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RookChat

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Project News for RookChat

  • RookChat v4.0 Released

    RookChat v4.0 has been released and is now available for download. There are many additions, changes, and fixes from v3.0. Most significantly, there are 9 new bots (for a total of 30), and the entire bot infrastructure was revamped to allow bots to be created and edited more easily.

    Here is a list of changes since v3.0:

    New:

    - Macros. Users can set up macros, which are shortcuts for executing common
    commands or sequences of commands.
    - Two special, predefined aliases were added: @@, to refer to all users in
    the room excluding yourself; @@@, to refer to all users in the room
    including yourself. (For example: "/mod @@".)
    - Added /voice and /unvoice commands to allow moderators of auto-quiet rooms
    to specify exemptions. This allows specified users to come and go without
    being autoquieted.
    - Added /modnone, /modfirst, /modvoiced, and /modset commands, so that
    greater control can be had over who gets [mod] permissions in user rooms.
    This is particularly useful for permanent rooms (rooms with sticky topics)
    set up by administrators, but it can also be helpful for non-permanent
    rooms as well.
    - /p now allows users to post literal strings to the chat. This is useful
    in two ways:
    - One, "/p /me is cool" actually posts "/me is cool" to the chat,
    rather than executing the /me command.
    - Two, if the drop-down box next to the "Post" button is set to something
    other than "Public," use of the /p command allows you to post a
    public message without changing the drop-down box.
    - Added new rcconf.py parameters to let you set the background image in
    various places.
    - Added a new rcconf.py parameter that lets you change the color of non-idle
    usernames in the user list.
    - Special codes (e.g., ":rose:" and ":heart:") are case-insensitive now.
    - Added a new option that lets users determine whether or not /purge should
    remove sent memos from the message frame.
    - Botched message detection is no longer tripped by certain recognized words.
    Previously, starting a line with "memorize" or "Amsterdam" or "smuggle,"
    for example, would trigger botched message detection.
    - RookChat now italicizes your name in lists of memolist subscribers.
    Additionally, if the subscriber list of a memolist is restricted, you at
    least now get told if you are subscribed to it.

    New Bot Functionality:

    - Pervasive changes to the entire bot system.
    Note: If you have written your own bots, they will no longer work without
    overhauling your code. Overall, however, bots are now much easier to
    write, especially if they conform structurally to any of the bots
    RookChat comes with. (For example, any question-answer bot like
    BlitzBot or MathBot or WordBot need only define methods for generating
    the questions and checking the answers; everything else will be taken
    care of for you by the bot code already in place.)

    - New bot: BibleBot. (Test your knowledge of the Holy Bible.)
    - New bot: BlankBot. (Guess how other players complete a phrase or idiom.)
    - New bot: BotBot. (Catalogues the bots and helps users select one to play.)
    - New bot: CountBot. (Make up a creative sentence with the given word lengths.)
    - New bot: CrackBot. (Give funny/clever answers to questions and vote on them.)
    - New bot: JumbleBot. (Find words by selecting letters from columns.)
    - New bot: MovieBot. (Guess a movie as credits and other clues are given.)
    - New bot: PokerBot. (Lets players play any of 21 variants of poker.)
    - New bot: StackBot. (Add to a list of words so that letters are not reused.)

    - All bots have new features.
    - BlitzBot, MathBot, WordBot, StateBot, CountryBot (and the new BibleBot
    and JumbleBot) now have quiz and solitaire modes, in addition to the
    original speed mode. Quiz mode eliminates speed as a factor in these
    games. Additionally, new options tell the bot whether or not to post the
    number of answers in advance, and whether to score *itself* a point for
    unclaimed answers. (This allows users to compete together against the bot.)
    - Voting bots (AcroBot, LetterBot, MatchBot, etc) now have controls for the
    number of submissions allowed per round, plus more. Users can overwrite
    their previous submissions with new submissions.
    - MatchBot reports error messages are reported when players use the wrong
    verb (e.g., "match" instead of "vote") at the wrong time. MatchBot also
    allows mixed-mode games (for example, adjective-to-noun and
    noun-to-adjective modes in the same game).
    - ChainBot (and the new StackBot) now has an escalation mode, free-for-all
    mode, and solitaire mode, in addition to the original mode. It also
    supports swapping letters and anagrams. Also, the luck of turn order was
    removed as a factor in the game by having each player allowed the same
    number of turns.
    - Numerous other minor changes. Some of these include: AcroBot has an option
    to set the acronym lengths. BingoBot lets you set what types of characters
    are used in cards (e.g., lower case letters and punctuation). WhoBot now
    recognizes duplicate answers.
    - WhizKid (and the new WhizGirl) now plays many more bots than before and
    can provide anagrams and more on demand. Many more options were added to
    customize WhizKid's interaction with people and other bots.
    - Added to the data files for most of the bots; for example, the WordBot
    dictionary, the BlitzBot question database, etc.
    - Use of /b changes the message box color to teal (when the message box
    coloring option is enabled).
    - Added "Bots" to the drop-down list next to the "Post" button. This should
    make bots that require lots of "/b" commands easier to play.
    - The "already here" message, when you try to summon a bot already in the room,
    now posts the "Open Bot Window" link if you are the owner of the bot.
    - Added additional methods to botlib.py.

