RoboRiley

[Fiona T]

RoboRiley is the newly christened software that was used to host co:Rea. Just like the real thing, it will display letters and numbers for you, but unlike the real thing, it does not have a twitter account.

I'm happy to make it available to other event hosts that would like to use it.

There are a few issues -

It will only work on Windows on a fairly up-to-date laptop
It doesn't scale / resize, so needs a 1920x1080 display - but that should be fine for most TVs or projectors.
It requires a two screen set up - you operate the selections through a console on your local display and show the game screen on the display being presented.


I'm not going to stick it somewhere for people to just download as you'll probably need talking through the setup and I want to keep track of who's using it, mainly so I can provide you with an updated dictionary file as and when needed.

But if you are going to be hosting a Bristol style event, and you'd like to consider using it, give me a shout in plenty of time for you to install it, try it, and make a plan B if it doesn't work for you!

[JackHurst]

Great job making this!

[JackHurst]

Not sure if the name will stand the test of time though...

[Fiona T]

Great job making this!

Cheers - and thanks for sharing your algorithms/distributions etc!

Not sure if the name will stand the test of time though...

Yeah I am having second thoughts on that one! Blame Steve

[Steve Hyde]

Great job making this!

Cheers - and thanks for sharing your algorithms/distributions etc!

Not sure if the name will stand the test of time though...

Yeah I am having second thoughts on that one! Blame Steve

You can't blame me, I'm not even sure it was my favourite of the two names I suggested! No complaints over the prize though

[Marc Meakin]

No robo macroboface

[JackHurst]

I'm not going to stick it somewhere for people to just download as you'll probably need talking through the setup and I want to keep track of who's using it, mainly so I can provide you with an updated dictionary file as and when needed.

I have learned the hard way that when you privately distribute software to people it becomes a nightmare to trust them to use the right version. Some people won't be bothered and will think "This one works so why can't I use it", others will in good faith try to use the latest version but make a mistake.

In my view, if you are putting in effort to fix bugs, do feature requests etc, then you should also consider doing something low effort to improve the likelihood that hosts will be using the latest version!

Versioning
- When you publish an update, bump the version up and have the software display the version number in the bottom right of the display with a small label.
- This makes it so much easier at an event to quickly know if the host is using the right version

Dictionary coupling
Treat the dictionary as part of the software version. If you are updating the dictionary, then that's an updated software release. If somebody runs the software and the dictionary file hash doesn't match the version expected by the software then it should throw some kind of error (maybe a banner).
- No need to worry about hosts accidentally making changes to the dictionary file (either accidentally or deliberately)
- In order to be using the most up to date dictionary, hosts are required to use the latest version and therefore get all your enhancements and bug fixes you've worked hard on.
- It's easy for hosts to know if they are using the right dictionary because they just have to check the version label

Not sure how much overhead that incurs on you, I suppose it depends on how you wrote the software! If it's relatively low, I think these are no brainers.


Conundrum reveals
Do hosts have a way of knowing which conundrum is about to be revealed yet? If not I think that's a good feature to have.

[Fiona T]

Versioning
- When you publish an update, bump the version up and have the software display the version number in the bottom right of the display with a small label.
- This makes it so much easier at an event to quickly know if the host is using the right version

Yeah it already displays the version number, but in the last version (post Reading bug fixes!) I moved it to the console screen because I figured the players didn't need to see it, but maybe I'll move it back!

Dictionary coupling
Treat the dictionary as part of the software version. If you are updating the dictionary, then that's an updated software release. If somebody runs the software and the dictionary file hash doesn't match the version expected by the software then it should throw some kind of error (maybe a banner).
- No need to worry about hosts accidentally making changes to the dictionary file (either accidentally or deliberately)
- In order to be using the most up to date dictionary, hosts are required to use the latest version and therefore get all your enhancements and bug fixes you've worked hard on.
- It's easy for hosts to know if they are using the right dictionary because they just have to check the version label

yeah this is something I've been thinking about - I hadn't considered tying it to the software, but I did want a way to display which version of the dictionary e.g. "Jan 2024" was being used. I started to fiddle but it got more complicated than it should have been so got put on the "must do soon" list. At the moment it's a separate serialised trie (heavily obfuscated from the original word list) which can be distributed, or if you delete the trie file, the software will build it given a full word list (I didn't want it immediately to become obsolete if I walk under a bus but I do need to document this stuff too!)

