• SynChess is now available

    From nelgin@1:103/705 to Digital Man on Fri Mar 20 16:36:46 2026
    Re: SynChess is now available
    By: Digital Man to nelgin on Fri Mar 20 2026 01:57:48

    Mine looks like that (using SyncTERM v1.8b). It's an awesome game! I was a little confused by this prompt:
    Checkmate! You win!
    (P)GN (A)gain (Q)uit

    Thank you. Maybe I'll change it to "View/Download PNG, Play Again or Quit".

    Yes, PNG is Portable Game Notation, a standard format to notate chess moves that various sites understand like chess.com and lichess.org so you can
    share your games or get a computer analysis.

    I do kind of wish the computer moves were a little more obvious, slow or animated or something. They computer moves are so fast, I usually had to look at the move log to be able to tell what/where they moved.

    You are right, it is a bit fast. I'll see if I can maybe do something about that.

    But wow, what a fantastic BBS door! Just amazing! Good work Nelgin/Claude!

    Thank you! I have always wanted a chess door that had more then R N B Q K P to donate the pieces. I finally found the answer with a great combination of Synchronet and SyncTERM.

    ---
    þ Synchronet þ End Of The Line BBS - endofthelinebbs.com
    * Origin: Vertrauen - [vert/cvs/bbs].synchro.net (1:103/705)
  • From nelgin@1:103/705 to Digital Man on Fri Mar 20 16:38:25 2026
    Re: SynChess is now available
    By: Digital Man to nelgin on Fri Mar 20 2026 02:37:35

    Oh yeah, I wanted add: I found the game to be very intuitive and the mouse integration "just worked" exactly as you would expect. I was very pleasantly surprised!

    There is. If you quit the game it'll ask if you want to save. If you don't, it'll be counted as an abandonded game and go as a loss, just like you walked away from a game and never came back :)

    ---
    þ Synchronet þ End Of The Line BBS - endofthelinebbs.com
    * Origin: Vertrauen - [vert/cvs/bbs].synchro.net (1:103/705)
  • From nelgin@1:103/705 to phigan on Fri Mar 20 16:39:46 2026
    Re: SynChess is now available
    By: phigan to Nightfox on Fri Mar 20 2026 06:31:40

    I set up SynChess on my BBS, and it looks like a good chess game.

    Is it multiplayer? And where do you get it, vert?

    It's in the Synchronet gitlab, just update to the latest and i'll be there for you. You might be able to just pull the files.

    ---
    þ Synchronet þ End Of The Line BBS - endofthelinebbs.com
    * Origin: Vertrauen - [vert/cvs/bbs].synchro.net (1:103/705)
  • From nelgin@1:103/705 to Gamgee on Fri Mar 20 16:40:45 2026
    Re: Re: SynChess is now available
    By: Gamgee to Nightfox on Fri Mar 20 2026 14:12:26

    I just had the same problem, and Deuce (in IRC) helped me to realize I didn't have any "libjxl" libraries installed. After installing them
    (don't forget the -dev ones too), you'll have to re-build SyncTERM to
    get things working. All good here after doing that.

    I saw that conversation. I'll make a note of it in the read me and online instructions.

    ---
    þ Synchronet þ End Of The Line BBS - endofthelinebbs.com
    * Origin: Vertrauen - [vert/cvs/bbs].synchro.net (1:103/705)
  • From Digital Man@1:103/705 to Nightfox on Fri Mar 20 14:53:40 2026
    Re: SynChess is now available
    By: Nightfox to nelgin on Fri Mar 20 2026 09:02 am

    I'm using a fairly recent version of SyncTerm, version 1.8b from February 28. So jpegXL should just work? There's nothing I need to do or enable to get jpegXL to work in SyncTerm?

