Author Topic: NANY 2012 Release: Kyrathaba's Hangman (Read 135239 times)

hamradio · « **Reply #100 on:** August 01, 2011, 03:09 PM »

Thanks!

Now back to programming...Good luck to whoever wins this month as I probably wont have time to play this for awhile...

thancock20 · « **Reply #101 on:** August 01, 2011, 05:22 PM »

Congrats Hamradio.

Hopefully I can pass you at some point. It's not like I haven't been trying.

Also:

hangman error 3.gif

Am I really the only one running into these things?

kyrathaba · « **Reply #102 on:** August 01, 2011, 06:04 PM »

You're the only one reporting them, and for that I owe you (see your new DonationCredits total). I found the problem. Note the odd quotation mark to the left of the word hairy in the screen shot below:

Searched and made sure I've eliminated all such funky quotation characters. If you'll let me know what your score was just before this bug nixxed your game, I'll manually set it on the online database.

"About" -> "Update" to install fixes-it version.

MUCH thanks for your perseverance, thancock20!

Incidentally, what OS are you running?

thancock20 · « **Reply #103 on:** August 01, 2011, 06:57 PM »

Cool, thanks for the quick fix (as always) and the credits.

From the screenshot, it looks like my score was: 318035

Also, my OS is Windows XP SP3.

Not sure if this makes any difference, but my "language for non-unicode programs" is set to Japanese.

edit: Apparently, I play better while listening to Japanese Heavy Metal.

Wish I had known that a couple days ago.

kyrathaba · « **Reply #104 on:** August 01, 2011, 07:58 PM »

Not sure if this makes any difference, but my "language for non-unicode programs" is set to Japanese.

I'm not sure either, but I think my fix will take care of it either way. We'll see.

Again, thanks for your efforts, and congrats on taking the lead high-score in August (you've not reverse-engineered the exe have you [kidding]?):

thancock20 · « **Reply #105 on:** August 03, 2011, 07:06 PM »

I wish I had the talent to reverse engineer exe files. Right now my coding experience is pretty much limited to editing other people's AutoHotKey scripts for my own personal - and often rather specific - needs.

So, during my last game I had all three of the puzzles I had previously reported errors on show up; only to be done in finally by the number "8":

hangman 1.gif

Numbers cause to me lose quite often, but that's not a bug, it's a feature.

Plus it's educational. You know, in case I ever need to know how many calories are in an Avocado.

kyrathaba · « **Reply #106 on:** August 03, 2011, 07:13 PM »

So, during my last game I had all three of the puzzles I had previously reported errors on show up

You mean these three that previously errored presented in a correct fashion, without crashing your game? (please say "yes").

I'll take a look at the number bug.

kyrathaba · « **Reply #107 on:** August 03, 2011, 07:14 PM »

Actually, if I understand correctly, there wasn't a bug associated with the number. You just didn't guess it (or guess it in sufficient time), right?

kyrathaba · « **Reply #108 on:** August 03, 2011, 07:16 PM »

That's really some score:

thancock20 · « **Reply #109 on:** August 03, 2011, 07:28 PM »

Yes, the three puzzles were presented in a correct fashion.

And yes, the numbers aren't a bug; they're just a lot harder to guess than the letters are. (Though I usually remember them after I've seen them a few times.)

Actually the trivia puzzles with numbers in them, and the really short occupation puzzles (like "chemist"), are the ones that usually trip me up - more often than not.

Just think, if I had known how much Warner Communications had paid for the copyright to "Happy Birthday", I may have broken a million points.

kyrathaba · « **Reply #110 on:** August 03, 2011, 07:45 PM »

Just think, if I had known how much Warner Communications had paid for the copyright to "Happy Birthday", I may have broken a million points.

Even as it stands, I doubt anyone will surpass your current score, to win the August high-scorer award. But we'll see...

As an aside, there are relatively few puzzles involving numbers. Less than 1%. One of the advantages of playing a lot, as you have, is that you become familiar with puzzles seen previously, allowing you to solve faster. You'll remember the one that stumped you, the next time you come across it

kyrathaba · « **Reply #111 on:** August 04, 2011, 08:28 AM »

Welcome capitalh and davejc64 to the competition. If you have any questions that the program's Help file doesn't clear up for you, feel free to drop us a message here (I trust you're reading the DC boards, surely

)

kyrathaba · « **Reply #112 on:** August 09, 2011, 06:52 AM »

Welcome salmuina to the competition!

steeladept · « **Reply #113 on:** August 10, 2011, 09:20 PM »

Here's a really odd one (okay, not odd, just not one you think of when beta-testing), but I can't get past the password. Either I fatfingered it when I set it up, or I just don't remember what it was. Still, I noticed that there is no way to reset it or retrieve it.

kyrathaba · « **Reply #114 on:** August 11, 2011, 06:36 AM »

Still, I noticed that there is no way to reset it or retrieve it.

