The Authoritative Minesweeper Guestbook

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Viewing Page 19 of 23 (Total Entries: 2239)

Mar 25th 2004 at 12:02:52 PM
Name:  

Jon S

Comments:  

The poll is up and running. I suggest that we first decide if we want limits, and then decide what they should be (if the programmers are willing to implement limits of course).

   
Mar 25th 2004 at 11:44:19 AM
Name:  

Jon S

Comments:  



What a wonderful day. I got a 5,16 3BV/sec on a 23 3BV beginner board on the clone. The only bad thing is that I've been sick the last two weeks. I don't think that affects the sweeping too much, though. Except when I have to cough that is.

I was just thinking a little about the system for calculating 3BV/s. If a player for example finishes a 2 3BV board in 0,25 seconds, he'll get a 3BV/s of 8. But the frequency of the clicking is only 4 clicks/s (if he used 2 clicks). It would seem more reasonable that the first click doesn't count in the calculation. Since we have been using the other system for some time, I believe someone might think otherwise. Feel free to give your opinions. As for 1 3BV boards finished in "no time at all", I think the 3BV/s should not be defined (as would be the case when there's 0 in the denominator). The problem would of course be solved for the clone if there was a limit of minimum 2 3BV for any board. If I were to choose, I'd say we should have limits on the boards. The problem is that it would make a difference between the orignal and the clone. I would suggest the following limits:

- Beginner: 2 or 3 3BV. This would reduce the chance of finishing a board by pure luck.
- Intermediate: Limit somewhere between 20 and 30.
- Expert: Limit somewhere between 80 and 120

I think I'll set up a poll about limits in the addicts group.

   
Mar 25th 2004 at 05:26:39 AM
Name:  

Elmar

Comments:  

@rodrigo: just got that runtime error that occurs when you break your record and the autosave directory doesn't exist.... I thought that had been fixed.

   
Mar 24th 2004 at 11:56:51 PM
Name:  

Stephen Again

Comments:  

This is utterly retarded. I am up until 1 in the morning playing minesweeper, getting ridiculously close to my record but not beating it. coming close to getting a 61 after 55 but noooo had to click a 50/50 loss. I officially hate this game with a passion. Time to go to sleep tell me to go to sleep i have a midterm tomorrow. FRICK

   
Mar 24th 2004 at 11:12:14 PM
Name:  

Stephen Arnason

Best expert:  

65

Comments:  

Holy Frick! i cannot, for the love of pete, get under 65. i'll get at most 73... my last 10 expert games won have been 67 69 68 71 73 72 70 71 70 69 in that order. like i can't buy three seconds for anything. AHHH

   
Mar 24th 2004 at 04:09:32 PM
Name:  

Active Ranking

Comments:  

**** Deadline Friday @ 20:00 GMT/ 3pm EST ****

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Mar 24th 2004 at 03:46:48 PM
Name:  

Dave Matson

Comments:  

@ Lance: Hey! Don't leave Canada out! We're not that far away!!!

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Mar 24th 2004 at 03:24:00 PM
Name:  

Lance

Comments:  

err... I-80 Truck Stop, not I-80 exit

also, this dumb guestbook ***'d out the word c-u-m when I was referring to the guy's credentials! Sheesh Ah well, censorship is best, apparently

Lance

   
Mar 24th 2004 at 03:21:53 PM
Name:  

Lance

Comments:  

@Katy - you are correct, the I-80 exit is very near Iowa City, maybe 20-30 miles. It would be fun if you were coming through someday to get the together with the rest of the Eastern Iowa Sweepers. I've never met Dan, and I don't know that he'd be interested (maybe I'll let him speak for himself if he wants to, eh? ), but it might be fun all the same, and would be a good way to get some sweeping connections in the USA. If you're interested in setting this up, keep it in mind when you are planning your travels and let us Iowa (or surrounding states?) sweepers know!

@all - I spoke with a linguistics friend of mine as well (the man graduated Summa *** Laude from the University of Iowa with degrees in Spanish and Linguistics and will be going to grad school at UC Berkeley for Linguistics) and also spoke with a mutual friend who is an author, and they swear that "mouses" is correct when referring to more than one computer mouse; and, of course, "mice" is for the living rodents! So, I trust their advice on that issue Ah, the intricacies of the English language! Happy sweeping, all!

Lance

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Mar 24th 2004 at 02:25:35 PM
Name:  

Martin Toft Madsen

Comments:  

As far as I remember I didn't need my passport on my bike trip from Denmark to Paris last summer. Maybe at the ferry from Denmark to Germany (I don't recall), but not at any other border, and we biked through Germany, The Netherlands, Belgium and France

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Mar 24th 2004 at 02:05:03 PM
Name:  

Daniele

Comments:  

I live in Italy, so i'm in the UE. No controls are required into UE, and when going out you just need an identity document. I don't know what happens if you come from USA.

About the tournament..i thnik it would be a very nice thing, but veru difficult to realize...

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Mar 24th 2004 at 01:37:34 PM
Name:  

James

Best expert:  

74

Best intermediate:  

20

Comments:  

Hi everyone,

I have not been playing for the last 6 months because I was working hard to get into Grad School. Now that I am accepted ( ) I am starting to play again. I almost had my first sub 70 on a 120 3bv yesterday, that would have been nice.

