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.

[JackHurst]

Would be interested to hear other's thoughts

Well it's been a couple of weeks, so seems like we're the only ones that care haha. Not a hill I will die on.

[Fiona T]

Would be interested to hear other's thoughts

Well it's been a couple of weeks, so seems like we're the only ones that care haha. Not a hill I will die on.

Well I've increased the time between CONUNDRUM disappearing and the scramble appearing to 1.5s which I think makes for a more predictable reveal, so see what you think in August at London

Other changes since Reading -

De-dupe definitely working now! (The bug was a result of having changed from working forward through the pack when shuffling to going backwards - so dedupe code was working nicely but against the next letter not the last one!)

Selection logging - seeing the logs that Tony kindly produced of the selections at Reading, it seemed that I could easily build that in so that's done.

Labels for 6S-4L very slightly bigger.

Eoin is intending to use for his Waterford event, and Phil for London, so it will be good to get feedback from hosts not as close to it as me.

[L'oisleatch McGraw]

Oh...I will feedback the crap out of it, no need to worry about that.
I am looking forward to getting gay with the software, but have not ventured into it as yet.

My expectation is that this software is going to make the event much easier to run.

On the Jack vs Fiona conundrum reveal issue, I agree with Jack's point that you two are the only two that care about that. Too quibbly and inconsequential for my tastes. Do whatever.

[L'oisleatch McGraw]

I agree that the TV show will outlive Rachel's tenure... so yes, start thinking of a new name for it!
May I suggest Co:Bot?

[JackHurst]

Co:Pilot

[L'oisleatch McGraw]

As good as it is, the best reason to downvote Co:Pilot is here
and the best reason to downvote Co:Bot (as good as it is) is here

However, you won't find any brand clashes with the name INFOMATIC E-BOT... and given your well-known penchant for megalomania, you should defo go with this one, as it is an anagram of Fiona Titcombe!

[L'oisleatch McGraw]

I used RoboRiley at Co:Wat?! this year.
I would like to list all of the things that were good about it, but it's hard to, because it was all good.

• It looked good onscreen.
• It was easy to set up.
• It was fast.
• The way you can show maxes, then maxes-1, maxes-2 etc, was most useful for quick adjudication.
• Conundrums were so easy to input, and great how the program kept track of what had been used so far.
• Wonderfully user friendly link to Tombolo to check nums maxes.
• Excellent one click solution to check word meanings, though we didn't use that feature enough on the day.

RoboRiley did a job that in past years was done using a combination of:-
1. Apterous
2. Notepad
3. Excel scoresheet
4. Matt Bayfield's numbers excel
5. Robbo's conundrum Powerpoint

Amazing.

For Michelle, who engineered the event for me... Fiona Titcombe is her new favourite Countdown person!

.............................................

Then there's the bad stuff.

• Due in the main part to my own incompetence and panic, I could not get it to display properly on my projector. However, this was mostly a "me" problem. When Fiona got in touch with a proposed solution, it worked like a dream. Having said that, it is a possible problem others could run into, so I would recommend the inclusion of instructions on how to get it working with a projector, just to make things idiot-proof.
• Some people were displeased with how frequently 25 came out as the first large number. One player who likes one large but considers 25 a small number, was particularly vocal about it. (I am assuming that this was a coincidence, and that a different co-event may as easily get too many 100s.)
• There was one nine-letter word available in our first 9-Rounder, but none for the next four 9Rers or for the following three 15Rers. Then we had two of 'em in the grand final (both of which Hazel spotted, of course.) Some players moaned about the lack of 9eyness, and about selections that tended to be awkward... but I am not so sure. Is that strike rate for 9s comparable with what to expect on the show? Probably... but if not, maybe the letters need to be tweaked a bit. There did seem to be more duplicates than you would expect to see.
• The CD clock graphic was half off my screen. I dunno why that is, and it did not matter much... but it was a minor flaw that some players commented on.

.............................................

Then, some feature requests.

• In every game, I selected to show the scores of Player 1 and of Player 2. I made Player 1 score the max each round, and player 2 scored 0. This is because people at my events like to know the max score for each game. So it is good to have the max score onscreen at all times. Obviously, the workaround in the current iteration of RR is to use the player scores, but ideally if there was a clickable option before you start the game of "display max game score" that just did it automatically, that would be great.
• I like to plant Easter Eggs into Co:Wat. A fair proportion of my local attendees are keen quizzers, and like for there to be a little extra. Easter eggs can relate to certain letters appearing in letters selections, or certain numbers appearing in selections or targets, or something hidden in the cons. With RoboRiley, the ONLY thing that can be manipulated is the conundrum scrambles. It would be nice if there were a way to manipulate more for the sake of quizzy elements.
• Another thing I always like to do at Co:Wat is to mix it up as regards round music. Last year, for some games I used CD music, for others I used Apterous music, and for others I used the round music I composed for Jack's App, that he (stupidly) rejected. In 2021, when the theme was Zoomdown, I used the zoomdown round music too. If there were a "load custom clock music" option, that'd be cool.

