Comments/Ratings for a Single Item

I did tick the box "Exclude pieces not in setup" for my test presets, and that should be enough to prevent what you are describing. This still produces a small table with the pieces that were in the setup, though. Do you mean there is a way to turn it off even more?

No, you're right.  I was not remembering correctly.

I have created a new piece set called Alfaerie: All SVG that contains everything that is available in anti-aliased format. It's like Alfaerie: Many but with only the updated graphics.

Sorry if this isn't the best place to put this.

I'm unable to move in this game https://www.chessvariants.com/play/pbm/play.php?game=Expanded+Chess&log=sissa-arx-2020-246-116

Whenever I open it I just get a list of promotion options for black, and since I'm not black I can't actually do anything

I don't know what happened after I submitted my last move but, although the log seems to be broken, it can be restored by clicking on the small rectangle below the promotions menu.

We try to play Metamachy on Game Courier. I have blacks. I can't find how to move a piece to the central squares of my lines and then start the game. Is that preset bugging? Or are we missing something? Please help us to understand. Thanks a lot

We try to play Metamachy on Game Courier. I have blacks. I can't find how to move a piece to the central squares of my lines and then start the game. Is that preset bugging? Or are we missing something? Please help us to understand. Thanks a lot

In investigating your game, it turns out that your opponent has not yet accepted the invitation. No player can start to move in any game until the invitation to play has been accepted. Things are confusing, because it doesn't make that clear in View mode.

I have now adjusted Game Courier to use form_accept.php instead of form_view.php whenever the invitation to play has not yet been accepted, and I have updated how the form_accept.php script works when the intended opponent is not logged in.

Sorry if this isn't the best place to put this.

The best place would be on the page for the preset you are having a problem with. That way, an email could have been sent to the programmer. Since you did not do that, I emailed him for you. Hopefully, he will fix the bug.

Thank you Fergus, you spotted our problem right!

How do I get a count of number of pieces of a specific type on the board in GAME code?

How do I get a count of number of pieces of a specific type on the board in GAME code?

The need for this recently came up while I was programming the code for calculating the original position in Fischer Random Chess. But since I was identifying pieces with binary numbers instead of piece labels, it will have to be adapted. This has worked in tests:

def piece-count count aggregate lambda (cond == space #0 #p #0 false) spaces =p;

In this function, #p is the parameter you supply to the function, while #0 is the parameter of the lambda function, which corresponds to an element of the spaces array. This function goes through the spaces array, adding each space with the designated piece to the array that the aggregate operator returns. The count operator then returns how many elements are in that array. You may use it like so:

print fn piece-count R;

This shorter function will also work. Note that it will create an array of true values, whereas the one at the top will create an array of coordinates. If you don't need to know where the pieces are, this function will be a bit quicker:

def piece-count count aggregate lambda (== space #0 #p) spaces =p;

If you do need to know where the pieces are, then it would be better to break the function at top into two steps. Written as a single function for counting, these produce the same results.

Possibly new issue... I can't drop pieces in Shatranj of Troy, nor can I manually move them out. It looks like it used to work, based on this game log from a couple of years ago:

https://www.chessvariants.com/play/pbm/play.php?game=Shatranj+of+Troy&log=bruck-mschmahl-2008-52-144

Now the move, "Z E2-F4; C !B8-E2" return the error "The exclamation mark at the beginning of coordinate !B8 in MOVE: C !B8-E2 indicates you may not enter it as part of a move."

Now the move, "Z E2-F4; C !B8-E2" return the error "The exclamation mark at the beginning of coordinate !B8 in MOVE: C !B8-E2 indicates you may not enter it as part of a move."

I don't know how that move ever got through. The point behind invisible coordinates is that you should never have to type them in the game notation. They are generally intended for spaces that you can drop pieces from with the * operator, and this requires some programming in addition to starting the file with an exclamation mark. But this preset is uncoded.

