A Question for All the Go Players

Discussion in 'General Game Discussion and Questions' started by polyplay, Dec 3, 2008.

  1. currymutton

    currymutton Well-Known Member

    Oct 16, 2008
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    (Below is the same as the email I sent you earlier)

    First off, don't send me anything, I have bought your stuff.

    Well, it seems to me that your iGo crashes every single time it starts but fine afterwards.

    I also learn never to go back to Springboard when the CPU is working on the next move. But at times, I may say I am not quite fair, the process is a little too long.

    Also, I would like see the ability to delete every single game I don't want.

    Online play will be nice but not necessary. And if you are willing to share the strength of the CPU player, it would be very much appreciated.

    Keep up the good work.


    Regards.
     
  2. polyplay

    polyplay Well-Known Member

    Aug 13, 2008
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    Maybe I am misunderstanding this, but you can delete games by touching the trash can next to the plus sign in the list of games.

    The app also crashes on me occasionally. Not every time I use it, but more often than other apps.

    And while the wait times can be longer than 10 seconds, they're not nearly as frustrating as the AI. :)
     
  3. currymutton

    currymutton Well-Known Member

    Oct 16, 2008
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    The game allows to delete all but one game, presumably the current or the latest one. It is fine but may be the game is done there is no reason to go back or retain.

    I am using a non-jailbroken 2.2 iPhone and the game crashes back to Springboard every time. FYI.
     
  4. polyplay

    polyplay Well-Known Member

    Aug 13, 2008
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    Yeah, I agree. It is kind of annoying to have to start a new game to get rid of the current one.

    Yikes. I'm on a first-gen iPod Touch with 2.2 and does its stubborn crash thing more often than not, and I frequently reboot.

    The whole package is still worth it, in my opinion.
     
  5. polyplay

    polyplay Well-Known Member

    Aug 13, 2008
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    I saw that a new app, Go Go! [App Shopper Link], was just released.

    It says it runs on GnuGo 3.6, and it's only $.99, so I might bite.

    Those screenshots scare me, though.
     
  6. currymutton

    currymutton Well-Known Member

    Oct 16, 2008
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    Saw that too. Well the first screen is the all zoom out screen I guess, the interface is not pretty, but according to the descriptions, you can zoom into the board too. But I don't see the flexibility of board size other than 19x19, though. I may bite it or wait.
     
  7. wiesse

    wiesse Well-Known Member

    Dec 6, 2008
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    I'll buy it when I hear it is good or (preferably) see a good video of it.
     
  8. currymutton

    currymutton Well-Known Member

    Oct 16, 2008
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    Below is my email to the developer on "Go Go!"

    =====

    Hello Developer,

    I am a user of your game. I have some initial comments on this title:

    1. The final UI is different from your screenshot, where the position of the zoom button and the pass button are swapped. As a developer myself, and as your title charges, this is a very amateurish mistake.

    2. So we also find that due to above, when the zoom button is pressed, the pass button turns "blue".

    3. Also, I find the zoom/pan mechanism very confusing. First off, it is not mentioned anywhere how to zoom and pan, I have to figure it out myself. Also, I would prefer the "Apple" way of zoom -- using two-finger movement to zoom in and out and one finger to pan and move.

    4. Since the nature of touch screen, I suggest user can have the option to tap once more to confirm the move.

    5. The option screen is located in the Preference, it is very inconvenient to change the setting. I suggest you move it back into the game itself.


    Regards.
     
  9. lilasoft

    lilasoft Active Member

    Nov 24, 2008
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    I am working on a Go app, too.
     
  10. polyplay

    polyplay Well-Known Member

    Aug 13, 2008
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    Thanks for posting your feedback. I think unless some of the issues are resolved I'm going to pass on this. I'm doing well enough with iGo.
     
  11. currymutton

    currymutton Well-Known Member

    Oct 16, 2008
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    Good to hear that -- personally I would like to see a strong Go engine (GNU once more I don't mind), make sure you check your UI, especially point 4 of my post above. Thank you.
     
  12. lilasoft

    lilasoft Active Member

    Nov 24, 2008
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    That's the plan. But I was wondering if it is still worth now that there's somebody already working on this.

    My idea was to make a great interface with great usability. It will take some time since I have other projects too.

    But since I love the game of Go, I will do it anyway (for myself) and then decide it if is worth publishing it.

    Cheers,
    -c.
     
  13. lilasoft

    lilasoft Active Member

    Nov 24, 2008
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    #33 lilasoft, Jan 4, 2009
    Last edited: Jan 4, 2009
    By the way, gnugo is lincensed under GPL. You can't use the code in a closed source product (without releasing the source code of the whole app).

    The original iGo (http://www.robota.nl/products/iPhone%20iGo.html) has the compiled binary within the application bundle. I think that the app launches the gnugo engine (using NSTask or fork/exec) and talks to it via pipes.

    This is legit, but as far as I know there's no way to do this with the official SDK. If there's some other developer reading here, please correct me if I'm wrong.

    -c.
     
  14. Flowbee

    Flowbee Member

    Dec 13, 2008
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    Go With Friends?

    Somebody, please start work immediately on a Chess-With-Friends-like Go game. Even better than chess, go lends itself perfectly to a leisurely back and forth style of play. I really love to study the board before making moves, but rarely have an hour or two to commit to a game. Go With friends would be awesome.
     
  15. Ok I bit and short story short don't buy it in it's current state. I could get the pan and zoom to work sometimes but not always. Figured out you touch the zoom button then use pinch to zoom in or out then swipe to pan around. Problem is it only works sometimes and not all the time. Board size is only 19x19 currently. All settings are controlled in the Settings app. If zoom/pan issues are fixed it might be worth looking into again.
     
  16. polyplay

    polyplay Well-Known Member

    Aug 13, 2008
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    Hmmph. Thanks for the info. Hopefully the issues will be resolved.
     
  17. lilasoft

    lilasoft Active Member

    Nov 24, 2008
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    Ok. I made some more research and there's no way to use gnugo without infringing the GPL license.

    Anybody knows about some other freely available (and reasonably strong) engine?
     
  18. Maeks

    Maeks Well-Known Member

    Dec 21, 2008
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    Well since ou guys are talking about Go anyways, I might as well as a question. Not related to the iPhone in any way.

    I've always wanted to learn go and have read how difficult it is to make a good AI and that's why there isn't some easy, solitaire-like program out there that ships with Windows, etc.

    So I was wondering what you guys might think would be a good way to learn? I saw that Gnu Go in posts and looked it up, but any other suggestions?
     
  19. paz

    paz New Member

    Dec 7, 2008
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    Sorry for the delayed reply.

    I've released a new version that addresses a lot of the crashing issues, although people have reported a problem with 19x19 games not saving. Even so, I'm hoping people will revise some of their comments on iTunes.

    Also, I improved the UI and included a short tutorial to attract players new to the game.

    Thanks to folks who wrote me with suggestions and feedback. It really does help

    -pz
     
  20. polyplay

    polyplay Well-Known Member

    Aug 13, 2008
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    For free stuff, I would recommend browsing around the Sensei's Library. There are also a lot of interactive things on Go Problems. As far as programs are concerned, The Many Faces of Go has some good stuff for beginners, but advanced Go players generally gravitate towards the more advanced AI programs.

    Aside from that, playing games is the best way to learn.
     

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