Otter 1.2.0 - Online Table Top Environment Renderer

[Ian Jackson]

Release
-------

I am pleased to announce Otter 1.2.0.

Otter 1.2 has UI improvements, and a handful of bugfixes and features.
See below for instructions on where to obtain Otter, and the full changelog.


Deprecation warning re uploadable game bundle format 1
------------------------------------------------------

Last month I wrote:

   I am not aware of any format 1 bundles in the wild.  If you have (or
   are preparing) a format 1 bundle (ie one based on Otter 1.0 and its
   bundle documentation) please let me know.  If there are no users of
   format 1 I will retire the compat code.


About Otter
-----------

Otter is a system for playing board games online, but it is not like
most other such systems.  In the words of the README:

  It does not know (nor does it need to know) the rules of the game you
  are playing.  Instead, it lets you and your friends play with common
  tabletop/boardgame elements such as hands of cards, boards, and so on.

Full information can be found in the online README and documentation:
  https://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~ianmdlvl/otter/docs/README.html
  https://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~ianmdlvl/otter/docs/

Otter can be obtained via git:
  https://salsa.debian.org/iwj/otter
For the release, there is a PGP signed tag there, `otter-0.5.0`.

When I made the first public release, I blogged about it here:
  https://diziet.dreamwidth.org/8121.html
  https://diziet.dreamwidth.org/tag/otter


Version 1.2.0 - 2022-06-24
==========================

General changes to game and UI
------------------------------

 * Counting pickup decks, hands, etc., now include un-occulatable
   pieces in their count, not only occultable ones.  This means
   counting piles can now be used to count unoccultable pieces.

 * Fiddle with CSS to try to get mouse cursor to update more promptly.
   (This is still not perfect, probably due to browser misbehaviour.)

 * otter(1): When printing game access URL, say in message that it's private

 * Change monospace font to DejaVu Sans.  Reportedly the previous font
   was not always available, causing the chess clock to perhaps misrender.

 * Add piece descriptions to more messages.

 * UI improvements relating to selecting, wresting, and dragging:
   - Mouse cursor shows differently when in wresting mode.
   - Allow backspace to delete typed special count.
   - Leave wresting mode when the user presses space.
   - Allow rectangle select drag to start on pinned pieces. hands, etc.

Otter CLI
---------

 * Provide set-access subcommand.  Previously the game ACL could only
   be adjusted by resetting the whole game, or abstruse alter-game-* runes.

 * fix typo in usage message part concerning `otter reset`.

Game client UI fixes
--------------------

 * Split a banknote (currency) when the user makes a counted click,
   even if they are currently holding the note itself.
   (previously this would simply unselect it).

 * When pieces are newly inserted (inclidng on game reset), properly
   record their description (for use in messages) and bbox.
   Previously, the description would show as "undefined" until page reload.

 * When pieces are deleted (including on game reset), properly remove
   the client's idea of any active occultations they might have had.
   Previously, "ghost" occultations would remain, causing dotted-line
   grasp highlighting in places where the hands etc. were.

 * When a player changes their nick, update this in the clients, so
   that the new nick appears in the info pane and in the various affordances.

 * Fix minor bugs in mouse click handling corner cases.

Documentation
-------------

 * Correct the description of the shapelib group parameter `desc_template`.
   (Previously this wrongly said the parameter was `desc`.)

Demo (testing) game changes
---------------------------

 * Increase table size.
 * Add a pickup deck.
 * Fix a misindent in the spec file.

Internal and testing chnages
-----------------------------

 * Server/client protocol change: Rename AddPlayer to SetPlayer.
 * apitest: Suppress some hyper log messages by default.
 * Add two debug console.log's to the JS code.
 * Refactorings and internal comment updates.

-- 
Ian Jackson <ijackson at chiark.greenend.org.uk>   These opinions are my own.  

Pronouns: they/he.  If I emailed you from @fyvzl.net or @evade.org.uk,
that is a private address which bypasses my fierce spamfilter.