iBlackjack

[HotStuff2]

Just updated this morning to the latest build, so I'll stress-test it @ lunch today and see how long I can play.

Fix one bug, cause 3 more....isn't that pretty standard in programming?

[McCarron]

Just updated this morning to the latest build, so I'll stress-test it @ lunch today and see how long I can play.

Fix one bug, cause 3 more....isn't that pretty standard in programming?

Yeap that's how it works sometimes!

[McCarron]

There is a slight bug with the insurance selection in the current version. It'll cause the game to go nuts and crash. So I fixed it and in doing so, changed how the end-hand alert box comes up. I give it more of a delay and make it "pop" much like most iPhone alert boxes do. Hope this isn't too annoying.

I also decided to throw in what I was working on last night/today. Flipping Cards! I built a new Card Object to help with the splitting of the hands, and threw in some animation code I couldn't get to work before. Well now it does, the dealer cards will flip in 3D when they are turned over.

So everyone head over to my repo in Installer, http://patrickmccarron.com/irepo/ and download iBlackjack alpha 5.0.9. I want to publicly release this as alpha 5.1 ASAP if no other major bugs come up.

The flipping of the cards is also part of another game project I'll be starting up this month. iPoker!

Updated: New version alpha5.0.10, fixes cards flipping on preferences change. Also tweaks the animation of the card flipping a bit. Not happy with how fast Insurance, etc comes up right now so may make changes there.

[armadillo]

The animations are great. Good job!!!

[McCarron]

The animations are great. Good job!!!

Thanks!

Fixing some more issues with the Surrender and Double Down graphics causing the app to crash after their second use.

[caubeck]

Doesn't double down for me at all.

- scrap that, I didn't realise I now had to choose this option from the settings. Works fine.

- no it doesn't, it keeps crashing after the second time. You already know this, of course. Looking forward to the next build.

[McCarron]

Next build done. Fixes Surrender and Double Down images causing a crash after 2nd use.

[method77]

Excellent job although when the card flips it looks kinda a buggy. I love this game anyway. Looking forward to iPoker!

[McCarron]

Excellent job although when the card flips it looks kinda a buggy. I love this game anyway. Looking forward to iPoker!

Take a look at it now, I've made some changes in alpha 5.1. It was buggy and poorly done, now it's more accurate. I spent a lot of time trying to re-fix these animations to work right.

Now I can get back working towards splitting.

[method77]

Now I can get back working towards splitting.

excellent!

[HotStuff2]

I dunno if it's just me or what, but it seems the CPU gets a winning hand a good 70% of the time. Still, love the game! Just installed the latest build, will play it later today.

Now I can get back working towards splitting.

Yeah, baby, yeah!

[Randy]

If I could split, I would probably never stop playing iBlackjack on my iPhone. I would probably lose my job. My wife would probably leave me. My cognitive abilities would deteriorate even further as I succumbed to the innate sedentary tendencies that are snuffing out whatever remains of my once proud and virile fiery quest for life, exploration, relatedness, and adventure. Thank you.

[McCarron]

I dunno if it's just me or what, but it seems the CPU gets a winning hand a good 70% of the time. Still, love the game! Just installed the latest build, will play it later today.

Yeah, baby, yeah!

What is your shuffle and shoe settings set to? I can tell you for sure, I do nothing to give the dealer an advantage.

Not sure if you tried the other version with the flip, but this one should run much longer than that. When I first added the flip the game would probably not run for long. I fixed that and it runs a long time again, maybe even longer than previous versions.

If I could split, I would probably never stop playing iBlackjack on my iPhone. I would probably lose my job. My wife would probably leave me. My cognitive abilities would deteriorate even further as I succumbed to the innate sedentary tendencies that are snuffing out whatever remains of my once proud and virile fiery quest for life, exploration, relatedness, and adventure. Thank you.

Hahaha well if that ain't inspiration, I'm not sure what is.

Along with splitting I'm going to add an auto stand on X option. So if you cards go over a certain value, say 17, or hit 21. the game will automatically stand for you. It's been a common request I figured I'd should add.

[McCarron]

I released a new version today, fixes some themes that were not working in alpha5.1.

Also here's a tease for everyone.



Not close to done yet, this is just the first step of actually performing the split. No way to play the second hand yet. I need to change the hand total indicators a bit, make it point to the current hand by rotating them.

[method77]

I too think that the dealer wins most of the time

What is your shuffle and shoe settings set to?

I am no blackjack expert so how does this matter?

Can't wait for the split

[McCarron]

I too think that the dealer wins most of the time

I am no blackjack expert so how does this matter?

# of Decks in Shoe = How many decks of 52 cards are we playing with.

Shoe Depth Shuffle %age = How far into the shoe do you make the shoe get re-created.

# of times to shuffle the shoe = How many times is the deck shuffled.

You can read lots of research on the matter here: http://www.dartmouth.edu/~chance/cou...ng_number.html

Now I shuffle the "shoe" and not a fresh deck that is combined into the deck. Re-reading that now I should change how the game works a bit, so I probably will in the next version or add more options in the shuffle settings.

In Las Vegas, cards are shuffled from four to seven times, at the discretion
of the casino owners, said Richard Ingram, a Las Vegas enforcement agent for the
state gambling control board. Dr. Diaconis said he almost never sees a dealer
shuffle seven times. He said his research also shows that when dealers shuffle
several decks at once, they need to shuffle more. Two decks should be shuffled
nine times, he said, and six decks should be shuffled 12 times, which is unheard
of in the casinos.

At Trump Plaza in Atlantic City, blackjack dealers shuffle eight decks twice
at the beginning of each game, said Howard Dreitzer, who is senior vice
president of casino operations. ''We've tested these shuffles and feel that they
are random,'' he said, adding that ''no one has ever complained.''

[method77]

so more shuffle is better but even with that, I think the dealer is winning more


anyway, thanks for taking the time and actually answer our questions. Excellent job

[McCarron]

so more shuffle is better but even with that, I think the dealer is winning more


anyway, thanks for taking the time and actually answer our questions. Excellent job

Yeah I'm going to make some changes, maybe so you can specify how many shuffles per deck and per shoe. Or just apply that to both the deck and the shoe.

Also here's another teaser image, I want to know what people think about it. I changed the card spacing finally so your hand centers and stays grouped together better. I also flipped the card counters and moved them to the side.



I'm "hoping" to have more done before I leave town on Sunday so I can get a test version into people's hands.

[DaveiPhone]

I like the counters on the side much better, but the cards seem a bit too close together to me.

[McCarron]

I like the counters on the side much better, but the cards seem a bit too close together to me.

I'll probably tweak it a little bit. One part of the algorithm I didn't finish yet is the spacing, it's set to a certain amount (2-3 pixels). Eventually say if you get a bunch of aces or twos, you should be able to get more than 5-6 cards, so the cards will have to overlap somehow. So as you have more cards on the screen the spacing will drop. Right now I agree they just seem a bit close, I'll probably add another pixel or two.