Re: Searching for a Sudoku client to put into GNOME-games

[Callum McKenzie <callum spooky-possum org>]

On Fri, 2006-08-25 at 19:24 -0700, Corey Burger wrote:
> > > Since the goal (as I understand it) is to find out which games people
> > > are playing, the obvious question (to me) is "Which games do you
> > > play?"
> >
> > This is, in fact, the exact, question I asked. I got 28 responses.
> > Again, I have to get home to get the results, but I don't think they
> > are as non-reflective as Andreas believes they are. Of course, as with
> > all stats, you have to take with a certain grain of salt.
> >
> > Corey
> 
> All right, the stats, finally.
> 
> Here is the thread:
> http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=240533
> 
> Voters: 28
> 
> aisleriot - 10
> blackjack -
> ataxx - 2
> five or more - 1
> four in a row - 1
> nibbles - 1
> robots - 3
> gnometris - 7
> mines - 7
> tetravex -  2
> tali - 2
> iagno - 1
> mahjongg - 11
> same-gnome - 6
> 
> People who voted for none:
> 3
I just want to note that the feeling I got from relative numbers of bug
reports (especially for the easily noticed bugs) would broadly agree
with this list. Although I would have rated Five or More a little
higher.

Interest is certainly higher in the games that people are familiar with.
It's a lot easier to get into a game if you already know how to play it
(or have a friend who shows you). Hence Aisleriot, Mines, Tetris and
Mahjongg all have strong showings since they are big outside the free
software world and have had plenty of exposure. Robots on the other hand
is something you would only have played on a really old BSD system or
old Macs pluses (where the robots where Daleks).

> What do we get out of these? Well, lots of people asked for the common
> things (sudoku, chess, go). The results must be taken with a grain of
> salt, at least the numbers, but I think some of the feedback is good.
> However, I think the trend in the numbers can be trusted. As I am not
> a coder, I leave it up to those with commit access to do the actual
> work.

I think the targets (if any) should be the common ones myself. The
sudoku craze may die, but even if an existing game isn't used, it is
very easy to write one. Of course saying "target" sort of implies
writing it from scratch so I'll shut up before committing myself to
anything ;).

 - Callum