DartMan and Website Updates

DartMan v2.2.1.9 released!

The following changes have been applied to DartMan:

Updates

• Improved performance of sending image data over UDP sockets for video streaming
• Added option for configuring size of UDP image packets, to provide ability to adjust to a best setting per user. The default setting is 1200 bytes.
• DartMan now logs the NatType returned from the STUN Server, to enable further work on troublesome NATs getting online.

Bug Fixes

• Non-active clients and game requests are now cleared down in all situations, fixing issues with connecting to a player after cancelling a previous request.
• Fixed a bug which caused an InvalidOperationException when setting the remote image received.
• Fixed a bug which meant that your online opponent's scores weren't being called out on your PC if sounds were enabled.

DartMan will automatically update itself when restarted.

WebSite Updates

The following changes have been applied to the DartMan website:

Updates

• Added ability to view your stats in the Stats Page based on the Start Score of a game (usually 501), if you have played games other than 501.
• Added a column of stats for the date range selected on the Stats Page.
• The DartMan Server now notifies clients if it is shutting down for any reason.

Please report any feedback, issues or suggestions via the comments below, our contact page, or our Facebook or Twitter accounts.

Application and Website Updates

Application and Website Updates

Whilst there hasn't been any updates published over the last couple of months, a lot of work has continued to go into DartMan, with particular focus on the online elements. Hopefully, this update will improve things further again, and enable more players to be able to play online with video using their webcams. There has also been updates to the website. Details of all changes are as follows:

DartMan Application (version 2.2.1.8)

Updates

• Added a Clear Scores button to the Cricket game, to allow players to clear the currently entered scores to correct mistakes.
• Fixed some areas where connecting to the server for Online play may not work or retain a connection.
• Combined UDP Hole Punching techniques with UPnP Port Forwarding to try increase online connectivity percentages.
• Previously uploaded log files are now deleted from the log folder on start-up.
• In game chat messages are now automatically scrolled to the bottom, so the latest entry is always immediately visible.
• Chat messages received while the relevant window is not in focus are displayed in the notification area, so they are not missed.
• Improved the performance of the Hole Punching methods so more users should get online.
• Ability to use webcam when playing offline, against Computer or Human opponents.
• When using this feature, a new tab will appear showing your dartboard view from your webcam.
• Any scores of 170 or over will be saved, as well as checkouts of over 80.
• These images will appear on the website when viewing the game details
• Note: You must enter your score prior to taking the darts out of the board to ensure the image saved shows your darts in the board!

Bug Fixes

• Fixed a bug which meant that if Rematch was chosen very quickly after a match ended, the game just finished would not be saved to the database, and subsequent games also weren't saved.
• Fixed a bug that occurred when playing against the computer where, on the computer throw, if you use the up arrow to try edit your previous score, a row was inserted in the wrong place.

DartMan Website

Updates

• Changed the location for Online Games in the Recent Games lists to "Online" instead of the location of the game starter.
• An icon is also displayed to indicate the online game.
• The View Game page now shows any images that were uploaded as part of that game. These images include scores over 170, and checkouts over 80.

Bug Fixes

• Removed the "played in" phrase prior to displaying the location of a game in the View Game screen, which means that large locations don't skew the stats display.
• Fixed display of the bottom navigation menu.

As always, feedback, comments or suggestions are welcome. Please provide in the comments here, or via the Contact page on the website.

Practise Games - Cricket Added!

Due to popular demand, I've started work on adding practise games to DartMan. The first of these to be added is Cricket.

To start a game of cricket:

• Open DartMan
• Click the Practise Games tab in the Game Setup section
• Select the players to play
• You can add new players to the list by entering their name, and clicking Add Player to List
• When you click Start Game, the cricket screen will be displayed:

• The player who's shot it is now, will be highlighted in blue.
• The current shot number (1st Shot, 2nd Shot, 3rd Shot) will be highlighted.
• Click the appropriate buttons corresponding to the player's score.
• If a player misses in a single shot, click No Score
• If a player misses in all of their shots, just click Submit Scores to submit empty scores for each shot
• The next shot number will be highlighted. To go back to change a shot, click the corresponding box - the highlighting will change to indicate that shot will be logged next.
• When all three scores are entered, click Submit Scores to log the scores.
• The next player will be highlighted.
• Scores are tallied after each time that Submit Scores is entered.
• When a player has won the game, a message will be displayed to indicate this.
• Click Restart Game to start another game with the same group of players.
• Check the Randomise Player Order box to sort the player order randomly.