.............................................

Finally, here is what a standard game looked like onscreen, and the grand final was slightly different. What do we think of how it looks on stream? I am reasonably happy with what had to be blocked by webcam inserts, and think it worked rather well. But if there is any redesign happening, I would hope that consideration is given to what streaming might look like.

.............................................

But overall, yes. This program is REALLY good.
Thank you!

[Fiona T]

I used RoboRiley at Co:Wat?! this year.
I would like to list all of the things that were good about it, but it's hard to, because it was all good.

• It looked good onscreen.
• It was easy to set up.
• It was fast.
• The way you can show maxes, then maxes-1, maxes-2 etc, was most useful for quick adjudication.
• Conundrums were so easy to input, and great how the program kept track of what had been used so far.
• Wonderfully user friendly link to Tombolo to check nums maxes.
• Excellent one click solution to check word meanings, though we didn't use that feature enough on the day.

RoboRiley did a job that in past years was done using a combination of:-
1. Apterous
2. Notepad
3. Excel scoresheet
4. Matt Bayfield's numbers excel
5. Robbo's conundrum Powerpoint

Amazing.

For Michelle, who engineered the event for me... Fiona Titcombe is her new favourite Countdown person!

.............................................

Then there's the bad stuff.

• Due in the main part to my own incompetence and panic, I could not get it to display properly on my projector. However, this was mostly a "me" problem. When Fiona got in touch with a proposed solution, it worked like a dream. Having said that, it is a possible problem others could run into, so I would recommend the inclusion of instructions on how to get it working with a projector, just to make things idiot-proof.
• Some people were displeased with how frequently 25 came out as the first large number. One player who likes one large but considers 25 a small number, was particularly vocal about it. (I am assuming that this was a coincidence, and that a different co-event may as easily get too many 100s.)
• There was one nine-letter word available in our first 9-Rounder, but none for the next four 9Rers or for the following three 15Rers. Then we had two of 'em in the grand final (both of which Hazel spotted, of course.) Some players moaned about the lack of 9eyness, and about selections that tended to be awkward... but I am not so sure. Is that strike rate for 9s comparable with what to expect on the show? Probably... but if not, maybe the letters need to be tweaked a bit. There did seem to be more duplicates than you would expect to see.
• The CD clock graphic was half off my screen. I dunno why that is, and it did not matter much... but it was a minor flaw that some players commented on.

.............................................

Then, some feature requests.

• In every game, I selected to show the scores of Player 1 and of Player 2. I made Player 1 score the max each round, and player 2 scored 0. This is because people at my events like to know the max score for each game. So it is good to have the max score onscreen at all times. Obviously, the workaround in the current iteration of RR is to use the player scores, but ideally if there was a clickable option before you start the game of "display max game score" that just did it automatically, that would be great.
• I like to plant Easter Eggs into Co:Wat. A fair proportion of my local attendees are keen quizzers, and like for there to be a little extra. Easter eggs can relate to certain letters appearing in letters selections, or certain numbers appearing in selections or targets, or something hidden in the cons. With RoboRiley, the ONLY thing that can be manipulated is the conundrum scrambles. It would be nice if there were a way to manipulate more for the sake of quizzy elements.
• Another thing I always like to do at Co:Wat is to mix it up as regards round music. Last year, for some games I used CD music, for others I used Apterous music, and for others I used the round music I composed for Jack's App, that he (stupidly) rejected. In 2021, when the theme was Zoomdown, I used the zoomdown round music too. If there were a "load custom clock music" option, that'd be cool.

.............................................

Finally, here is what a standard game looked like onscreen, and the grand final was slightly different. What do we think of how it looks on stream? I am reasonably happy with what had to be blocked by webcam inserts, and think it worked rather well. But if there is any redesign happening, I would hope that consideration is given to what streaming might look like.

.............................................

But overall, yes. This program is REALLY good.
Thank you!

Cheers Eoin - thought the stream looked great, but you probably need to set up a source for computer sound if you want viewers to get clock music

Glad it all worked well for you. The setup documentation is already done and I'll put it in the share for the next version (due very soon!), First time it's been used without me there to supervise it so good stuff

Dunno what the issue with the clock being chopped off is - possibly a projector setting where you can adjust screen position or zoom? Did you try displaying any other windows on the projector and if so, did they display fully?

