IRC Countdown...in 2016?

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JimBentley
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IRC Countdown...in 2016?

Post by JimBentley »

Like going back fifteen years in time.

Except even worse. Did we really do this sort of thing back then? Yoinks.
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Re: IRC Countdown...in 2016?

Post by Johnny Canuck »

I actually found this and tried to log on, but nobody answered me...
I'm not dead yet. In a rut right now because of stress from work. I'll be back later in S89. I also plan to bring back the Mastergram - if I can find a way to run a timer or clock through pure MediaWiki without having to upload to Vimeo every time.
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Re: IRC Countdown...in 2016?

Post by JimBentley »

Johnny Canuck wrote:I actually found this and tried to log on, but nobody answered me...
I've (just about) managed a game on it. Forget about anyone turning up, just play it single player. No idea what dictionary they use and didn't really get chance to figure out if it was US or UK English and the numbers rounds are fun simply to try out what formats it will (and won't) accept.

Maybe it's just a programming project, but even so, you'd think someone attempting such a thing would at least see if someone's done something similar, if only to rip off the better ideas.
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Re: IRC Countdown...in 2016?

Post by Gavin Chipper »

How do you actually play though? It doesn't seem to work.
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Re: IRC Countdown...in 2016?

Post by Zarte Siempre »

Heh, thought this might be about this. I had a play about with it. It was OK in a very basic sort of a way. It uses OED3 I think.
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Re: IRC Countdown...in 2016?

Post by Ryan Taylor »

I just went on and managed to play a game. It wasn't long after declaring PLEURON and ALMONER that I was accused of cheating. After a bit of a chat about Countdown and apterous etc. it transpires that the IRC game thing was set up by jamesstanley (nickname on that channel) under the instruction of his friend banzaikitten (also nickname on there). Banzaikitten wanted some way to play Countdown whilst at work, and there were also other games they could play too on it but I didn't follow that.

Anyway, there was a fairly decent player on it with the nickname HC2 but reluctant to apterous. Knew all about apterous and Countdown players etc. but has never signed up to apterous apparently. Given that this HC2's only way of practising was this IRC and reading recaps and covering up the letters, I encouraged HC2 to give apterous a go.

They have read this topic on there too and now wish to murder you Jim over your hurtful comments about their IRC Countdown :P :lol:
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Re: IRC Countdown...in 2016?

Post by JimBentley »

Ryan Taylor wrote:They have read this topic on there too and now wish to murder you Jim over your hurtful comments about their IRC Countdown :P :lol:
Good. My address is freely available on the internet and they're welcome to come around and murder me anytime they like.

I can't be held responsible for any collateral damage though, I should make clear now.


edited to say: how do I get in touch with them? I wish a right of reply.
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Re: IRC Countdown...in 2016?

Post by Gavin Chipper »

Seriously though, how are you supposed to play? It says about !start and !go, but they don't seem to do anything.
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Re: IRC Countdown...in 2016?

Post by JimBentley »

Gavin Chipper wrote:Seriously though, how are you supposed to play? It says about !start and !go, but they don't seem to do anything.
!start seems to initiate the idea of a game, which you then have to !join. You can wait around to see if anyone else joins in (in practice this step can usually be skipped, because if there are any actual humans logged on, they take reticence to the point of absurdity and won't !join in, even if you ask them). If you then type !go you can have a one player game (not against a bot, just a one-player exercise against nothing).

In the unlikely event of you actually finding someone on there to play against, be prepared for the following:

- the letter and number tiles are absolutely tiny and squashed-up; might look good on 640x480 but nobody uses that anymore
- the numbers entry interface defies belief; it has to be done in one line, however complex (and you have to use * instead of x for multiplications)
- although there's a 30 second limit, it's immaterial because you can always see the letters/numbers when entering your solution
- conundrums can be - and usually are - plurals
- anyone you play will accuse you of cheating

Aside from that, it's fine. Have fun! *









* unlikely
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Re: IRC Countdown...in 2016?

Post by Ian Volante »

I'm not sure you should be promoting the competition here - apterites will be deserting in their droves.
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Re: IRC Countdown...in 2016?

Post by Ryan Taylor »

JimBentley wrote:
- the letter and number tiles are absolutely tiny and squashed-up; might look good on 640x480 but nobody uses that anymore
- the numbers entry interface defies belief; it has to be done in one line, however complex (and you have to use * instead of x for multiplications)
- although there's a 30 second limit, it's immaterial because you can always see the letters/numbers when entering your solution
- conundrums can be - and usually are - plurals
- anyone you play will accuse you of cheating

Aside from that, it's fine. Have fun! *

* unlikely
Ha, can vouch for all these things that I encountered in the 2 games I played.
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Re: IRC Countdown...in 2016?

