c4countdown

JackHurst

Why do Train strikes only seem to happen on the same days as Co-Events

JackHurst

RIP David. Thoughts with his family.

JackHurst

Get a haircut

JackHurst

Fastest conundrum solve? Adam G unscrambled ALLIGATOR in 100ms Person who's declared the most nines? 579 - Joshuorgz 434 - SNATCH-IT! 395 - Joshuorgz (he must have got a new phones at some point) How many nines have been declared on the app overall? Who's won the most Daily Challenges? 9165 Who's w...

JackHurst

Sam Prouse: Played 6 won 3 Eeshan Malhotra: Played 6 won 3 Both players got all 3 of their Losses vs players in the top 7 and all of their wins vs players not in the top 7. End of the day Sam: 8th Place, 680 Focal points Eeshan: 17th Place 320 Focal points So for a roughly equivalent performance fro...

JackHurst

For a few days there will be 2 daily challenges per day. I'll be keeping a close eye on how it affects the overall daily usage stats.

JackHurst

Count me in. Looking forward to this format!

JackHurst

What's the biggest points difference between two Octochamps A and B where A got a higher octo total than B, but B had a better % of available points scored in their octo run?

JackHurst

The way I designed the backend isn't really coping with the amount of data we now have. I need to redesign it but this will take some time. In the mean time, the safest thing to do is not to restore the old data. That data is there backed up, but I will wait until I have re-architected the backend b...

JackHurst

3 goat picks in a game isn't enough

JackHurst

What do people think about groups of players conspiring against another? For example "James I will give you 3 brick and 3 wood for one ore so you can build three roads and take the longest road away from Bob" Feels like a perfectly legitimate and fair thing to do in some circumstances. Whe...

JackHurst

It's a bit of a privacy invasion to go making wiki pages for people who have only been to events. Also what value does it add to the wiki?

JackHurst

Then I decided to go to Bristol format for the main final. As Conor had 6/6, he went straight to the final, the matches were positional, with the exception of Alan v Matt for 2nd/3rd, as the winner of that would play Conor in the grand final. I think it's a great idea to try squeezing in a 7th game...

JackHurst

The topic of ranking top current players is an interesting one. I think there is such a high level of subjectivity to it because we don't really have a perfect way to find out who the best players are. Apterous: - Too much historical cheating to trust the data fully - Bias towards people who play a ...

JackHurst

It looks like we just lost the all of the data from around 2am yesterday until about 11am today. Since apologies to all those who had some of their scores wiped. There may be some of you who did yesterdays and todays daily challenges where it now looks like you didn't do it. Unfortunately there was ...

JackHurst

I just did some server updates on the app. All data should have been migrated, but let me know if you see any funny business. There will now also be regular automated backups, so if the server decides to spontaneously die again, we won't lose as much data as before. You will also notice a few change...

JackHurst

I notice that the "Max games" section of the 10-second 15-rounder leaderboard is conspicuously empty... I came close to rectifying that with this game - http://jackhurst.co.uk/countdowngame?QmXKq1 - but a slightly disappointing miss in R7 spoiled it. Nonetheless, it's not a bad 10-second ...

JackHurst

Depends on when and what the score is and what part of the game you are in. If it was the final letters round and I am 8 ahead with a dodgy 7 that I think my opponent won't spot then it makes sense to risk it. If the risk pays off you are no longer on for a crucial, and if the risk backfires you are...

JackHurst

Here's one idea for numbers. The target is a 4 digit number where one digit is a "?" (i.e another joker). As long as you make a number which matches the overall pattern of the target, you get 10 points. Another way to think about it is its a numbers game where the target is 10 times bigger...

JackHurst

I am in the process of creating some Countdown variations to add to my app: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=uk.co.jackhurst.countdown.production&hl=en&gl=US One such creation is Jokerdown . So far I have implemented only the letters and the gameplay is designed to keep the smal...

JackHurst

Things that you were once oblivious to, but now you noticed it one time, you can't help but notice them every time. I will start with a couple. Matt Bellamy's incredibly loud breathing in during pretty much every Muse song. Honestly it sounds like he is singing with hiccups. Whenever I eat an apple,...

JackHurst

Version 1.53 will be rolling out to devices over the next couple of days. This update contains the most requested feature: Pay to remove ads! Up to now the app has been entirely free with a small number of adverts generating a trickle of income. I'm interested to see how it will go giving the player...