It is really exciting to see all that has happened in the last half-year. Thanks to everyone who is working to improve the game! It's cool that I don't even know half the people who are posting here now.

@Roman: According to my friend who is a graduate student in linguistic "mouses" is the correct plural form. However, that just sounds stupid to me, so I say "mice".

   
Mar 24th 2004 at 10:22:56 AM
Name:  

Daniel

Comments:  

@Dave (Morgan)

I reckon you would need one Dave... unless you get the ferry to France and train your way over

   
Mar 24th 2004 at 10:20:35 AM
Name:  

Daniel

Comments:  

@Dave.
From Ireland (untypical in Europe, it being an island) I only need a passport when checking in before travelling by air between EU countries. Sometimes immigration control requires it on arrival but never on arriving back to Ireland (they're too lazy to look). Passports aren't stamped.

I travel to England by ferry quite often and never need an ID but this may be a special arrangement between Ireland and the UK.

I did a bit of travelling around continental Europe when I was younger and don't recall any border controls whatsoever. But maybe I just don't remember them.

All EU citizens are automatically eligable to work anywhere inside the EU, which is handy!


@Roman
You're crazy! Nice photos.

   
Mar 24th 2004 at 10:14:43 AM
Name:  

Dave Morgan

Comments:  

I'd like to take this opportunity to say that Belkin make fantastic mice/mouses

I can't make it unless it was in the summer, but does anyone know if I'd need a passport to get from England to Vienna? Mine has expired

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Mar 24th 2004 at 10:02:08 AM
Name:  

Dave Matson

Comments:  

@ All Europeans: I was just wondering, what is it like crossing country borders in Europe? Is it just a matter of stopping at a checkpoint and talking with a border crossing guard, or is there more to it than that? I don't know, ever since I've started playing Minesweeper, I've become more interested in Europe!

   
Mar 24th 2004 at 09:43:53 AM
Name:  

Stephan

Comments:  

@Roman: wow, that's impressive. I've been using my two mice now for nearly continuous playing for about 3 years!

   
Mar 24th 2004 at 09:27:09 AM
Name:  

Roman

Comments:  

@Stephan: My old mice are damaged in different way - I need big effort to click, so it's incompatible to my click-a-lot style. By the way Mitsumi Classic Mouse resourse is 1.000.000 clicks on each button, I made about 1.500.000 left clicks and 2.000.000 right clicks during december, approximately same numbers in january and february. So one month=one mouse . In Moscow it's hard to find a shop which is selling such mice, because of this I bought ALL such mice in two shops - now I have 11 Mitsumi Classic Mice , six of them are new.

   
Mar 24th 2004 at 08:22:28 AM
Name:  

Stephan

Comments:  

@Roman: Nice to see that I'm not the only one who uses a Mitsumi Classic Mouse for playing minesweeper! My current mouse, as the one I used before, is only good for minesweeper as the left button is nearly damaged in a way that clicking is very easy and makes no noise at all. So I need only a bit of pressure to click. Do or did you have the same phenomenon with your mice?

   
Mar 24th 2004 at 07:53:50 AM
Name:  

Roman

Comments:  

Two images just for fun - my computer mice (or I should write "mouses"?? - I don't know correct plural form of "computer mouse") for minesweeper:

http://gammel.pisem.net/foto/mouse9.jpg (131Kb) - on some of them I wrote best results which were achieved on it, others are in stock for the future.

http://gammel.pisem.net/foto/creative.jpg (74Kb)- the same image but with me.

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Mar 24th 2004 at 04:11:59 AM
Name:  

Hem

Best expert:  

92

Best intermediate:  

30

Best beginner:  

7

Comments:  

Gohja...

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Mar 24th 2004 at 03:49:42 AM
Name:  

Daniele

Best expert:  

65

Best intermediate:  

17

Best beginner:  

2

Comments:  

Yesterday I obtained my 1000th sub 30!

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Mar 24th 2004 at 12:14:12 AM
Name:  

Stevan

Comments:  

Yeah, this is what I'm talking/writing all the time.

MS or Logitech could sponsor us, because it would be very good marketing trick for their mice/companies. The best player on tournament could maybe do a deal with them for production of special high resolution mouse with sign "recommended by (e.g. me )". I dunno but I think there are over 100.000.000 mice sold over the world per year, am I wrong, somebody have precise data about it?!?

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Mar 23rd 2004 at 11:22:46 PM
Name:  

Gergely Nagy

Comments:  

It's a great idea, Christoph!But again, the distances wouldn't allow it to happen If it will, despite all the responses, it would be only a European championship. I think most of us here in Europe can take a tour at a weekend - though money matters a lot. I personally can afford it, as I'm quite near /Budapest/, but with a sponsor, it would be much easier . Best would be convincing mouse-makers - their products compete here like tyre manufacturers in formula1 .

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Mar 23rd 2004 at 07:28:33 PM
Name:  

Katy LaVallee

Comments:  

Too bad I didn't know about the online Minesweeper community during the three years I lived in the Quad-Cities. Hey, maybe when we drive up to Illinois to see my family this Christmas we can all do lunch . Cedar Rapids isn't too far off I-80, if I recall correctly. Or maybe we could meet at that big I-80 truck stop. Isn't that in Iowa City???

