Reverb Gaming Blog

BackGammon is now active, and does have the undo moves working right. Check out the beta here in the forums at www.reverbgaming.com/forums/viewforum.php?f=30

Well, as you have probably figured out by now, I’m not one for making daily updates… nor am I one that gets all hog-wild in trying to figure out how to make WordPress blogs “pretty”.

The reason, I am simply too busy working my ass off testing out the new public free release of one of the Mech series of games (yes, happy to say it runs ok in our lobby) and playing around with the new BackGammon side coming as our first board-type game.  It has some decent features in it, and it even supports “ratings”.  The first beta release won’t have those needed “ops I screwed up so move this checker back” (hey, you moved it, deal with it!) nor will it have a doubling cube function.

There will be 2 lobbies opening up, one for rated games, and one for non-rated games.  When it comes to figuring out the rated side, I don’t really know what the best approach would be, how to determine how many points should be given for wins, losses, etc.  Some say that if “I have a higher rating than they do so I shouldn’t lose as many rating points if they beat me”, and all the rest of that stuff.  But hey, one thing you know for sure…  here at Reverb we listen to peoples requests for features and how things should be done for a better gaming experience.

So with that said… jump into the forums, and tell me your thoughts.  Some of the suggestions already made to me privately, include features where the host can set their own ratings differentials.  By this I mean that if you have a rating of say 2000, you can choose what the minimum rating of your opponent will need to be, say 1900.  This means that anyone who has a rating that is below that 1900 will simply NOT be able to join into your game.

Unlike the old MSN Gaming Zone, there won’t be lobbies for “1600-1900″ and 2100-2500 and 2700 plus.  Since each person can set their OWN limits on who can join in, there isn’t the need to segment users.  And yes, of course, the usual standards will be there like the ability to set a game title and a password.

We also realize that part of the fun is the ability to “watch” a game.  While the initial beta release will NOT have that function enabled, the game code and server code have the basics in place that will allow that to happen.  But, first things first… lets get the basics working right.  (Oh yea, there is some simple animation showing the checker moves, and you do get visual indications on the places where valid moves can be done).

The new card game server (we are starting with just Hearts for now) is up and running, and a new client has been released to handle both CDROM and Card/Board games.  For those of you who love to hack these games, be warned that the server is the only one that knows all of the cards for all of the players.  As a player, you will only know about the cards that you have.   And the usual checks are in place so that you can’t play a card not dealt to you, along with a host of other standard tests.   Hacking attempts will of course just close your connection, along with a log of the attempt.  If you do too many attempts, your account will just be banned.  Since we provide this service for free, we expect people to poke around where they shouldn’t be… but don’t press your luck because while we tend to be rather generous in the behaviour we allow, there is that line you can cross.

Anyway, development is coming along well… and there will be even more new stuff so stay tuned!

Well, the latest 2.3.4.5 release has been out for a little while now and folks seem to be loving it!  New feature ehnancements were included allowing even more user customizations on chat and ping controls while you are in playing a game, and clan management was updated to allow clan owners to manage their own clan name and description.

Sometimes the changes we make, requires the need to update the server code as well, which means killing the server and re-starting it with the new code.  And that of course means that the chat buffer people see when they come into the lobby is lost.  Pffft…  we have added an enhancement to the server code, and now when we re-start a lobby server the most recent lobby chat will still be there.

Also, for those of you who are posting comments to the blog… please…  if you think I am going to approve your comment when all you talk about is jibberish, full of spam, or you are looking to promote your own gaming site, then I would suggest that you are brain dead

Oh yea… work continues on for the new card and board games coming!

Ok, so like… we have bats in our belfry.  (whatever that is but who really cares anyway?)

If we take the bat out, then we have Clans!  Yes, it is true… CLAN support is coming (or already has come depending on when you read this) to Reverb.  Clan support is going to be really cool.  You will be able to define rules that clan member nics must follow, and you can even have your very own CLAN AVATAR that every member of the clan will display in both the Players list and in lobby and room chat areas.

You and your appointed co-owner can manage clan members, send out invites to people who follow your clan nic rules and each clan member can set their own customized “clan mate” color, where all members of “the clan” nics will display in chat areas.  There is more to come, but to get the latest and greatest news, you really should be reading the forums!

Just when you get so excited about adding in some really nifty features, and you test and test and re-test just to make sure the changes made actually work the way they are supposed to…  And then you make a new installer package, put it up for access, kill all of the servers and update all of the databases.  Then you reset the information for the updater and let it rip.

Yano.. all the stuff that was done before and always worked the way it was supposed to work.  And then, all of a sudden, people are still getting in with the older version (not that its THAT big of an issue but when you work yer ass off to add in these nifty things) and all of the plans you made suddenly come to a screaching halt.  PISS!  Look over the code and go… “ahhhhhhh f***!!!!

Along the way, not wanting the beta testing to force updates, the code was disabled when version 2.1 was released, and it was missed again in version 2.2.  Too many things on the mind, too many versions and new systems and getting things done, and it just got missed.  MY BAD!

Anyway, I had to make other changes to force people to get the new 2.2 release and they were not a pretty way to make it happen.  Probably lots of people are going “like what the fuk!”  And ya, I know, what can I say.

I blew it, its my fault.  But at least I found out why and it has been fixed for the 2.3 release due any moment now (hell it might already be active by the time you read this) which fixes the auto-update mess and adds in a brand new configuration option to deal with sound events in the client.  I created settings that let you define a sound file to play when a user enters or exits, a friend enters or exits, and when a new PM is received.  Each of these options can be disabled, set for normal (which is anything where you aren’t busy or in a game) or set to busy (which will play the sound even if you are busy, but not while you are in a game) or set to allow the sound while you are in a game (even if you are busy).

Basically this means you could set a sound file to play when a friend enters the lobby, even if you are in a game.    I’m sure there will be more to come as well, but to be honest I have to say I am really impressed with the new avatars next to the players names in both the players list and chat areas, plus its SO nice to configure those heading colors in the players list and get rid of all of that white stuff!

Mostly, I look forward to seeing more nics in more colors, as it really brightens the place up!

Been there, done that!  Well ok, so I lied…

I’ve never been there, and I haven’t done that yet.  So it must be a good time to start.  What will it be, what will I say and better yet, what is it that you have to say?  I’ll figure it out somehow, and give you that opportunity to respond.

In the mean time, welcome to Reverb Gaming.  Pull up a lobby or two, grab a friend (leave the sex out of it) or two or three, yak and banter and raise a little hell.  Just be polite about it because while being rude may be a part of the game, there is that fine line to watch out for.    But with that said, here is a little scoop on some things to come.

Some are aware that the website has been recently updated (thanks to Rider) and there are more changes from the “web” side that will be appearing over the next little while.  Some are also aware we are planning another interm release for the current version, which will add in some cute features like colorized player names and custom avatars for the lobby.  Even more stuff is coming, but everything we will be doing is in the form of “baby steps”.  As we get things more customized, many of the new features such as memberships will become automated.  Until then, we need to do some of these manually.  I personally hate the thought of the proverbial donations but that donate button is actually multi-functional, as it will provide the membership purchases that will give you these special goodies.

Not to worry… the basics will be free, always free.  And for those that help us build there are going to be special bonuses that will be included, because it is YOU, the folks that are now using this system that are really the founding members of our community.  Without you, we are nothing.