To fix this, I have added an exception for uncoded presets. When a preset is completely uncoded, entering an invisible coordinate in the notation will not cause an error.

To reduce the need for this, I could write some code that automatically creates a starpath out of any files with invisible coordinates. This would allow dropping with the * operator in uncoded presets. I'll get on that tomorrow.

To reduce the need for this, I could write some code that automatically creates a starpath out of any files with invisible coordinates. This would allow dropping with the * operator in uncoded presets.

This is now done.

Nice. Thank you!

I can't make a 2nd move in my game of Sky with Carlos

https://www.chessvariants.com/play/pbm/play.php?game=Sky&log=sissa-zcherryz-2021-44-954

i'm signed in, not sure what is wrong.

oh, and this game is also set at 50, to do with the size, can that be changed, the board is very small, though Carlos and I both use something else to play our moves, still, shouldn't it be set at 100.

I can't make a 2nd move in my game of Sky with Carlos

I was able to get as far as previewing sample moves, though since I'm not you, I didn't confirm any move. At what point in the process of moving did your problem occur?

and this game is also set at 50, to do with the size, can that be changed

Yes, just enter 100 instead of 50, then click Preview.

the problem occurs straight away, it's like i'm viewing someone else's game ....

ok, I have moved, i had to click the box where it says 'christine bj to move', i didn't realise you had to do that, i'm pretty sure i never did that when i did first move.

as far as setting to 100 and then click 'preview', i can't see that word preview, but i can see a 'view', but after i do that, the board stays same size, wouldn't it have to changed in the setting, i dunno.

at least i have moved lol

the problem occurs straight away, it's like i'm viewing someone else's game

You entered the game in View mode. If you followed the link emailed to you, or you viewed only your own games on the Logs page and followed the link under "Next Move for", this would not have happened.

ok, I have moved, i had to click the box where it says 'christine bj to move',

That takes you out of View mode to Move mode.

as far as setting to 100 and then click 'preview', i can't see that word preview, but i can see a 'view',

That's one of the differences between View mode and Move mode. Go to Move mode first, and then change the scale.

Hi, when i click on 'what's new' and then 'last game courier move' i get

The Chess Variant Pages: 404 Error - Page not found Welcome to the Chess Variant Pages, a site about games related to, based on, or similar enough to Chess.

We're sorry, but the page https:/​/​www.chessvariants.com/​pbm/​logs.php could not be found.

This page is not listed in our database. The URL may be misspelled, the page may have been removed or renamed, or the page may have never existed.

Here are other pages with the filename of /logs.php:

play/pbm/logs.php

ok, when i click on that i am starting to see games, there is 4 there right now

We're sorry, but the page https:/​/​www.chessvariants.com/​pbm/​logs.php could not be found.

That's just the wrong URL. I'll correct it tomorrow.

I still have the same problem that Christine had, when I try to see my (untimed) game with CVP editor Joe Joyce - in fact, I cannot see my own list of games in progress (with invitations included) - I had to try to see the one with Joe by going to his Personal info page, and then trying to see his game(s) in progress - that's when I had the same problem as Christine.

when I try to see my (untimed) game with CVP editor Joe Joyce - in fact, I cannot see my own list of games in progress (with invitations included)

I just checked on that, and I could see your list. Your game with Joe was the only one listed.

I had to try to see the one with Joe by going to his Personal info page, and then trying to see his game(s) in progress - that's when I had the same problem as Christine.

That's using a link to the play subdomain. It should work now that I have created a virtual host for the subdomain.

I'm still having no luck on either count when I try. When I click on 'your games on game courier' via the main menu (item at top is Kevin Pacey) I still get an error message saying connection refused.

When I go to find Joe's games on game courier via his personal info page, I still get a 'Page not found' error message,

I'm still having no luck on either count when I try. When I click on 'your games on game courier' via the main menu (item at top is Kevin Pacey) I still get an error message saying connection refused.