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Mar 23rd 2004 at 06:14:20 PM
Name:  

Lance

Comments:  

I also agree that it is a good idea in principle, but probably not feasible for most sweepers, especially those outside of Europe. It's an interesting idea to try to convince Microsoft to sponsor us to convene somewhere, though. Anyone want to try emailing Bill Gates or someone in their marketing dept?

To answer Dave Matson's question, there are a lot of excellent sweepers in the US, two of which live in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Those two would be Dan Cerveny and myself. I think there is another person who lives nearby (sorry eman*******, I forget where you live!) It MIGHT be possible to do something in the US, depending on the location and the timing. I have to work Sundays, and I don't have any vacation time for at least 5 more months So if it was on a Friday or Saturday somewhere reasonably close to where I live, it could be possible for me. But again, money/school/work will be problems for many North Americans, too. Ah well. I'm not trashing the idea though, because it's very intriguing and something I would consider doing.

Happy sweeping, all!

Lance

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Mar 23rd 2004 at 02:57:18 PM
Name:  

lukasz malinowski

Comments:  

yeah, the idea is great. but summertime would be better. and i think without any sponsors it wouldn't be very successful. i guess a good minesweeper-manager could convince some firm to sponsoring. mayby microsoft will be interested . just joking, but who knows.

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Mar 23rd 2004 at 11:14:39 AM
Name:  

Daniel

Comments:  

I've often thought about such a tournament but the practicalities are hard to overcome. While I would be willing to travel to Vienna during the summer, my exams are on during May, so no luck here. But great idea!

   
Mar 23rd 2004 at 09:52:18 AM
Name:  

Stephan

Comments:  

Even if I was kind of motivator, I won't probably be able to come to Vienna, as I'm going to start working in May (although Munich is nearer to Vienna than my current location Stuttgart). Therefore I don't know at the moment whether there will be some free time...

   
Mar 23rd 2004 at 09:42:38 AM
Name:  

Dave Matson

Comments:  

@ Christoph: Great idea! I think that would be really cool. Unfortunately I live in Canada. Maybe we should try to get sponsors. We could tell the sponsors that this is the world championships in Minesweeper, and they should pay us to go if we weat a jacket or shirt with their company logo on it!! haha. We could just tell them that this will be watched by hundreds of thousands of people. (Well, maybe just tens of people, but still).

At all N. Americans: What state or province do you live in. I live in Nova Scotia. (NE of Maine) Maybe we could set up something like that!

Cheers!

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Mar 23rd 2004 at 08:37:30 AM
Name:  

Martin Toft Madsen

Comments:  

First I must say it's a great initiative, but I personally don't think I can participate because of my school.

Just a thought, but maybe it could be a good idea to place such tournaments in a place that's cheap to go to (if it's possible to get rooms there of course). I don't know much about travelling prices, but I guess some places are cheaper to go than others

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Mar 23rd 2004 at 07:33:47 AM
Name:  

Georgi

Comments:  

to correct "... job/school/family..."

   
Mar 23rd 2004 at 07:32:30 AM
Name:  

Georgi

Comments:  

Christoph,
I don't think it is justified for anybody outside Vienna, because of travel time, expences, job/work/family obligations ...
But in case that happens, I hope the event to be video-recorded

   
Mar 23rd 2004 at 06:39:05 AM
Name:  

Chrsitoph Marx

Comments:  

Last month I had a very interesting discussion with Stephan Bechtel. He motivated me to try to make one of my ideas come true: a minesweeper tournament.
I'm here in Vienna/Austria (that's in the east of the european union). We could use the PC-rooms of the department for math at the university of vienna.
I've reserved the rooms for Sunday 16th Mai, but also Mai 8/9/15/23 would be possible. Please send me e-mails as soon as possible:
- if you would participate at the tournament,
- which date you would prefer and which would be possible for you,
- which mouse you'd use (of course you can bring your own mouse and mousepad with you) and which port it has and if it requirs any drivers.

Next week I will post if and when the tournament will take place (what - of course - depends of your reactions).

I think, that vienna is a good place for a tournament, because it's not so far form all european countrys and there are lots of players in the AR from there.

regards
Christoph Marx

(This message is posted at the AR, Damiens Guestbook and the yahoo-group)

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Mar 23rd 2004 at 04:02:36 AM
Name:  

Dave Matson

Best expert:  

83

Best intermediate:  

25

Best beginner:  

4 --> 3

Comments:  

Well, since the tone in the room seems to be very somber, I'll try to lighten it up with a new beginner record.

My sum is 111 now, I'm getting there!

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Mar 23rd 2004 at 03:33:22 AM
Name:  

Dennis Lütken

Best expert:  

65x2

Best intermediate:  

13

Best beginner:  

1

Comments:  

Wow, for some reason there's a certain song that comes to mind when I read this guestbook... "Bad Day" with REM! Although that really is an excellent song!

I'm still crying about my missed est. 59 after 53 seconds!

   
Mar 22nd 2004 at 02:23:53 PM
Name:  

Gustaf Forsman

Best expert:  

67

Comments:  

I'm cring to
Missed a est 61 after 57

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Mar 22nd 2004 at 10:56:20 AM
Name:  

Martin Toft Madsen

Comments:  

@Elmar:

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Mar 22nd 2004 at 04:11:22 AM
Name:  

Elmar

Comments:  

Two sweepers crying in the same instant on both sides of the globe....

