Further Updates to the Applet

Friday, 30th August 2013

The applet has some minor updates today. A number of board layouts have been added to the list available, and a minor display bug with the help window has been corrected. But I've also added a major feature I've been thinking about for a while: a simple drop-down menu to allow you to choose a variant.

The new menu, at the top of the panel, allows you to choose from a number of popular variants: currently alea evangelii, brandub, tablut, tawlbwrdd and Fetlar hnefatafl. It then changes the rest of the panel settings for you (leaving alone the computer opponent settings). You can still tinker with the other settings, but the variant menu allows you to quickly set up a game if the variant you want to play is well known. I intend to add other variants to the list as time goes on.

The new Ballinderry VIII and IX layouts are some unusual ones I've seen around the web, and Jarlshof III is a 9x9 layout used by the game Breakaway; none of these have the standard 2:1 distribution of pieces. I've also added Toftanes II, which is the 13x13 board with 37 pieces, the defenders in a diamond in the middle.

The other update to the applet now shows the help properly; previously the help window opened showing the end of the help text and users had to scroll to the top to start reading; now the beginning is shown as it should be.

As always with these updates, I may have introduced new problems when adding new features and updating old ones. If you notice anything amiss, please get in touch by email or leave a comment below.