When I go to find Joe's games on game courier via his personal info page, I still get a 'Page not found' error message,

Have you tried clearing your cache or using a different browser? When I substitute your userid for mine in the URL I get from the menu, the page does come up without connection errors. Likewise, the link on Joe's personal info page works for me.

By trial and error I think I managed to clear my cache. The 2 issues I had went away, though in my game with Joe the position was as it was a couple of moves ago, many days ago, and with it being my turn. I guess he'll play the same reply to my same chosen move as before. :)

I have a board that I would like to be added to the background directory. (Using remote links because I don't know how to upload them directly.)

White Side
Black Side

Before I add these to the site, I recommend that you use a darker color for the coordinates. Yellow is hard to read on a white background.

I have changed the coordinate labels to black. Links are the same, I uploaded the new files over the old ones. When reviewing these, I also noticed that the two boards were slightly misaligned orginally. I've fixed that too.

Okay, I added the two board images, and I paired them with each other. If you're going to program, I imagine it would make most sense to use the Custom shape and the logical movement functions.

I have a new piece set file for my large shogi variants that I want to test out in Game Courier. Who should I contact to get it uploaded to the site and linked to the list of piece sets?

I still hope we can implement a solution that allows members to do this without any editorial help. It shouldn't be that difficult to have a 'custom' option in the piece-set selector of Game Courier, and a text entry where the user can specify the directory where he uploaded the images.

I think the site would  also benefit from a more organized presentation of the available piece sets. There are may sets now that are hidden in membergraphics directories, which people who could  benefit from them would  never find.

Dear all, HG, yes I feel the same need. I hope you will be able to implement these features. Many thanks to all editors.

I am inclined to agree. Also, I would like to know how to group sets together. If my set file for my large is correct, I will have two more uploaded. All three of these sets would, logically, be in a group called Taishin Shogi Pieces, with the set names being Taishin Shogi - Mnemonic Pieces, Taishin Shogi - Shogi Pieces, and Taishin Shogi - Abb. Shogi Pieces.

H. G. Muller wrote on 2021-05-02 UTC
I still hope we can implement a solution that allows members to do this without any editorial help. It shouldn't be that difficult to have a 'custom' option in the piece-set selector of Game Courier, and a text entry where the user can specify the directory where he uploaded the images.

I'm not an expert on Game Courier, but I want to make sure this doesn't get lost in the comments. I agree this would be nice. I can have a look into it if Fergus or Greg don't have time in the near future.

... I think the site would also benefit from a more organized presentation of the available piece sets. There are may sets now that are hidden in membergraphics directories, which people who could benefit from them would never find.

I agree. I do think that some editorial review should happen though. Perhaps a new page type should be added, the graphics home extended to query those page types, and Courier set to look for either the traditional folder or membergraphics folders attached to pages of that type.

Adam DeWitt wrote on 2021-05-02 UTC
I am inclined to agree. Also, I would like to know how to group sets together...

I don't know anything about this right now, but wanted to quote it so that it's on the top of my (our) mind(s) as we work this out.

I still hope we can implement a solution that allows members to do this without any editorial help. It shouldn't be that difficult to have a 'custom' option in the piece-set selector of Game Courier, and a text entry where the user can specify the directory where he uploaded the images.

Fergus did add the ability to customize the graphics used, described here.  It's a little complicated, but I used it when making the preset for Royal Court rather than making a new piece set.

... I think the site would also benefit from a more organized presentation of the available piece sets.

This is definitely needed.  I have a spreadsheet I made to help me track some of some of the set groups.  You can download it here.  But something more comprehensive is in order.

Also, I would like to know how to group sets together...

Each piece set is defined in a php file.  The format of that file is described here.  The file /play/pbm/sets.php contains the list of all piece sets, and to which group they belong (if any, otherwise defaults to "unique").  The ability to put multiple piece sets into a group is an important feature, allowing each player to choose which set to use.  (e.g., I can use abstract style pieces even if my opponent wants more standard-looking pieces.)