   
Mar 22nd 2004 at 04:06:42 AM
Name:  

Elmar

Comments:  

Just missed an estimated 56 after 54 on a darn 50/50.

   
Mar 22nd 2004 at 04:06:20 AM
Name:  

Dion

Comments:  

Omg 93% 41 seconds, estimated at 44 seconds *cries*

   
Mar 22nd 2004 at 02:03:26 AM
Name:  

Rodrigo

Comments:  

@Martin: In fact, someone suggested me to add an option to make the squares' size changeable, but I don't think it is fair, because would make the game too different from the original. Then I suggested him to use the magnifying glass or to change screen resolution. This option has never been built.

@Georgi: This happens because the left click occurs exactly when you release the mouse button, and, differently, the right click occurs when you press the mouse button down. Left-right click: When you left-click and hold it, no click is counted. Then after, when you right-click with the left button held, the program understands that it is a double, not a right click. Right-left click: When you first press down the right button, program can not know if you are simply going to flag a square or going to left click, so one click is counted. After, when you press the left button together, another click (double) is counted.

There is another reason for this to happen: when you do that trick of right-clicking and flagging a square, keeping the right button pressed and moving the cursor to a number to double-click it and open squares, you really did two things: flagging and double-clicking. So, two clicks must be counted: one for the flagging and one for the double-clicking.

   
Mar 21st 2004 at 11:36:04 PM
Name:  

Georgi

Comments:  

Rodrigo,
Double-click counter is a bit buggy ...
When it is left-right pressed then it is counted ok, but when right-left pressed it counts not only double click, but also right click.

   
Mar 21st 2004 at 10:10:37 PM
Name:  

Katy LaVallee

Comments:  

If you have XP (I only specify because I'm not sure about the others, not because I'm sure they won't do the following):

1) right-click on the shortcut to Minesweeper
2) select "Properties"
3) click on the tab titled "Compatability"
4) check the box labelled "Run in 640 x 480 screen resolution"
5) click "OK"

It'll change your resolution when you open Minesweeper with the shortcut and change it back when you close it. Unfortunately, it only has one option for resolution. For something less user-friendly, but with more options for resolution, google "reschange"

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Mar 21st 2004 at 05:50:29 PM
Name:  

Stephen Arnason

Best expert:  

65

Best intermediate:  

16

Comments:  

@Frank: I am not sure what the extent of your computer knowledge is, but if you can get your screen resolution down to about 800 by 600 (start menu, settings, control, panel, display, settings, resolution), and then adjust your mouse sensitivity (and if you have windows xp, your mouse precision) there isn't any reason you should have any difficulty with the precision or accuracy of your mouse. Enlarging the minesweeper board to fill the whole screen is silly when you can have it fill up basically half the screen, or if your monitor will go to even lower resolutions, it can almost take up the entire screen. depends on the monitor though

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Mar 21st 2004 at 03:38:47 PM
Name:  

Martin Toft Madsen

Comments:  

@Frank: There isn't any built-in function to do that. It's been briefly discussed before, but I think the only two ways you can enlarge the board is either by using some sort of magnifying glass (There's a progran built into Windows that at least can do some sort of this, but I don't know how good this works and it doesn't help with the mouse sensitivity) or by changing your resolution while you're playing

Did Rodrigo ever build this option into his clone or was it Curtis that talked about this feature? There was some talk about it, but i can't remember if it was ever built into one of the clones

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Mar 21st 2004 at 03:28:45 PM
Name:  

Frank

Best expert:  

243

Comments:  

obviously I am not a serious player but would like to know if there is a way to enlarge the game as my new computer shaows a smaller board making my cursor "slide" to an unwanted square. Thanks for any help

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Mar 21st 2004 at 10:23:08 AM
Name:  

Elmar

Comments:  

Just got my 10th sub60, 59.22 3bv 140
AR: 15-59

   
Mar 21st 2004 at 04:50:49 AM
Name:  

Felix Schliephacke

Comments:  

I get a runtime error everytime I wanna play a video ...

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Mar 20th 2004 at 01:58:51 PM
Name:  

Rodrigo

Comments:  

Stephen, I added an option "Counters window". Press F5 and you'll see it at the bottom. If it is not checked, there will be no window. Probably it would be better to disable the options "Show click counter" and "Show 3BV stats" if it is not checked... it would be more logical. Also very nice that the small lag really disappeared! Finally!

Dave, that's exactly what I am working in now. I still didn't find how to make Winamp-like windows, and I had the same idea you have. Counters attached will be back!!

   
Mar 20th 2004 at 01:06:13 PM
Name:  

Stephen Arnason

Comments:  

Nicely done, Rodrigo, the lag is pretty much gone... i don't notice any lag at all. I may be a bit confused and lost, but where did the counter go? (there's no 3bv counter or click counter when i turn those options on)... Love the clone man

   
Mar 20th 2004 at 12:09:42 PM
Name:  

Dave Morgan

Comments:  

docking sounds like the best idea to me, since sometimes I'd like to have it connected, and sometimes I'd like to have it separate

Doesn't need to be as clever as the way its done in winamp - you having an option for it to be attached and another option for it to be separate. Should be much easier to do, and I actually prefer that to the "winamp way"

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Mar 20th 2004 at 11:12:21 AM
Name:  

Katy LaVallee

Comments:  

@Rodrigo: I liked the counters being attached, too... since you seemed to be wondering if anyone else did.

