c4countdown

Basically just Nastynums?

Eoin Monaghan wrote:Basically just Nastynums?

Yeah, except you spend most of the 30s counting zeroes.

BoringNastyNums?

Michael Wallace wrote:

Eoin Monaghan wrote:Basically just Nastynums?

Yeah, except you spend most of the 30s counting zeroes.

No, just like regular, but binary

I wouldn't mind seeing some more junior star charts.

Hugh Binnie wrote:I wouldn't mind seeing some more junior star charts.

Dirty paedo.

When you're playing a game and the DC dialogue box is a little slow to appear, can it be tweaked so that it pops under active rounds rather than coming straight to the top? Just lost a conundrum on the duel to this.

When playing a blind letters game, I think it would be good if the words you type in didn't appear in the notes box. You can't very easily carry on the round "blind" if you've got most of the letters staring at you from the words you've previously spotted.

Matthew Tassier wrote:When playing a blind letters game, I think it would be good if the words you type in didn't appear in the notes box. You can't very easily carry on the round "blind" if you've got most of the letters staring at you from the words you've previously spotted.

Nice idea. I second it.

Also wrt blind, are the letters meant to pop back up at the end of the round?

Couple of things whilst pb/record hunting last night-

Can we have a 'forfeit remaining rounds' button for when you're playing Prune (or, indeed, any other useless bot) and the record attempt is fubared? Especially with the new 'only 3 games against bots at a time' rule.

On the subject of prune, can he be tweaked so that he always picks alternating consonants and vowels, especially in aegilops? It's really annoying when you're on a great roll and Prune's picking yields an easily avoidable 14-letter optimum or something stupid like that.

Ben Wilson wrote:Couple of things whilst pb/record hunting last night-

Can we have a 'forfeit remaining rounds' button for when you're playing Prune (or, indeed, any other useless bot) and the record attempt is fubared? Especially with the new 'only 3 games against bots at a time' rule.

Isn't that the whole point of the rule though?

Ben Wilson wrote:
Can we have a 'forfeit remaining rounds' button for when you're playing Prune (or, indeed, any other useless bot) and the record attempt is fubared? Especially with the new 'only 3 games against bots at a time' rule.

Or maybe a 'Play round again' button if you haven't scored as many points as you would have liked to?

Jon Corby wrote:

Ben Wilson wrote:Couple of things whilst pb/record hunting last night-

Can we have a 'forfeit remaining rounds' button for when you're playing Prune (or, indeed, any other useless bot) and the record attempt is fubared? Especially with the new 'only 3 games against bots at a time' rule.

Isn't that the whole point of the rule though?

Yeah this. The other idea is good though.

Charlie - see this: http://www.apterous.org/viewgame.php?game=269723

I'd like to petition for Omelette numbers games to be scored the same way as letters rounds - with Stepdown scoring. It seems to make no sense that I would lose 3 points for being one away.
I don't know how feasible it is, and obviously it'll mess up comparisons between future and past games, but best to stamp out the oddity now surely? That game would have been a +2 point high score.
Presumably applies to Aegilops numbers scoring too.

Jon Corby wrote:

Ben Wilson wrote:Couple of things whilst pb/record hunting last night-

Can we have a 'forfeit remaining rounds' button for when you're playing Prune (or, indeed, any other useless bot) and the record attempt is fubared? Especially with the new 'only 3 games against bots at a time' rule.

Isn't that the whole point of the rule though?

Not quite- rather than abandoning the game and starting a new one my 'button' would automatically enter zero scores for the human player for the rest of the game- e.g. a numbers attack against prune that stands at 17-0 after 3 rounds would be completed and recorded as 17-0. I used to do this anyway even before the new rule came in and imho it'd just be a time-saver for those more concerned with pbs than averages (like yours truly).

