Euchre Beta Released

[Albert]

http://www.wwnet.net/~eeid/station26/euchre.htmlErik Eid has released a Beta version of his upcoming Atari 2600 card game Euchre. Euchre is an adaptation of the card game of the same name that is popular in the midwestern and northeast United States. This version contains a few bug fixes over the recent Alpha release, as well as updates to the manual. You can download the Beta, read the documentation and browse the source code at Erik's Euchre Development Page.

[Cap5750]

Is this a new version from the one that was already released?

 

Cap

[Cybergoth]

Is this a new version from the one that was already released?

 

Yes. Erik was still working on it. With this current version he decided it's time for the feature-stop.

 

From now on, he'll only bugfix the game, so he's waiting for feedback regarding that. He's especially looking for feedback how the PAL version is looking/working on the real thing, since he can't test this on his own.

 

Since YOU are the the beta testers it'll depend on YOUR feedback/bugtracking when the game will be done, so the more you support Erik in the process, the quicker you get the game

 

BTW: Can't wait to see the label artwork, as I'm expecting a masterpiece here

 

 

Greetings,

Manuel

[mvigor]

I hope the label art features a picture of Bob Uecker playing Euchre.

 

http://www.onmilwaukee.com/buzz/articles/uecker.html

[Cap5750]

I guess it would have actually helped had I completely read the news on the front page, huh?

 

Cap

[Rob Mitchell]

The Euchre page lists September 8th as the time of the last version .. Is this correct? Or am I missing something?

 

Rob Mitchell, Atlanta, GA

[Nostalgic]

The Euchre page lists September 8th as the time of the last version .. Is this correct?  Or am I missing something?

 

You're right. The last time I altered the game itself was on the 8th. I made a few changes to the manual up until the 12th, at which time I posted everything on the website. I also submitted the source and binary files to the Stella list, but it got caught up in the approval queue and didn't appear for a couple of days.

 

Sorry for the confusion about the dates.

 

From now on, he'll only bugfix the game, so he's waiting for feedback regarding that. He's especially looking for feedback how the PAL version is looking/working on the real thing, since he can't test this on his own.

 

Since YOU are the the beta testers it'll depend on YOUR feedback/bugtracking when the game will be done, so the more you support Erik in the process, the quicker you get the game  

 

Thanks for providing all the explanations, and in particular, the importance of feedback. The feedback from AtariAge readers about the Alpha version was a great help!

 

Cybergoth is right - the PAL version is a concern of mine. I have tested it under Stella 1.2 for Linux, but I don't know how well the colors correspond to those on a real TV, nor if the display is stable. (It should be considering all I did was add blank lines to make up the difference between NTSC and PAL, but in programming, "should" doesn't count for much. )

 

BTW: Can't wait to see the label artwork, as I'm expecting a masterpiece here  :wink:

 

I just received a preliminary version of the artwork today. (I'm not doing it myself.) I'm impressed. I think everyone else will be too.

[Thomas Jentzsch]

I just received a preliminary version of the artwork today.  (I'm not doing it myself.)  I'm impressed.  I think everyone else will be too.

What, no contest?

[Cybergoth]

I just received a preliminary version of the artwork today.  (I'm not doing it myself.)  I'm impressed.  I think everyone else will be too.

What, no contest?

 

Hehe

 

Can't wait to see what cool designs Christiana will submit for the Robot City contest

 

Greetings,

Manuel

[Nostalgic]

It's amazing what being away from the source code for a few days, plus a little luck, can leave you fresh enough to see.

 

I played many games of Euchre tonight. I noticed a disturbing trend in a couple of them. If the computer player decided to go alone, it was with a weak hand.

 

On one occasion, my partner went alone with the right bower, ace, and king, and an off-suit queen and nine. I had the other four trump cards! We managed to take three tricks, but that was an awfully weak hand to go alone on.

 

Soon after, my partner went alone on right bower, left bower, queen, with an off-suit queen and jack. Again, we managed to get three tricks.

 

Later on, an opponent went alone with the right bower and left bower, having two tens and a nine for support. Needless to say, this earned a euchre!