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Mar 20th 2004 at 10:36:32 AM
Name:  

Rodrigo

Comments:  

"... I will just THINK about ..."
of course!

   
Mar 20th 2004 at 10:02:58 AM
Name:  

Rodrigo

Comments:  

Hi people!

I did some modifications in the program and I think I removed completely, or at least partially removed, the lag that occured when a player hits a mine in the clone. As I was not experiencing this problem, I ask the ones who noticed it to test it out and see if the problem persists. Additionally, I added the so-desired counters window separatedly. I removed the counters from being attached to the main window, but, as I liked it more (and at least Lance also did ), I will just thinking about a solution, like making dockable windows. For now, it stays like this.

I hope you like it. Next modifications are few, but I am already working on them! Version 0.84 beta is online.

Thanks, everybody!

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Mar 20th 2004 at 05:45:14 AM
Name:  

Dion

Comments:  

Two 49s in the past two days, weeeeeeeeee

   
Mar 20th 2004 at 02:22:34 AM
Name:  

Dave Morgan

Comments:  

Stevan - I'm pretty sure that Dan understands, and I imagine he's not the only one (Curtis definitely does because his version has timers that work the way I said). After all, we are only physicists, there must be some mathematicians here

I've always been split over the issue - the "correct" method can be a bit confusing, but it is more correct.

Anyway, AR is going fairly well for me at the moment, got 17-72 at the moment (the 72 tied my 3bv/s record of 2.53). I reckon I can improve on that though (especially on the 17, over christmas the 16s were flowing). That's already 17 seconds better than last perdio

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Mar 19th 2004 at 04:18:41 PM
Name:  

Dave Matson

Best expert:  

83

Best intermediate:  

28 --> 25

Best beginner:  

4

Comments:  

I'm going to be sub 100 soon, at this rate!

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Mar 19th 2004 at 03:55:27 PM
Name:  

David Barry

Comments:  

Jon S, there are at least 300 000 unique expert boards, as compared to about 23000 unique intermediate boards. I don't believe that expert boards are completely random, but I see no need to put a lower limit on 3BV for expert. Having said that, the idea of using different board generation in cheat mode is a good one.

   
Mar 19th 2004 at 03:19:22 PM
Name:  

Stevan

Comments:  

Dave Morgan they dont understand us

Its OK, i'm not gonna have headache because of subs, it could stay like this, and if there is a second to be added...OK, but I really see no point, on best ever we could use rounded up times(red timer) of the clone, but if we are to be precise, there is no logic to add second, 1/100 of second is OK, but whole second-no point

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Mar 19th 2004 at 02:47:44 PM
Name:  

Daniele

Best expert:  

65

Best intermediate:  

17

Best beginner:  

2

Comments:  

I have sent my profile for AR...but it isn't online!! I hope to see it soon...

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Mar 19th 2004 at 01:47:46 PM
Name:  

Dave Matson

Best expert:  

99 --> 83 Yesterday

Best intermediate:  

29 --> 28 TODAY!!!

Best beginner:  

4

Comments:  

What a sweet week this has been!

By the way, Dan, you couldn't have said it any better.

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Mar 19th 2004 at 01:03:18 PM
Name:  

Rodrigo

Comments:  

I completely agree with Dan in his two comments. For me, the best (and hopefully final) text about the subject.

   
Mar 19th 2004 at 12:43:13 PM
Name:  

Dan

Comments:  

1. Sub50 means 49 or lower, period. There is no need to get technical with the timer, so "seconds" has always and will always refer to whatever the timer says.

2. Again, with the clone timer using tenths and hundredths we have to separate technical and non-technical meanings. If this was a perfect world and MS minesweeper used tenths and hundredths obviously the timer would no longer start at 1. In that case the clone timer could be taken literally, seconds-wise. However, because the MS timer starts at 1 the tenths and hundredths of the clone timer are really only there to let you know how close you are to the next whole second. For example, when I play the MS version and I finish with the timer at 49 I would have to go back and look at the video to see if the timer had just turned 49 or was just about to turn 50. If I was playing the clone with tenths and hundredths turned on and upon finishing the timer said 49.93 it would really just be telling me that I got a 49 and the timer was just about to turn 50. Forget about the literal definition of "seconds". In the world of minesweeper, as long as some of us are using a whole-number-only timer, all of the "49.93 is really 48.93 seconds" hubbub is pointless.

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Mar 19th 2004 at 10:33:50 AM
Name:  

Dave Morgan

Comments:  

I don't think people fully understand what I'm saying - the timer shouldn't be changed, as such, but when people started creating timers that used a greater precision than the original one used, they misinterpreted what the timer meant - the original shows the number of seconds, including the last one you started, so after 10 seconds, the time is 11 seconds, but its NOT 11.0 or 11.00 (it should be 10.1 or 10.01, because that shows the last tenth/hundredth of a second that you started)

I disagree with Stevan about calling times sub something, since that means something else

Anway, I can't be bothered trying to explain this anymore, so it's the last I'll say about it here

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Mar 19th 2004 at 09:40:03 AM
Name:  

Rodrigo

Comments:  

@Elmar: I can see it is really not difficult, and can be done. It is just needed to create two different algorithms for board generation, one for cheat and other for legal modes. Also a nice idea to play the video again without saving. I was thinking about it a few days ago.

