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Hey there, author here. Glad to answer any questions. If you don't know how to play backgammon, check out this guide[0] and/or this video[1]. There is a lot of

Hey there, author here. Glad to answer any questions. If you don't know how to play backgammon, check out this guide[0] and/or this video[1]. There is a lot of history[2] behind backgammon. bgammon.org is AGPL-licensed, the client[3] and server[4] source code is publicly available. The graphical client is powered by the excellent Ebitengine[5] game engine. 0. https://bgammon.org/blog/20240201-how-to-play-backgammon/ 1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KDvvKWi0ijs 2. https://bgammon.org/blog/20240115-history-of-backgammon/ 3. https://code.rocket9labs.com/tslocum/boxcars 4. https://code.rocket9labs.com/tslocum/bgammon 5. https://ebitengine.org

porphyra 2y ago
Is there a way to resign a game? I don't want to play against a bot until I get totally demolished. Also, if I click in the text input, a huge keyboard shows up even on desktop, obscuring much of the game. Why?
- tslocum 2y ago
  Yes, you can type /resign when it is your turn to end the game. Thanks. The keyboard input should only show up if your browser is indicating there is a soft keyboard available for the device. On Android, the device keyboard doesn't work for some reason. It definitely shouldn't show up on desktop, though. I will look into this. The desktop version[0] shouldn't have this issue, if you want to give that a try. 0. https://bgammon.org/download/ https://bgammon.org/download/
honksillet 2y ago
It might be worth while looking at lichess and take some direction from their interface, which is quite nice.
- tslocum 2y ago
  Lichess has been a large inspiration for the project. I gave Lichess a shout-out for its influence in this blog post: https://bgammon.org/blog/20240101-hello-world/ https://bgammon.org/blog/20240101-hello-world/
  - cdelsolar 2y ago
    That's awesome. I also took inspiration from Lichess for https://woogles.io https://woogles.io - a way to play a Scrabble-like word game online that is also open source, AGPL, etc. (Also like yours, written in Go!) It's hosted a number of big tournaments and I believe we're about to hit 6M total games (5.984 million so far! within the next day or two). Computer analysis with a WASM program that is going to improve, etc. I hope bgammon achieves a lot of success; I've always wanted to learn backgammon and will give it a try.
    - tslocum 2y ago
      Thanks. Lichess really has paved the way for other libre online games. Congrats on the upcoming milestone. :)
      - cdelsolar 2y ago
        I'm really tickled by a lot of the stuff on your page. For example your own backgammon interface language (UBEI) - I'm also coming up with a language (UCGI) and slowly translating our clients, bots, analyzers etc to use it :) I'll plug your site on our Discord, it's neat.
bonzini 2y ago
Why does "Play now using your browser" link to the play store?
- tslocum 2y ago
  If the user-agent claims to be Android, the play link is changed to the Play Store. This is because the web client runs single-threaded[0] and has reduced performance when running in a browser on desktop, let alone when running on a mobile platform. When running as a native Android app, all of the device's CPU cores are utilized. 0. https://github.com/golang/go/issues/28631 https://github.com/golang/go/issues/28631
  - salviati 2y ago
    It would be best to also change the text then, not just the link. The text could read "Install the app and play now" when the link is changed to point to the play store.
  - Y_Y 2y ago
    I would much prefer to run single threaded in the browser than be cajoled into installing another fucking app.
    - tslocum 2y ago
      I would rather offer the browser-based version to everyone, but it is an objectively worse experience because of the state of the Go compiler. You can still visit the broswer-based version if you want to, it's just a link swap on the page done in JavaScript. Out of curiosity, what do you think I should do? Keep in mind, not everyone feels the same about being "cajoled" into installing an open source application. But virtually everyone won't appreciate the UI hangs.
      - Y_Y 2y ago
        Maybe you could offer both links, with a note that says what you just said? (I don't think you're forcing free open backgammon down people's throats, but there's an existing fatigue due to less scrupulous publishers detecting mobile browsers and pushing people away from otherwise functional websites.)
Wonkey 2y ago
[dead]

porphyra 2y ago

Is there a way to resign a game? I don't want to play against a bot until I get totally demolished. Also, if I click in the text input, a huge keyboard shows up even on desktop, obscuring much of the game. Why?

tslocum 2y ago
Yes, you can type /resign when it is your turn to end the game. Thanks. The keyboard input should only show up if your browser is indicating there is a soft keyboard available for the device. On Android, the device keyboard doesn't work for some reason. It definitely shouldn't show up on desktop, though. I will look into this. The desktop version[0] shouldn't have this issue, if you want to give that a try. 0. https://bgammon.org/download/ https://bgammon.org/download/

honksillet 2y ago

It might be worth while looking at lichess and take some direction from their interface, which is quite nice.

tslocum 2y ago
Lichess has been a large inspiration for the project. I gave Lichess a shout-out for its influence in this blog post: https://bgammon.org/blog/20240101-hello-world/ https://bgammon.org/blog/20240101-hello-world/
- cdelsolar 2y ago
  That's awesome. I also took inspiration from Lichess for https://woogles.io https://woogles.io - a way to play a Scrabble-like word game online that is also open source, AGPL, etc. (Also like yours, written in Go!) It's hosted a number of big tournaments and I believe we're about to hit 6M total games (5.984 million so far! within the next day or two). Computer analysis with a WASM program that is going to improve, etc. I hope bgammon achieves a lot of success; I've always wanted to learn backgammon and will give it a try.
  - tslocum 2y ago
    Thanks. Lichess really has paved the way for other libre online games. Congrats on the upcoming milestone. :)
    - cdelsolar 2y ago
      I'm really tickled by a lot of the stuff on your page. For example your own backgammon interface language (UBEI) - I'm also coming up with a language (UCGI) and slowly translating our clients, bots, analyzers etc to use it :) I'll plug your site on our Discord, it's neat.

bonzini 2y ago

Why does "Play now using your browser" link to the play store?

tslocum 2y ago
If the user-agent claims to be Android, the play link is changed to the Play Store. This is because the web client runs single-threaded[0] and has reduced performance when running in a browser on desktop, let alone when running on a mobile platform. When running as a native Android app, all of the device's CPU cores are utilized. 0. https://github.com/golang/go/issues/28631 https://github.com/golang/go/issues/28631
- salviati 2y ago
  It would be best to also change the text then, not just the link. The text could read "Install the app and play now" when the link is changed to point to the play store.
- Y_Y 2y ago
  I would much prefer to run single threaded in the browser than be cajoled into installing another fucking app.
  - tslocum 2y ago
    I would rather offer the browser-based version to everyone, but it is an objectively worse experience because of the state of the Go compiler. You can still visit the broswer-based version if you want to, it's just a link swap on the page done in JavaScript. Out of curiosity, what do you think I should do? Keep in mind, not everyone feels the same about being "cajoled" into installing an open source application. But virtually everyone won't appreciate the UI hangs.
    - Y_Y 2y ago
      Maybe you could offer both links, with a note that says what you just said? (I don't think you're forcing free open backgammon down people's throats, but there's an existing fatigue due to less scrupulous publishers detecting mobile browsers and pushing people away from otherwise functional websites.)

Wonkey 2y ago

[dead]