JackHurst

I've just completed restoring the historic data. Unfortunately we have lost all games occurring between 5pm 20th August until 11am 19th September, but everything else should be fine. If you see any further issues please get in touch. My estimate is that over that period of data loss, we had: Approx ...

JackHurst

Downloaded the app yesterday! I hope you don't mind me sharing my thoughts here:... Thanks for the feedback. - An undo button on the numbers screen is the most commonly requested feature and high on my list. I will most likely end up redoing whole numbers screen at some point - Letter Animations: G...

JackHurst

Neil A Collins wrote: ↑Wed Sep 21, 2022 7:02 am Been getting some dodgy game ads recently. (now is when Jack tells me they're based on cookies...)

Interesting. I don't specify exactly which ads appear, but I do have some control over blocking specific things. Feel free to direct message me more details or a screenshot.

JackHurst

It's now fixed thanks to a bit of help from a close friend. Functionality is fully back with leaderboards and daily challenge operational again. There is some data loss and scoreboards have been reset. I will attempt to restore the historical data later this week. Until then it's a good chance to ge...

JackHurst

It looks like the backend has decided to take a holiday at the exact same time as me going on holiday. This means I won't be able to investigate and fix it until Friday when I have computer access again. Until then you will still be able to play games as usual, but the following will probably not wo...

JackHurst

Matt Morrison wrote: ↑Sun Sep 18, 2022 2:54 pm Can you two please keep it civil, otherwise we'll all be forced to witness you Jack-off.

Jack it in man.

JackHurst

So, let's not beat around the bush here. It's a hard truth but it's an unavoidable one. After much testing and unsuccessful rehabilitation, it has been determined that there is no hope of recovery for David, and he is being moved into hospice care for whatever time he has left. That's incredibly sa...

JackHurst

If we changed it to 13, the top 8 would in theory be more weighted to those who have done more events rather than those who've performed well. As it stands, 1 person has played 13, with a further 4 likely to. Only 1 person who isn't in the current top 8 would be if we'd extended it to 13, and they'...

JackHurst

Brilliant to see Joseph back on the show and getting a well earned teapot. He held his nerve well in such a close game.

Daniel had some lovely spots in that game, and he seemed very well mannered and relaxed for somebody his age. It's a shame only one of the players could win!

JackHurst

Matt Morrison wrote: ↑Fri Sep 09, 2022 8:36 am
Philip A wrote: ↑Thu Sep 08, 2022 6:46 pm
Countdown Team wrote: ↑Thu Sep 08, 2022 6:24 pm Nov 7 - 9, broadcast from Jan 2nd to Jan 20, 2023 as things stand.
Obvs changeable given todays sad news.
Thanks for letting us know.
I heard it on the BBC.

Rofl

JackHurst

It looks like Co:Bra 2022 will use the grouped QF SF Final format, similar to what Co:Man did this year. I'd like to reiterate a point I made earlier this year. Consensus among other players has only grown stronger then what it was when I posted this in February! Another drawback of some Bristol sty...

JackHurst

Version 1.49 of the app will be rolling out to your devices over the coming days. Make sure you are up to date by the 8th, because on the 8th there will be some special daily challenges to celebrate it being the 100th day of daily challenges. As always, if you are enjoying the app, consider leaving ...

JackHurst

Philip A wrote: ↑Mon Jul 18, 2022 9:52 pm Polite suggestion for future updates: invalid answers should not be spelled out on the letters board.

Invalid answers on the letters solutions screen will be red as of version 1.49

JackHurst

I notice there are now 100 max games on the leaderboards. Good stuff everyone! We might be over 200 now. I'll do a bit of digging later. Are there any other stats people want to know? Some stats from August: 237k Letters rounds played 211k Numbers rounds played 52k Conundrum rounds played All time ...

JackHurst

My feeling in this is that Damian (and the other people on his team) were not aware of any errors in the guidelines, and that if this gets pointed out, they will be very grateful to whoever brings it to their attention, and happy to revise it. Agree 100% with this post. Strongly disagree with the i...

JackHurst

Fiona T wrote: ↑Wed Aug 31, 2022 8:44 pmA contestant that, having read the rules, declared suncream would rightly be very aggrieved to have it disallowed.

Very true. But also shit happens.

JackHurst

If the contestant guidelines said you get 18 points for sticking your head in the oven during a around, half of you would do it during an Apterous game and wonder why it didn't work.

