Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
General
- Is Fixation 2.x free?
- Why can't I move the pieces quicker/Why a red X?
- When will move validation be implemented?
- Where do I send suggestions or enhancement requests?
- Who do I contact about Fixation 1.41 problems?
- Can I replace some of the chess sets?
- How come I sometimes see tells in green and not my chosen color?
- Can I use Fixation to run automated computers?
- Where do I find the chess engine protocol?
- How come I don't see colored text or game windows?
- What happened to the MacChess piece set from 1.4?
- When will Fixation be Carbonized?
- Why don't I hear the End of Game sound?
- Can I customize the sounds played?
- Can I help with development?
Server Specific
- Why doesn't my custom server prompt work on the ICC?
- Can Fixation be used for ICC 7 day trial?
- Why don't I see game results on the ICC?
- What is this aics% text I see when I logon to the ICC?
- How do I use circles and arrows on the ICC?
- Will Fixation work with chess.net?
- How come Fixation does not support Accuclock for chess.net?
- When will a seek graph be supported for chess.net?
General
1. Is Fixation 2.x free?
Yes. Some networking and dialog support code has been taken from public domain
source code, thus one reason why it is free. However, Fixation may not be
distributed for profit, placed onto a CD-ROM or DVD (except for backup purposes),
or any other Internet site without my permission.
2. Why can't I move the pieces quicker/Why a red X?
Fixation relies on the chess server to perform move validation. As a result,
Fixation places a red X on the destination square while it waits for a board
update from the chess server. Once the server returns a board update, Fixation
can then update the board with your move. Also see FAQ #3.
3. When will move validation be implemented?
Currently, move validation is performed by the chess server. Move validation
has been partially implemented in Fixation 2.0.3 (or later) but is not enabled
by default. You can enable local move validation by pressing Command-Z. However,
move validation is incomplete and is not fully tested; Fixation may crash if you
use it. Also, only enable/disable move validation before starting a game, never
while one is in progress. Local move validation should be fully implemented in
some future version of Fixation. top
4. Where do I send suggestions or enhancement requests?
The current list of suggestions and enhancement requests can be viewed
here.
If you do not see your suggestion there, send a message to the Fixation discussion
group. You must be subscribed to the group in order to post messages. If you are not a
member, join the discussion group.
5. Who do I contact about Fixation 1.41 problems?
No one. Adam Miller, the original author of Fixation for versions up to 1.41, is no
longer maintaining Fixation. I neither have the time nor the development environment
for resolving problems with 1.41. A solution is to buy a Power Macintosh and
install Fixation 2.x! :=) top
6. Can I replace some of the chess sets?
Yes -- if you know how to use ResEdit.
See Will Johnston's excellent web page
Chess Sets for Fixation
for adding eight new black and white chess sets. top
7. How come I sometimes see tells in green and not my chosen color?
Tells containing profanity will be highlited in green if you have enabled
Admin colors.
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8. Can I use Fixation to run automated computers?
Yes, 2.x supports using the Amateur chess engine
by Will Singleton. Additional engines should follow once engine authors make
the necessary changes to support the chess engine protocol. See
FAQ #9 for information on the protocol.
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9. Where can I find the chess engine protocol?
The protocol used by the chess engine and Fixation can be found in the
files section of the
fixation-dev discussion group. You will need to
subscribe to the group before you can access the file.
10. How come I don't see colored text or game windows?
If you logon to FICS and discover that c-shouts, tells, notifications, etc.
are not in color or when you try to play, observe or examine a game, the
game window will not appear for the specified game, this is most likely a
server prompt issue.
There are a couple of issues dealing with prompts on the FICS:
- Use of the ptime variable
Fixation cannot handle a dynamically changing prompt. If you set the "ptime"
variable to 1, the server inserts the time into the prompt. Fixation cannot
handle this prompt format -- you MUST set ptime to 0 if you want to use
Fixation. The help for "v_ptime" on FICS contains the following:
WARNING! Some interfaces may not work with the clock time in the prompt, so
be careful.
- Server prompt change
If you change the server prompt either manually using "set prompt" or in the
preferences, you need to logoff and on again. If you do not, you may
encounter the problem.
Both of these are known limitations/problems with Fixation (any version
including 1.x) on FICS. These issues do not occur on the ICC since there is
no ptime variable and you cannot customize the prompt text.
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11. What happened to the MacChess piece set from 1.4?
The author of MacChess withdrew his permission to use the piece set in Fixation 2.x.