Conundrum reveals
Do hosts have a way of knowing which conundrum is about to be revealed yet? If not I think that's a good feature to have.

Yeah the host presses a 'reveal' button. A change between the MK finals and Reading was that the CONUNDRUM then disappears from the display for a short time (0.75 secs iirc) before the Scramble is displayed which was supposed to give a 'get ready' warning. Maybe that delay needs to be a tad longer, and the host should remember to say when they're going to press the button (yeah I did forget on the first reveal!)

See https://youtu.be/jDXxpzw6Dks for 'disappear' to warn of the reveal. (The host also controls the solution reveal)

[JackHurst]

Conundrum reveals
Do hosts have a way of knowing which conundrum is about to be revealed yet? If not I think that's a good feature to have.

Yeah the host presses a 'reveal' button. A change between the MK finals and Reading was that the CONUNDRUM then disappears from the display for a short time (0.75 secs iirc) before the Scramble is displayed which was supposed to give a 'get ready' warning. Maybe that delay needs to be a tad longer, and the host should remember to say when they're going to press the button (yeah I did forget on the first reveal!)

See https://youtu.be/jDXxpzw6Dks for 'disappear' to warn of the reveal. (The host also controls the solution reveal)

I think you've answered how the hosts controls the timing?

What about knowing before they press reveal which exact conundrum it's going to be?

Anyway on the topic of the reveal, I think at Co:Rea the reveals felt a bit unpredictable. It seemed to be you saying something different each time and then a shuffle appearing after a random amount of time.

Can we just have. "I'll countdown from 3 and say go after one. Here it comes. Three. Two. One. Go" and press the spacebar to reveal as you say go with no additional delay added by the software.

Was there feedback from Finals that the immediate flash from "CONUNDRUM" to shuffle was also distracting? If that's the case then I think just don't display "CONUNDRUM" at all in the same area. Have it above or not at all.

[Fiona T]

Conundrum reveals
Do hosts have a way of knowing which conundrum is about to be revealed yet? If not I think that's a good feature to have.

Yeah the host presses a 'reveal' button. A change between the MK finals and Reading was that the CONUNDRUM then disappears from the display for a short time (0.75 secs iirc) before the Scramble is displayed which was supposed to give a 'get ready' warning. Maybe that delay needs to be a tad longer, and the host should remember to say when they're going to press the button (yeah I did forget on the first reveal!)

See https://youtu.be/jDXxpzw6Dks for 'disappear' to warn of the reveal. (The host also controls the solution reveal)

I think you've answered how the hosts controls the timing?

What about knowing before they press reveal which exact conundrum it's going to be?

Anyway on the topic of the reveal, I think at Co:Rea the reveals felt a bit unpredictable. It seemed to be you saying something different each time and then a shuffle appearing after a random amount of time.

Can we just have. "I'll countdown from 3 and say go after one. Here it comes. Three. Two. One. Go" and press the spacebar to reveal as you say go with no additional delay added by the software.

Was there feedback from Finals that the immediate flash from "CONUNDRUM" to shuffle was also distracting? If that's the case then I think just don't display "CONUNDRUM" at all in the same area. Have it above or not at all.

Ah sorry - I misunderstood the question. The software takes the conundrums in the order that the host has set them up in the file. The host doesn't preview as such (but does get reminded of the solution before that is revealed) The feedback from the finals (from you ) was that an animation for the reveal would be good - basically a way to signal the reveal is imminent. That went on the 'too difficult' pile, but I felt the disappear then the reveal would serve the purpose. Maybe a much longer disappear (say 1.5 - 2 secs) would work better to give a proper warning?

[JackHurst]

Maybe a much longer disappear (say 1.5 - 2 secs) would work better to give a proper warning?

I think the trick is 2 button presses from the host. The first empties the letters from conundrum. The second reveals the shuffle. Whatever length of time you want between those is fine as long as you give a consistent countdown and reveal on go.

[Fiona T]

I get what you mean, but not sure I agree - that assumes the host is consistent, never distracted, and follows a protocol. Having pondered it, if as a player you know the conundrum appears say 1.5 - 2s after the clear (current delay is definitely too short), and the host remembers to tell you when they're pressing reveal, you know when it's coming. A bit like apto - the screen appears then the conundrum is revealed after a predictable time. Would be interested to hear other's thoughts

[Johnny Canuck]

RoboRiley’s predecessor was COBOL Vorderman.