Post by Zarte Siempre »

Ryan Taylor wrote:Given that this HC2's only way of practising was this IRC and reading recaps and covering up the letters...
If he covers the letters when he reads the recap, isn't he just looking at the declarations... ;)
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Re: IRC Countdown...in 2016?

Post by JimBentley »

I forgot to post this the other day (I was playing as 'Standard' as I just choose a random word to log in as):

Image

My answer was in about 15 seconds and it took a further 25 seconds for that message to appear to say that it went unsolved. It's not case-sensitive, incidentally.

It's just crap. If I was this "James Stanley" character I'd be thoroughly ashamed of myself.
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Re: IRC Countdown...in 2016?

Post by Tom »

As said above; looks about 15 years old!

Round 2000/2001 time all I can remember Countdown game wise was a download of the real game which was ok for the time but nothing special, a website run by a former semi-finalist that had a monthly game which you could submit your answers to (really good at the time) and then a handheld game that was pretty naff and came in the contestant goody bags! The handheld game was apparently the secret to how Julian Fell became so good at the game!

In 2002 when I did my series finals there were talks (and I think in fairly advanced stages) of having a Countdown game where you could play people across the Internet. A lot of the players at the time were aware of the development and I'm sure would have had the potential to give Apterous a run for its money on its day. However I believe the idea got scrapped due to copyright issues.

Would have been interesting to see the Internet one go ahead as I think it would have definitely raised the bar but wouldn't have done as much as Apterous and I don't think you would have had a lot of the "Apterous type" players on the show as a result of the PC game.
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Re: IRC Countdown...in 2016?

Post by JJ Smith »

Just played a game. The con was SLIDEWAYS which is a plural noun. Also had RURALIZE disallowed.

It's actually not that bad. But I spent about a minute trying to figure out what was wrong with my numbers solution (x instead of *) and it still gave me the points. Hope it doesn't do that when you play real opponents.
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Re: IRC Countdown...in 2016?

Post by James Stanley »

Hi guys. I am the guy who wrote this game.

I'm sorry some of you didn't like my game! I wrote it over the course of 2 evenings, basically as a joke, after meeting banzaikitten in IRC. It isn't intended to be a 100% accurate reconstruction of countdown, it's a just a bit of fun for us to play on IRC. Definitely not a serious competitor to Apterous.

If you like it, you can play it. If you don't like it, you don't have to play it. And if you don't like IRC you're not going to like IRC games.

Anyway I'm pretty flattered that there is a forum topic about it.

Incidentally, banzaikitten reports that he has been unable to create an account on this forum, I wonder if some admins could take a look at that?

Cheers,
James
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Re: IRC Countdown...in 2016?

Post by Ben Wilson »

James Stanley wrote:Incidentally, banzaikitten reports that he has been unable to create an account on this forum, I wonder if some admins could take a look at that?

Cheers,
James
What name did he register with? The forum has a 'real name' policy so if he registered with 'banzaikitten' it would've been ignored.
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Re: IRC Countdown...in 2016?

Post by Zarte Siempre »

That's clearly discrimination. My great Uncle Wodafeck Banzaikitten wouldn't have stood for this.
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Re: IRC Countdown...in 2016?

Post by Johnny Canuck »

Ben Wilson wrote:The forum has a 'real name' policy
Fine, I'll delete everything and pack up.
I'm not dead yet. In a rut right now because of stress from work. I'll be back later in S89. I also plan to bring back the Mastergram - if I can find a way to run a timer or clock through pure MediaWiki without having to upload to Vimeo every time.
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Re: IRC Countdown...in 2016?

Post by Ben Wilson »

Johnny Canuck wrote:
Ben Wilson wrote:The forum has a 'real name' policy
Fine, I'll delete everything and pack up.
Yours at least looks like a real name if you let your eyes unfocus. Single-name usernames get automatically filtered, everything else is looked at case by case.
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Re: IRC Countdown...in 2016?

Post by Gavin Chipper »

Ben Wilson wrote:
James Stanley wrote:Incidentally, banzaikitten reports that he has been unable to create an account on this forum, I wonder if some admins could take a look at that?

Cheers,
James
What name did he register with? The forum has a 'real name' policy so if he registered with 'banzaikitten' it would've been ignored.
Of course, there's no such thing as a "real" name. Names are just arbitrary labels attached to people, even if some have legal status. None of these names has ever been spotted in physical form.
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Re: IRC Countdown...in 2016?

