View source for Miniature/archive

== Archived news ==

* 2010-07-12: P2P support available. Play against other Miniature users. Full changelog [http://maemo.org/packages/view/miniature/ here]
* 2009-12-21: Miniature learns to use animations (0.1.5-1). Miniature is now using exclusive features of Qt 4.6.
* 2009-12-20: Miniature got a [https://bugs.maemo.org/buglist.cgi?product=Miniature bug tracker component], thanks to André! 
* 2009-12-18 Miniature 0.1.3-1 released for [http://maemo.org/packages/package_instance/view/fremantle_extras-devel_free_armel/miniature/0.1.3-1 Maemo] and [https://launchpad.net/~michael-hasselmann/+archive/miniature/+sourcepub/904498/+listing-archive-extra Ubuntu], preparing for the offline mode.
* 2009-11-28: [https://garage.maemo.org/pipermail/chess-developer/2009-November/000079.html First bug report].  :)
* 2009-11-27: Miniature 0.1.2-1 released for [http://maemo.org/packages/package_instance/view/fremantle_extras-devel_free_armel/miniature/0.1.2-1 Maemo] and [https://launchpad.net/~michael-hasselmann/+archive/miniature/+sourcepub/882639/+listing-archive-extra Ubuntu] with first Chess rules applied.
* 2009-11-26 [https://garage.maemo.org/pipermail/chess-developer/2009-November/000077.html Another logic analyzer update]: move rules for all pieces are available, pawns promote to queens and black and white take turns.
* 2009-11-25 [https://garage.maemo.org/pipermail/chess-developer/2009-November/000074.html Logic analyzer update]: only king moves and pawns' en-passant captures are missing. 
* 2009-11-23 Miniature starts [http://talk.maemo.org/showthread.php?p=386616#post386616 learning chess with rooks and knights]
* 2009-11-17 [http://talk.maemo.org/showthread.php?p=378870#post378870 Some shortcuts taken] in order to get faster the minimum set of features.
* 2009-11-17: [https://launchpad.net/~michael-hasselmann/+archive/miniature/+packages Miniature available for your desktop PC]
* 2009-11-16: A first & dummy [http://maemo.org/packages/view/miniature/ .deb package of Miniature] is available in Maemo 5 extras-devel.
* 2009-11-11: "(10:52:48 PM) mikhas: well, it's confirmed: Miniature runs on Qt 4.6, on the N900" 
* 2009-11-15: Basic Finger UI for board implemented - pieces can be moved freely.
* 2009-11-10: Talk thread started: [http://talk.maemo.org/showthread.php?p=371747 Miniature development: Play chess games online]
* 2009-11-09: [http://taschenorakel.de/michael/2009/11/09/miniature-it-moves/ Miniature - it moves!], first blog post from Michael Hasselmann.
* 2009-11-08: Miniature now has the following components: a main window, a board, a game controller and a scene view for the UI. It can play any game that is stored in a sequence of FEN strings.
* 2009-11-08: [http://talk.maemo.org/showpost.php?p=368538&postcount=117 First running example] mimicking the "first realistic mockup".
* 2009-11-07: [http://gitorious.org/miniature/miniature/trees/master/data/figures Piece set committed], the same [http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Standard_chess_diagram used by Wikipedia].
* 2009-11-06: Code repository created: http://gitorious.org/miniature - source code exists since the beginning.
* 2009-11-06: [http://wiki.maemo.org/images/2/26/Miniature-playgame-portrait.png First realistic mockup for playing basic online chess] (portrait).
* 2009-11-04: [http://talk.maemo.org/showpost.php?p=365071&postcount=70 Portrait mode gets priority] to maximize board size + chats won't come till later.
* 2009-10-31: First idea proposed in a Talk thread: [http://talk.maemo.org/showthread.php?t=33764 Contributors needed: the killer free chess game for Maemo]

== Miniature for Maemo 5 (unstable) ==

[http://maemo.org/packages/package_instance/view/fremantle_extras-devel_free_armel/miniature/0.1.3-1 Miniature 0.1.3-1] is available in Maemo 5 [[Extras-devel]], a repository recommended only to developers. End users will do good staying far from it, but there is a [https://launchpad.net/~michael-hasselmann/+archive/miniature launchpad PPA] with irregularly updated Ubuntu 9.04 packages.

