BrainKing.info - the BrainKing game site knowledge base

I have decided to solve a request which was submitted a long time ago but since the implementation was not the easiest one (and BrainKing could actually live without it quite well), there was always something more important to do. However, after adding Camelot as the 124th game type, the former idea has been refreshed and finally come to an universal solution.

The point is that many BrainKing pages contain a combo box with all supported game types, usually to select one for a game invitation, tournament creation, statistics filter etc. And it can be quite difficult to find a concrete game when there are 124 options to choose from. In order to make this process more pleasant, a new sorting option has been added to the Settings / General page.

Please find the Sort game type lists by option at the very bottom of the mentioned page. It can be set to two different values:

• Game groups - the standard selection, games are grouped by their "families", so Chess variants are listed first, followed by Checkers games etc.
• Game names - games are sorted alphabetically, using your current language version of BrainKing.

And the second good news is that Camelot rules have been added to the site as well.

I would like to announce that the game number 124 has been released at BrainKing game site a while ago. It is called Camelot, makes an interesting hybrid of Halma and Checkers (but the rules are more complex than just a mix of two other games) and I am sure that it will find its fans and regular players very soon.

Just before someone ask this question - no, this is not the "game of new type" I was talking about a few weeks ago. The time will come and meanwhile, since the multiplayer card game implementation is quite a difficult task, I just wanted to take a break and do something familiar, following the usual two player game pattern.

However, it does not mean that implementing Camelot game model was a piece of cake. Due to some special details of the rules (for instance, when a knight can jump a couple of own pieces and then capture one or more opponent's pieces, everything as one move, but forced only if a normal capture is available with the same piece), it finally turned out to be quite a challenge and required many tests and consultations (and hunting down a nasty infinite loop). So I hope that at least a few BrainKing users will be pleased with the result.

Regarding Camelot rules - I had no time to post them yet (as usual). Please have a look at http://www.worldcamelotfederation.com/Camelot_Rules.htm page and I'll do my best to make the rules available for translations at BrainKing as soon as possible.

Since a few people complained that the birthday bonus code action had been announced for Sunday and they had happened to be out for that weekend, I have decided to make the action a little longer. The bonus codes should be appearing during Tuesday 11th November 2008 as well, so who wasn't be too lucky to catch the red code, cannot complain that he didn't get the second chance.

Furthermore, I have noticed that there was probably a little bug in the bonus code generator which caused that the green code (1 free month) was selected in 99% code change events. Let the second day be the attempt of the bugfix.

Now I hope that everyone will be happy.

I am sure that BrainKing users who had been with us since 2003 remember the buzz about a chess variant called Gothic Chess. Actually, there is a short note at BrainKing history section which describes the circumstances. Given the information I was presented yesterday, I am twice more glad that we never made any kind of contract with that person.

All right, does anybody want to read more? Since I spent more than 1 hour studying all available information and it was even worth interrupting my World of Warcraft session, take it as a proof that it is really interesting. Please start with the following articles:

Labate Wins $21.2M Suit vs Ed Trice
Full details

Please don't get me wrong - the point of this blog entry is not to start a vendetta or take a revenge, since BrainKing had not suffered any loss, regarding past events. However, I feel a little guilty because I remember how I had promoted gothic chess and all propaganda around in back in 2003 and 2004, when I had believed that it was a respectable project, so let it be a warning to all possible future victims of the master deceiver. Is it a coincidence that someone starts to negotiate with BrainKing just when he faces a backrupcy caused by nonpayment of a mortgage? Is it normal that someone attempts to trick people by selling a land what he simply cannot own? (Please compare the design and text style with http://gothicchess.com.) Is it natural that someone requests to take a site offline when the site owner reveals proofs of the respective person being a liar? (Especially this event is very similar to the past affair of gothicchess.org domain, formerly owned by myself!) Etc., etc., etc.

More interesting details

The bottom line: I don't want to make a definitive conclusion, so I leave it to everyone's verdict. And let's see if I receive an order to take this site offline as well. I have my own story to reveal.

I know that this blog site is currently not updated as frequently as before. The reason is that I prepare a new game type for BrainKing site and since its concept is very different to our "normal" game implementation, the work occupies almost all my time. I don't want to go into details at this stage, so the only information I am willing to release is: 1) Yes, it will be a multiplayer game. 2) Yes, it will be a card game.

Meanwhile, a membership bonus action has been recently announced. Let me make a resume:

Since many BrainKing users have been asking for another bonus action, regarding paid membership orders, I have decided to create it once more. The action, which gives everyone a chance to get up to 100% bonus to an ordered subscription, will be activated on 9th November 2008 from 00:00:01 to 23:59:59 GMT+01:00 - yes, it is my birthday.
Please read this short description if you are not familiar with the rules. There are 2 small modifications:

• Due to the birthday event, bonuses are indicated by instead of .
• An order must be paid to the end of November 2008.

That's all. Enjoy.