@Lance: Great idea to make the 3BV stats dockable. I sincerely also preffer if attached to the game window, but I can see others' point of view. I will try to implement also.

This weekend I am planning to make these modifications. I will tell you when a newest version is done.

Thanks

   
Mar 19th 2004 at 07:18:44 AM
Name:  

Elmar

Comments:  

@Rodrigo: I think it would be nice if one could just hit F5 or something to directly play the video of the last game without saving it.

   
Mar 19th 2004 at 06:34:34 AM
Name:  

Elmar

Comments:  

I agree, I think there should be a different way of creating the boards in legal and cheat mode. Otherwise people could search for "dreamboards" while in cheat mode and wait for them to come up in legal mode. That would make the clone pretty much useless (except for the other nice features of course)
If that's not possible (while I think it should be), I'd prefer to have no cheat mode at all like in minesweeper X.

   
Mar 19th 2004 at 05:43:21 AM
Name:  

Jon S

Comments:  

I've seen that some people claim that expert boards are completely random. I don't think that is true. Because expert boards are so big, it will be difficult to recognize or memorize a particular board. It might be that there are more possible expert boards than beginner- and intermediate boards. Perhaps the "square" nature of those decrease the randomness?

I used the cheat mode of Rodrigo's clone to search for expert boards with a 3BV of max. 100. I eventually got a 92 3BV board. The next sub-101 3BV board that popped us looked a lot like the previous one. When I had finished it, it showed a 3BV of 100. After some comparison, I figured out that only a few mines were in different possitions on the two boards. I would say it was essentially the same board, but I can't explain why it still differed a little (my first clicks were on non-mine squares). I don't know if anyone can take advantage of this lack of randomness. Is there any difference between the randomness in cheat games and in legal games? I might put up a screenshot of the actual board(s) on my home site soon.

   
Mar 19th 2004 at 02:24:47 AM
Name:  

Curtis Bright

Comments:  

I fully respect all your opinions. Perhaps with my clone I am trying to fill a hole that has already been filled. Then I will search for other holes to fill. Although I find it ironic that some of the features being mentioned here are already in my own clone...

"Anyway, I've noticed that most games I finish is displayed with a time that ends with 0 or 5"
-You're probably not running on Win XP then, are you? The system timer in previous versions of Windows is only accurate to 0.05 seconds. The timer is accurate in my clone, as long as your system supports high-resolution timing.

"...there is a slight, but noticeable lag in the gameplay, and the fact that your 3bv counter/click counter are attached directly to the window"
-My clone should have no noticeable delay in the gameplay (try it yourself), and the statistics are in a window similar to Sorin's counter.

"I agree red timer should start at 1, but final precise time shouldnt have added second."
-There seems to be a lot of debate about the timer. I'm not sure if I understand exactly what you're saying, but check out the timer in my program... I think it works the way you're describing.

Also, like I was saying before, the timer in my clone and in Rodrigo's clone do NOT work the same way as the original's timer. Times from the clones could be compared to the original, but not with complete accuracy. (However, times from my clone can be compared to those from Rodrigo's.)

I'll step aside now... I don't care if you decide not to use my clone, but I would appreciate if you could maybe try it out once, and if you get a decent score, send the video to me so I can update my worldwide rankings page. I could also upload the file if you request. They don't have to be spectacular times. (By the way, does this board have any proof problems? This is one way to help verify your scores.) Currently Roland Seibt is in first (only) place...

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Mar 19th 2004 at 01:40:01 AM
Name:  

Marko

Comments:  

Not that it matters, but I'm also 100% against changing anything about the timers.

   
Mar 18th 2004 at 11:54:29 PM
Name:  

Georgi

Comments:  


the Guestbook machine automatically changed "s-h-i-t" to ****

   
Mar 18th 2004 at 11:52:11 PM
Name:  

Georgi

Comments:  

I am deffinately against changing timers - we just need a more advance game that is completely compatible with the MS Minesweeper. Ohterwise any scores achieved won't be comparable with all those gained through the years. Best ever ranking would be bull****.

   
Mar 18th 2004 at 11:16:42 PM
Name:  

Jarad

Comments:  

Pulled off another 58 today and I am starting to get back in form, I actually finished an expert board with 3.11 3BV a sec which I was oroud of. Vegas minesweeper tourny, I'm down, I live there and everyone can come and play at the libraries. ha!

   
Mar 18th 2004 at 09:22:05 PM
Name:  

Dion

Comments:  

I dont see the point in changing the minesweeper timer. It's a convention which is part of the game. If we do change it, wouldnt that mean changing the best ever list since new records would have different times. I mean 0 seconds would look ridiculous on the best ever list.

