c4countdown

Kirk Bevins wrote:http://www.apterous.org/lexplorer.php?g=1&word=BEFUDDLE

I didn't get a pencil for this. Are they broken or have I misunderstood something?

It's possible that the person who earned the pencil for that word ended up not completing the game for some reason (or spotted it in a practice game). I think it's still the case that items awarded for a particular round are recorded in the DB immediately rather than held until game completion.

Simon Myers wrote:

Kirk Bevins wrote:http://www.apterous.org/lexplorer.php?g=1&word=BEFUDDLE

I didn't get a pencil for this. Are they broken or have I misunderstood something?

It's possible that the person who earned the pencil for that word ended up not completing the game for some reason (or spotted it in a practice game). I think it's still the case that items awarded for a particular round are recorded in the DB immediately rather than held until game completion.

Correct. Nevertheless, +willfix.

Two small, low priority, issues which may or may not be bugs:

----

The Summary page on my Superstats doesn't seem to have updated since I started playing apterous again around the end of September. For example, it still says I've played only 312 games. All my other Superstats pages appear to update correctly, on a daily basis.

It looks like this problem is common to everyone's Superstats Summary page, because Anglo Italian's Summary page has yet to be generated at all. (I checked AI's page as I know that (s)he is a relatively recent addition to the list of people who have Superstats.)

----

In another issue (possibly not a bug), it appears to be no longer possible to earn "pencil" inventory items for coming up with max words which have never previously been offered by a human. The "bronze pencils" (which I assumed were designed to be awarded for words which have only been offered once or twice before) are a nice addition, but seem to be awarded even for unique words (e.g. STUDIEDLY), meaning that no more "ordinary pencils" can be earned.

Obviously, this may be by design, but it would be nice still to be awarded the higher honour of an ordinary pencil (rather than a bronze pencil) for finding words that have never previously been offered.

Matt Bayfield wrote:In another issue (possibly not a bug), it appears to be no longer possible to earn "pencil" inventory items for coming up with max words which have never previously been offered by a human. The "bronze pencils" (which I assumed were designed to be awarded for words which have only been offered once or twice before) are welcome, but seem to be awarded even for unique words (e.g. STUDIEDLY), meaning that no more "ordinary pencils" can be earned.

Obviously, this may be by design, but it would be nice still to be awarded the higher honour of an ordinary pencil (rather than a bronze pencil) for finding words that have never previously been offered.

I can't believe you haven't worked this out Matt!
You're making things far too complicated. A bronze pencil IS the new pencil, and is a far "higher honour" than an ordinary pencil (no idea how you got thought the inverse). Definitely and utterly not a bug, just truly amazing item design.

Matt: sure, it's quite possible that I've got the wrong end of the stick and that the bronze pencil is working as designed. However, I was fairly sure I've been awarded bronze pencils for words which have previously been offered, so I was guessing they were awarded for "rare words" (i.e. offered only, say, 3 times or less), which would appear to make further ordinary pencils more difficult to earn than bronze pencils.

Obviously the method for awarding any inventory items is at Charlie's design and discretion, but I did wonder whether it might not be operating as intended.

I think this shows that I really quite like the inventory items. Very nice feature.


[Edit: from what you say, it sounds like the bronze pencil is now awarded instead of the ordinary pencil for unique words? And I must be mistaken about receiving one for a rare, but non-unique, word? It is therefore a higher honour because now that apterous has been going a while, there are far fewer unique words left to find. In which case, all is hunky dory and operating as planned.]

Matt Bayfield wrote: [Edit: from what you say, it sounds like the bronze pencil is now awarded instead of the ordinary pencil for unique words? And I must be mistaken about receiving one for a rare, but non-unique, word? It is therefore a higher honour because now that apterous has been going a while, there are far fewer unique words left to find. In which case, all is hunky dory and operating as planned.]

This.

Thanks for clarifying, Charlie. So can we look forward to silver and gold pencils, which might follow as more of the remaining unique words get offered in months/years to come...

