Comments/Ratings for a Single Item

Okay, these pages have been published. Note that the showpiece.php script can now be used in Interactive Diagrams with set and piece values for Game Courier sets. This means you can use a Game Courier set to more easily provide the graphics in an Interactive Diagram, and you can more easily use the same graphics in both Game Courier and Interactive Diagrams. See the discussion on the homepage for more details.

I have finalized Chu Seireigi and Dai Seireigi, as well as their GC preset pages.

I have submitted the GC preset also for Zanzibar-XL, Gigachess II and Terachess II now.

Each one is fine, and I have unhidden each one.

I have submitted the GC preset also for Zanzibar-XL, Gigachess II and Terachess II now.

You will please tell me if they are OK or if I need to correct something.

Thank you

Great, I open a bottle :=) Thank you for your patience.

Strong of this experience I think that you might consider a more user-friendly process. For example, when someone has developed a GC preset which works (which demonstrates some skills already, as it is not very easy), why not having a box to tick that would allow a public submission.

No offense meant.

Now I'm going to repeat that process for 3 other games I wish to offer to our community.

Is that OK now for both Teramachy and Zanzibar-S?

Yes, I have now unhidden both pages.

OK. I start (finally...) to understand what I'm asked to do... Is that OK now for both Teramachy and Zanzibar-S? Thanks

Which links?

These are link pages to locally hosted content. Each page for a Game Courier preset should have a link to the preset it is for.

Where to put links?

Text and image links both work. I recommend putting a link around the image and telling the visitor to click the image to play the game on Game Courier.

Is it OK now (for Teramachy and Zanzibar-S)?

No, I did not see a link on either page.

Thanks. Which links? Where to put links? I have taken the images now from Diagram Designer as you said, and I put the link in the page of the GC. Is it OK now (for Teramachy and Zanzibar-S)?

Could you please check what I've done for 2 GC presets: Zanzibar-S and Teramachy? Are they correct?

No, they are missing links. Also, it is not necessary to upload an image for a Game Courier preset, because you can use an image generated by the Diagram Designer. From your preset, choose the Diagram Designer item in the Related Pages menu. This will open the Diagram Designer with an image matching the setup for your game. You can use this image on your page instead of uploading one. You may also wish to use a smaller image on this page. You may do that with the Diagram Designer by reducing its scale.

I have understood that after creating the page for the preset, I have to select "Upload or Manage Files" to upload an image, that in this case is a screen copy of the preset. (as this image is loaded when the preset is launched, why the need to upload an image already available on the site?)

Because it is not available on the site. Game Courier sometimes renders boards as HTML or CSS code, and when it does render boards as images, it stores them in a temporary directory and eventually deletes them. That's where the Diagram Designer comes in. It more or less uses the same code as Game Courier does for rendering boards as images, and it can give you a link for drawing your board.

And there I have to add the image. If I select WYSYWIG, I can attach an image. When I click the button, I am asked to enter the URL. How can I know the URL straight? Too bad it don't offer to me directly the link to the image I have uploaded.

The file manager that is provided for uploading images should be showing you the URL of each image. You may find it convenient to keep it open in a different tab than the one you're writing your text in.

Perhaps we should create a 'front-end' for making it easier to post GC games and everything that goes with them. E.g. the Play-Test Applet now has a button to generate GAME code and display it, so that people can copy-paste it into a preset to automate it. But in principle it could also issue the required POST and GET requests directly, if the user would specify the name of the game and the preset first.

Thank you for that. Could you please check what I've done for 2 GC presets: Zanzibar-S and Teramachy? Are they correct?

This is the problem I had:

I have understood that after creating the page for the preset, I have to select "Upload or Manage Files" to upload an image, that in this case is a screen copy of the preset. (as this image is loaded when the preset is launched, why the need to upload an image already available on the site?)

Then, I understood that I need to go back and then edit by selecting "Edit this Page." I get a page with 5 frames to be filled but only 1 is relevant here, "Introduction". The rest is not needed for a GC preset page. Then, in "Introduction" I have to type a simple sentence like "this is the preset for XXX" (this could be automated no?)

And there I have to add the image. If I select WYSYWIG, I can attach an image. When I click the button, I am asked to enter the URL. How can I know the URL straight? Too bad it don't offer to me directly the link to the image I have uploaded.

Sorry for this long description. I have tried to explain how difficult it can be when someone is not an expert to IS. I don't consider myself as a guy hermetic to technology. I wish to put more GC preset on-line. So many days to make those 2 GC only, I'm a bit discouraged, I wonder if I'm the only one to face so many difficulties for something that should be simple. Thank you for your help.