   
Mar 18th 2004 at 05:28:40 PM
Name:  

Stevan

Comments:  

A million dollar prize in LAN world championship in Las Vegas would quickly get you back to play

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Mar 18th 2004 at 05:12:24 PM
Name:  

Marc Schouten

Comments:  

Man... I'm glad I quit playing. I really have a feeling the game is being corrupted more and more.

   
Mar 18th 2004 at 03:41:21 PM
Name:  

Stevan

Comments:  

While I agree 50.00 isnt sub50...

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Mar 18th 2004 at 03:40:12 PM
Name:  

Stevan

Comments:  

So?!? 49.63 is less than, below, under...50 seconds, isnt it?!?

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Mar 18th 2004 at 03:19:43 PM
Name:  

Lance

Comments:  

@Stevan et al. - "sub" means "less than" or "below". Since our records are ONLY based on the RED MINESWEEPER TIMER, to "sub-50" means that the timer has the digits "49" or lower. Not "50". It really is a meaningless argument. If you want to know, just for the sake of your own sanity, what your precise time was, ignoring all conventions of traditional Minesweeper recordkeeping and scoring, then sure, go ahead and subtract 1 second, if it's really going to make you happy. But when you come here to report a new record, ONLY worry about the red minesweeper time. Nothing else matters as far as the score that is recorded is concerned.

Also, I've noticed people calling on Rodrigo to make the stats window detachable. I personally like it at the bottom of the window where it is, and I don't find it at all distracting, so my vote would be to keep it where it is. However, I can see how it may be annoying to some people, so maybe if it could be "dockable", like some Windows programs (ex: WinAmp's equalizer and playlist windows), where it can be its own separate, stand-alone, independant window when you drag it away from the game-window; but when you have this window directly abutting the Minesweeper Clone window, it becomes attached, and when you move the Minesweeper Clone window, the stats window goes with it, until a user actually drags the stats window to a separate position. This way the stats could be on the top, bottom, sides, or completely independant of the game. I hope this is clear. I also hope it is feasible! I am not exactly a programmer, and don't know how easy it would be to make it happen.

Happy sweeping, all!

Lance

   
Mar 18th 2004 at 02:20:40 PM
Name:  

David Barry

Best expert:  

50

Comments:  

I don't have a calculator on me to crunch the numbers, but if you have a group of about 23 people, the probability of two people having the same birthday is about 1/2. With 30 people, it is about 3/4. So we shouldn't be surprised that some of us share birthdays.

And I have certainly not sub-50'd.

   
Mar 18th 2004 at 01:51:27 PM
Name:  

Stevan

Comments:  

Dave M. that was because of precision, 1, 0.1, 0.01, 0.001...understand?!? I agree red timer should start at 1, but final precise time shouldnt have added second.

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Mar 18th 2004 at 01:31:54 PM
Name:  

Felix Schliephacke

Best expert:  

77 and a missed 67, one square left :(

Best intermediate:  

22

Best beginner:  

2

Comments:  

@total beginner
In my opinion it is better to begin in the center of the field, because there are more directions the opening can expand to. Due to this you have more possibilities to play, if you have to guess.

Of course I tried to start at the border, too, and I think a very good argument to start there is, that you do only have to move your mouse into two directions, whereas starting at the center means to play into four directions.

Well, maybe everyone should decide it for their own, where to start. But one more negative aspect of beginnig at the border is that you need more tries until getting a good opening.

Happy Sweeping everybody

Felix Schliephacke

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Mar 18th 2004 at 01:19:18 PM
Name:  

Dave Matson

Best expert:  

99 --> 83!!!!!

Best intermediate:  

29

Best beginner:  

4

Comments:  

HOLY CRAP, HOLY CRAP, HOLY CRAP!!!!!

I don't believe it, I really don't believe it. I knew I was better than a 99 player, but...wow! It was using the clone.

Not that anyone would ever want to see a video of an 83, but I've got it if you want to see it!


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Mar 18th 2004 at 01:04:03 PM
Name:  

Dave Matson

Comments:  

What is the problem here???

For years, if you had a 50 it was a 50, not a sub-50!!! True, you did finish it in less than 50 seconds, but it seems to me that the convention that we've been using says that a 50 is NOT a sub-50!

What is so confusing here? Is it the decimals, or is it something else?

Sorry for sounding so "in your face", but this seems too obvious to me.

   
Mar 18th 2004 at 11:06:37 AM
Name:  

Stephen Arnason

Comments:  

@ Rodrigo: there are only two things that keep your clone from being absolutely perfect, in my opinion: the fact that there is a slight, but noticeable lag in the gameplay, and the fact that your 3bv counter/click counter are attached directly to the window. if you could fix those then it would be as close to perfect as possible.

   
Mar 18th 2004 at 11:04:58 AM
Name:  

Dave Morgan

Comments:  

to try and explain better...

yes, the way the timer on the MS minesweeper works is fine, I don't see any point in changed that, since it just tells you the last second that you started

However, to then add decimals to that, it is actually wrong! I'm not saying we shouldn't do it that way, since everyone is used to thinking of the timer in the way they do, I was just pointing out that, strictly speaking its not correct - to be consistent with the method of timing used by the MS minesweeper timer, the time would start at 0.1 or 0.01 if we are timing in tenths/hundredths of a second

Perhaps doing it the way that all program's have done so far is a less confusing method, so I'm happy if most people want to keep doing it that way, but I would personally prefer it if when timing to the nearest 10th/100th of a second the timer started at 0.1/0.01

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Mar 18th 2004 at 09:55:45 AM
Name:  

Michael S. Repton

Comments:  

If there is to be a poll, I agree with Stevan.