JackHurst

You are inferring solutions from one problem and trying to apply them as rules to solve another problem which is not the same. Damian Eadie's problem: I have 2500 letters rounds of Countdown to produce a year for TV and 200 contestant to keep happy. How can I succinctly write a set of rules to keep ...

JackHurst

One thing I there's consensus on is how shit red delicious are. I've never known anybody deliberately buy one to eat from the shop. The only time you ever see them eaten is in offices / hotels etc where there is free fruit and everything else has been taken.

JackHurst

I'm talking about the fruit. One a day keeps the doctor away, but which would you like to have the most and which would you want to avoid?

God tier:
Pink Lady

Good tier:
Jazz
Braeburn
Honey Crisp

Ok tier:
Gala

Shit tier:
Golden Delicious
Red delicious
Granny smith

JackHurst

I've not played it online, but I reckon it must lose a big dimension of the game. For me the personal interaction, persuasion and deception (not talking about breaking rules, but about throwing attention away from yourself) are all good parts of the game.

JackHurst

Loving the level of analysis in this thread. I have a copy of Catan and would love to get more use out of it. Sounds like Dan is already the expert. One additional piece of advice I would add is about timing when you pay your dev cards. With monopoly ideally you time it just after somebody jas had a...

JackHurst

Thanks for running Tony, and congrats to Ronan on a solid victory

JackHurst

Just wondering if there are any pirates out there or someone managed to copy the source code onto another website :? If anyone knows then please send me a link to it :D Many thanks and much appreciated !! Even if somebody did manage to reverse engineer the front end website you'd have no hope of th...

JackHurst

If trying to share or promote this app, what is the best direct link to use. Here is the link: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=uk.co.jackhurst.countdown.production At some point I'll make a landing page for the app and it should make the whole process of sharing/ promoting the app loo...

JackHurst

So it will be interesting to see whether Countdown will reject this, and now use just one dictionary for adjudication in the studio and in the gallery. I emailed them to ask, and the response was that Oxford always has and always will be the source of truth for word adjudication. Lexico has been a ...

JackHurst

It might be possible that dictionary.com introduce a feature to filter based on "English" or they might just do a good job of specifying in the definitions of something is English or not.

JackHurst

Graeme Cole wrote: ↑Fri Aug 05, 2022 6:11 pm I am at a loss as to how anyone can have a strong opinion on this.

+1

JackHurst

Train strikes same day as co Brum
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-62325025

JackHurst

Question: In the Daily Duel thing, how come the three people tied in first place are marked as being 1st 2nd and 3rd? Is the time taken to solve shit taken into consideration to split ties? This is now fixed. Players on tied scores are given an equal ranking on all leaderboards. Scores on all score...

JackHurst

Question: In the Daily Duel thing, how come the three people tied in first place are marked as being 1st 2nd and 3rd? Is the time taken to solve shit taken into consideration to split ties? Ties should be displayed as equal. It's an oversize from me that the app doesn't do this now. I'll fix it for...

JackHurst

I'd be interested to know the split between people who play at co events by looking at the tiles vs those who wrote the selection down and play from their handwriting?

Personally I find looking at the tiles incredibly difficult so I always write down letters and numbers.

JackHurst

Are we really going to entertain the idea that it could be anybody other than Conor? Longevity: He's been at the top of the game for 17 years, winning a series of Countdown in 2005, and consistently being one of the strongest players at any point in time all the way to now in 2022. He won Colin firs...

JackHurst

Interested to see how this goes! Perhaps a good way for C4 to try out a few candidates for the full time slot

JackHurst

Just a note on the observations that some tables using tech will have an unfair advantage over those using cards due to 'nicer' selections: most Lincoln style events have several different decks being used across the tables and often some tables have noticeably nicer selections than others so that'...

JackHurst

Well it's great that you are such an enthusiast of the app, and also cool that you are wanting to try and use it for the event. Keep in mind that the app is currently intended for single player use so doesn't really support a "pass n play" style right now. Graeme raises some good points. S...

JackHurst

Polite suggestion for future updates: invalid answers should not be spelled out on the letters board. Users may not necessarily notice their word is not in the dictionary as indicated by the script, especially if their eyesight/attention to detail is compromised. Invalid words crossd out in the gam...

JackHurst

Anybody had any good games recently? Pretty chuffed to have just got an 8 Darren max game

Check out my score of 158 on the Countdown Android app
http://jackhurst.co.uk/countdowngame?QxXOJo

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