Ben Wilson wrote:

Jon Corby wrote:

Ben Wilson wrote:Couple of things whilst pb/record hunting last night-

Can we have a 'forfeit remaining rounds' button for when you're playing Prune (or, indeed, any other useless bot) and the record attempt is fubared? Especially with the new 'only 3 games against bots at a time' rule.

Isn't that the whole point of the rule though?

Not quite- rather than abandoning the game and starting a new one my 'button' would automatically enter zero scores for the human player for the rest of the game- e.g. a numbers attack against prune that stands at 17-0 after 3 rounds would be completed and recorded as 17-0. I used to do this anyway even before the new rule came in and imho it'd just be a time-saver for those more concerned with pbs than averages (like yours truly).

Yes.

Isn't that the whole point of the rule though?

Jon Corby wrote:

Ben Wilson wrote:Not quite- rather than abandoning the game and starting a new one my 'button' would automatically enter zero scores for the human player for the rest of the game- e.g. a numbers attack against prune that stands at 17-0 after 3 rounds would be completed and recorded as 17-0. I used to do this anyway even before the new rule came in and imho it'd just be a time-saver for those more concerned with pbs than averages (like yours truly).

Yes.

Isn't that the whole point of the rule though?

If it is then it hasn't really done its job as there's nothing stopping me from abandoning games in the manner described above by blanking every round until the game ends, I'm just asking for a quicker way of doing that.

My thoughts:

There are two types of player who would want to be able to abort games, going for a high score (which you could call a 'global' objective), and going for a max (a 'personal' objective). I totally agree that when you could start as many games as you wanted this potentially messes up the high scores because you could just start and restart until you get two 9s in the opening rounds (or whatever).

On the other hand, I'm not really convinced this is a problem if you're trying to max a game yourself. I remember when I was trying to get a NA max and it wasn't much fun proceeding with a game once you'd missed a round (although I always tried to finish them since I wanted my stats to be accurate).

I think my point is that a max game is only really a personal achievement, and getting one isn't to the detriment of other players, whereas a high score means you've knocked someone else off the top. If you think it's 'cheating' if you've maxed a game after endless restarts, then that's your view, but does it really matter?

One 'solution' might be to make it that there is a bot you can play specifically for max game attempts, where the game ends the moment you've missed a round. Such games wouldn't appear on high score tables, count towards your stats, etc. etc., but could be acknowledged on the stats page for that variant (or you could just get an item for it).

Anyone see what I mean? Opinions?

When I used to do bullet numbers attacks, I used to quit if I missed a target. Well, I think if I'd survived about 7 or 8 I normally just carried on to the end anyway but less than that and I quit and started again. At the time I did feel it was probably a little tragic and I can see why people might want to stop that sort of practice, but I can also see why some people might want to allow it. So that's your answer.

IF $word_validity = 0 {
hideModule (lexplorer, pencilwork);
}

Matt Morrison wrote:IF $word_validity = 0 {
hideModule (lexplorer, pencilwork);
}

Interesting idea but the word might've been pencilled anyway if 1) the word used to be valid and was pencilled before it was removed 2) someone pencilled it in a different language.

Charlie Reams wrote:

Matt Morrison wrote:IF $word_validity = 0 {
hideModule (lexplorer, pencilwork);
}

Interesting idea but the word might've been pencilled anyway if 1) the word used to be valid and was pencilled before it was removed 2) someone pencilled it in a different language.

Damn. I did think of 1) but 2) completely passed me by. You were generous when you said "interesting idea" - scrap it, was just trying to tidy up!

I go for PBs sometimes in the strange formats, but if I fuck up an early round (which happens often) I always, always play the game out and always have. Even if I continue to be shit in it. It's character-building, or something.

Gavin Chipper wrote:When I used to do bullet numbers attacks, I used to quit if I missed a target. Well, I think if I'd survived about 7 or 8 I normally just carried on to the end anyway but less than that and I quit and started again. At the time I did feel it was probably a little tragic and I can see why people might want to stop that sort of practice, but I can also see why some people might want to allow it. So that's your answer.