   
Mar 18th 2004 at 06:49:39 AM
Name:  

Dennis Lütken

Comments:  

Actually I think people in here generally agree that a game finished with 50 on the timer is NOT a sub-50! I thought that was kind of stupid at first, personally... I mean, after all you did spend LESS than 50 seconds completing a game like that! It doesn't really matter anyway, we all know that the timer starts at 1 and thus also know that if somebody gets a 60 on expert he/she actually spent less than a minute solving the board (even if people don't call that a sub-60!)... Stevan, can't you just start a poll if you want to?

   
Mar 18th 2004 at 06:35:21 AM
Name:  

Stevan

Comments:  

Question is simple to all...when you see 50 on red timer is it sub50?!?

I think it is, I would like to see poll about this here or in addicts group. I vote for yes, it is

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Mar 18th 2004 at 06:01:14 AM
Name:  

total beginner

Comments:  

What are yor meanings about starting a minegame only from the border? I never start from the middle. I think the chance of getting a big area free is better with my method. maybe not. I don't know, so that's why i ask you all.

   
Mar 18th 2004 at 05:58:22 AM
Name:  

Stevan

Comments:  

No Rodrigo you didnt understand me. Timer WHILE playing is OK. Its showing SUB-TIME, because you obviously cannot finish game in 0 seconds. Its OK about red timer, but AFTER game displayed time and record must be lower, that timer must start at 0.01s, I think its OK, 25.61 rounded up is 26. But there is no need to add one second, makes no logic

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Mar 18th 2004 at 05:57:14 AM
Name:  

Dave Matson

Comments:  

About the timer...

I agree with Rodrigo. When you're using Sorin's counter, compare your finished time on it, with the completed time in the actual game. If your time was 25.78 on Sorin's counter, the game would read 25.

   
Mar 18th 2004 at 05:30:55 AM
Name:  

Rodrigo

Comments:  

A few words about timing:

I don't know why people have so many doubts about it. There is no mystery, it is simple. It works exactly like any other timer, but instead of starting at zero, it starts at one. That's the only difference. MS version does not show any decimal digit. Because it simply ignores decimal digits. It shows only the integer time. So, a game finished in 25.61 seconds would be a 25 if played in MS version. So, when you want to say the time, simply ignore the decimal digits, say only the integer number. Don't worry about rounding up or down, or anything, to compare times between versions. Just truncate the number, it's much easier. That's why it is better for the timer to always start at one, not at zero. To keep times easily comparable between versions. Even if it is more logical to start at zero.

So, timing with any number of decimal digits is not wrong. But starting the timer at 1.01 (or 0.01) would be certainly wrong, because timers have to always start at an integer time. Think: even by watching a video recorded in the MS version, we can always estimate the "real" time with one decimal digit. If you keep your eyes on the timer until the end of the game, you can easily estimate a more accurate time than an integer time very well.

And moreover, the time for the AR is always integer. Then 25.61 and 25.72 are both the same 25 seconds.

I hope you understand my point of view!

   
Mar 18th 2004 at 05:17:06 AM
Name:  

Stevan

Comments:  

MM you can do muuuuch better on int according to your expert time

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Mar 18th 2004 at 04:05:54 AM
Name:  

MM

Best expert:  

62

Best intermediate:  

45

Best beginner:  

6

Comments:  

Hey, is it possible?
Some days ago I was at a friend. We started winmine. He said he finished beginner level in 7 seconds. And he said that I had to try hard to crack the time.
So I tried. The first time I tried I got it in 6 seconds.
I've never had such a luck.
greetz to da minesweepers.

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Mar 18th 2004 at 02:34:10 AM
Name:  

Stevan

Comments:  

Dave I agree with you about timer, it should start and it starts at 1 second, but if we have two decimals, total time should be displayed e.g. 54.23 is 55 on timer. So precision timer should start not at 1.00 or 0.00 but at 0.01!!!!

Its just logic for me...

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Mar 17th 2004 at 04:11:53 PM
Name:  

Rodrigo

Comments:  

Wow! I received almost as many congrats here as phone calls today saying me the same!! Thanks a lot, everybody! And my congratulations to Roli, also!

Now, let me go, the comemoration is just beginning today!

   
Mar 17th 2004 at 02:16:20 PM
Name:  

obi

Comments:  

boyssssssssssss

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Mar 17th 2004 at 01:08:31 PM
Name:  

Dave Morgan

Comments:  

The way that the timer on the original minesweeper is that if you start a second, then its counted towards you time - so the timer says 1 throughout the whole of the 1st second, then as soon as the second second starts the timer reads 2, and so on

I think this is fine - its just a convention, and I don't see any point in changing it. BUT when we start timing more accurately thaan 2 the nearest second, for the timer to say 1.1, 1.2... is wrong. So, whilst it seems silly to me to change the system when we are quoting times to the nearest second to change the system, I don't have a problem with starting at 0 or 1 when we are talking about tenths or hundredths - one way is more correct, the other fits better with the convention

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