(Rhetorical question, btw - no need to answer!)

Yup, you've got it. I wanted to keep it all a secret, being part of the "I've invented an apterous item" club is fucking cool, but yeah most people seem to have worked it out now.
Can't be arsed to click back on my browser to double-check your message, but I think the vital piece of information you are missing is that pencils are NOT awarded for the first time a word is ever declared, but for the first time a word is ever declared AS A MAX. Hope that helps sir.

Matt Bayfield wrote:It looks like this problem is common to everyone's Superstats Summary page, because Anglo Italian's Summary page has yet to be generated at all. (I checked AI's page as I know that (s)he is a relatively recent addition to the list of people who have Superstats.)

He his male. He wrote about himself here: http://www.c4countdown.co.uk/viewtopic. ... 175#p61175

It does help - thanks for the clarification! ANd sorry for my part in debunking the mystery of the bronze pencil...

Derek Hazell wrote:He his male.

Alec Rivers wrote:

Derek Hazell wrote:He his male.

Derek has put an H in front of 'is' (the normal word used in the statement) in order to make 'his', thereby using a gendered word to further comment on the overall statement he is making ("he is male").

Word play.

There appears to be a minor glitch with the recording of words longer than 15 letters (which, obviously, can only be valid in Unlimited or HyperUnlimited).

Whilst words above 15 letters are accepted and scored correctly within a game, for example [brag]this 19-letter gem[/brag], the offering is truncated to the first 15 letters when the game is recorded... which means the long word only gets credited to Dictionary Corner under Word Search in Lexplorer... and bizarrely, the 15-letter truncated non-word gets credited to the player.

Would be nice if this could be fixed, although since it's largely for bragging and statistical purposes, I recognise it's not very high priority.

Matt Bayfield wrote:There appears to be a minor glitch with the recording of words longer than 15 letters (which, obviously, can only be valid in Unlimited or HyperUnlimited).

Whilst words above 15 letters are accepted and scored correctly within a game, for example [brag]this 19-letter gem[/brag], the offering is truncated to the first 15 letters when the game is recorded... which means the long word only gets credited to Dictionary Corner under Word Search in Lexplorer... and bizarrely, the 15-letter truncated non-word gets credited to the player.

Would be nice if this could be fixed, although since it's largely for bragging and statistical purposes, I recognise it's not very high priority.

Statistical purposes are a top priority for Charlie, I'm sure this will get fixed v. quickly. And a great find Matt, I can't imagine many 15+ get found, but the stats database would be a bit of a mess if this wasn't fixed.

Matt Bayfield wrote:It looks like this problem is common to everyone's Superstats Summary page, because Anglo Italian's Summary page has yet to be generated at all. (I checked AI's page as I know that (s)he is a relatively recent addition to the list of people who have Superstats.)

Cheers, fixed.

Any chance of switching the forum time from BST?

Alec Rivers wrote:Any chance of switching the forum time from BST?

viewtopic.php?f=6&t=301&hilit=BST

Julie T wrote:

Alec Rivers wrote:Any chance of switching the forum time from BST?

viewtopic.php?f=6&t=301&hilit=BST

Oops. Thanks. I thought it was linked to server time.

Alec Rivers wrote:

Julie T wrote:

Alec Rivers wrote:Any chance of switching the forum time from BST?

viewtopic.php?f=6&t=301&hilit=BST

Oops. Thanks. I thought it was linked to server time.

np, Alec. It is a little odd, having to reset it individually.

I've got no problem with the forum time, but is the Duel going to switch from GMT+1 to GMT soon? At present, the daily Duel changes at around 11 pm.

Howard Somerset wrote:I've got no problem with the forum time, but is the Duel going to switch from GMT+1 to GMT soon? At present, the daily Duel changes at around 11 pm.