I have tried. Not sure I have understood what to do.

I have added better instructions to the script.

I have tried. Not sure I have understood what to do. Indeed, I had to guess where to add the image of the preset. Frankly, this process is not easy when you make it once. When I find my Unpublished Submission, it opens the same interface than when I was composing the page for presenting the game, with several frames to be filled. I understood that for publishing a GC preset all these frames are not relevant.

Then I wonder why it is not simpler than that. It could be a simple box to check when one has developed his GC to allow that it is published. Maybe what I say is not possible.

I wish to understand that process as I plan to publish 5 or 6 more GC. Thank you for the help.

Shall I mention to report any bug to you or to me?

If you mention it at all, it should be to the author of the preset, which would be you. But it's not necessary to mention it.

OK I understand. Shall I mention to report any bug to you or to me? Thank you again for your time and your patience

Step 2 asked to put description and link.

This is where you write the content of the page in HTML. So far, you have a bare link as raw text and a description of the rules. The purpose of such a page is to provide an indexed launch page for the preset. These typically include an illustration of the preset, a link to the preset, and a brief description of the preset. This page does not need to include the rules of the game. That's what the Rules page and the rules description within the preset are for. Since you have made other pages, I expect you know how to write HTML. Take a look at Hex Shogi 91 Preset for Game Courier for an example of what a typical preset page should look like.

OK but it is not clear to me.

Step 1 is OK

Step 2 asked to put description and link. OK, where I put the link? Which description? The one I already put on the page describing the preset? It is not clear, I don't understand what I do.

For instance for this preset: https://www.chessvariants.com/play/pbm/play.php?game=Teramachy&settings=Default-Alternate

How can I publish it for everyone? Thanks

How can they get a link in this GC table in order to let people play them? Is it something I can do myself?

Yes, you can do it yourself. Create an individual webpage for each one. There are scripts for letting members create new pages. Look in the menu.

I have developed GC for the series of my games:

Zanzibar-S

Zanzibar-XL

Teramachy

Gigachess II

Terachess II

How can they get a link in this GC table in order to let people play them? Is it something I can do myself?

You're welcome. Thank you for your patience. I have posted a Metamachy GC launch page.

Just a reminder if someone could make that Metamachy is visible among the game playable. Thanks a lot

Thank you very much

Here it is:

https://www.chessvariants.com/play/pbm/play.php?game=Metamachy&settings=default

Looks like we never made a Game Courier launch page for it so it is not in the index. I will take care of that.

Hello. I can't find Metamachy on Game Courier. Has it been removed?

That's strange.  The button sends me to the correct settings according to the URL ("default") but the displayed image is that of the old settings ("Minishogi").  If I click Play or Move it takes me to the correct settings after all.

Maybe this is related to the cache issue we've had on other page types?

Thank you very much Ben,

one little note though, it appears that on the minishogi page it is not possible to choose my version, it's visible but i cannot click on the image, only on the button, which leads to the old version.

however it's possible to get to the mini shogi preset via judkin's shogi.

cheers,

Armin

Pages have authors, not inventors. Someone who programs a preset counts as an author. The inventor exclusively refers to the game inventor.

Thanks Armin!

I've added links to the settings files on the respective Preset pages:
https://www.chessvariants.com/play/minishogi
https://www.chessvariants.com/play/judkins-shogi

(I've forgotten the convention about Inventors of Preset pages...the preset author or the game inventor?  Fergus, Greg, Joe?)

Judkin's original settings file doesn't appear to actually be different from the Chess one, so perhaps it should be deleted.

Hello,

i'm putting my comment here, because i can't get through to the editors via e-mail.

I recently created two new rule enforcing presets for Mini Shogi and Judkin's Shogi and wanted to add them to the game courier game page, to make it possible for others to play them.

you can find them here:

https://www.chessvariants.com/play/pbm/play.php?game=Minishogi&settings=default

https://www.chessvariants.com/play/pbm/play.php?game=Judkin%27s+Shogi&settings=default

hopefully one of the editors reads this comment and can put them there, because the actual presets are bad or not working at all.

Sincerely,

Armin Liebhart (lunaris)

Test comment. My session was not being recognized on play.chessvariants.com, but the comment link led to chessvariants.com, where it is working.

NOTE TO JEREMY: I still believe your TenCubed Chess preset needs to be adjusted. Most presets require Sides: White Black and Side: White. The Shogi preset reverses these settings, because Black moves first in Shogi. My email address will change in a week, so I have been avoiding correspondence lately.

And as long as you are working in that preset, I think that the dark squares would look better with Colors: FFFFFF 888888 - but I can always use a custom setting for my own viewing.