@Greg Strong and Ben Reiniger - Since you two seem to be the one that I should contact for uploading set files, should I send my set file to one of you via email? Also, would having a plus sign (+) in a piece label cause any problems for Game Courier? It seems to work fine when I use code in the presets to change the labels, but I want to make sure the same is true when there is a plus sign in the label coming from the set file, as all the promoted piece labels have plus signs in them.

I will only be sending the first one for now, as I want to make sure it works as intended before uploading the other two.

You can email your set file to me. But I will have to test having a + in the piece label ... I suspect that might cause a problem.

But I will have to test having a + in the piece label ... I suspect that might cause a problem.

It shouldn't. Shogi uses the + sign in piece labels, and the Alfaerie:Many set uses all kinds of punctuation.

I have just sent the set file to you via email. If the plus signs cause problens, let me know.

Also, I took a quick look at the Alfaerie: Many piece set, and the plus sign did not appear to be used in any of the piece labels, though this of course means little, as plus signs can be used in piece IDs by replacing the labels without the alias command.

@Greg Strong I saw your email that you updated the Large shogi: Taishin Mnemonic set file, but whenever I try do do anything with the new set, the page becomes completely blank for some reason. Does Fergus need to update the sets.php file as well?

Edit: The set is working now. Now to check that everything in the new set is correct...

The new set file (Large shogi: Taishin Mnemonic) seems to have a messed up file path, probably resulting from a typo. Whenever I try to use it, the following error displays:

Only relative URLs are allowed for the value of $dir. Please change the value of $dir to a relative URL that begins with a forward slash.

It's not a typo but a change of policy. I've removed the http://www.chessvariants.com/ part and now it should work.

@Greg Strong I sent you an email containing the next set file I want to upload to Game Courier. This one is for the Shogi pieces with full piece names, but I haven't gotten a response yet. Did you get my message?

Hi Adam,

Yes, I have them. I'll try to get to it this evening.

Something is wrong with GAME Code. Whenever I try to load one of my large Shogi Variant presets, and by extension any preset that uses a similar stalemated subroutine, the last expression in for/foreach is calculated wrong. It evaluates to a single square, whereas before it would correctly evaluate to the array of board spaces.

Something is wrong with GAME Code. Whenever I try to load one of my large Shogi Variant presets, and by extension any preset that uses a similar stalemated subroutine, the last expression in for/foreach is calculated wrong. It evaluates to a single square, whereas before it would correctly evaluate to the array of board spaces.

I've recently been working on making array work the same as values, but it looks like there was some discrepancy between the output of values and the original output of array for some uses of array in your presets and in the Shogi preset too. For the time being, I have reverted array to its old code, and I will test things using a temporary name.

I fixed the problem and went back to using the same code for array as I do for values. The problem was that for an array with one element, it was returning the value of that element instead of a one-member array.

Whenever I try to open any of my current games I get one of these errors

The == operator requires two non-null arguments.

or

The join operator requires two non-null arguments.

It was general. I think it's back OK now.

I was looking for a global way to eliminate some PHP warnings, but that requirement proved to be too restrictive. So, I have removed it.

I then tried requiring minimal argument counts instead, but even that caused problems for unary, binary, and mixed unary/binary operators. But since they seemed to work with operators requiring 3 or more arguments, I left those minimal argument count requirements in.

The problems seem to come again. I cannot access to any of my on-going games. Just me?

I can't either, so it's not just you.

There was a syntax error in one line. It's now corrected.

Is it just me, or is the latest version of my Taishin Shogi GC preset overloading this whole site? Whenever I click on my settings file to play it, I get nothing but 524 errors for a while.

I will admit that the thing is one of the biggest GC presets out there in terms of file size (if not the biggest) since there are so many piece types, as well as special promotion rules (i.e. contagious pieces), and all manner of multi-part moves, but I haven't had problems like this before.