    Changed:

    - The bot infrastructure, as described above.
    - The "/list all" command has been changed to "/list users".
    - The old "/post" command has been changed to "/nobd" (no botch detection).
    - The botched message detection option is now set to "Detect All" by default.
    (Formerly it defaulted to "Detect None.")
    - The /quietall and /unquietall commands have been removed.
    (Use "/quiet @@@" and "/unquiet @@@" instead.)

    Fixes:

    - Fixed character encoding errors with Help pages and the Japanese language
    strings when using Python 2.4 or higher.
    - Using "/alias" with no arguments no longer causes an error for users
    who do not have any aliases defined.
    - Fixed a bug where semicolons in URLs would cause links not to be redirected
    properly.
    - Use of the /clear command now updates the user's idle time.
    - Changing the Message Entry Box Position setting now supplies a message about
    when the change will take effect.
    - "/help list" now gives a breakdown of permission settings for each
    argument to the "/list" command.
    - Changing the case of your username no longer causes RookChat not to recognize
    you as the owner of any bots you've summoned.
    - Fixed the incorrectness of the timestamp that appears on the "[user] has left"
    line when you /kick a user who is streaming. Previously, the timestamp
    could be as much as ten minutes earlier than it should be.
    - Posting a message of just slash characters when the drop-down list is set
    to a particular user now correctly posts the message to that user instead
    of posting it publicly.
    - Fixed the /ghost and /unghost commands so that ops are correctly recalculated
    when an owner, admin, or higher priority op changes ghosthood while present
    in a room with other ops.
    - Fixed font size of bots in user list frame, which was incorrect in certain
    situations due to invalid HTML.
    - Fixed a certain situation where SnagBot wouldn't report when it was paused.
    - Fixed rare mistakes in WhizKid's grammatical constructs.
    - If HostBot is summoned, then subsequently swiped by another user, HostBot
    now correctly recognizes the new owner.
    - Fixed StateBot to reflect that Baton Rouge is Louisiana's largest city now.

    Known Issues:

    - Support for German, Norwegian, Finnish, and Latin is incomplete, as the
    language files lack translations for the most recently added strings.
    - Links posted within <r>...</r> tags get messed up.
    - HTML chars in smileys (note :devious:) are not encoded properly.
    - The message buffer can get very small during WhoBot games, due to the
    excessive number of private messages generated by the bot. Private
    messages are incorrectly included in the count of messages that should
    remain in the buffer.

    2008-06-10 16:28:53 UTC by rinkworks

  • RookChat v3.0 Released

    RookChat v3.0 has been released and is now available for download. The additions and changes from v2.1 are extensive:

    New in v3.0:

    - New language setting: German.
    - New language setting: English (Dialect - Pirate).
    - Added message box coloring, so that the message box turns green or
    orange when sending a private message or memo, respectively. The
    intention is to provide a visual cue for someone intending to send a
    public or private message but accidentally getting it wrong. An option
    can be toggled to turn off message box coloring.
    - Added a /clear command, which clears the message buffer and forces
    the browsers of other users to reload. The intended use is for
    administrators to erase private or sensitive information that was
    posted to the chat room accidentally. (Caution: Transcripts are
    unaffected, so anyone who might have been transcribing in the room
    will have picked up lines prior to the buffer clearing in their
    transcripts.)
    - Added an /allow command, which works like /invite but doesn't send
    the invitation message. The corresponding /disallow works exactly
    like /uninvite.
    - Added a /rollp command, which works like /roll but sends the result
    privately to the user instead of posting it publicly
    - Added a message saying when you have new memos to the lobby page.
    - Expanded the message reported by /transcripts (also visible when you
    enter a room) so that it notes when you have transcripts about to expire.
    - Added new horsey smileys, completing the current collection.
    - Special codes :spade:, :heart:, :diamond:, and :club: now translate
    into correctly colored playing card suit characters.
    - Modifiers were added to the /roll command, so now you can roll
    things like: /roll 3d8+2
    - Option to adjust how focus is forced to the text entry box. Fixes
    some usability issues with certain browsers.
    - Added "back" links to the password recovery pages.
    - Added an extra line of text that is displayed when the owner account
    is created, confirming this.
    - The "elsewhere..." list now includes people who are idle in the current
    room but active elsewhere.