There was a problem with the letter deduplication when we used it at Reading - but I'm pretty sure this is fixed in your version! The bits of the stream I saw didn't raise concerns. But if you want to send over your game logs I'll do some analysis.

The numbers are shuffled between rounds, so for each selection there is a 1 in 4 chance of 25 coming out first. I don't think there is an issue beyond bad luck if it's coming out more than that, but I'll look at my game logs and see if it's consistently significantly more frequent. Are you able to check your log files and see how often it did come up compared to others?

The display max game score thing I'd thought about but not done because the max will depend on the number selection chosen- RR doesn't have a built in number solver (and currently no immediate plans to - frankly I've no idea where to start with it and QT does the job beautifully!)) so at the moment doesn't know what the nums max is for each selection. What did you show as the score where e.g. the 6s was impossible and 4L one away? Every table's max game score will depend on their number selections - even showing the 6s - 4L maxes (which would be messy) wouldn't be accurate as tables won't be picking the same selection for all their number rounds.

The clock is an mp4 (Beachy's excellent work - cheers lad!) that lives in the 'mp4' folder. The music is built into the clock mp4, but if you wanted to create your own clock with different music you can replace the file with your own creation.

Easter eggs - dunno. It would be easy enough to allow the console to override the number target or even the letters or numbers coming out (in the way that Graeme's webrack displays them but editable), but not yet convinced it's a good idea to do so!

[L'oisleatch McGraw]

need to set up a source for computer sound if you want viewers to get clock music

Ah yeah, that. I could've set it up that way, I usually do. But the priority is on the people in the room. The stream is an afterthought. Anytime we have a 9-letter word, I play the Co:Wat theme (which is an amended version of P!nk's "So what?" but with the So changed to co). In a previous year, that music got my stream copyright struck. Also, at the start of the final we play each player's walk-on anthem. I don't want to risk being copyright struck again, so am happy to sacrifice internal sound to be safe. Obviously, I could have my cake and eat it by simply setting up two scenes in OBS, one with int sound and one without, and switch to the "without" any time we move into infringement territory... but there's too much to think about as it is, without adding another to the list.

Dunno what the issue with the clock being chopped off is - possibly a projector setting where you can adjust screen position or zoom? Did you try displaying any other windows on the projector and if so, did they display fully?

Nah... on everything I tried, projector, 2nd screen, TV screen, that same problem was there. Not sure why.

But if you want to send over your game logs I'll do some analysis.

Weirdly, my logs folder is completely empty.

The display max game score thing I'd thought about but not done because the max will depend on the number selection chosen.

It is an imperfect science. For me the benefit of having the max shown onscreen outweighed the nerdy complaint that the max would not be accurate for some possible numbers picks. I went with assuming that at least one of the 5 options was solvable each time, and added 10 onto the max for each numbers round. However, for the modified 9 Rounders, the score for the conundrum was 6pts, not 10... So that is something that I hope would be customisable, as we are never going back to 10pt cons in short games in any future edition of Co:Wat.

The music is built into the clock mp4, but if you wanted to create your own clock with different music you can replace the file with your own creation.

Excellent! I will do that so. I assume the program will just grab whatever mp4 is in that folder and load it up accordingly? Or does it need to be named in a specific way? I might make a new folder in my RoboRiley "Clock options" and put Adam's Countdown theme mp4, along with my new ones for Jackterous, Zoomdown and Apterous music in there, and swap whichever one I want to use into the mp4 folder at the start of a new game.

Easter eggs - dunno. It would be easy enough to allow the console to override the number target or even the letters or numbers coming out (in the way that Graeme's webrack displays them but editable), but not yet convinced it's a good idea to do so!

Well, the quiz elements have always been an important part of Co:Wat.
An inability to add Easter Eggs would be the only thing that would make me reconsider using RoboRiley in future... (though, I probably still would, as it is just so damn handy!)

[Fiona T]

Nah... on everything I tried, projector, 2nd screen, TV screen, that same problem was there. Not sure why.

I did have an issue in the dev tool where stuff would move itself when I opened the form - not impossible I gave you a duff version, but don't think I did! New version is largely fixed so see how it looks with the new version for next year.

Weirdly, my logs folder is completely empty.

Odd - there is a checkbox to allow/disallow logs, but it's ticked by default so you would have had to untick it (and for any practice rounds you ran before!) so sounds like there is an issue there - possibly permissions or similar...

Excellent! I will do that so. I assume the program will just grab whatever mp4 is in that folder and load it up accordingly? Or does it need to be named in a specific way? I might make a new folder in my RoboRiley "Clock options" and put Adam's Countdown theme mp4, along with my new ones for Jackterous, Zoomdown and Apterous music in there, and swap whichever one I want to use into the mp4 folder at the start of a new game.