Edit: I found the problem. It was a tiny syntax error in the isdoublemove subroutine. Everything works fine now.

Is it just me, or is the latest version of my Taishin Shogi GC preset overloading this whole site? Whenever I click on my settings file to play it, I get nothing but 524 errors for a while.

When I first tried loading it, I checked the error log and got

PHP Fatal error: Maximum execution time of 30 seconds exceeded in /home/chessvariants/public_html/play/pbm/gamecode.php on line 2524

I fixed some of the errors above it, but I still get a maximum execution time exceeded error. There is one persisting and multiply-repeating warning that I think is due to your own code:

PHP Warning: Undefined array key 897 in /home/chessvariants/public_html/play/pbm/gamecode.php on line 1122

The line in question, line 1122, is part of the code for the "sub" command, which indicates the beginning of a subroutine definition, and it says:

$linenum = $links[$linenum];

This refers to an array that is calculated before any line of GAME Code is executed. This comes from analyzing the structure of the code. So, I would recommend looking for a structural problem in one of your subroutines. Perhaps a block of code wasn't closed off properly, causing endsub to not be expected yet when it appeared. The problem might be around line 897 of your code, since that was the value for $linenum in the warning that kept repeating.

I saw your comment after I fixed the error in the preset's code, but thank you for posting the information anyway. I'm guessing the errors above the subroutine error in the log were the main cause of the Error 524 problem, but it could be that the preset was just so big that it took too long to spot the error and print the log. After all, Taishin Shogi's GC preset is the largest GC preset with full rule enforcement and display of legal moves that I know of (in terms of board size (25x25), number of piece types (232 in total), and number of lines of code (total is probably close to or over 1000 as of right now)).

https://www.chessvariants.com/play/pbm/play.php?game=Pocket+Shogi+Copper&log=panther-cvgameroom-2021-304-264

In this pocket shogi copper game I'm trying to make the move k 8g-9h and I get an error

Syntax Error on line 376

The cond operator requires at least three arguments.

I imagine the question has been asked in the past. Sorry to ask again, I don't know the answer:

Is there any way to propose a draw, null, to an opponent on Game Courier?

(Resigning is not really a solution because if a game is going to no end, it is unfair to give a "lost" at the player who resigns and "has won" to the other player.)

Thanks

I think you have to submit drawn as a move. In a rule-enforcing preset you have to make sure the preset would accept that GAME-code command.

I've never seen this possibility in the games I have played. I don't know how to do, when I do a move, I move a piece, how can I enter "drawn"?

@Jean-Louis, you type drawn into the Moves text field (instead of clicking anything).

Thanks a lot, I didn't know that function. :=)

Hello, for some reason i get the following error message in a game of judkin shogi:

Syntax Error on line 587

The cond operator requires at least three arguments.

Since that line is from the shogi include file, which i suppose was well checked, i don't know how i could possibly correct that. Who can tell me, what's the problem? I copy and paste the relevant part (from the pawndropcheckmate subroutine - even though i didn't use a pawn in my move) the relevant line is the one with an arrow.

sub pawndropcheckmate pawn spot:
    my allies;
    local king kingmoves black test to;
    verify empty #spot and onboard #spot;
    if == #pawn P:
        set king where #spot 0 -1;
        set black true;
    else:
        set king where #spot 0 1;
        set black false;
    endif;
    verify == space #king cond #black k K;
    set kingmoves merge leaps #king 1 0 leaps # 1 1;
    for to #kingmoves:
------>     if not cond #black islower isupper space #to or empty #to and onboard #to:
            move #king #to;
            set checked fn cond #black ATTACKEDBYW ATTACKEDBYB #to;
            restore;
            verify #checked;
        endif;

Thank you, Armin

Can you give me a link or a series of moves in which this error comes up?

