Suggestion/Request for Android/iOS Swiss tournament organiser.

[Geekly]

If there was some kind of server/client functionality that allowed participants to view the status (for pairings/tables) real-time on their own devices, that would be sweet.

[valarin]

The very moment you are posting this I am working on exactly that feature :-) It might take some additional days but I do my best to be able to deliver an update by this weekend.

Cool. Will the update be pushed trough the market automatically once released?

[Evilmerlin]

If there was some kind of server/client functionality that allowed participants to view the status (for pairings/tables) real-time on their own devices, that would be sweet.

He did suggest a similar function that could be worked in but just need to figure out a way to do it that would allow easy connection. Would bluetooth work?

[Programmer]

If there was some kind of server/client functionality that allowed participants to view the status (for pairings/tables) real-time on their own devices, that would be sweet.

He did suggest a similar function that could be worked in but just need to figure out a way to do it that would allow easy connection. Would bluetooth work?

I am very interested in having such functionality in this app because I personally miss such a feature in the larger tournaments I participate in. I will give it a try, but it may take some time cause build distributed systems is generally quit demanding. @Evilmerlin: Bluetooth could be an option but I think it would be easier to do via internet connection. That would allow me to use an free Google AppEngine Cloud Server as backend and use there new cloud to device messaging service. I'll do some research on this.

Cool. Will the update be pushed trough the market automatically once released?

Yes, the market will notify you but I think you have to manually install the update because the new version requires a new permission (to read your contacts).

I apologize for being so slow with updates but as I promised you are now the first to try out the new version. I would like to ask you to test the new version before I push it out via market to around 750 active devices at the moment. You can download the APK here:
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/1453702/swis...ment_0.3.0.apk

The main changes and new features are:
- support for multiple tournaments
- having a list of previous players to choose from for a new tournament
- selection players from the phones contacts (thats where the permission is for)
- tie-breaks by control points earned
- player images if player was chosen from contacts (faction decals will follow)
- NumberPickers for wins and control points

I would appreciate your feedback on the new version. Please keep an eye on critical things like how the pairings are computed and if the tiebreaker works as expected.

One it works on your devices and got your approval I will push it trough the market.

[Programmer]

I already found a bug causing the control points earned not being computed correctly after round 1. I'll get this fixed.

[Evilmerlin]

The app crashes when I try to pair the players for the first round by tapping on the Rounds tab. Does the same thing on both my phone and tablet. Tablet is running 4.0.3, while the phone is still on 2.3.6. I couldn't go any further after that. Seems like I can't send you a log of the crash either, don't see the option when it happens.

Like the implementation of the player database! Could I suggest that we be able to create multiple databases for different games? So I could have one group for Warmachine/Hordes and another for a different game.

Was the ability to correct results entry of the previous round and then repair players implemented?

[Programmer]

Sorry, that should not happen. I'll test it on the emulator with the Android versions you mentioned.

Having multiple player databases would be no problem. What do you think about the idea to tag players with one or more tags and than to be able to have different lists to select from made by the players tags? That way you could have list per game to select from while having just one entry per player for players participating in different games.

So far the ability to repair rounds is still missing but I can think of a quick way to implement that by allowing you to delete a round, correct the previous round and create a new round. I also got in mind the request to be able to edit the pairing manually, but this is for the next update I think.

Thank you for testing! I'll upload a patched version and give you notice.

[Programmer]

I think I found the reason for the crash you experienced. It should be fixed now. In addition, control points should get computed correctly now.

I also added the option to delete a whole round. Having this you can easily delete an wrong paired round, fix the previous round and than compute the round again.

And I implemented a feature you requested a while ago that allows to share the tournament result per mail, facebook and so on. You can now do so in the tournaments context menu (press long on the entry in the tournament list). So far the feature is rather basic and I can think of a more sophisticated variant later but for now it is probably better than nothing.

By the way, the reason you can't send crash reports is probably because the apk is installed manually and not via the markt.

You can download and try the new version here: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/1453702/swis...ment_0.3.1.apk

Thank you for testing! As always, I appreciate any feedback.

[Evilmerlin]

Awesome! Working very well, I got one crash but I can't seem to repeat any more so I'll keep an eye out for it.

Regarding the tie breakers, when you set it to Random, is it strength of schedule or just really random? Strength of Schedule would be a better option than random. And the other one that the organisers here would look for is also tiered tie breakers. So you can set your first tie breaker to be strength of schedule, if that's still tied, go to control points and so on.

But I am loving it so far! Tagging of the players with the games they play would be a good idea as well so you could just maintain a single database and then have the organiser be able to sort the list according to games. The tournament sharing function works for me, gives the relevant information which is more than enough for me.

I will give it a full run this weekend with a tournament I'm running.

[Programmer]

Thanks for you testing!

Random is really random by now but I will implement and Strength of Schedule Tiebreaker as well. And I agree that tiered tiebreakers are usefull.

Good luck on your tournament and I hope app does not fail then. Regarding the crash you experienced, I now know that there are issues on Android 4 when you add certain (composed?) contacts - they changed some of the API and at least one potential crash lurks their. It might have been the one you encountered?

I'll wait until you report back from your tournament before pushing the update out. I will than start to work on the next items but it might again take some time because I have examination in two weeks from now.

[Evilmerlin]

Tried it out over the weekend in 13 player event. Worked nicely, didn't encounter any crashes or any issues that killed the app. The ability to correct results worked great! But it really needs to use the strength of schedule rather than random for final standings.
I think once you add in manual pairings, strength of schedule and tiered tie breakers, this app is good to go!
Oh once you add in the strength of schedule, you are going to need to show that on the players page too.

[Programmer]

Thank you for testing the app in real life! I published the version into the market. It should be available in a few hours.

Manual pairings, strength of schedule and tiered tie breakers are on my list and will be included in the next update I guess.
I'll also start to work on some other frequently requested features e.g. like a nice finish page.