January 4, 1999

Epoch 0.2.1 has been released!

Go to the source page to download or browse the source, or visit the applet page for information on playing Epoch.

This version adds the game I'm calling CX4. It's played the same as Connect 4.

The server now uses glib instead of STL for linked lists and has tables etc. This switch dramatically decreased the size of the binary, and will hopefully speed things up a bit.

On the client side, a play again menu item/toolbar button has been added, which will start a new game with the same players and settings as the one just played. I could change this to make it go back to the game settings stage, though.

The protocol changed again (and broke the old one again), but logins over a modem should be quicker.

As for the database stuff, I haven't worked on that. I decided it would be much easier to start that when I have ethernet 'net access again.

January 9, 1999

Well I have decided to re-do the whole Epoch API.

The bad news:

Just about nothing works anymore (on the server side... I haven't started converting the Java client to the new API).

The good news:

The server actually builds, and a lot of things almost work. And... the new API should make it much easier to make clients for other platforms (win32, GNOME).

Anyway, hopefully things will get much more stable tomorrow. I think there where some (potentially) major memory leaks in the old server, which I will definitely fix. I am going back to school some time this weekend (weather permitting). That probably has some significance but I am not sure what it is at the moment.

January 13, 1999

The re-implementation is progressing, although a bit slowly. I've been playing around a lot with the Makefiles, and I think I have things almost how they will be. I have to get the games working with the new API, then make sure everything is good, then get the Java client using the new API. Then I think 0.3.0 will come out and I will document the API before moving on.

Classes have started, and are looking better than I thought they would. Hopfully I will be able to keep working on Epoch a good amount.

January 19, 1999

My computer is back up after some problems caused by a sparking motherboard. I'm still getting things set up, and in the meantime I haven't worked on Epoch for a few days. Expect 0.3.0 soon though. It is going to be a test of the new API, so it could be a bit buggy. But that will change. (it will become more buggy?)

January 21, 1999

Unfortunately, I have decided to take a break from coding Epoch. This is mostly because I think it needs a more complete re-write, and I feel if I do that now it will not be done well enough. I will leave the server and the applet up and running, though, so people can still use it. (If you think it has gone down please email me and I will get it back up as soon as I can.)