I've had a think about this and it strikes me that most of the time this 'cba to continue' attitude will apply to numbers attacks over everything else. in 15-rounders and letters attacks there are always opportunities for something special later on, say a flake, a pencil or just a generally good spot. I don't think I've ever deliberately gashed a conundrum attack- largely as it'd take so long it'd be futile anyway, and conundrums are simple and fun- and you now get items for them too.

The solution is simple- numbers games items! Maybe a hand displaying an amount of fingers equal to the number of large numbers chosen (with a polydactyl hand for 6-large hyper sadists), or some kinda of wtp-esque difficulty rating like the conundrums?

In the conundrum section on Lexplorer, could it say who was playing the game? So instead of:
Have:

In Superstats, could the nines offered page include touchdown too?

Hugh Binnie wrote:In Superstats, could the nines offered page include touchdown too?

I think it already does, but the change was fairly recent so you might need to wait for the pages to update.

How about an extra column on game recaps, nice and thin, just for conundrum difficulty - but only on CAs, not just for the 1 conundrum per 15 rounder.
For CAs though woudl introduce an at-a-glance understanding of the overall hardness - hell you could even introduce 'average conundrum difficulty' onto CA recap pages.

Matt Morrison wrote:For CAs though woudl introduce an at-a-glance understanding of the overall hardness

Pervert.

On the subject of conundrums, I know the whole "you get 225s for all 15 rounds" thing is really hard to implement, but how about a CA speed mode - surely it's not too hard to just add up all the buzz times at the end? (I know lag and shit, but it's a thought.)

Charlie Reams wrote:

Hugh Binnie wrote:In Superstats, could the nines offered page include touchdown too?

I think it already does, but the change was fairly recent so you might need to wait for the pages to update.

Ah, excellent. Right you are.

Irish lexicon.

Eoin Monaghan wrote:Irish lexicon.

To be sure, to be sure.

Right, what's next?

Gavin Chipper wrote:

Eoin Monaghan wrote:Irish lexicon.

To be sure, to be sure.

Right, what's next?

"Reduplication is an alleged trait of Hiberno-English strongly associated with stage-Irish and Hollywood films. It is virtually never used in reality."

Amadán.

Eoin Monaghan wrote:Irish lexicon.

Would happily, if you can find one.

Not that I'm competitive about Inventory Items or anything, but I would like to be able to click an Inventory item and be taken to the list of the top 25 (say) players who have the greatest number of that particular item. This page now exists for pencils/bronze pencils combined (i.e. the fabulous Pencilvania). And it would sort of be an extension of the "Who's got most of this item?" top 10 list which used to be on the apterous homepage.

Alternatively, the same data could be available from a single statland page listing every possible inventory item, rather than being hyperlinked from inventory item icons in users' profiles.

I don't know whether all these extra statland-style pages would slow apterous down, in terms of needing daily updates, etc. And of course, presence of such pages may eliminate some of the mystique of knowing what inventory items are awarded for... but since the items are visible to all anyway, I'm not sure that's a big deal?

Thanks so much for sorting out Omelette (et al) numbers Charlie, really does mean a lot to me. Will have a crack at recording a new 15 high score later, and it'll be in tribute to you if I do x

Can we have a page on statland that is most time played per day/month/week, and it lists the most time a player have played in a 24 hour/7 day/4 week period. The interesting thing about this is that it could feature the same player on the leaderboard multiple times.

If a word (like my surname) is valid in numerous languages, does it have multiple pencils associated with it? Appears to be only one in Lexplorer.

EDIT: Seems to be the case. Shame! Suppose we'd get severely flooded otherwise.

Ian Volante wrote:If a word (like my surname) is valid in numerous languages, does it have multiple pencils associated with it? Appears to be only one in Lexplorer.