ATTN David Howe:

David, when I clicked on the 'quick edit' link for this page, I was
informed that this page is now part of a collection, and several new
presets, all created by members through the new system you set up, were
part of the collection. Why is this page now part of a collection with
other pages? What does it mean for these pages to be collected together?
Is it necessary to show pages in the same collection when someone clicks
on 'edit' or 'quick edit'? They don't appear to have the same id, so
no disambiguation seems to be required.

I then had to click 'edit', not 'quick edit' again, to edit the page,
and I had to wait for all the long drop-down menus to load. Would you
please add 'quick edit' links to collection pages and to pages on the
main site, not just in the play subdomain?

Yes this is true. What I meant is that at least the game design part is
left open and one can code a lot of game with game courier. That much is
also not easily avalaible elsewhere. As a matter of fact game courier is
an excellent creation, both as an idea and as an implementation. 
I understand the problem with point and click play. But one generaly use
it as a side option. One may use it or one may enter the move by hand. It
is like that in other servers. Why I suggested point and click play is
that to many computer-novice gammer it gives more comfort and hence is a
important factor to increase the popularity of a system. A java base
system also gives a better and faster preset to analyze and watch a played
game.

First, Game Courier is not an open source project by the users for the
users. It is my own creation, built up from scratch by myself, with a
little bit of assistance from some other editors. It enables open
development of presets by anyone who cares to make them, but that's all
that is open about it. Like you can use a word processor to write a novel
without being able to program the word processor, you can use Game Courier
to develop games without being able to program Game Courier.

Second, I have no plans to add point and click capability to Game Courier.
Entering moves by notation is more versatile than moving pieces with a
mouse, and it will work with any browser. It also helps a player think
about his move more carefully and helps safeguard against making a
mistake. Besides all that, I have no experience programming Java, and I'm
not so excited about the idea of point and click capability to think it is
worth my time and effort to try to implement it.

Both schemingmind.com and brainking.com have a number of 'hidden
information' games with rules that are automatically enforced. You can
try both sites out for free. 

They also both have a lot of mini-tournaments (that members can begin) for
their variants, though neither has anything near the number of variants
Game Courier has.

One thing I like a lot about schemingmind.com and would like to see
replicated at chessvariants.org is a pyramid system for each variant. You
can join a pyramid and then challenge other people at your level. If you
win, you go to a higher level and if you lose, you go down a level (or if
you're at the bottom, you stay at the bottom).

Rather than (or perhaps, in addition to) the tournament format now being
offered here, it would be interesting to hold tournaments for each game
type.  For example, there could be an omegachess tournament, and a shogi
tournament, etc., maybe on a yearly basis.  In this way, every player
could enter their favorite events.

Prize funds and entry fees to cover them and any incremental costs in
running the events could be considered also.

I think Game Courier could handle a three-step Pawn move without an
additional function. Assuming Pawns begin on the second rank, like so:

set legal and checkaride origin dest 0 1 less rankname dest 6;

The same principle can be used for a piece with limited movement, such as
an R4, which moves as a Rook no more than four spaces.

set legal and checkride origin dest 0 1 or less abs minus rank origin rank
dest 5 less abs minus file origin file rank 5;

A cursed Queen, which I think is limited to three spaces, like so:

set legal and or checkride origin dest 0 1 checkride origin dest 1 1 and
less abs minus rank origin rank dest 4 less abs minus file origin file
rank 4;

I don't think anyone has worked on rules-enforcement for Omega Chess; I
don't think the O.C. people responded to Fergus' request for permission.
 They never responded to me when I asked about ChessV either ...  

I am going to work on rules enforcement for your L&U Chess; I think that
one will be much easier, and thus will be better for my first attempt. 
The pawn move in Wildebeest is fairly tricky - unlike Omega Chess, pawns
may make a single step, and then still make a 2-space move later.

I have finished changing the item name for each preset page to the name
used for the game in the preset. This will cause a link to the game's
logs to show up on the preset page when there are logs available. In the
future, whenever anyone creates a new preset page, please make the item
name the same as the game's name inside the preset. Don't call it
anything like 'Game Courier preset for ...'. Just use the game's name.

Likewise, just use the game's name for the link text. You can mention
Game Courier in the description, but leave it out of the link text. This
allows the preset pages to be listed together without extraneous
information in the link text that is already obvious from the context.

I see a different message that the one reported by Greg. Here is it:
Parse error: parse error, unexpected T_STRING in
/home/chessvar/public_html/play/pbmlogs/alice_chess/markthompson-crazytom-2004-264-062.php
on line 83