New features in the last version:
* Candidate UI to move pieces: one click to select piece, second click to select destination square and click to an external button to confirm the move. Pieces and squares can be changed at will before clicking the confirmation button.
* Checks are detected now.
* Backend fixes improving the responsiveness of the moves.

Features implemented in previous releases:
* Boot a screen in portrait mode.
* Display a nice-looking board.
* Set the pieces in starting position.
* Enforce basic chess rules except:
** Checkmate
** Stalemate
** Castling
** En-passant
** Pawn promotion (works in the desktop version)

=== Old screenshots ===

This is how the real application will look like in v0.1.x-x.
<gallery widths=200px>
Image:Miniature-between_the_turns.png |<div style="padding:0em .5em;">Cool little animation to show that pieces turn around between the moves</div>
Image:Miniature-Down_under.png |<div style="padding:0em .5em;">Situation after white's move: The player with the black pieces also is able to see it's pieces from his/her point of view</div>
Image:Miniature-20091219-1.png |<div style="padding:0em .5em;">Starting position for human vs human, face to face.</div>
Image:Screenshot-20091219-2.png |<div style="padding:0em .5em;">Selecting one piece to move.</div>
Image:Miniature-20091219-3.png |<div style="padding:0em .5em;">Selecting destination square.</div>
Image:Miniature_rooks_and_knights.jpg|<div style="padding:0em .5em;">Miniature learns chess in korius' development branch. Here rooks and knights know how to behave with each other.</div>
</div>
</gallery>

=== Old mockups ===
How things should look like in the future. (We are looking for real designers!)

<gallery widths=200px>
Image:Miniature-playgame-portrait-start.png|<div style="padding:0em .5em;">First boot.</div>
</gallery>

[[Image:Miniature_normal_mode.jpg|frameless|main-l: main window in landscape mode (needs update)]] [[Image:Miniature_normal_options.jpg|frameless|menu layout]]  

Very old. ;) 

[[Image:Miniatura_alternative.png|frameless|deprecated]]

[[Image:20091219_001.jpg|frameless|main-p: new UI concept: main window in portrait mode]]

== Users ==

Do you want to test Miniature and it's cool possibility to play against other people over the air? Or do you want to make simply a match versus someone who is part of the community?

-> [[Miniature/users|A list of users]] should help you to get an Opponent.



== References ==
* [http://www.craftychess.com/ Crafty] is a free, open-source computer chess program.
* [http://www.v7f.eu/public/n800/chess/ EBoard and Crafty] for the N810/N800/N770 - [http://maemo.org/downloads/product/OS2007/chess OS2007 Downloads page].
* [http://knights.sourceforge.net/ Knights] aimed to be the ultimate chess resource for the K Desktop Environment... years ago.
* [http://pacaq.sourceforge.net/ pacaq] is a chess game visualizing and analysis tool done with the Maemo 4.1 Qt4 port - [http://talk.maemo.org/showthread.php?t=21793 Talk thread].
** From all programs on this list, this is the only one were reading the code is worth your time. 
* [http://scid.sourceforge.net/ SCID], a chess database application for Windows, Linux and Mac OS operating systems. 
** See also [http://scid.sourceforge.net/scidpocket.html SCID Pocket] 
* [http://www.gnu.org/software/xboard/ Xboard] is a graphical user interface for chess in all its major forms.
* [http://www.freechess.org/ freechess.org] Website of the Free Intrnet Chess Server (FICS)
** [http://www.freechess.org/Help/AllFiles.html commands reference]