Sophie: colossus-0.12.1-1.fc14 noarch

colossus-0.12.1-1.fc14.noarch.rpm

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<h1>Colossus - Web Client</h1>

<font color="red" size="+2">Note: this document was not updated since e.g. the 
scheduled games feature was added (now instant and scheduled games are both 
on "Create" tab and there is a tab for running games...). 
So some aspects of this document are outdated!!
<br>
Still it should give you a general idea how to use the webclient...
</font>
<p>
  
<H3>Scope</h3>
This document describes how to use the Colossus WebClient. The functionality 
is part of the normal Colossus application.

<H3>Preface</H3>

Someone might consider the terms "WebClient" and "WebServer" misleading. They
are a plain Java Server/Client application, nothing related to Applets, Servlets,
HTTP etc. at all. 
<P>
We just couldn't come up with a nice catchy term which would describe all
aspects properly and still be handy and short...
- you may read it as "There's a server somewhere in the web 
( = Internet) where I can find other Colossus players, and the WebClient is the
interface to connect to it".

<H2>Using the WebClient</H2>

The WebClient is integrated into the normal Colossus application.
It can be brought up via the button 
<B>Run Web Client</B> in the "<B>Game Setup</B>" (GetPlayers.java) dialog, 
or directly with a commandline option, e.g.:
<pre>
  <B>run -w</B>
</pre>
In the dialog, it forms now together with the <B>Run Network Client</B>
a new row of buttons (2nd last row) and the
last row is only three buttons (New Game, Load Game and Quit) instead 
of four as before.
<P>
(We could put NetClient and WebClient as buttons 3 and 4 in last row
and remove the Quit button totally - one can Quit by closing the GetPlayers
dialog with the close window "x" in upper right corner... - but this way
it is more obvious how to Quit.)
<P>
Clicking that <B>Run Web Client</B> button brings up the WebClient window,
on which are four tabs:
<UL>
<LI>Login</LI>
<LI>Instant Games</LI>
<LI>Scheduled Games</LI>
<LI>Chat</LI>
</UL>

Usually the game will start on the Login tab, but that can be changed (see below).
<H3>"Login" tab</H3>

First fill in server name or address into the "Web Server" field (and possibly
the port, if it differs). 
<P>
<i>Quick Update: We have now a public server. Server field must be play-colossus.net 
and as port should be 26766. Those are also set as defaults if you never used this dialog 
before.</i>
<P>
On first use, a user would usually use the "Register" button to
create in a small additional window a login (username and password and
email address. Every time you open the Register dialog, Server will send 
a confirmation code to that address and ask you for it; type it in as you 
get it in the mail (three two-digit numbers with spaces in between, 
e.g. <code>23 53 23</code> ).   

<P><B>NOTE:</B> As address to where the register request is sent it will use 
the server and port settings from the "main" WebClient window.
<P>
After filling in the data, click <B>Register</B> in that small
register window.

On success, you are back to the Login pane. Click <B>Login</B> to actually
connect and log in to the server now.

<P>After that, you can change to the <B>Instant Games</B> tab. Note that
on the <B>Server</B> tab are checkboxes for <B>Auto-login on start</B>
and <B>After login Game pane</B>. 
<P>
The first does as it says - whenever you start the web client, it will
automatically login with the login name you have last used for the web 
client; it stores both login and password in a webclient specific config
file.

<P>The other checkbox: if enabled, when login succeeds successfully,
it immediately changed you to the <B>Instant Games</B> tab.

