Backgammon server available NOW
Andreas Schneider
You can reach the server with the telnet command at port 4321
on kaa.informatik.rwth-aachen.de (137.226.224.4).
On most computers it should be ok to type:
telnet 137.226.224.4 4321
If the telnet command on your computer works different ask one
of your local computer gurus for help.
How to use it:
--------------
o Before you can use the server you have to register (i.e. give a
username and password). That's quite simple: log in as user 'guest'
and the server will give you further instructions.
o If two players want to play against one another they do the following:
o make an appointment when to play against each other.
o connect to server and login (e.g. as player1 and player2)
o Both players then type 'toggle ready'. This command tells the
server that you want to play with someone. (In later versions of the
server you will be able to do other things than just play. This
command will be more usefull then)
o player1 can now type 'invite player2'. player2 will see a message
on his screen and can now type 'join player1'. That's where the game
starts.
o Commands for playing are 'roll', 'move', 'double', 'accept', 'leave'
and 'board'. 'toggle autoboard' should be usefull for most users.
o Use the 'help' command to get help on those and other commands.
o You can also use the 'who' command to see if there are players on the
server who want to play with somebody. The output of the 'who' command
will show an 'R' (for Ready) before the player's name.
o You can also talk to other users with the 'tell' or the 'say' commands.
Please use 'help' to see how things work.
If something goes wrong (I hope you don't have to read this :-)
---------------------------------------------------------------
As the backgammon server is a rather large program it will have bugs.
I tried to find them all, but computer scientists keep telling me that
there is always at least one bug left in non-trivial programs.
If an error occurs please send mail to:
mar...@ouzo.rog.rwth-aachen.de
Please do NOT use any other email address. Especially do NOT write to
anyone on 137.226.224.4 !! The mail will either not reach me or (worse!)
upset the people whose computer I'm using (many thanks to Guido Bunsen
for his kind permission to use the computer!).
Please describe errors as good as you can. If possible give me any
output from the server including board, who is about to roll, double etc.
An important hint could be the date and time of the error. As the server
writes a logfile of some events I might be able to see what happend.
You could also use the 'save' command. I writes all the information
about a game to the harddisk.
If errors occur I promise to fix them as fast as possible.
What's missing? What will come?
-------------------------------
I know that there are lots of missing features. The load and save section
of the server is not too smart at the moment. Passwords are not encrypted
yet. Complete matches are not possible yet. Ratings are not implemented.
There should be more toggles. It should be possible to watch other people's
games. All those things will come. But as my day has 24 hours only and I'm
not spending all of them in front of a screen, I can't promise when. If you
think that there are other important features missing feel free to send me
mail. This is the very first version of the server and not the final release,
so look forward to improvements. A client program with nice graphics for
MS-DOS computers or UN*X-Computers with X-Windows would be nice, but it will
have to wait for some time. Using the server for playing by mail won't come
in the near future, what will come is the possiblity to continue a match
against someone who is not logged in at the same time.
Have a good time and some fun with the server.
Andreas
--
Email: mar...@ouzo.rog.rwth-aachen.de
mar...@pool.informatik.rwth-aachen.de
Mail: Andreas Schneider, Kapuzinergraben 8, 5100 Aachen, Germany
Phone: +49-241-35562