    For SyncTERM to support JpegXL, it needs to be running in a graphis screen mode (i.e. not Curses or ANSI) and it needs to be built with the proper dev package installed. Did you build it yourself? Check the Build Options listed in SyncTERM, if "JPEG XL Support" isn't checked, then you need another build of SyncTERM.
    --
    digital man (rob)

    Synchronet/BBS Terminology Definition #83:
    SyncTERM = The Synchronet Terminal Emulator/BBS-client program
    Norco, CA WX: 95.8øF, 26.0% humidity, 10 mph WNW wind, 0.00 inches rain/24hrs --- SBBSecho 3.37-Linux
    * Origin: Vertrauen - [vert/cvs/bbs].synchro.net (1:103/705)
  • From Nightfox@1:103/705 to Digital Man on Fri Mar 20 17:24:02 2026
    Re: SynChess is now available
    By: Digital Man to Nightfox on Fri Mar 20 2026 02:53 pm

    For SyncTERM to support JpegXL, it needs to be running in a graphis screen mode (i.e. not Curses or ANSI) and it needs to be built with the proper dev package installed. Did you build it yourself? Check the Build Options listed in SyncTERM, if "JPEG XL Support" isn't checked, then you need another build of SyncTERM.

    Yeah, from the chat on IRC today, it seems I just needed to install the JPEG XL development library, and I rebuilt SyncTerm, which picked up that library and used it. That seems to have worked.

    Nightfox

    ---
    þ Synchronet þ Digital Distortion: digitaldistortionbbs.com
    * Origin: Vertrauen - [vert/cvs/bbs].synchro.net (1:103/705)
  • From Nightfox@1:103/705 to Gamgee on Fri Mar 20 17:25:14 2026
    Re: Re: SynChess is now available
    By: Gamgee to Nightfox on Fri Mar 20 2026 02:12 pm

    Another thing I noticed - In the readme for SynChess, it says the access requirements includes "80 COLS" - Is that correct syntax? For some of my doors, I've used "COLS 80", so "80 COLS" seems backwards. I'm not sure if Synchronet will accept that as valid, will it?

    Nightfox

    ---
    þ Synchronet þ Digital Distortion: digitaldistortionbbs.com
    * Origin: Vertrauen - [vert/cvs/bbs].synchro.net (1:103/705)
  • From Digital Man@1:103/705 to Nightfox on Fri Mar 20 18:43:00 2026
    Re: Re: SynChess is now available
    By: Nightfox to Gamgee on Fri Mar 20 2026 05:25 pm

    Re: Re: SynChess is now available
    By: Gamgee to Nightfox on Fri Mar 20 2026 02:12 pm

    Another thing I noticed - In the readme for SynChess, it says the access requirements includes "80 COLS" - Is that correct syntax? For some of my doors, I've used "COLS 80", so "80 COLS" seems backwards. I'm not sure if Synchronet will accept that as valid, will it?

    "80 COLS" would be interpretted as requiring a minmum security level of 80 and at least 0 column wide terminal. Probably not what was intended. :-)
    --
    digital man (rob)

    Synchronet/BBS Terminology Definition #66:
    RIP = Remote Imaging Protocol (e.g. RIPscrip)
    Norco, CA WX: 88.4øF, 32.0% humidity, 14 mph W wind, 0.00 inches rain/24hrs
    --- SBBSecho 3.37-Linux
    * Origin: Vertrauen - [vert/cvs/bbs].synchro.net (1:103/705)
  • From Deuce@1:103/705 to Digital Man on Sat Mar 21 11:56:17 2026
    Re: SynChess is now available
    By: Digital Man to nelgin on Fri Mar 20 2026 01:57 am

    I do kind of wish the computer moves were a little more obvious, slow or animated or something. They computer moves are so fast, I usually had to look at the move log to be able to tell what/where they moved.

    The copy and mask features of SyncTERM are perfect for animating things like this. Point Claude at exec/syncterm-bounce.js for an example he can work from.
    ---
    þ Synchronet þ The future of BBSing
    * Origin: Vertrauen - [vert/cvs/bbs].synchro.net (1:103/705)
  • From Deuce@1:103/705 to Nightfox on Sat Mar 21 11:57:24 2026
    Re: SynChess is now available
    By: Nightfox to nelgin on Fri Mar 20 2026 09:02 am

    I'm using a fairly recent version of SyncTerm, version 1.8b from February 28. So jpegXL should just work? There's nothing I need to do or enable to get jpegXL to work in SyncTerm?

