[OLPC-Games] Play Go issues for laptop

Sat Oct 11 10:30:47 EDT 2008

You can run Sugar (and PlayGo) without an XO laptop. See
http://wiki.sugarlabs.org/go/Supported_systems for some options.

regards.

-walter

On Sat, Oct 11, 2008 at 1:12 AM, Paul Barchilon <shimari at comcast.net> wrote:
> Hi Andres, and Edward,
> Great to hear from both of you!  We have been very excited about this
> project from the beginning, and would be glad to offer any assistance we
> can.  Roy, Terry and I work closely together, so we have all been discussing
> your project.  I have good news for you, and then several questions.  The
> kid I got to look at the latest version was delighted with it his message is
> below:
> Fromleinad
> Date10/10/2008 22:03
> SubjectRE: Play Go
> THIS IS A REALLY BIG STEP UP FROM THE OLD PROGRAM!!!
>
> the ai is not half bad and might beat me... you can pass, it enforces ko and
> calculates the score... you can refresh the game without exiting out, you
> have a choice of 19x19, 13x13, or 9x9, and you can undo!!!! there is a
> problem that i cannot really discribe but i will try to get some
> screenshots... it does not inhibit game play in any way due to the undo
> capability.
>
> i really think the ai would have beaten me but i stopped playing...
> then i played a 9x9 game and it did beat me but it filled in a lot of
> unnecessary points at the end...  i need to practice more...
>
> they should include numbers and letters around the edges...
> I think he is 12 or 13, I know him through our website but have never met
> him.  He was pretty disappointed with the initial release, so clearly you
> guys are working on the right things.
> Is there a way for me to run your program on my computer so I can look at
> it?  I downloaded the latest version of PlayGo, but as I do not have one of
> your laptops I can't do anything with it.  I am running Mac OS 10.5 on a new
> intel iMac.  I have an application that can port some Windows applications
> on my Mac also.
> As for using our learn to play section from the website, please feel free.
>  I personally wrote everything, and we own the drawings as well.  If you
> could credit the AGF and provide a link to Tiger's Mouth that would be
> great.   What would really be ideal is an interactive learn to play module
> that teaches kids how to play.  There is a good one online already, I link
> to it from our learn to play page.  If you didn't click on it, the link is
> here:
> http://www.playgo.to/interactive/index.html  It is also already available in
> some 30 languages, so you could save yourself some trouble by using what has
> already been done.  The interactive way to go was written by Hiroki Mori, I
> am sure he would be completely supportive of OLPC.  His contact info is on
> the website.  I would also be happy to work on a learn to play interface for
> your program if that were more feasible for an end product.
> What materials describe the application to laptop users, and entice them to
> explore it?  My understanding was that it needs to be downloaded separately
> from the main package.  Is that the case or is it bundled with everything
> else?
> Another excellent way to get some feedback would be for Andres and I to play
> a game together online.  The KGS Go Server is a terrific program.  Looking
> at how that works together, and talking about important aspects of the game,
> could give you a good deal of insight into how to improve PlayGo.
> This forum is fine, I am happy to conduct these discussions through your
> list.  I just wasn't sure how many people were on it, or if this was the
> appropriate place for this discussion.
> Thanks,
> Paul Barchilon,
> American Go Foundation
> http://tigersmouth.org
> http://agfgo.org
>
>
> On Oct 10, 2008, at 7:37 PM, Andrés Ambrois wrote:
>
> On Friday 10 October 2008 06:49:58 Edward Cherlin wrote:
>
> I am a go player and programmer, and I have been involved in PlayGo
>
> from the beginning. I am also the one communicating with AGA about
>
> PlayGo and about our plans for multilingual content for teaching Go.
>
> Some years ago I worked on a multilingual go glossary in Unicode,
>
> adding various writing systems to the ASCII original.
>
> On Thu, Oct 9, 2008 at 9:53 PM, Paul Barchilon <shimari at comcast.net> wrote:
>
> Hello to all who are working on this project, and thank you for the great
>
> service you are providing to kids around the world!  I am the Vice
>
> President of the American Go Foundation, a charitable organization that
>
> provides free Go equipment to children and teachers in schools.  I spend
>
> a great deal of time teaching children, and am an active Go player and
>
> organizer on the national scene.  It has come to my attention that there
>
> are a number of problems with the Play Go program, and also that a set of
>
> rules that are appropriate for children may well be needed.
>
> I am not a computer programmer, and do not have one of the laptops, so I
>
> haven't actually seen the Play Go program at work.
>
>  Hello Paul and Edward!
>
>  I've written most of the code in PlayGo, following Gerard J. Cerchio's
> initial implementation, so its very encouraging to see so much enthusiasm
> behind it!
>
>  While I'm not a great Go player, (I do think it's a fantastic game, just
> haven't found a good sparring partner :)). I believe it's a great way to
> teach
> analytical thinking to young kids in a fun way. Therefore, feedback such as
> this, from knowledgeable people like you, is paramount to its improvement.
> Thank you!
>
>
> You can download the latest version. I'll get you instructions offline.
>
> I did ask a child who
>
> has one, and plays Go, to tell me how it seemed.  He may have an older
>
> version of the software, but if his observations are correct it sounds
>
> like there are some serious issues.  I would be very glad to help solve
>
> some of these problems if you would like some input.  As I said, I can't
>
> program, but I can tell whoever is writing the software what the problems
>
> are.
>
> Thank you.
>
>  Great! Thanks for testing! Perhaps you could encourage people to try the
> latest version of the activity. You can find it at
> http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Activities/All . I would love to hear about this
> issues in more detail.
>
> Please feel free to contact me directly at shimari at comcast.net.  If you
>
> would like a rule set designed for children, please let me know and we
>
> will be happy to write one for you.
>
> We will be very interested to hear from you on this.
>
>  Perhaps we could continue this discussion using this list? It would be
> better for other people that can contribute *hint hint*.
>
> You can see one example of our approach to
>
> this on our youth go website, which is here:
>
> http://tigersmouth.org/viewpage.php?page_id=8
>
>  Sweet. Now that the Help activity is being shipped, perhaps we could
> include
> this work in a help bundle for PlayGo. Is this work under a free license?
>
> Thank you so much, and I hope to hear from whoever is programming Play
>
> Go.
>
>  Thank you!
>
> Sincerely,
>
> Paul Barchilon,
>
> American Go Foundation
>
> http://tigersmouth.org
>
> http://agfgo.org
>
> --
>  -Andrés
>
>
>
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>
>

-- 
Walter Bender
Sugar Labs
http://www.sugarlabs.org