IAWTP! I got in from a half term outing with the kids (Chessington Halloween Hocus Pocus - great fun! ), rushed through the duel before midnight, and then found it was the next day's!!
My obsessive need to complete every duel, will have to go unsatisfied for October.

I have no idea how this happened, but:

Innis Carson wrote:I have no idea how this happened, but:

Ha! V for vowel, C for consonant, and S for symbol?

Innis Carson wrote:I have no idea how this happened, but:
(pic)

Maybe it was confused, thought it was Goatdown, and was waiting for you to click R for ANOINTERS.

Actually, they were really good letters!

+M = NOMINATES, +G = NEGATIONS, +D = ANTINODES, +S = SENSATION, +V = INNOVATES, +L = TENSIONAL, +T = INTONATES, +C = ENACTIONS.

I just got a new member to join, but she is getting an error message when she presses "Play":

Login failed: java.security.AccessControlException: access denied (java.net.SocketPermission 217.36.210.230:3332 connect, resolve)

It also never gets past Attempt 1 of 500.

She has tried reinstalling Java and restarting her computer.

Makes you wonder how many people stumble on the site and just give up when they can't get in because they don't know anybody, or what the site is like, and don't use the e-mail link.

Derek Hazell wrote:I just got a new member to join, but she is getting an error message when she presses "Play":

Login failed: java.security.AccessControlException: access denied (java.net.SocketPermission 217.36.210.230:3332 connect, resolve)

It also never gets past Attempt 1 of 500.

She has tried reinstalling Java and restarting her computer.

http://apterous.org/help.php?page=46

Derek Hazell wrote:Makes you wonder how many people stumble on the site and just give up when they can't get in because they don't know anybody, or what the site is like, and don't use the e-mail link.

Probably a lot.

Charlie Reams wrote:http://apterous.org/help.php?page=46

Thanks for this.

On the screengrab she sent me, I noticed that she was using AOL. So, before she tried this she decided to try it on IE first, and it worked! Many things aren't compatible with AOL, so perhaps that's the case with Apterous too.

Just observed a game with Ryan Taylor and he chose 6 small. In the spectator window the following appeared:

Rd 14. Numbers picked by Ryan Taylor
Ryan requested 4 small numbers.
6, 8, 9, 1, 4, 6 -> 578


I think there is an error here.

http://apterous.org/viewgame.php?game=136140

How come our letters attack doesn't fully show? Is there an obvious bug for this particular game? (Assume control panel wasn't needed)

http://www.apterous.org/viewgame.php?game=136356

Interesting results of Omelette with maximums only scoring!

EDIT: Ooh, my 999th post.

Strangely, with the stars...



I'd done star 2 of The First Path yesterday, but now apparently I haven't. Although perhaps this is expected behaviour, I'm unsure.

A few things:

1) I've mentioned this before but can't remember where ---- looks like the eye of apterous has died (or you've purposely taken it down).
2) the "your challenges" box for me sometimes comes up really small rather than the default size when I log in.
3) The last star of the riddler's route was white last night and I only attempted it once and I failed. After watching Innis lose about 840 rating points I decided not to tackle star 30 of Riddler's Route again for a bit, however, now the star is fully coloured in implying I've completed it, which I haven't.

JimBentley wrote:

Just noticed your First Path has become The Second Path as well. Most odd.

Matt Morrison wrote: Just noticed your First Path has become The Second Path as well. Most odd.

I also have the Anaesthetist's Avenue above the First Path but that doesn't bother me.

Kirk Bevins wrote:

Matt Morrison wrote: Just noticed your First Path has become The Second Path as well. Most odd.

I also have the Anaesthetist's Avenue above the First Path but that doesn't bother me.

Stop judging me, Kirk. I haven't yet pointed out whether it bothers me or not.

Matt Morrison wrote: Stop judging me, Kirk. I haven't yet pointed out whether it bothers me or not.

Bothers you enough to post. If it doesn't bother you and you just enjoy posting then I'm sorry.

