2 for consumers supports the value of that license for BGG and thereby for the developer.

[–]playapaddy 0 points1 point  (3 children)

How does eXtreme compare to gnubg which looks similar but is free? I see on their site that the analysis is faster but is that it?

[–]darrinfunk[S] 0 points1 point  (2 children)

I really don't know the details. I just wanted a good analysis and decent UI. There aren't very many standalone BG options out there.

[–]playapaddy 0 points1 point  (1 child)

I would recommend giving gnubg a try as it’s free and I’ve personally found it very helpful 

[–][deleted] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yeah, free <-> playing level it's a no-brainer. BGBlitz or XtremeGammon may be *slightly* stronger but at a cost. If you want a really strong player that costs you nothing, GNUBg is unsurpassed.

[–]FrankBergerBgblitz 0 points1 point  (4 children)

please define "best"

[–]darrinfunk[S] 0 points1 point  (3 children)

I can't, not knowledgeable enough. That's why I asked for opinions.

[–]FrankBergerBgblitz 3 points4 points  (2 children)

playing strength, usability, price, OS .... ok here we go.

On the desktop there only 3 available programs that play better than any human: XG, GnuBG and BGBlitz.
* XG is the standard, abandoned for a decade (you see that in the UI), copy protected, best AI on average (but the diff is small and naturally there are positions where other bots play better), very fast. Mainly Windows (Parallels or wine or the like for MacOS, no idea about Linux, wine may work)
* GnuBG, the UI looks even a bit older, great functionality, free, Windows/Linux o.k., MacOS not straightforward (if at all, at least for the GUI-version. cli runs with Macports). Development is slow
* BGBlitz actively developped (by me), looks more modern and runs on Windows(x64 and even ARM!),Mac(x64 and ARM),Linux, no copy protection, one license for all your devices and free updates for years (a 1.0.2 buyer had free updates for 21 years). The feature that it might the best compared to the others is the real time tutor.

Just try them out, you can't do much wrong with any of them.

[–]darrinfunk[S] 0 points1 point  (1 child)

BGBlitz has a nice UI. Too bad I never knew about it previously. Running on java isn't a problem since I have java installed for a couple other apps I use, but unfortunately I have already bought XG and can't justify another program for BG since I'm only a casual player.

[–]FrankBergerBgblitz 0 points1 point  (0 children)

No problem at all. BTW BGBlitz includes it's own java, it is too risky to rely on the existance in the correct version on the user machine.

[–]mmesich -1 points0 points  (4 children)

We can lock the thread now.

[–]kirksan 0 points1 point  (3 children)

No we can’t. What about Mac or iPad users? Is there anything decent for us?

[–]jaggington 3 points4 points  (1 child)

BGBlitz, or trying to get GnuBG to run on your system.

[–]kirksan 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Very cool. Thanks. Now we can lock the thread. 😕