12. When will Fixation be Carbonized?
Fixation 2.1 has been Carbonized. Be sure to download the version for OS X.
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13. Why don't I hear the End of Game sound?
The end of game sound will be played only if all of the following conditions
are met:
(1) Sound is enabled.
(2) End of Game option is checked in the preferences.
(3) Appearance Manager 1.1 or higher is installed and enabled.
(4) Finder sound effects are enabled in the Appearance Manager control panel.
(5) You are NOT running OS 10.0 or 10.1. Themes are not currently supported
by these versions of OS X.
The sound played will be the theme sound for when a copy operation is
done, thus the tie-in to the Finder sound effects.
top
14. Can I customize the sounds played?
If you are handy with ResEdit, you could replace the sounds in your copy
of Fixation with whatever you want. The piece movement sounds are
8192 and 8193. All the snd resources do have names but it's not
obvious which sounds are used for what. Just remember that modified
copies of Fixation cannot be distributed without my consent.
15. Can I help with development?
Perhaps -- there are still some issues with the development environment and the
use of timestamp/timeseal. If you are interested, join the
Fixation developer's
group. top
Server Specific
1. Why doesn't my custom server prompt work on the ICC?
The ICC prompt variable only supports a value of 0 or 1 where 0 disables the
prompt while 1 shows the server supplied "aics%" prompt. If you select the
"custom prompt" in the preferences, Fixation 2.0f2 (or higher) will treat this
the same as "server prompt". If you would like to be able to customize the prompt
like the FICS, send a message to the "suggestion" account on the ICC.
top
2. Can Fixation be used for ICC 7 day trial?
Yes, if you use Fixation 2.0.3 or higher. The ICC implemented a major change to their free
7 day trial offer on Feb 23, 2000 (see news item 1320). In order to take advantage
of the free trial, changes were needed to Fixation to support the free trial protocol
supported by the ICC server. These changes were implemented in 2.0.3. You must
enable the "ICC Free Trial" item in the Option menu
before logging onto a free trial account. NOTE: The Carbon flavour of Fixation 2.1
does not support ICC Free Trial accounts.
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3. Why don't I see game results on the ICC?
The "gin" variable on the ICC can no longer be set to 1 for regular users.
Only TDs and administrators can set "gin" to 1. So, if you have checked the
"Show game results" option under Server Variables in the preferences, it will
not have any effect on the ICC unless you are a TD or an administrator. The
ICC changed this on January 10, 2001 due to bandwidth issues. When there's two
thousand users logged on, that gets to be quite a lot of traffic.
Also, the same restriction applies to the "pin" variable which when set
to 1 would display players as they arrived and left the server. There
is an alternate way to get this information but Fixation does not
presently support it.
4. What is this aics% text I see when I logon to the ICC?
aics% is the ICC prompt. aics stands for American Internet Chess Server.
You can disable it manually by entering "set prompt 0". However, unlike the
FICS where you can have a custom prompt, the ICC only has the option to display
aics% or no prompt. Also, the 'prompt' variable is a session variable meaning
that if you logoff and logon again, the prompt will come back. In the Fixation
preferences under "Server Variables", if you select "no prompt" then Fixation
will automatically set the 'prompt' variable to 0 when you logon to the ICC. If
you set this option, note that you will still see the very first aics% when you
logon but not after that (unless you manually set 'prompt' to 1).
5. How do I use circles and arrows on the ICC?
The ICC supports the ability to draw arrows and circles when examining a game.
Fixation 2.1 provides graphical support for these commands. To have arrows and
circles displayed, you need to use the arrow
and circle commands. There is
currently no mouse support for drawing them.
6. Will Fixation work with chess.net?
Yes, to some extent. See message 51
of the Fixation discussion group. top
7. How come Fixation does not support Accuclock for chess.net?
Accuclock is used by chess.net for move timestamping like timestamp is used for the
ICC or timeseal for the FICS. chess.net refuses to supply me with the source code
for Accuclock. Therefore, I am unable to provide built-in support for Accuclock
within Fixation. In e-mails I have received from chess.net, they stated that they
are looking at releasing a stand-alone component (e.g. shared library) but nothing
has appeared since I originally made the inquiries in October 1999. I did not receive
a response to a February 2000 update message I sent to them.
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8. When will a seek graph be supported for chess.net?
Adding this support is not planned anytime in the near future. chess.net uses a different
seek ad format than FICS or the ICC so custom code needs to be added. chess.net
will not provide me a free account for interface testing so I conclude this
site is not Mac friendly.
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Revised: November 20, 2004