Yeah you'd need to name your version the same as the file that's there (CountdownClock.mp4) - replace it like for like.

Well, the quiz elements have always been an important part of Co:Wat.
An inability to add Easter Eggs would be the only thing that would make me reconsider using RoboRiley in future... (though, I probably still would, as it is just so damn handy!)

Well if you tell me what exactly what you have in mind a couple of months before your next co:wat, I might be able to build you a custom version if I'm in a good mood/bored But I am reluctant to encourage hosts to fiddle with selections/targets they don't like!

I have considered putting the default letter/number distributions into the config file so that it could be edited for "nasty" or foreign languages but not sure anyone really wants that for their events atm!

[Fiona T]

OK looking at your stream and the console screen you've got on the stream for the final, you've got the old (Reading) version which had the broken deduplication and did not have logfiles!

Not sure how that happened but I know there was an issue with my google drive share not synching properly for a while so I guess you didn't get the version I thought you got! Really sorry about that - but yep your instincts about letter de-dupe were correct - it wasn't working in the version you've got. (The post-Reading version also displays the version number on the console screen)

Newest version will be ready to go soon so no point updating now, but we'll def get you sorted before your next event!

[L'oisleatch McGraw]

The broken version was still good enough that you earned a convert.
Jessamine had no intention of changing her usual set-up for Co:Mon... until she played at Co:Wat.

[Fiona T]

RoboRiley Version 1.5.4 now available - with dictionary version 'Jul 24' incorporating the ticketed deletions and additions

Changes are -

1) BIGGER FONT for the maxes - a few people had said these were hard to see
2) Scroll left/right through max list from console now working correctly/better (previously just went to first/last entries)
3) Conundrum validation (edit - now automatic on v1.5.4.3 following Graeme's suggestion!) - validates that scramble matches solution, that solution is valid, and that there is only one solution.
4) If no unused conundrums left in the file, warning popup rather than 'xxxxxxxxx' scramble. Starting a game also checks at least one unused conundrum is available.
5) Supernundrums implemented - but currently with placeholder 60s clock - Beachy will look at creating a nice countdowny 60s clock when he has time (will just be a case of dropping in the new mp4 file)
6) Version display for dictionary
7) Ability to choose prefix for your logfiles - so you label them by event or game number etc.
8) Slow screen paint (especially notable on multi-numbers and supernundrum) greatly improved but not totally fixed
9) Lots of backend changes to make tweaking layouts easier, separate code for different functionality etc - was a bit of a nightmare before, but does mean potential to have broken stuff - obviously have tested but please report any issues!
10) Documentation updated to include setup instructions!

If you already have it, then you can download the new version from the share. If you don't but would like to use it to host an event, then give me a shout to request access.

[Fiona T]

RoboRiley 1.5.4.7 is now available - it mostly incorporates changes made for co:Lon, feedback from after co:Lon, and some other bits and pieces (including the thing where conundrums ran out at a critical moment in the Dublin final!)

Changes include

1) Conundrum validation automatic. Following Dublin, it now also checks you have enough unused conundrums for the number of conundrums required in your game rather than just one (note - you could still run out if you use tiebreaks!)

2) Score validation - if you have enabled the display of scores and you hit next round without entering a score, it will check that's what you really meant to do!

3) Final score screen - final screen with the scores displayed at end of game (as seen at end of Co:Lon final)

4) Round number, picker and selection now displayed clearly on the console screen as well as the game screen.

5) Some wording tweaks on console screen to add clarity.

6) Scores (when enabled) and game timings added to the log files. Intermittent problem where stuff got logged more than once fixed (I think...)

7) Problem with clock position going weird (as at Waterford) fixed (I think...)

8) Ten letter conundrums now supported - note the font for these is slightly smaller, so please bear your audience in mind if using these.

9) Numbers screen now using 'Countdown numbers' font - new layout with target at top. (Thanks to Jeff for his help with why it didn't work before!). You'll need to install the numbers font and the cecil font - both are in the 'fonts' folder.

10) Documentation update


If planning to use any of the new features, please test before your event and make sure they work for you!

[JackHurst]

Looks good. If it doesn't already, I think it would be good to make it idiot proof obvious when a conundrum that it's 9 or 10 letters.

- Don't assume people will remember what the host said at the start of the game.
- Don't assume people will Count 10 squares before the reveal.
- Don't assume the host will remember to remind people.

[Fiona T]

Looks good. If it doesn't already, I think it would be good to make it idiot proof obvious when a conundrum that it's 9 or 10 letters.

- Don't assume people will remember what the host said at the start of the game.
- Don't assume people will Count 10 squares before the reveal.
- Don't assume the host will remember to remind people.

Yeah there's no indication at all until the reveal - will give it some thought...

Edit - should be clear now prior to reveal