 

After seeing all this, I dug into the code. I found three bugs in the routine that the computer uses to determine the strength of its hand!

 

1. When counting the number of trumps, the left bower was not included.

2. The left bower was counted as one of its original suit when trying to find lone off-suit aces. (This means if hearts is potentially trump and a hand has the ace and jack of diamonds, this ace would not be considered a lone off-suit ace.)

3. The counter of aces of a suit was not reset in the loop used to scan the hand for aces. This means the computer could think it had more lone off-suit aces than it actually did.

 

The third bug was likely the biggest contributor to the computer players' tendency to go alone on mediocre hands.

 

If you're playing the Beta version, you may notice this behavior.

 

Anyone tried the PAL version on a real Atari? I fed it through my Supercharger and played on my NTSC TV. The colors are close, except the green table is a dark red and everything else is really bright. The screen does appear to be stable for the most part, though it occasionally drifted down. I believe that's just because I'm relying on vertical hold.

[CrazyImpmon]

I could try and check the PAL version for correct color. I'd have to find the 2600 I have that has AV out, hook it to my PC with TV card (for some reason ATI TV Wondoer never works with 2600 on RF, only on AV ), set the input to PAL and try it out.

 

It may work, it may not as I think the color carrier freqency in the 2600 is fixed to NTSC frequency and probably won't show up on PAL video.

[Nostalgic]

I discovered today that if your partner goes alone and it is the last hand of the game, your hand is still shown during the color-cycling attract mode.

 

I never bothered with clearing out the human player's hand if his/her partner goes alone, so it already still shows when the "D" (deal) indicator appears.

 

What do you out there think? Would you consider not having your cards cleared at the end of the hand a bug?

 

The screen shot shows an example of this situation. The odd colors are a result of the attract mode.

[MegaManFan]

1. With the current debugging, how close are you to a finished product?

2. Are you planning to package the game with basic Euchre rules (perhaps

in an instruction manual) for those who are naive about the game like me?

3. What, if any packaging, have you considered for the final product?

 

Thanks in advance for your answers.

[Nostalgic]

1. With the current debugging, how close are you to a finished product?

2. Are you planning to package the game with basic Euchre rules (perhaps

in an instruction manual) for those who are naive about the game like me?

3. What, if any packaging, have you considered for the final product?

 

1. Very, very close. I fixed the bugs I identified a couple of messages ago and made a couple of tweaks to the computer's playing routines. I plan on putting out a release candidate in a few days. (I am, however, still waiting on feedback about whether it's fine on a real PAL television.)

 

2. Absolutely! At this point I plan for it to contain the same text and screen shots as the version on my Euchre web page. Just scroll down to "How can I get an instruction manual" and follow the link that is there.

 

3. The packaging will be whatever Hozer uses to ship a cartridge. The game will consist of a cartridge and printed manual. I have no plans for a box, bag, or something similar.

[CrazyImpmon]

I discovered today that if your partner goes alone and it is the last hand of the game, your hand is still shown during the color-cycling attract mode.

 

I never bothered with clearing out the human player's hand if his/her partner goes alone, so it already still shows when the "D" (deal) indicator appears.

 

What do you out there think?  Would you consider not having your cards cleared at the end of the hand a bug?

 

Well, I don't think it's really a bug as in real life the player who sits out of the game still holds the card. If you want, you could include a little feature that with difficulity switch setting lets you keep the cards or hide them.

[Nostalgic]

What do you out there think?  Would you consider not having your cards cleared at the end of the hand a bug?

 

Well, I don't think it's really a bug as in real life the player who sits out of the game still holds the card. If you want, you could include a little feature that with difficulity switch setting lets you keep the cards or hide them.

 

I think I was just feeling particularly lazy that night. It only took nine bytes to fix. (It will be part of the release candidate.) You get to see your hand until the last trick, after which it is cleared.

 

However, if I need to recover nine bytes, I'll take it right back out.

[Rob Mitchell]

I picked up a used paperback yesterday... The Official Rules of Card Games, 57th edition! 1887 through 1968. It has 5 pages about Euchre. That's the reason I bought it .. amongst others ..

 

Rob Mitchell, Atlanta, GA