Game Courier supports many different games. Here is one picked at random:
TreeLeaders Chess - Preset for Treeleaders Chess (invented by Erez Schatz)
TreeLeaders Chess - Preset for Treeleaders Chess (invented by Erez Schatz)
A preset is a set of values for the different parameters that can be changed in Game Courier. The parameters control such things as board size and shape, piece positions, graphics used for boards and pieces, methods for rendering diagrams, and code for automating complicated moves or for enforcing rules. In brief, a preset is a set of parameters that define a particular game with a particular appearance. A preset is normally expressed as a set of default values and changes to the defaults.
A settings file is a set of default values. Game Courier defines default values with an array called $default. Although Game Courier gives this array a set of default values, a settings file changes the values of the default array, thereby creating a new set of defaults. So there are two kinds of default values. There are default defaults, and there are custom defaults. The default defaults are defined in the program, while the custom defaults are defined in a settings file. When it comes time to write a log, Game Courier enters into the log only those values that differ from the defaults. This saves space, and it allows automation code to be debugged without needing to touch individual log files.
A settings file, when used, is only part of a preset, never the whole thing. For one thing, a preset may be defined by a settings file and some changes to the values in the settings file. But even when the preset makes no changes to the values of a settings file, it has made a change to the value of the $settings parameter, which is by default an empty string. This change to the default defaults is required when you use a settings file, and it has to be made outside the settings file for Game Courier to know which settings file to use for its new set of defaults.
Game Courier should work with any browser, but it has not been tested on every browser, and some of its features require a modern graphical browser. If you use it with Lynx, a popular text-based browser, it will draw all boards as ASCII diagrams. If you use it with Mosaic, the first graphical browser, you should be able to use its ASCII, Table, GIF, and JPG rendering methods. To render boards with CSS or as PNG files, you will need a browser that supports CSS and shows PNG files. This shouldn't be a problem, since any recent version of any of the most popular browsers will do. At different times during the development of Game Courier, my main browser has been Internet Explorer, Netscape, Mozilla, or Mozilla Firefox. I have also tested it with Opera, Safari, and Konqueror. It will work with any of these browsers.
If you're playing in real time, you will need the ability to play wave files with your browser. Internet Explorer has this ability built in, but Mozilla-based browsers (Netscape, Mozilla, and Firefox) require a plug-in. As long as your plug-in for playing wave files works, you should have no problems. But I am currently having a problem with Firefox, which is my main browser, because it isn't working with the Quicktime plug-in. This problem may well be specific to my computer and not exist for others. Firefox is a great browser, and I do recommend it despite this problem I am having with it.
Yes, Game Courier has recently begun to use cookies. The two cookies it uses are PHPSESSID, which keeps track of the PHP session, and cvpuser, which keeps track of your userid. These two cookies are used not only by Game Courier but by other pages on our site. The first lets us use sessions to note whether you're logged in and to keep some information about you on hand for customizing the web pages served to you. The other cookie lets you log in more quickly by keeping track of your userid even when you're not logged in.
To move, go find your game on the Logs page. Enter your userid in the Userid field and hit submit. It will show you your recent games, and it will provide a link for moving in any game for which it is your turn. The link will use your name as its link text, and it will show up under the "Next Move For:" column.
If you didn't see the email in your inbox, check your junk folder for it, if you have one. The email may have been stopped by a spam filter, perhaps because Game Courier forges email from your opponent's address. If you can, put your opponent's email address on a white list to prevent the email of his moves being interpreted as spam.
If it's not a publicly viewable game, it will not show up unless you also enter your password. Enter both your userid and password to see it.
If it's not a recent game, it may have been filtered out because of its age. Extend the maximum age allowed for the logs that show up.
If your game has finished, it will no longer show up among the ongoing games. Change the status filter to allow finished games to show up.
If it's still not showing up, make sure the Log and Game filters are both set to *.
No, you don't. You may send an open invitation to any email address you specify.
You don't have to be a member to use its email address in your open invitation, but you do have to be a member for the invitation to be mailed to the members of the group. This group blocks spam by not delivering mail from anyone who is not a member.
Make sure that the email address we have on record for your userid is the same address the cvgameroom Yahoo group has on record for you. Your open invitation will be sent to the members of the group only if these two email addresses are the same.
Enter a different email address into the opponent field, preferably a mailing list of people who would be interested in receiving an open Game Courier invitation. But the only mailing list set up for just that purpose is a Yahoo group. So that one is the default.
Cookies are not really a danger. But in case you think they are, Firefox has extensions available for it which can automatically disable cookies. Once you are a member of the group, you don't have to ever visit its website. It will just send you cookie-free email.
Enter the word resign in the same place you normally enter your move. This is a command which will automatically change the game status to say that your opponent has won.
I have hidden it. Many presets are now programmed to update the status automatically, and for those that aren't, there are commands available for updating it from the Moves field. If you have won a game, enter won to mark your victory. If you have lost a game, and your opponent has not already entered won, you should enter lost to mark your defeat. This functions the same as resign, but it should be reserved for losing normally, such as by checkmate, rather than for resigning.
To better accomodate user customization, certain background images are now paired together in the code for the program. If the background image you chose has a pair, its pair will show up as the background image for the second player. If you create a set of paired background images, you should contact me about adding some lines to the code for pairing them together.
