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Replies: 17   Views: 22,024   Pages: 2   Last Post: Feb 2, 2023, 4:23 AM by: watsu

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rainwolf

Posts: 753
Registered: Apr 12, 2008
From: Singapore
Age: 44
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in other news
Posted: Jan 22, 2023, 5:37 AM

pente.org's ownership has been transferred back to me. I will do my best again to keep the lights on, but my available time has been drastically reduced to near zero. So I'm renewing my call to interested parties to take over the torch and grow the website.


watsu

Posts: 1,442
Registered: Dec 16, 2001
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Re: in other news
Posted: Jan 26, 2023, 3:13 PM

Sorry to hear that, rainwolf. At least we have a community roadmap of where the active (vocal) players would like to see things growing. Also, I think Zach's idea of putting out a newsletter is a good one. Some things to let prospective new owners know, perhaps. I recently wrote an interview article (T0afer asked questions) on Pente variants for Abstract Games magazine. Perhaps that'll bring in some new interest.


Message was edited by: watsu at Jan 26, 2023, 3:15 PM


Retired from TB Pente, but still playing live games & exploring variants like D, poof and boat
zoeyk

Posts: 2,220
Registered: Mar 4, 2007
From: San Francisco
Age: 45
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Re: in other news
Posted: Jan 27, 2023, 8:16 AM

One possibility would be to have a group pitch in to buy it and pay the monthly maintenance costs etc. A counsel that owns it, or how ever you call it. A LLC?
The code was already copied to another site. And it doesn't make much money. So, buying it would simply be a money loss to maintain a community. Not for profit. Preservation of nostalgia. I would consider pitching in with the right people. Like watsu karlw pentegon up2ng, etc. Private message me if sounds interesting.

Scire hostis animum - Intelligere ludum - Nosce te ipsum - Prima moventur conciliat - Nolite errare
rainwolf

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Re: in other news
Posted: Jan 27, 2023, 12:02 PM

That's not really necessary, currently pente.org pays for its own monetary expenses. But there's more to keeping it running than just paying the bills.

- ssl certificates have to be renewed every 2 months
- certificates for iOS updates and notifications have to be renewed every year
- software updates must not break anything
- the site and apps must keep up with regulations (either nations', Apple, or Google's)

zoeyk

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Re: in other news
Posted: Jan 28, 2023, 3:23 AM

Whats not necessary? Having it bought by a group? I'm not sure what you're looking for. A single person who codes? I can hire a coder. What exactly is your vision in order to sell?

Scire hostis animum - Intelligere ludum - Nosce te ipsum - Prima moventur conciliat - Nolite errare
rainwolf

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From: Singapore
Age: 44
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Re: in other news
Posted: Jan 28, 2023, 4:32 AM

I mean that having it bought by a group is not sufficient to keep it alive, which is the whole reason it's back in my possession. You can hire a coder, but I very much doubt you can find one for a price you're willing to spend to manage the many technologies involved.

To break it down:
- the server is Java/JSP, the live game room is React, the AI is React and some WASM, and the turn-based AI is python
- the android app is Java and the onboard AI is C++
- the iOS app is Objective-C and Swift, and the onboard AI is C++ again
That's it for the code, to manage the server you should be familiar with tomcat, MySQL, and Linux, and manage the aforementioned certificates on a regular basis.
- And then there's users to interact with when they need help

My vision to sell, in order of descending preference, would be:
- someone who can handle all the above and is keen to add more features, and run more tournaments, or,
- someone who can handle all of the above and is interested in troubleshooting and making the necessary changes to keep things running, including changes to keep us from getting evicted from the app stores.

I think anything less than that is certain death.

apple123

Posts: 1
Registered: Jan 22, 2023
Re: in other news
Posted: Jan 28, 2023, 11:42 PM

Hi rainwolf

I realize I am late to the party, however I have a question

Is there anything that the pente community (either individually or collectively) could do to help lighten your pente.org work load and make it less time consuming and less burdensome for you?

You have an incredibly brilliant site here and it would be so very sad to see it vanish or deteriorate 😥

rainwolf

Posts: 753
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From: Singapore
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Re: in other news
Posted: Jan 30, 2023, 1:40 PM

I honestly have no idea

> Hi rainwolf
>
> I realize I am late to the party, however I have a
> question
>
> Is there anything that the pente community (either
> individually or collectively) could do to help
> lighten your pente.org work load and make it less
> time consuming and less burdensome for you?
>
> You have an incredibly brilliant site here and it
> would be so very sad to see it vanish or deteriorate
> 😥

zoeyk

Posts: 2,220
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Re: in other news
Posted: Jan 30, 2023, 5:19 PM

How much time and money does certification take for you? Is it something you could teach a admin to do?