Kirk Bevins wrote:

Matt Morrison wrote: Stop judging me, Kirk. I haven't yet pointed out whether it bothers me or not.

Bothers you enough to post. If it doesn't bother you and you just enjoy posting then I'm sorry.

Was just teasing Kirk, don't worry. But no, course it doesn't bother me, especially as I haven't opened up Anaesthetist anyway.
A bug's a bug, it needs to get reported whether it bothers anyone or not. No opinion attached.

'My Way' is supposed to give the player choice of letters/numbers in each round, but for the first couple of stars this has not been the case.

Stuart Arnot wrote:'My Way' is supposed to give the player choice of letters/numbers in each round, but for the first couple of stars this has not been the case.

I noticed this but it doesn't bother me.

Matt Morrison wrote:

Stuart Arnot wrote:'My Way' is supposed to give the player choice of letters/numbers in each round, but for the first couple of stars this has not been the case.

I noticed this but it doesn't bother me.

Haha. Shut up now. I thought the First Path thing wasn't a bug that's why I mentioned my opinion.

Kirk Bevins wrote:

Matt Morrison wrote:

Stuart Arnot wrote:'My Way' is supposed to give the player choice of letters/numbers in each round, but for the first couple of stars this has not been the case.

I noticed this but it doesn't bother me.

Haha. Shut up now. I thought the First Path thing wasn't a bug that's why I mentioned my opinion.

you know I love you Kirk. Teasing = love.

http://www.apterous.org/statland.php?section=common_9s

How come DOMINATES and STAMINODE have different values assigned to them (12th and 13th positions) when all the other anagrams of each other are on the same line?

Kirk Bevins wrote:http://www.apterous.org/statland.php?section=common_9s

How come DOMINATES and STAMINODE have different values assigned to them (12th and 13th positions) when all the other anagrams of each other are on the same line?

Probably because in this game, DOMINATES was given by Dictionary Corner but STAMINODE wasn't. (Or at least, that's the game I found different. I don't know whether Charlie's got other dictionaries filtered out or not.)

Andrew Feist wrote: Probably because in this game, DOMINATES was given by Dictionary Corner but STAMINODE wasn't. (Or at least, that's the game I found different. I don't know whether Charlie's got other dictionaries filtered out or not.)

Ah --- a French dictionary. That shouldn't count surely.

Kirk Bevins wrote:http://www.apterous.org/statland.php?section=common_9s

How come DOMINATES and STAMINODE have different values assigned to them (12th and 13th positions) when all the other anagrams of each other are on the same line?

Fixed. Cheers for figuring out the problem for me, Feisty

I know this general issue has already been brought up, but the last star on Riddler's Route has disappeared for me. Can it be added back easily?

Innis Carson wrote:I know this general issue has already been brought up, but the last star on Riddler's Route has disappeared for me. Can it be added back easily?

You didn't attempt it - you are mistaken.

Edit: On this note I think I'd do some goatdown ones and now the stars have been removed. Being a clever sort (pah) I thought I'd check my past games to try to prove I'd beaten the Guardian in the relevant discipline and to make the search easier I'll do a "head-to-head" search. However, The Guardian is not listed (although all the Apterous bots are). Was this an oversight or done on purpose?

Innis Carson wrote:I know this general issue has already been brought up, but the last star on Riddler's Route has disappeared for me. Can it be added back easily?

I've now fixed the problem of people getting stars they didn't earn. Unfortunately in the cleanup I deleted some stars which people actually had earnt. Now I have to go back and fix that. Sigh! Bear with me

Kirk Bevans wrote:Edit: On this note I think I'd do some goatdown ones and now the stars have been removed. Being a clever sort (pah) I thought I'd check my past games to try to prove I'd beaten the Guardian in the relevant discipline and to make the search easier I'll do a "head-to-head" search. However, The Guardian is not listed (although all the Apterous bots are). Was this an oversight or done on purpose?

Oversight, fixed.