<H3>"Instant Games" tab</H3>

In the <B>Instant Games</B> tab, you can see if some other player has
proposed a game. 
<P>
If there is no proposed game interesting for you, you can
propose one by yourself - it will be proposed with the settings which
are currently set in your <B>Game preferences</B> section. Make there
the settings according to your interests, and press the <B>Propose</B>
button. And wait whether someone else enrolls ;-)
<BR>
If nobody enrolls, you can unenroll and cancel it, and logout... :-(
<P>
Or if someone has proposed a game (and it has not started yet), 
it is shown in the <B>Proposed Games</B> list. 
<P>If one of the games in the proposed games list looks suitable to 
you, click onto it to select it, and then you can press the
<B>Enroll</B> button.
<P>
<B>Note: when you are enrolled, you cannot do much else any more
- at least not propose one or enroll to other games!</B>
<P>When the minimum number of players is enrolled, the <B>Start</B>
button becomes active. Players can then wait some longer, if more
players join (perhaps someone else in chat still asking, clarifiying
things etc., so you know one will come?)
<P>
Anyway, when one player presses the <B>Start</B> button, the WebServer
will start the game, and notify the WebClient, and after a few seconds
the MasterBoard should come up like a normal network client. Just some 
less hassle :)
<P>
When the board comes up, you can leave the web client open, for example
for chatting; one day, I would like to have "game-specific" chats, too.
For example, game with GameId #23 starts, then the involved players
would have a <B>Chat #23</B> tab, and could discuss there matters
relevant only for this specific game. Well, one day...
<P>
You can hide (Hide button in the bottom of <B>Instant Games</B> tab) 
or close the web client (with the small "x" button in
upper right corner), or you could have set it in the bottom of the
<B>Instant Games</B> tab to do one of "Nothing", "Hide" or "Close"
automatically when game starts.
<P>
When game is over, the Server/Game run on WebServer will do AutoQuit,
so your Game Client will get a "Game over - socket closed" or something 
like that;
if WebClient was only hidden, it will come back automatically upon
closing the MasterBoard, otherwise it will prompt you whether to restore 
it - or otherwise all windows are closed and the Java Virtual Machine will
be terminated.


<H3>"Scheduled Games" tab</H3>

This is meant to be one day, that someone can propose a game, e.g.
like: <I>next saturday evening, 20:00 [WebClient will convert it to your
 timezone, of course], I would like to play a game with 2-4 players,
Abyssal6, Viewmode "all public" and Expire setting "Never"</I>.
<P>
Similar to Instant Games, players can enroll; and at that given
time, when all enrolled players are logged in (or, if someone is 
missing, perhaps after some time anyway), the game can start.
<P>
Details to be clarified for this...

<i>Update: implemented, now in same tab as instant games.<br>
TODO: update docs... </i>

<H3>"Chat" tab</H3>

There is some simple chat functionality. The idea is, that people can
agree/ask here, whether someone else is currently online, interested in
a game (or what kind of game), etc. 
<P>
Even if you login and nobody else is currently there, the server
always keeps the last (currently) 50 messages in memory, and sends them to a 
newly logged in user. This way you can see, when the last time someone
else had posted/asked something in chat, or perhaps left a note "I'll be back in ten minutes" or "... back at &lt;some time&gt;".
<P>
At some point, I would rather/additionally like to have a kind of pinboard 
where
someone can post somewhat longer messages, and they are kept for
example for one week or something, and, of course, the <B>Scheduled
Games</B> functionality.
<P>But for now, I hope this is better than nothing...

<H4><FONT color="red">Chat and Modal dialogs </FONT></H4>

<FONT color="red">Please note, that all of the windows run in the same Java; and 
modal dialogs</FONT> (such as dialog boxes waiting for clicking some OK
or Cancel or something) <FONT color="red">block all other windows.</FONT>
<P>
This means, that e.g. if there is a modal dialog like for making a
proposal to resolve a battle (instead of flee, concede or fight), you
can't use the chat window to discuss/agree it. That's inconvenient,
but this limitation is caused by how Java's modal windows operate.
<P>
If you really want to be able to use the chat all the time,
Logout and Close (with the window upper right corner cross symbol) the
 WeblClient from which you started the game 
(<B>but do not press Quit button!</B>);
and start a totally new Java instance of Colossus 
(i.e. Web Start or Commandline)
and start another, independent WebClient there. Since that is a different
Java Virtual Machine, the modality of the windows in the running game
does not effect the behavior of the WebClient.

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<P>
<I>
Created October 2007.
<BR>
Last updated friday, January 4, 2008 by Clemens Katzer
Quickly done some most urgent updates January 22, 2010 by Clemens Katzer
</I>
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