Display Game in Browser Title

Just released a minor update that displays the name of the current game in your browser's title/tab.

This is helpful when you have started more than one game and can't remember which browser window is which.

Enjoy!

Major Update - Menu Page

Just released a major update this morning that removes the menu bar from the tabletop and moves it to a separate menu page. This let's you experience an uncluttered tabletop that uses all the available screen real-estate for the game layout which is especially important on smaller devices like tablets and smartphones.

You can invoke the menu from any game by clicking the button at the bottom right corner of the tabletop. This will open the menu in a new browser window so it doesn't disturb your game in progress. Selecting a game from the menu page opens the game in a new browser window optimized to give you the best experience possible on your platform.

Enjoy!

Animation Begins ...

Just released a new version that includes the first implementation of animation (sliding cards in Solitaire, Pyramid and Golf). So far all card movements have been one-shot "snaps" to the new location. This can be distracting when trying to follow the flow of the game. Card animation is the last feature that the native Windows version of Quick Solitaire has that the web version does not. Well that is about to end.

Implementing animation is different in a web application than in Windows so it took some time to get familiar with the techniques in JavaScript. Turns out my web implementation is actually better than my Windows implementation since I needed to re-architect how the animation works resulting in more flexible and scalable code.

Animation also helps you better understand the rules of the game since where the cards come from and where they go becomes more obvious.

There is more animation work to do so watch for updates.

Update Fixes a Defect in Klondike

Just released an update today that fixes a problem I discovered when building the tableau piles in Klondike.

A specific sequence of events could prevent you from picking up a pile of tableau cards making the game unplayable. This has been fixed in today's release.

Language Neutral User Interface - Part II

In my on-going effort to create a language neutral interface and avoid written documentation I have added a small feature that changes the on-screen cursor when you hover over a card or prop that is select-able.

Normally the mouse cursor is the default "arrow" icon. Now when you hover over a card in a pile, or any tabletop prop, that is select-able the cursor changes to a "pointing hand" letting you know that you can click or drag the card or cards. This gives you a visual cue as to what can be done according to the rules of each game. Also when dragging a card around the tabletop the cursor changes to a "cross" symbol.

Of course this feature only applies when playing Quick Solitaire on a desktop or laptop that has a pointing device like a mouse or touch-pad. On tablets or smartphones (touch devices) there is no cursor.

Language Neutrality

My goal for Quick Solitaire (and all of my software products) is to be language neutral. By that I mean little, if any, language specific interaction and certainly no "documentation". In general if my software can't be used or played out-of-the-box without "documentation" then I'm not doing my job. I need to do better.

In pursuit of that goal I have recently released an update that renders empty card piles with graphic indications of their use. For example all empty foundations display an "A" meaning that the pile accepts any Ace as the starting card and builds up from there (A, 2, 3, ...). An empty tableau pile displays a "K" to indicate that it can only be filled with a King. Waste piles display a recycle symbol to indicate that cards placed on them can be used again later. You get the idea.

Any suggestions you may have for improving the user interface are appreciated.

Quick Solitaire for Browsers

Welcome to my Quick Solitaire blog. I plan to use this blog to report on new features and updates for Quick Solitaire and to receive feedback from you.

Quick Solitaire is a port of my Quick Solitaire for Windows to run in a browser such as IE, Chrome and Firefox. I truly believe that web apps are the future of software and so I am directing all of my efforts towards that goal.

Quick Solitaire is my first attempt at building a web application that runs on any and all devices that support a modern web browser (HTML 5). This includes desktop computers, smart phones and tablets. It is the result of about six months of effort to convert the original Pascal source to Dart which then compiles to JavaScript.

I am pleasantly surprised by the results. The JavaScript runs just as fast as the native windows application and the graphics are almost as good. I'm still tweaking that. 

In the meantime you can enjoy the current implementation by clicking here.

I'm making improvements all the time so check back often or, better yet, bookmark the link and enjoy.