Hello Fergus, it's in this game: lunaris-cvgameroom-2022-24-568 when i now try to capture with my king (a1-b2) this happens. Maybe there's something else wrong in the rules enforcement, but it shows this error message. I created this file based on shogi, meaning i edited the shogi preset.

Okay, I fixed the error, and the King can capture the piece on b2 now.

Thank you very much

Hey all, new user here. Question, I'm trying to program Senterej, the Ethiopian Chess variant into Game Courier. Would anyone have a recommendation for coding the mobilization phase? (where pieces can be moved freely until the initial capture)

I searched game courier to see if it was coded for play already and did not see it

I'm not great with Game Code, so I might not have the best advice. I don't think there's any way to have real-time movement. Maybe you could approximate it by letting players take turns making any number of moves until a capture occurs.

I don't think that would work. White could use his first turn to advance  its entire army 2 ranks, which would give him a significant space advantage.

Does the Alfaerie-Many set affect the time it takes to process a move? I've been working on a large preset and whenever I tried it using alfaerie-many it never even finished running the pre-game code.

I tried starting a game with the following time settings

Spare Time 1 week
Grace Time 24 hours
Min Time 2 days
Bonus Time 12 hours
Max Time 2 weeks

It wouldn't work, saying that I shouldn't set Min time above Max time

For games using a Rank label of 0, the 0 rank is not displayed and any pieces starting there are shown as captured.

For games using a Rank label of 0, the 0 rank is not displayed and any pieces starting there are shown as captured.

That's now fixed.

A lot of the logs of some games return error messages:

For Ultima it says that a certain line contains a syntax error, e.g. Syntax Error on line 585

For shogi it says that a given move was done illegally, e.g.:

ILLEGAL: g 4i-5h on turn 6:

The move MOVE: g 4i-5h ain't well-formed. g is a coordinate. So 4i should be a hyphen.

There may be others I haven't noticed.

Please give me links to specific logs.

This is a small sample, if I did everything I'd be spending all day:

https://www.chessvariants.com/play/pbm/play.php?game=Shogi&log=dax00-cvgameroom-2020-304-184 https://www.chessvariants.com/play/pbm/play.php?game=Shogi&log=per31-cvgameroom-2019-145-205 https://www.chessvariants.com/play/pbm/play.php?game=Shogi&log=niccar-krinid-2004-167-366

https://www.chessvariants.com/play/pbm/play.php?game=Ultima&log=hambledon-sdc.stats-2008-361-709 https://www.chessvariants.com/play/pbm/play.php?game=Ultima&log=tamandua-cvgameroom-2015-24-775 https://www.chessvariants.com/play/pbm/play.php?game=Ultima&log=sissa-tamandua-2013-90-201

https://www.chessvariants.com/play/pbm/play.php?game=Skica&log=sissa-arx-2022-289-168

In this game I'm seeing the piece images change after I make a move and before I confirm the move. That makes it awkward verifying that the move I made is what I really want to do.

Okay, I fixed that. There was a namespace conflict with a new feature I added just a moment before you posted your bug report. I've now changed it to not conflict.

Okay, I fixed that. There was a namespace conflict with a new feature I added just a moment before you posted your bug report. I've now changed it to not conflict.

That didn't fix it. It looks like the image shown in the confirmation page is ignoring the changes made to piece labels and images in the pre-game code. I'm seeing the same problem in some other games too, such as this one.

https://www.chessvariants.com/play/pbm/play.php?game=Maasai+Chess&log=arx-cvgameroom-2022-323-205

When you made your last bug report, I did see a huge problem that I immediately fixed, and that problem is indeed gone now. But I now see that you were describing a different problem. Pieces identified as s/S change from the Chinese Pawn image to the Promoted Rook image. Checking the set, I see that s/S is assigned to the Promoted Rook image, though judging by the number of them, they should not be Promoted Rooks in this game. In the code, these lines are used to assign the Chinese Pawn image to s/S:

if == pieceset alfaerie-metamachy:
  set mypieces.s pieceimg cp;
  set mypieces.S pieceimg CP;
endif;

When I use the PNG or CSS rendering methods, the s/S pieces continue to use the Chinese Pawn image. But when I use the Table rendering method, they change to the Promoted Rook image. The problem may be that pieceset does not return the value of the variable, making the behavior of the conditional iffy. This should work instead:

if == $pieceset alfaerie-metamachy:
  set mypieces.s pieceimg cp;
  set mypieces.S pieceimg CP;
endif;

[Edit: pieceset is a function, not a variable. So, $pieceset should not be used.]