Charlie Reams wrote:

Innis Carson wrote:I know this general issue has already been brought up, but the last star on Riddler's Route has disappeared for me. Can it be added back easily?

I've now fixed the problem of people getting stars they didn't earn. Unfortunately in the cleanup I deleted some stars which people actually had earnt. Now I have to go back and fix that. Sigh! Bear with me

Okay, I think this is fixed now. Some people will have a few suns that they earnt twice but that's your reward for persistence. If anyone is missing stars they think they should have, please send me a link to the relevant game and which star you think you earnt, and I'll fix it.

When spectating on a conundrum, if someone buzzes in but doesnt guess anything, it says:
blahblah guessed which is incorrect
Maybe change it to say something like:
blahblah buzzed, but gave no answer

JackHurst wrote:When spectating on a conundrum, if someone buzzes in but doesnt guess anything, it says:
blahblah guessed which is incorrect
Maybe change it to say something like:
blahblah buzzed, but gave no answer

But doesn't buzzing (whichever method you use) automatically generate a one-letter response?

well, in a game i was watching earlier, there was no letter response givin in the commentary unless my eyes were playing tricks. If you buzz with the enter button you can give a no letter response, But I don't know why anyone would do that.

JackHurst wrote:well, in a game i was watching earlier, there was no letter response givin in the commentary unless my eyes were playing tricks. If you buzz with the enter button you can give a no letter response, But I don't know why anyone would do that.

Ah, my bad. I thought you could only start by clicking or typing the first letter.

Alec Rivers wrote:

JackHurst wrote:well, in a game i was watching earlier, there was no letter response givin in the commentary unless my eyes were playing tricks. If you buzz with the enter button you can give a no letter response, But I don't know why anyone would do that.

Ah, my bad. I thought you could only start by clicking or typing the first letter.

You can declare no word by pressing the space bar. It's useful sometimes when you don't want to give your opponent a clue for the answer (for example if you buzz in and start typing CONFIRMER, but realise it's wrong).

Hmmm, tried to find how many times CRYOSTAT has come out and I got just the 2.

Odd thing is one of them is against the duellist....but seemingly only one person played that duel as all the other people against the duellist aren't listed. Ah, it must be goatdown or something and Andrew selected the correct letter....nope, says normal variant. Odd.

http://www.apterous.org/lexplorer.php?word=CRYOSTAT

Kirk Bevins wrote:Hmmm, tried to find how many times CRYOSTAT has come out and I got just the 2.

Odd thing is one of them is against the duellist....but seemingly only one person played that duel as all the other people against the duellist aren't listed. Ah, it must be goatdown or something and Andrew selected the correct letter....nope, says normal variant. Odd.

http://www.apterous.org/lexplorer.php?word=CRYOSTAT

If you check the archive, it seems that day was one of many at the time where the Duel misfired and people got different rounds.

Charlie Reams wrote: If you check the archive, it seems that day was one of many at the time where the Duel misfired and people got different rounds.

Thanks mate.

Not so much a bug as a "feature" with unintended consequences perhaps. After every round the default focus is on the "play next round" button, which is great. However, after the last round (unless playing a bot) there are usually some pleasantries between the players ("gg", "good spot", "rematch?", whatever). Since the default focus is on the "end game" button I've often seen in main chat one of the players apologising for exiting the game room prematurely (they type something like "gg" and press enter and since the focus is on "end game" only the enter button is registered and the window closes).

I'm not saying this should be changed (altering default behaviour is a general no-no I think) but perhaps deserves consideration. A thought occurred to me to do something slick like catch any non-enter keypresses and switch focus to the chat box. That way if only enter is pressed the game exits as usual. Perhaps the same approach could be taken for all rounds as it happens often enough to me (does it others?) where I type a message between rounds and hit enter, only to unwittingly start the next round due to the focus not being where I expected.

Probably not a bug in the normal sense, but I've been trying to load Apterous for the best part of an hour and it stops when it gets here:



It stops at exactly the same point every time. Any ideas, anyone?