New Visual Aids to Level Up Your Go Game!

Hey Go Players!

We're excited to roll out a couple of cool new visual features designed to help you better understand the board and make smarter moves. These are purely visual helpers – they don't change the game rules or how the AI plays, but they can give you some extra insight!

1. Spotting Danger: Critical Group Highlighting!

• What is it? We now automatically highlight groups of your (or your opponent's) stones that are in a bit of a tricky spot.
  • If a group has only ONE liberty left (this is called "Atari!"), we'll put a small RED dot on each stone in that group. Big warning sign!
  • If a group has TWO liberties left (still a bit vulnerable!), we'll put a small ORANGE dot on those stones.
• Why is it cool? This is super helpful, especially for newer players, to quickly see which groups are in immediate danger of being captured or which enemy groups you can pounce on. It helps train your eye to spot these critical situations.
• How to use it? This feature is ON by default. You can toggle it in the "Settings" menu under "Show Critical Groups."

2. Seeing the Flow: Simplified Influence Map!

• What is it? This is a more experimental feature. When turned on, you'll see faint, colored circles appearing on empty intersections of the board.
  • Light Blueish circles suggest an area is more influenced by Black stones.
  • Light Reddish circles suggest an area is more influenced by White stones.
  • The stronger the influence, the slightly more visible the circle.
• Why is it cool? It tries to give you a general "feel" for which player has more control or potential in different areas of the board. It's a simplified way to visualize the shifting tides of influence.
• How to use it? This feature is OFF by default because it can make the board look a bit busy. If you want to try it out, head to "Settings" and toggle "Show Influence Map."

General Notes:

• Both these visual aids will update dynamically as you play, undo moves, or review games.
• They will automatically hide when the game is over, so they don't interfere with seeing the final score.
• You can find the toggles for these new features in the main "Settings" dialog.

We hope these new tools help you learn, strategize, and enjoy your Go games even more! As always, we'd love to hear your feedback on how useful you find them.

Happy Playing!