The same problem is happening in presets that don't check the value of pieceset. The Skica preset I mentioned at first has this

set mypieces assoc
  P "wpawn.png" p "bpawn.png"
  N "wknight.png" n "bknight.png"
  B "wbishop.png" b "bbishop.png"
  R "wrook.png" r "brook.png"
  Q "wqueen.png" q "bqueen.png"
  K "wking.png" k "bking.png"
  C "wcamel.png" c "bcamel.png"
  W "wwildebeest.png" w "bwildebeest.png"
  I "wbishopinv.png" i "bbishopinv.png"
  U "wqueeninv.png" u "bqueeninv.png"
  S "wrookinv.png" s "brookinv.png";
setsystem dir "/graphics.dir/alfaeriePNG/";
setsystem pieces #mypieces;

This is another example of reverting to the piece image originally assigned in the set file.

I do not see what could be causing the problem this time, and since this is an automatically-generated preset, it is beyond my usual expertise.

One thing I will note is that I no longer recommend editing the $pieces array. This is a bad practice, and I regret coming up with the idea. I now recommend the use of aliases as best practice.

I've mainly seen this in generated presets, but it doesn't look like it's doing anything very obscure so I thought it was worth asking anyway. Now I have a question about the use of aliases. Does aliasing only allow using images from the currently selected piece set?

One thing I will note is that I no longer recommend editing the $pieces array. This is a bad practice, and I regret coming up with the idea. I now recommend the use of aliases as best practice.

IIRC the possibility of the $pieces array was created because users wanted to combine piece images from different 'sets' (perhaps even standard sets supplemented by images uploaded by themselves to the /membergraphics/ sub-tree). Aliases don't do that for you; they just allow you to rename the pieces in a given set.

It is indeed inconvenient that expanding a set is done by execution of Pre-Game code. But the alternative, asking an editor to create a new set including the desired extension graphics was even more inconvenient.

It would be good if there was a way to assign arbitrary images (i.e. anywhere in the public_html subtree) to to piece labels without invoking GAME code. Just like you can specify a FEN for a preset, and the corresponding position will already be displayed on the preset's page even before you start running the preset.

This same problem is also in this preset, using this code:

set mypieces ();
set mypieces.k $pieces.k;
set mypieces.K $pieces.K;
set mypieces.q $pieces.q;
set mypieces.Q $pieces.Q;
set mypieces.r $pieces.r;
set mypieces.R $pieces.R;
set mypieces.b $pieces.b;
set mypieces.B $pieces.B;
set mypieces.n $pieces.n;
set mypieces.N $pieces.N;
set mypieces.p $pieces.p;
set mypieces.P $pieces.P;
if == pieceset alfaerie-allsvg:
  set mypieces.A pieceimg .W;
  set mypieces.a pieceimg .w;
  set mypieces.G pieceimg .P;
  set mypieces.g pieceimg .p;
  set mypieces.T $pieces.T;
  set mypieces.t $pieces.t;
  set mypieces.S $pieces.GG;
  set mypieces.s $pieces.gg;
  set mypieces.U $pieces.U;
  set mypieces.u $pieces.u;
  set mypieces.D pieceimg .D;
  set mypieces.d pieceimg .d;
endif;
setsystem pieces #mypieces;

I tried changing pieceset to $pieceset, but that just caused the pieces defined in the if condition to be replaced with black circles.