    You need to have libjxl-dev (or whatever) installed when you compile SyncTERM. You can check if JPEGXL support is compiled in from the Build Options menu.
    ---
    þ Synchronet þ The future of BBSing
    * Origin: Vertrauen - [vert/cvs/bbs].synchro.net (1:103/705)
  • From nelgin@1:103/705 to Nightfox on Sat Mar 21 12:06:07 2026
    Re: Re: SynChess is now available
    By: Nightfox to Gamgee on Fri Mar 20 2026 17:25:14

    Another thing I noticed - In the readme for SynChess, it says the access requirements includes "80 COLS" - Is that correct syntax? For some of my doors, I've used "COLS 80", so "80 COLS" seems backwards. I'm not sure if Synchronet will accept that as valid, will it?

    Yup, my bad. I even checked wit Digital Man that ANSI AND COLS 80 was correct, it got switched in translation :)

    ---
    þ Synchronet þ End Of The Line BBS - endofthelinebbs.com
    * Origin: Vertrauen - [vert/cvs/bbs].synchro.net (1:103/705)
  • From nelgin@1:103/705 to Deuce on Sat Mar 21 12:07:27 2026
    Re: SynChess is now available
    By: Deuce to Digital Man on Sat Mar 21 2026 11:56:17

    The copy and mask features of SyncTERM are perfect for animating things like this. Point Claude at exec/syncterm-bounce.js for an example he can work from.

    Thanks for the suggestion. I will pass it on :)

    ---
    þ Synchronet þ End Of The Line BBS - endofthelinebbs.com
    * Origin: Vertrauen - [vert/cvs/bbs].synchro.net (1:103/705)
  • From phigan@1:103/705 to Dan Clough on Sat Mar 21 16:36:53 2026
    Re: Re: SynChess is now available
    By: Dan Clough to phigan on Fri Mar 20 2026 09:53 am

    Aren't you idling in the IRC channel...?

    Shows how much I pay attention.

    ---
    þ Synchronet þ TIRED of waiting 2 hours for a taco? GO TO TACOPRONTO.bbs.io
    * Origin: Vertrauen - [vert/cvs/bbs].synchro.net (1:103/705)
  • From nelgin@1:103/705 to Digital Man on Sun Mar 22 02:40:40 2026
    Re: SynChess is now available
    By: Digital Man to nelgin on Fri Mar 20 2026 01:57:48

    Mine looks like that (using SyncTERM v1.8b). It's an awesome game! I was a little confused by this prompt:
    Checkmate! You win!
    (P)GN (A)gain (Q)uit

    I've fixed this to "View/Download PGN" and the instructions explain what a PGN file is.

    I do kind of wish the computer moves were a little more obvious, slow or animated or something. They computer moves are so fast, I usually had to look at the move log to be able to tell what/where they moved.

    Thanks to Deuce, there's now a nice animation for both ANSI and jpegxl versions. I was going to have variable speed but I don't think it's necessary. It's not intrusively slow.

    But wow, what a fantastic BBS door! Just amazing! Good work Nelgin/Claude! :-)

    Still more to do but I'm going to leave it as it is for a bit to allow people to try it out and see if there are bugs or other featurs they want adding.

    Thanks,

    ---
    þ Synchronet þ End Of The Line BBS - endofthelinebbs.com
    * Origin: Vertrauen - [vert/cvs/bbs].synchro.net (1:103/705)
  • From Digital Man@1:103/705 to nelgin on Sun Mar 22 14:11:07 2026
    Re: SynChess is now available
    By: nelgin to Digital Man on Sun Mar 22 2026 02:40 am

    I do kind of wish the computer moves were a little more obvious, slow or animated or something. They computer moves are so fast, I usually had to look at the move log to be able to tell what/where they moved.

