No new features in this release except for several severe bug fixes to all components.
Version 1.5.0
This is a long due release of the Internet Gaming Zone software. There have been major improvements since the last general release and we hope you'll find all the new features useful. Some of the major improvements are outlined below.
As part of this release, the following games are featured for the first time:
* Spades
* Checkers
* Reversi
New features:
1) Village has received a minor facelift. Village now features 'Options' and 'Help' button as well as a new Welcome sign.
"What version do I have? " -- Now you can determine exactly the software package version you have by simply clicking on the help button '?' and getting the "Game Version" number from the help window. This number is the version for the whole package; each game has it's own version numbers but this is the version number we usually talk about.
All the new features in Village are accessible via the 'Options' button.
* Changing user info: You can now change your user information like password, real name, email, and personal info. These info are still not accessible by others but some may be in the future.
* Changing servers: You can now visit other villages (when available) any time you want. For now, simply enter the new server's address and port number (these info will be made available to everyone) and you've entered the new village. Just wait until the new and enchanting villages pop up all over the Internet Gaming Zone. Currently only the main server is available: server address = village.zone.com, port = 2000.
2) New features in Bridge, Hearts, and Spades:
* Silent kibitzing: Ability to disallow kibitzers from talking in the game while still allowing them to watch the game.
* Hide cards from kibitzer: Ability to hide one's own hand from kibitzers while still allowing the kibitzers to see the game in play.
* Remove a player: Ability to remove a player from a game. This requires unanimous vote from all human players in the game. (This feature is useful in removing ghost players -- players who have been disconnected but not timed out from their server.)
3) Some of the improvements to Go are
* 3 different board sizes: 9x9, 13x13, and 19x19
* Analysis mode
* Show last move
* Board coordinates
* Save/restore previous games
4) Improvements to gaming rooms:
* Network connection status light. Green ligh to indicate good connection, yellow for slow, and red light when connection gets bad.
* Finding other players: clicking on the player's name in the name list pops up a window showing any player info, the tables the player is playing at, and the tables the player is kibitzing.
* Quicker entrance to the rooms.
5) Improvements to Village:
* Remembers your last login name -- no more retyping of your name.
Please checkout out web site http://www.zone.com for more information on this release and common problems and solutions.
Copyright ⌐ 1996 Microsoft Corp. All rights reserved.