Post by Graeme Cole »

Gavin Chipper wrote:
Ben Wilson wrote:
James Stanley wrote:Incidentally, banzaikitten reports that he has been unable to create an account on this forum, I wonder if some admins could take a look at that?

Cheers,
James
What name did he register with? The forum has a 'real name' policy so if he registered with 'banzaikitten' it would've been ignored.
Of course, there's no such thing as a "real" name. Names are just arbitrary labels attached to people, even if some have legal status. None of these names has ever been spotted in physical form.
Gavin of the Chipper family.
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Re: IRC Countdown...in 2016?

Post by Ian Volante »

Gavin Chipper wrote:
Ben Wilson wrote:
James Stanley wrote:Incidentally, banzaikitten reports that he has been unable to create an account on this forum, I wonder if some admins could take a look at that?

Cheers,
James
What name did he register with? The forum has a 'real name' policy so if he registered with 'banzaikitten' it would've been ignored.
Of course, there's no such thing as a "real" name. Names are just arbitrary labels attached to people, even if some have legal status. None of these names has ever been spotted in physical form.
http://legalnamefraud.com/
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Re: IRC Countdown...in 2016?

Post by JimBentley »

James Stanley wrote:Hi guys. I am the guy who wrote this game.

I'm sorry some of you didn't like my game! I wrote it over the course of 2 evenings, basically as a joke, after meeting banzaikitten in IRC. It isn't intended to be a 100% accurate reconstruction of countdown, it's a just a bit of fun for us to play on IRC. Definitely not a serious competitor to Apterous.

If you like it, you can play it. If you don't like it, you don't have to play it. And if you don't like IRC you're not going to like IRC games.

Anyway I'm pretty flattered that there is a forum topic about it.

Incidentally, banzaikitten reports that he has been unable to create an account on this forum, I wonder if some admins could take a look at that?

Cheers,
James
Good on you for coming here, sir, but there's really no need to justify your work. As you pointed out, it is what it is, attempts to be nothing more and performs that function perfectly well. I suppose my criticisms were borne of there being so many obvious things that could be improved, but now I know the history, it makes a lot more sense.

I mean, I've written programs with user interfaces so ridiculously opaque that I've come back to them a couple of years later and literally had no clue what to do to get to do them to do anything at all! That said, I am a very poor quality programmer.
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Re: IRC Countdown...in 2016?

Post by Matt Morrison »

Ian Volante wrote:http://legalnamefraud.com/
Assuming (in that you linked) you know a bit about this, can you summarise?
I have seen one or two massive billboard posters in London with the "illegal to use a legal name" message that have been up for many months but as they never had a URL on them or anything I was too lazy/forgetful to Google. A quick peruse on the website looks like some hippy conspiracy stuff against The Man. Opinions?
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Re: IRC Countdown...in 2016?

Post by JimBentley »

Matt Morrison wrote:
Ian Volante wrote:http://legalnamefraud.com/
Assuming (in that you linked) you know a bit about this, can you summarise?
I have seen one or two massive billboard posters in London with the "illegal to use a legal name" message that have been up for many months but as they never had a URL on them or anything I was too lazy/forgetful to Google. A quick peruse on the website looks like some hippy conspiracy stuff against The Man. Opinions?
Yeah, that's what I was wondering too. I only looked at the site for a couple of minutes but it seems to boil down to "everyone's parents are evil and are committing an act of violence by naming their children blah blah woo woo woo". Anyway, I read enough to identify it as - if not grade A, Icke-style weapons grade bullshit - bullshit nevertheless.
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Re: IRC Countdown...in 2016?

Post by Ian Volante »

JimBentley wrote:
Matt Morrison wrote:
Ian Volante wrote:http://legalnamefraud.com/
Assuming (in that you linked) you know a bit about this, can you summarise?
I have seen one or two massive billboard posters in London with the "illegal to use a legal name" message that have been up for many months but as they never had a URL on them or anything I was too lazy/forgetful to Google. A quick peruse on the website looks like some hippy conspiracy stuff against The Man. Opinions?
Yeah, that's what I was wondering too. I only looked at the site for a couple of minutes but it seems to boil down to "everyone's parents are evil and are committing an act of violence by naming their children blah blah woo woo woo". Anyway, I read enough to identify it as - if not grade A, Icke-style weapons grade bullshit - bullshit nevertheless.
Somebody with too much money and too much time I suspect. Better this than buggering badgers I suppose.
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Re: IRC Countdown...in 2016?

Post by Anthony Endsor »

I've just had a go at this. What an absolute crock of **** :lol:
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Re: IRC Countdown...in 2016?