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zoeyk

Posts: 2,220
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Re: in other news
Posted: Jan 30, 2023, 5:27 PM

Also, there are coders i have browsed who say they can do all of those things, for under $25 an hour. I guess, I simply don't know how many hours it takes to do most stuff.

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zoeyk

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Re: in other news
Posted: Jan 30, 2023, 5:28 PM

Is there a list of features you wanted to have added?

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rainwolf

Posts: 753
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Re: in other news
Posted: Jan 31, 2023, 12:38 PM

> How much time and money does certification take for
> you? Is it something you could teach a admin to do?

I have a script for the ssl certificates, I just need to remember to run it every 2 months and make sure nothing goes wrong when I restart the server.
The notifications certificate is probably half an hour work. Renewing the developer and distribution certificates for the iOS app can sometimes be a bit more work but let's say an hour if everything goes smooth.

rainwolf

Posts: 753
Registered: Apr 12, 2008
From: Singapore
Age: 44
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Re: in other news
Posted: Jan 31, 2023, 12:42 PM

> Is there a list of features you wanted to have added?

swap2 pente tops my list. Which involves making the server know the game and being able to store it. Then making sure you can play turn-based on all 3 platforms, and live play on all 3 platforms. Using the DB to search such games is a cherry on top.

watsu

Posts: 1,442
Registered: Dec 16, 2001
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Re: in other news
Posted: Feb 2, 2023, 3:39 AM

I'm reading that an entry level Google coder comes pretty cheap these days https://finance.yahoo.com/news/chatgpt-could-hypothetically-hired-entry-163801012.html

"import java.util.Scanner;

public class Pente {
static final int BOARD_SIZE = 15;
static final int WIN_LENGTH = 5;
static char[][] board = new char[BOARD_SIZE][BOARD_SIZE];

public static void main(String[] args) {
Scanner scan = new Scanner(System.in);

// Initialize board
for (int i = 0; i < BOARD_SIZE; i++) {
for (int j = 0; j < BOARD_SIZE; j++) {
board[j] = '.';
}
}

System.out.println("Welcome to the Pente game!");
System.out.println("Starting with player X");
char currentPlayer = 'X';

while (true) {
// Print board
for (int i = 0; i < BOARD_SIZE; i++) {
for (int j = 0; j < BOARD_SIZE; j++) {
System.out.print(board[j] + " ");
}
System.out.println();
}

// Ask player for move
System.out.println("Player " + currentPlayer + ", enter your move (row column):");
int row = scan.nextInt();
int col = scan.nextInt();

// Place piece
board[row][col] = currentPlayer;

// Check for win
if (checkForWin(row, col)) {
System.out.println("Player " + currentPlayer + " wins!");
break;
}

// Switch player
if (currentPlayer == 'X') {
currentPlayer = 'O';
} else {
currentPlayer = 'X';
}
}

scan.close();
}

static boolean checkForWin(int row, int col) {
// Check horizontally
int count = 0;
for (int j = 0; j < BOARD_SIZE; j++) {
if (board[row][j] == board[row][col]) {
count++;
} else {
count = 0;
}
if (count == WIN_LENGTH) {
return true;
}
}

// Check vertically
count = 0;
for (int i = 0; i < BOARD_SIZE; i++) {
if (board[col] == board[row][col]) {
count++;
} else {
count = 0;
}
if (count == WIN_LENGTH) {
return true;
}
}

// Check diagonally (top left to bottom right)
count = 0;
for (int i = row, j = col; i >= 0 && i < BOARD_SIZE && j >= 0 && j < BOARD_SIZE; i--, j--) {
if (board[j] == board[row][col]) {
count++;
} else {
break;
}
}
for (int i = row + 1, j =
"


Retired from TB Pente, but still playing live games & exploring variants like D, poof and boat
madmike

Posts: 133
Registered: May 27, 2014
From: Saltillo, Mexico
Age: 67
Re: in other news
Posted: Feb 2, 2023, 3:59 AM

well, i can read a little VBA, but not enough to even guess what language that is. ChatGPT maybe could tell me?

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