EDIT: Seems to be the case. Shame! Suppose we'd get severely flooded otherwise.

And for the reference, Bayfield done a learn on me the other day - it will be bronze or regular purely based on the type of game being played when it is pencilled. Which makes sense.

Could this page somehow display up to further than third place for formats where max games are plenty.

Funny that Ian should talk about his surname being valid in certain languages on apterous... as only a few days ago, I maxed a round in French play with VOLANTE. Disappointingly (for me), Anglo Italian had already beaten me to the pencil!

It's been a while since the Duel was re-vamped... and whilst I admired that attempt to theme the days of the week... I (and I think a few others) are getting a bit bored of the Duels where the vast majority of the players score equally (or almost equally), and even one small mistake can sometimes cost you 50 places in that day's results. The chief "culprits" here are:

• The 3- or 4-round Duels, usually with long time limits. These are often maxed by well over 10 players, and even when they're not maxed, many many players end up on exactly the same score.
  The ridiculously hard "maxes only" Duels, usually Speed, where out of 20 or so rounds, most players only manage to score in perhaps one or two rounds. For example, Speed Hyper Touch Maxes Only. A far better indication of players' talents in these hard formats would be to remove the "maxes only" scoring. "Maxes only" scoring should be reserved for formats where players are much more likely to max rounds.

I'd be keen to see those formats of Duels replaced by something different. Don't know whether anyone else agrees?

Matt Bayfield wrote:It's been a while since the Duel was re-vamped... and whilst I admired that attempt to theme the days of the week... I (and I think a few others) are getting a bit bored of the Duels where the vast majority of the players score equally (or almost equally), and even one small mistake can sometimes cost you 50 places in that day's results. The chief "culprits" here are:

• The 3- or 4-round Duels, usually with long time limits. These are often maxed by well over 10 players, and even when they're not maxed, many many players end up on exactly the same score.
  The ridiculously hard "maxes only" Duels, usually Speed, where out of 20 or so rounds, most players only manage to score in perhaps one or two rounds. For example, Speed Hyper Touch Maxes Only. A far better indication of players' talents in these hard formats would be to remove the "maxes only" scoring. "Maxes only" scoring should be reserved for formats where players are much more likely to max rounds.

I'd be keen to see those formats of Duels replaced by something different. Don't know whether anyone else agrees?

Funny you should mention that, I just finished scheduling a bunch of novelties for the next week. If there's a wide desire for a more permanent revamp then I'll certainly consider it.

I'm not much of a hard core Duellist, but I think I completely see where Matt's Coming from, I think the two types matt has mentioned could be removed or maybe made less severe.

JackHurst wrote:I'm not much of a hard core Duellist, but I think I completely see where Matt's Coming from, I think the two types matt has mentioned could be removed or maybe made less severe.

I'm all for more variety on the duels, it feels like it's a little stale at the moment, but the upcoming novelties should help. I suppose people just don't like them when they're too weird. I say bollocks those people

To throw my thoughts into the ring. I don't really care about a duel being a good "indication of players' talents", I care about them being fun. I quite like the really short (in terms of rounds) duels because you know that you really should be maxing them, which makes me approach them quite differently to a 17 round speed game. I find the very difficult maxes only variants a bit dull, mostly because if you're a bit shit (like me) you start to think it's a bit of a waste of time, but I can accept that because I'm shit at that type of game. If you had, say, a speed aegilops NA I'd really enjoy it (even if I didn't do that well), so I can appreciate that there will be people who enjoy a speed hyper touch maxes only variant.

In short, I don't really care, but I want more numbers in the duel

If a prisoners dilemma (or scattagories )version could be incorporated, that would be good, if unlikely to set up (sound of throwing gauntlet).