As this is a new addition, please provide any feedback or report any issues you may encounter. Hope you enjoy it - Happy Christmas from the DartMan team!

Website Updates

The DartMan website has been updated with the following changes:

Updates

• Updated the Games List page (stats/games) to show player usernames instead of their real names
• Updated the Recent Games list on the right side of the home page with a button to toggle the display of computer games in the list.
• Updated the player Stats page to show the most recent games played by the player, and most recent records achieved by the player. There are also links to show all games by that player (view all…) under the Recent Games list.

Bug Fixes

• Fixed a bug on the stats page which showed 'NaN' (Not a Number) in the some figures, instead of 'n/a'
• Fixed a bug which meant that changing the dates in the Stats page, and clicking Refresh Stats had no effect - the results shown were the same as previously. This is now corrected.
• Fixed bugs which meant that changes to the filters on the games list page were not reflected properly when the Refresh button was clicked.  This is now corrected.

DartMan v2.2.1.6 released!

DartMan has been updated with the following changes:

Updates

• Made some aestethic changes to the display of online players and game requests.
• Added a 'friend' icon beside online players who are in your friends list.

Bug Fixes

• Fixed a bug that meant the F12 function key for submitting the remaining score for the current player to win the leg, as well as other function keys (for example pressing F5 with 60 remaining) didn't complete the leg correctly, and could also cause exceptions which crashed the program. This now works as expected.
• Corrected the logic that determines if the score entered is valid in some scenarios
• Fixed a bug which meant that if any player declined an online game request, those two players could not make new game requests to each other after that point.
• Set the Minimum Value on First To Legs to 1, instead of 0

DartMan will update automatically the next time it's started.

DartMan v2.2.1.5 released!

DartMan has been updated to version 2.2.1.5 with the following changes:

Updates:

• Added ability to edit the display name in the Game Screen
• This is possible only for non computer players, in offline games only.
• Double-click the Player Name to edit it. Press enter when done.
• Improved Computer Player logic when approaching or executing finishes. The Computer player attempts smarter choices now, dependent on how many darts they've thrown so far in the current turn. For example:
• If the computer has 188 remaining and one dart left, he will aim for Treble 18
• Single 18 leaves 170, which is still a finish.
• With 50 remaining, and more than one dart, the Computer won't shoot for the bull, however if it's last dart he will shoot for bull.

The following updates have also been applied in the interim versions between this and version 2.2.1.0:

Updates:

• Added a Frames Per Second option to control how many video frames are sent to the opposition player's computer in online web cam games. This should help allow players adjust video to a satisfactory level.
• Added notification for a failed connection to the server. In these instances, logs will be uploaded to the server for my analysis.
• Player states change if a local game is started now, no longer just Online games

Bug Fixes:

• All game requests and rejected/cancelled, and existing games are quit if a player shuts down DartMan
• Fixed a bug in the UDP hole punching code which meant that hole punches were not sent for as long a duration as the other client would be listening for them.
• Fixed a bug that meant connection to server was lost when the player starts a local game.

DartMan 2.2.1.0 released!

A major update to the online code for DartMan should result in almost all logged-in players going online automatically, without any configuration! The same technique used for connecting players to the server is applied to the video-streaming between players, meaning that this should also have a much higher success rate. The online page layout has also been updated so that it is more fluid, and allows all the areas to be resized to suit your preference. The full list of changes in this release are as follows:

• Updated the entire Networking codebase to use UDP instead of TCP for server and player to player connections. This should eliminate the need for manual router configuration for most users, and allow most users to go online automatically.
• Reorganised the Online screen with sizable areas to better display all information.
• When you go online, you are notified of how many players are online, and how many of those are friends.
• New Video Streaming options:
• Added Video Compression option to control level of compression.
• Added Frames Per Second to Send option to control how many video frames are sent to the opposition player's computer. This should help adjust video to a satisfactory level.
• These options should allow players to adjust the video streaming to a level that works well for their system.

Please set the video resolution to the lowest resolution on your WebCam initially, and then test with higher ones to see which gives the best balance between quality of image, and frame rate.

Please provide any feedback or suggestions in the comments box below.