Comments/Ratings for a Single Item

May any editor look at this article for submitting a preset?

You should set your random values to constants, not to variables, since the same random values have to be re-used throughout a game. The setconst command will assign a new value only if the constant's value is not already on record. Unlike variables, constants will get stored in the log. If a constant's value was written to the log at an earlier time, it will be retrieved and reused instead of setting the constant's value again.

I have made the modifications.

Can you also make the modification to settings ApothecaryChess-Modern? That might solve the problem with my log.

Yes, Sorry!

I did it. How does it work?

As an editor, you should be able to edit the values of $constants["coin1"] and $constants["coin2"] in your log. Since there are only four possible combinations, you can do a little bit of experimenting to find the correct values. If only one combination lets the game play through without error, that is the correct combination.

I did it. How does it work?

Unfortunately, that did not solve the issue.

As an editor, you should be able to edit the values of $constants["coin1"] and $constants["coin2"] in your log. Since there are only four possible combinations, you can do a little bit of experimenting to find the correct values. If only one combination lets the game play through without error, that is the correct combination.

I did this, but it turns out the random placement is not the problem.

I removed all the moves from the log starting with the bad one.  It turns out that there really was an illegal move that for some reason was allowed before...  The next move was f4-g5.  Sorry for the false alarm!

@Fergus In a game of Apothecary Chess modern I play I cannot move due to an error. The preset used to work fine. Have you done anything that could make this preset not work anymore. Please take a look at the game: https://www.chessvariants.com/play/pbm/play.php?game=Apothecary+Chess-Modern&log=catugo-cvgameroom-2020-235-237

When I tried looking into it, it gave me the error "ILLEGAL: N i2-h4 on turn 3". Random setups make it harder to test and debug code, and I generally do not recommend them. In this case, your log has constant values for coin1 and coin2, but your backup does not. So, you began this game before you started using constants to store your random values. Since the only values for coin1 and coin2 should be 0 or 1, I tried all four combinations. They were initially set to 1 and 1, which gave the error "ILLEGAL: Q e2-h5 on turn 5", but all other combinations gave the error "ILLEGAL: N i2-h4 on turn 3".

Looking at your code, I see you are using "drop any". This introduces an additional random element that is not stored in any constant. So, there are more than just four possible initial positions. If you are going to use "drop any", then what you should store in your constants is the position of the pieces.

As long as you're using drop with any, you should change coin1 and coin2 back into variables, since using them as constants is changing the sequence of random number generation, which is changing the spaces picked to drop pieces on.

To store the position, you should be able to set a constant to the value of $space. To use that constant, you should be able to set the system variable space to its value. You should run your randomization code only if your constant is not already set. If it is set, just use the recorded position. As a proof of concept, I modified Brand X Random Chess to work like this, though I kept in some backwards compatibility with the old way it worked for past games.

@Fergus, I have followed your instruction and all is fine now. Thanks for the guidance!

@Fergus, Was this part of the review of the page or just a heads up for the error in question?

If I reviewed the page, I would give a rating and write about the quality of the game. I was giving you technical support.

@the editors, May someone review this page, please!

For some reason I'm not being allowed to move in the following log - I see just the board, that's it:

https://www.chessvariants.com/play/pbm/play.php?game=Apothecary+Chess-Modern&log=catugo-panther-2020-273-480

The link you provided goes to View mode. When I clicked on "Kevin Pacey to move", I was able to move as you.

I just clicked on Kevin Pacey to Move (again), and it seems I am still unable to move.

Maybe you might be able to take Aurelian's just-moved pawn with my pawn for me? If that works, maybe I won't have trouble on my next move, next time.

Maybe you might be able to take Aurelian's just-moved pawn with my pawn for me? If that works, maybe I won't have trouble on my next move, next time.

While I can get that far with the preview, I am not able to complete your move without your password. Are you able to get as far as the preview? At what point in the process are you unable to move?

I can see everything fine before I click on 'Kevin Pacey to Move'. At that point I only see the board with the players names and clocks. I cannot scroll down to enter my move manually, nor can I use my mouse to move a piece of mine. The sidebar on the right-hand side has then become unusually large, so that scrolling down beyond the diagram is not possible for me.

I could email you my password, if there's no other way around it short of deleting the log. Joe Joyce still has my (latest) password.

At that point I only see the board with the players names and clocks. I cannot scroll down to enter my move manually, nor can I use my mouse to move a piece of mine.

Since this is not happening for me, this might be due to an issue with your particular web browser. I tried it with Brave, Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Internet Explorer, Vivaldi, and Waterfox and did not encounter the problem you described once. Try a different browser and see if you still have the problem. You could also try clearing your browser's cache.

I could email you my password

In case it had something to do with being signed in as the player, I temporarily replaced panther with fergus in the log, but I still didn't encounter the problem. If you can email me the source of the generated page when you have this problem, it may help me figure it out. There's also the chance, though it seems slim, that the problem is caused by being logged in as you. If you email me your password, I could look into that.

I could email you my password

I got your password, and when I signed in as you, I did encounter the problem you described. Using the PHP error logs, I found the point where Game Courier stopped, and I made a correction. Although I don't understand why signing in as you made any difference, that correction seems to have fixed the problem, and you can now move.

It worked for me now, too. Thanks Fergus!