    New Bot Functionality in v3.0:

    - New bot: LetterBot. Create sentences using only a given set of letters.
    - New bot: EchoBot. Echoes messages sent privately to the bot.
    - New bot: HostBot. Echoes messages sent private to the bot by its owner.
    - New bot: WhizKid. Plays other bot games and simulates conversation.
    - New bot: StoryBot. Players write a few words of a story at a time.
    - New bot: LineBot. Use randomly selected words in a creative sentence.
    - New bot: WhoBot. Ask a question, then guess who gave what answer.
    - New bot: ChainBot. Chain words by changing letters to make new words.
    - MatchBot: Four new gameplay modes, including matching verbs to nouns.
    - MatchBot: A 'dump' command was added, which replaces your current hand.
    - SnagBot: Three new gameplay modes, which greatly impact gameplay
    and strategy.
    - SnagBot now sometimes offers users as items.
    - BlitzBot: new questions have been added.
    - BuzzBot's buzzword vocabulary has been expanded.
    - Extensive additions and corrections made to the WordBot word list (which
    is also used by the new ChainBot).
    - A new /b command sends private messages to bots.
    - A new /disown command lets you allow other users to /swipe your bots
    while you're still in the room.
    - The summoner of a bot is now named in the user list frame.
    Labels can be applied to bots, too, though at present only by another bot.
    (This is for WhizKid, a new bot that plays other bot games.)
    - New infrastructure in the bot system for storing/manipulating information
    about past uses of the bot. StoryBot makes use of this feature by
    archiving past stories.
    - New API calls in the bot library allows bots to set topics,
    quiet/unquiet users, autoquiet/noautoquiet rooms, and more.
    - Bots now have access to a timestamp for each message in the bot logs
    (argument 4 of the structures returned by the get_bot_log functions).

    Fixed in v3.0:

    - Fixed the situation where message times (displayed when "Show Message
    Times" is enabled) were not displayed for label messages, broadcast
    messages, and other types of public system messages.
    - Links in the downloaded copies of transcripts have been repaired so
    they link directly to the appropriate URL, rather than being routed
    through RookChat and usually resulting in broken links.
    - Logs of private messages sent by bots now have correctly capitalized
    usernames.
    - URLs with apostrophes in them are now linked properly when posted
    to the chat room.
    - Fixed situations where sometimes the character set for Japanese was not
    being set correctly.
    - Fixed the display of timestamps when using the Japanese character set.
    - Fixed the situation where increasing/decreasing bot scores reports the
    message saying so in the user's language setting rather than the
    installation's language setting.
    - Fixed the permissions listed in help for the /botlinks and /dismiss
    commands.
    - Fixed the display of user names when /last is run on ghost users by
    someone without permission to view ghost users.
    - Fixed some incompatibilities with Python 2.3, including one that caused
    the memo lists file to become corrupted when the subscription notice
    option was toggled. (To fix a 'users/memolists' file corrupted in this
    manner, change any instance of "True" in the file to "1" and any instance
    of "False" to "0".)
    - Optimized the dictionary.py class (for bots) so that instantiating new
    instances of the class doesn't result in reloading the dictionary.

    2005-09-23 13:46:58 UTC by rinkworks

  • RookChat v2.10 Released

    Version 2.1 of RookChat has been released. This version includes a new bot game (MatchBot), a new language (Norwegian), and supports more UNIX platforms than previously.

    2003-10-30 22:15:17 UTC by rinkworks

  • RookChat v2.01 Released

    This is the same as v2.0 (see previous news item for details) but with an oversight corrected: the new bots, SnagBot and AcroBot, are now summonable by default by mods and admins.

    If you have v2.0, you can make it v2.01 simply by adding these two bots to listed_bots at the end of config/perms.py.

    2003-09-05 16:42:40 UTC by rinkworks

  • RookChat v2.0 Released

    RookChat v2.0 has been released and is available for download.

    Notes for 2.0:

    - RookChat v2.0 now supports the Windows platform in addition to the
    UNIX platform. However, if you are running on Windows, you will need
    to install the win32all package, which is available to download at
    this URL: http://www.python.org/windows/win32all/
    - After upgrading from 1.0, users' language options will revert to the
    default. Users will have to reset this option after the upgrade.
    - After upgrading from 1.0, users' botch detection options may not be
    set to the correct values. Users will have to reset this option after
    the upgrade.
    - IT IS RECOMMENDED THAT ALL WEBMASTERS SEND OUT A BROADCASTMEMO
    INFORMING THEM OF THE ABOVE CHANGES so that they can adjust their
    option settings accordingly.

    New in 2.0:

    - Windows platform supported in addition to UNIX platforms.
    - Automated transcribing allows users to transcribe the chat
    room (when they are present) and download their transcripts.
    - /rmsg command allows you to send private messages to users in
    other rooms.
    - New bots: SnagBot, AcroBot.
    - New language settings: British English, Finnish, Latin, Mangled Japanese.
    - User option to place the user list frame on the left or right.
    - User option to place the text entry box on the left or right.
    - Cleaner multi-lingual support makes it easier to add new languages.
    - Webmasters can configure the size of the banner frame and have more
    control over its content.
    - Webmasters can now customize the welcome message more easily.

    Fixed in 2.0:

    - Improved install documentation, with corrected permission settings.
    - /purge no longer reverts browsers to refreshing from streaming.
    - Setting a topic while possessed no longer causes an error.
    - Evicted users/IPs no longer stay evicted from empty rooms.
    - Bots no longer restart themselves in IE.
    - "Download RookChat" links route through the script to strip referrer
    setting.
    - Multi-lingual support bug fixes.
    - Logs now correctly shrink private messages sent by shrunken users.
    - Minor fixes in help pages.
    - Additions made to the WordBot word list.

    2003-09-05 15:44:17 UTC by rinkworks