Personally I love the variety in the duels and think the mix works pretty well at the moment. The daft 3-4 round 90 second ones are quite a different challenge that give everyone a chance of coming top for a change, although I wouldn't miss them much. However I enjoy the challenge of the speed hyper max only type as you can be really proud of each point you score. I think it would be good if there was an occasional foreign language duel, and some all-numbers ( ) and some all-conundrums ( ) ones.

Matthew Tassier wrote:I think it would be good if there was an occasional foreign language duel

I'm against this, if any foreign languages came up I simple wouldn't bother clicking play. I'm sure their must be other ignorant sods like me who have never bothered to learn a language or languages.

Ryan Taylor wrote:

Matthew Tassier wrote:I think it would be good if there was an occasional foreign language duel

I'm against this, if any foreign languages came up I simple wouldn't bother clicking play. I'm sure their must be other ignorant sods like me who have never bothered to learn a language or languages.

I'm for it. There's the potential to become reasonably good at foreign language Countdown without learning the language. It's just like unlimited, there are a load of new words you have to learn to get good at it, and there are still (afaik) unlimited duels...

Ben Hunter wrote:

Ryan Taylor wrote:

Matthew Tassier wrote:I think it would be good if there was an occasional foreign language duel

I'm against this, if any foreign languages came up I simple wouldn't bother clicking play. I'm sure their must be other ignorant sods like me who have never bothered to learn a language or languages.

I'm for it. There's the potential to become reasonably good at foreign language Countdown without learning the language. It's just like unlimited, there are a load of new words you have to learn to get good at it, and there are still (afaik) unlimited duels...

I'm also against unlimited duels and numbers and conundrums and blind ones too. Oh, and Gevin scoring.

JackHurst wrote:Can we have a page on statland that is most time played per day/month/week, and it lists the most time a player have played in a 24 hour/7 day/4 week period. The interesting thing about this is that it could feature the same player on the leaderboard multiple times.

Please don't make that page. It's bad enough seeing myself on the total time played page. I'm pretty sure I'd top all of those categories.

Can the words using box be tweaked so that we can make it only add consonants or vowels to the selection we put into Lexplorer.

To be honest, I don't see many users making use of this, but I would, and I know how much you love doing stuff for me, Charlie.


Oh yeah, and can u plz change my shitty avatar to something better.

On the subject of duels, Christ I've never been so fucking scared by the first round ever before.

Matt Morrison wrote:On the subject of duels, Christ I've never been so fucking scared by the first round ever before.

Just wait til tomorrow

As somebody who doesnt take the duels seriously, I could easily see why someone who takes it seriously would get very pissed off by todays duel as its basically more of a contest of who can touch type the best more than anything else, and I dont think thats what the duel should be about.

JackHurst wrote:As somebody who doesnt take the duels seriously, I could easily see why someone who takes it seriously would get very pissed off by todays duel as its basically more of a contest of who can touch type the best more than anything else, and I dont think thats what the duel should be about.

So your feature request is that you'd like to start taking the duel more seriously?

Charlie Reams wrote:

Matt Morrison wrote:On the subject of duels, Christ I've never been so fucking scared by the first round ever before.

Just wait til tomorrow

I'm loving these mad Duels - have just seen what today's is and whilst I know I'll do shit at it, I'm looking forward to the insanity of actually playing it (and am intrigued as to what the fuck tomorrow's is going to be like)!

On a completely unrelated note (no really, I know I always write that and then continue talking about something that's obviously related, but not this time) how about a records page for Top Dog? I know Innis has survived about 70 odd rounds of conundrums and Craig's done really long runs of numbers, but I wonder what the records actually are?

JimBentley wrote: On a completely unrelated note (no really, I know I always write that and then continue talking about something that's obviously related, but not this time) how about a records page for Top Dog? I know Innis has survived about 70 odd rounds of conundrums and Craig's done really long runs of numbers, but I wonder what the records actually are?

I kinda deliberately didn't do that, because I wanted Top Dog games to be quick and disposable. But things didn't really turn out that way, so maybe I'll add some records pages after all.