Post by Conor »

I quite like it. If anything, it shows us just how spoilt we are by apterous.
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Re: IRC Countdown...in 2016?

Post by Elliott Mellor »

Greetings, I'm HC2.

I've known about this site for several months now, and Chris Marshall also mentioned it when I sat next to him at a Countdown recording in October. I have come over due to needing tougher competition and just in general needing something better than what I was using. The exotic variants on here also very much enticed me. So, this was the first thing I asked for at Christmas.

I think some of the things on here about the IRC game are certainly a little harsh in context lol, for a free game it's pretty damned good. It's now not just 9 rounders you can play, and I have done my best to add in a load of words to the dictionary (literally me combing through recaps and oed updates, checking if the game disallowed them and typing them out), so it's a bit better in that respect. Though to be honest any new words that aren't in it are words that the average person will be unlikely to know and thus it won't matter, as the game is aimed at more average need something to do in a coffee break at work fans. Also, the letters selections are now much nicer, as a nifty little bit of code was added in by James that meant that the more a letter had come up in a round, the less likely it was to come up again in that round, so selections like IIIAFFHJD are now a thing of the past. In addition to this, there is now a slightly elongated time for the conundrum of 32s, since you have to type in the full answer and thus if you spot it on 28-29s you won't be able to type it in and submit it otherwise. All the die hard fans will come over to here like obviously, since this site is much better than anything else that is or ever will be available, massive credit to Charlie on all the work he has clearly done on here. I will certainly be using this awesome site mainly from now on, though I won't leave the IRC game because I do have work that I like to do on the channel and it's just nice to see the odd person come on who is enthusiastic about Countdown, and also to chat to people like James and banzaikitten.

It's also got a little bit Christmassy! At the end of a game there is a neat little thing and the colour of the letters has been changed. The entry message has also been changed by me, since I got bored of the old one. It will frequently be changed now that I'm an operator on the channel lol.

You'll also probably wonder why my pseudonym is HC2 (actually you probably won't lol). HC stands for Human Calculator, which is a nickname I've always had since I seem to have a weird natural ability in that I can give you the answer to any arithmetic equation faster than a calculator can. The 2 is just that my birth year is 2000, and HC2000 looked strange, so I opted for HC2 instead.
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Re: IRC Countdown...in 2016?

Post by Gavin Chipper »

Elliott Mellor wrote:Greetings, I'm HC2.
Hello.
You'll also probably wonder why my pseudonym is HC2 (actually you probably won't lol). HC stands for Human Calculator, which is a nickname I've always had since I seem to have a weird natural ability in that I can give you the answer to any arithmetic equation faster than a calculator can.
That's pretty fast. Are you sure you're that fast?
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Re: IRC Countdown...in 2016?

Post by Elliott Mellor »

Gavin Chipper wrote:
Elliott Mellor wrote:Greetings, I'm HC2.
Hello.
You'll also probably wonder why my pseudonym is HC2 (actually you probably won't lol). HC stands for Human Calculator, which is a nickname I've always had since I seem to have a weird natural ability in that I can give you the answer to any arithmetic equation faster than a calculator can.
That's pretty fast. Are you sure you're that fast?
I'm telling the truth, I can assure you. Anyone who has witnessed me will testify to it.
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Re: IRC Countdown...in 2016?

Post by Mark Deeks »

7*8. Go.
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Re: IRC Countdown...in 2016?

Post by Elliott Mellor »

Ooh...tough one...erm...erm..:-P
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Re: IRC Countdown...in 2016?

Post by Mark Deeks »

Couldn't help but notice that you didn't solve it. Story doesn't check out, ban him.
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Re: IRC Countdown...in 2016?

Post by Gavin Chipper »

Elliott Mellor wrote: Sat Dec 24, 2016 8:10 pm
Gavin Chipper wrote:
Elliott Mellor wrote:Greetings, I'm HC2.
Hello.
You'll also probably wonder why my pseudonym is HC2 (actually you probably won't lol). HC stands for Human Calculator, which is a nickname I've always had since I seem to have a weird natural ability in that I can give you the answer to any arithmetic equation faster than a calculator can.
That's pretty fast. Are you sure you're that fast?
I'm telling the truth, I can assure you. Anyone who has witnessed me will testify to it.
I think it's time to revisit this claim. How exactly are you measuring this? I just typed in 1234 x 5678 into my laptop calculator, and it came up with the answer pretty much straight away - certainly too quick to put a stopwatch on and likely to be less than 0.1 seconds. So how can you verify that you're quicker?
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Re: IRC Countdown...in 2016?

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