PM me your Hangman username and desired password and I'll reset it for you.

kyrathaba · « **Reply #115 on:** August 11, 2011, 07:44 AM »

Version 1.0.4.4 is available and this is a required update if you wish to compete via the online high-score database.

This update patches a potential exploit discovered by thancock20 (many thanks thancock20 !!)

The easiest way to update is to run the existing installed version, and use "About"->"Update".

Please note the following from the Help text file:

v 1.0.4.4 (released 8-11-2011)

   fixes an exploit found by thancock: this update is required if
   you want to compete using the online high-score database. Although
   older versions will still submit highscores, the database will
   not retain them long-term because there is a PHP sweeper function
   that will periodically cull the database of scores submitted
   with older versions which have not had the exploit patched.

hamradio · « **Reply #116 on:** August 11, 2011, 12:15 PM »

And what about the current scores already there? Is my 2nd place one going to get removed since it was an older version potentially taking me out of -> "The top-three high-scoring DC members will receive an additional prize from the site." as you posted on the first post?

kyrathaba · « **Reply #117 on:** August 11, 2011, 02:05 PM »

And what about the current scores already there? Is my 2nd place one going to get removed since it was an older version potentially taking me out of -> "The top-three high-scoring DC members will receive an additional prize from the site." as you posted on the first post?

Sorry, I should have been clearer. No, your existing high-scores won't get culled. But any scores you may submit that exceed your existing high-score will be checked by the PHP script to ensure that they were submitted by a patched version of the program. If they weren't, eventually the sweeper will get them.

hamradio · « **Reply #118 on:** August 11, 2011, 03:31 PM »

Thanks for clearing it up more for everyone.

kyrathaba · « **Reply #119 on:** August 11, 2011, 03:34 PM »

You bet! Thank you for making me aware of the need for clarification

thancock20 · « **Reply #120 on:** August 17, 2011, 09:37 PM »

One of the advantages of playing a lot, as you have, is that you become familiar with puzzles seen previously, allowing you to solve faster. You'll remember the one that stumped you, the next time you come across it
-kyrathaba (August 03, 2011, 07:45 PM)

And just when I was beginning to think that I had every puzzle memorized I get done in by a mayor:

Hangman 2.gif

And on that note, I think I'm going to not play for a while. It took me somewhere around an hour and a half to get that score, and I don't think I'm going to have that kind of time again for a while.

kyrathaba · « **Reply #121 on:** August 18, 2011, 05:59 AM »

Somehow, I don't think you have anything to worry about, unless hamradio or some new contender suddenly upsets your lead

kyrathaba · « **Reply #122 on:** August 21, 2011, 01:34 PM »

I've released version 1.0.4.5, which adds the following two features:

At program startup, the program checks online for a newer version. If it finds a newer available version, it offers the user the option (via Yes/No messagebox) to launch a download of the newer version in their default browser. This differs from previous releases, in which the newer version was downloaded directly by the Hangman program itself. By launching in the browser, I'm able to specify a special sort of link that my PHP ccount script can leverage to keep a more accurate count of the total number of downloads the program has received.
At program startup, if this is the nth time the program has executed on the user's machine (currently n = 12), the program will execute a one-time-only prompt for a donation -- which the user can easily opt to ignore. The is the only time the program will ever prompt regarding a donation. If the user responds negatively, s/he is still free at some future point to manually initiate a donation by using the Donate button in the About dialog.

kyrathaba · « **Reply #123 on:** August 21, 2011, 02:04 PM »

And whadyaknow? I found a bug and have released the fix as version 1.0.4.6. You can view the text help file using the Help menu if you want to see the release notes. In case you don't want to have to look it up, though, here's a screenshot:

kyrathaba · « **Reply #124 on:** August 27, 2011, 08:42 PM »

Reminder: anyone wishing to win the August highscore award, you've got some work to do... 4 days remaining before DonationCredits are awarded.