Okay, pieceset is a function, not a variable. So, ignore my advice to use $pieceset.

I have not been able to reproduce the problem in this game. Can you set up an example for me to look at?

It doesn't happen when I use the Play button, but when I use Move and try to move pieces the images change. Also, in this ongoing game I see it after each move, but before I move it all looks ok.

It's happening with A, S, G, and D. These are the four that are assigned to images that originally had different piece labels. Curiously, when I have it display a list of the pieces, it shows this, which I believe is correct, yet it still shows the wrong pieces.

Array
(
    [k] => bking.png
    [K] => wking.png
    [q] => bqueen.png
    [Q] => wqueen.png
    [r] => brook.png
    [R] => wrook.png
    [b] => bbishop.png
    [B] => wbishop.png
    [n] => bknight.png
    [N] => wknight.png
    [p] => bpawn.png
    [P] => wpawn.png
    [A] => wmage.png
    [a] => bmage.png
    [G] => wpegasus.png
    [g] => bpegasus.png
    [T] => wtiger.png
    [t] => btiger.png
    [S] => wslidinggeneral.png
    [s] => bslidinggeneral.png
    [U] => wunicorn.png
    [u] => bunicorn.png
    [D] => wdragon.png
    [d] => bdragon.png
)

But when I assign pieceset to a variable and have it say it, it gives me an empty string. However, it appears that the value of pieceset is not the problem. Despite having the correct images in $pieces, it is displaying the original images from the set.

I'm not sure what is going on. However, switching to the use of aliases should fix this. Using aliases will not change the labels used to display pieces. With aliases, there is a strict separation between your labels and your notation, and you should always see the correct images. The main catch is that you have to make sure all your functions, subroutines and other code properly handle aliases. The fairychess include file, which this preset is using, does properly handle aliases, and you just have to make sure that any additional code also handles aliases. Check the tutorial for this include file for more information.

I'm not sure what is going on. However, switching to the use of aliases should fix this.

Yeah, I can do that. I just wish it weren't necessary since it means modifying every preset that uses this method, which was working perfectly until just recently. It seems to only happen with HTML Table rendering, so it could be circumvented by settings affected presets to use a different method by default. That still means modifying a lot of broken presets to fix this.

Here is what was going on. I recently added the feature to recolor pieces across all rendering methods. For tables, it recolors pieces by linking the IMG tag to the showpiece.php script instead of directly to the image file, and it identifies a piece by its set and label. Although you were not recoloring your pieces, the color name began with a # sign for one variable but not for a variable it was being compared with. So, even though the colors were the same, the == comparison indicated that they were different, and it linked to the showpiece.php script instead of to the image. For the sake of more accurate color comparisons, I wrote a new function called samecolor, which puts each color string into a uniform format before comparing them. Using this function, the color of your pieces matched the original color, and the link used the image instead of the showpiece.php script.

I have now added some new parameters to showpiece.php. The image parameter is for the relative path to a file, and the originalcolor parameter is for the original color of a piece. With these, a piece can be specified and recolored without providing the set and piece label, and I have modified draw_square_table.php to use these new parameters when using showpiece.php.

Now the images are reverted still, but all the pieces also have black backgrounds

Okay, there was another section of code to update. How does it look now?

It appears to be fixed now

Here are a few things to keep in mind about reassigning the value of $pieces.

1. This does not give players the option of choosing different sets unless you explicitly build this in.
2. When you use the pc shortcode to display piece images in the description, they may not always be accurate. However, if you are providing only one set, you can get away with direct links to the piece images.
3. When you go to the Related menu and select Diagram Designer, it will usually display your diagram with the wrong images.

Now the default presets for Glinksi's and McCooey's Hexagonal Chesses are broken. Neither one shows any legal moves.

Separately, this preset just shows the board but the rest of the game interface is missing.

The problems with Hexagonal Chess and Napoleonic Chess are now fixed.