    Thanks to Deuce, there's now a nice animation for both ANSI and jpegxl versions. I was going to have variable speed but I don't think it's necessary. It's not intrusively slow.

    Yeah, I played it right away and really appreciated the changes! It's really set a new standard for door board games, I think.
    --
    digital man (rob)

    This Is Spinal Tap quote #9:
    David St. Hubbins: I mean, it's not your job to be as confused as Nigel.
    Norco, CA WX: 82.8øF, 43.0% humidity, 6 mph W wind, 0.00 inches rain/24hrs
    --- SBBSecho 3.37-Linux
    * Origin: Vertrauen - [vert/cvs/bbs].synchro.net (1:103/705)
  • From nelgin@1:103/705 to Digital Man on Sun Mar 22 18:41:47 2026
    Re: SynChess is now available
    By: Digital Man to nelgin on Sun Mar 22 2026 14:11:07

    Yeah, I played it right away and really appreciated the changes! It's really set a new standard for door board games, I think.

    Thank you so much for the compliment. I'll have to see what else I can come up with.

    ---
    þ Synchronet þ End Of The Line BBS - endofthelinebbs.com
    * Origin: Vertrauen - [vert/cvs/bbs].synchro.net (1:103/705)
  • From Nightfox@1:103/705 to nelgin on Sun Mar 22 21:12:33 2026
    Re: SynChess is now available
    By: nelgin to Digital Man on Sun Mar 22 2026 06:41 pm

    Thank you so much for the compliment. I'll have to see what else I can come up with.

    I didn't know about that jpegXL before this. I think that could potentially be useful for a lot of things.

    Nightfox

    ---
    þ Synchronet þ Digital Distortion: digitaldistortionbbs.com
    * Origin: Vertrauen - [vert/cvs/bbs].synchro.net (1:103/705)
  • From nelgin@1:103/705 to Nightfox on Mon Mar 23 03:41:55 2026
    Re: SynChess is now available
    By: Nightfox to nelgin on Sun Mar 22 2026 21:12:33

    I didn't know about that jpegXL before this. I think that could potentially be useful for a lot of things.

    I saw it sort of flash by but I did see the syncterm-bounce.js demo and thought that I could use something like that to make a nice chess game. Something that's been sorely lacking since we only had the basic characters to work with.

    As Digital Man says, this is a new bar for people to jump. It might be nice to have a bit more documentation that's easy to comprehend for the uninitiated :)

    I'd never have got this done without Claude and a bit of Deuce for the animation.

    ---
    þ Synchronet þ End Of The Line BBS - endofthelinebbs.com
    * Origin: Vertrauen - [vert/cvs/bbs].synchro.net (1:103/705)
  • From Lonewolf@1:103/705 to nelgin on Mon Mar 23 20:47:09 2026
    Re: SynChess is now available
    By: nelgin to Nightfox on Mon Mar 23 2026 03:41 am

    As Digital Man says, this is a new bar for people to jump. It might be nice to have a bit more documentation that's easy to comprehend for the uninitiated :)
    I'd never have got this done without Claude and a bit of Deuce for the animation.

    Does this door work with any BBS or is it Synchronet only and does it only work with SyncTerm?

    LW
    ---
    þ Synchronet þ Fireside BBS - AI-WX - firesidebbs.com:23231
    * Origin: Vertrauen - [vert/cvs/bbs].synchro.net (1:103/705)
  • From nelgin@1:103/705 to Lonewolf on Mon Mar 30 23:48:24 2026
    Re: SynChess is now available
    By: Lonewolf to nelgin on Mon Mar 23 2026 20:47:09

    Does this door work with any BBS or is it Synchronet only and does it only work with SyncTerm?

    It'll only work with Synchronet and it'll work with other terminals by using standard ansi unless they support jpegXL and mouse support.

    ---
    þ Synchronet þ End Of The Line BBS - endofthelinebbs.com
    * Origin: Vertrauen - [vert/cvs/bbs].synchro.net (1:103/705)