MetaZine Issue #7 
------------------------------------------------------------


               |\/|etaZine


------------------------------------------------------------


"Now It's Ok To Be Square"


VOL 1, Issue 7, June 2, 2001


Editor: Joshua Dickerson, editor@metasquarer.com


Coeditor: Michael Barnathan, metasquares@metasquares.com


Publisher: Joshua Dickerson


http://www.MetaSquares.com/MetaZine


------------------------------------------------------------





You are receiving this newsletter because 


you subscribed to it. If you would like to be removed from 


this mailing list, please see the instructions at the


end of this newsletter. Our subscriber list is NOT made


available to other companies or individuals. We value every


subscriber and respect your privacy.





Feel free to distribute this letter freely to all of your


friends, family, and colleagues.








------------------------------------------------------------


          Advertisement


------------------------------------------------------------


ATTN: Programmers, webmasters, graphic designers


DeveloperLounge.com is looking for people to help in a new


network. Programmers should be fluent in PHP or Perl. If


you already own a site that is programmer oriented, please


contact me asap.





  mailto:etnerdjmd@aol.com


  AIM: etnerdjmd


  ICQ: 41384310








============================================================


              IN THIS ISSUE


============================================================





  1. Headline: Login extended to build 59 users


  2. Poll: New design


  3. NEWS FLASH!


	Check Network Status!


  4. Article: Tournament


  5. The top 10 players


  6. Feature Article:


        Build 62


  7. The Quote


  8. Subscription Management


  9. Contact Information





------------------------------------------------------------


1.  Login extended to build 59 users


------------------------------------------------------------





Build 60 users have been able to login over the web to check their stats or change their information for a long time. But the people still using build 59 never got to experience this. In addition to a new script parsing algorithm that will let you use your build 59 usernames in Metasquarer build 60, you can logon to them on metasquares.com as well. To log on with a build 59 username, enter your username and a blank password on the log on form. It is recommended that you create a password by using the "change password" form. Chaning your password will not affect your build 59 Metasquarer account in any way.





------------------------------------------------------------


2. Poll


------------------------------------------------------------





Metasquares.com has a new design. How do you like it?





o Very Very Good


o Very Good


o Good


o Mediocre


o Bad


o Very Bad


o Very Very Bad





To vote, please visit the following web page:http://groups.yahoo.com/group/metasquares/polls. You must be a member of the mailing list to vote.








------------------------------------------------------------


3. NEWS FLASH!: Check Network Status!


------------------------------------------------------------





Network Status has been added to the Metasquares menu. Please check the network status if you have any connectivity problems.





Thanks Mike.  Now we know when the program will be up.  Although this still doesn't help me and my dumb firewall that I cannot get past.  Any suggestions from the people?





------------------------------------------------------------


4. Article: Metasquares First Tournament


------------------------------------------------------------





On May 10, MadMike won the first ever Metasquares tournament.  





The Players: MadMike, JewshCurt, Dotster, Jack, GregoryST, Gurg, Knave, and Heckert





First Round:


MadMike vs. Knave - MadMike wins (160-68) 


JewshCurt vs. Heckert - JewshCurt wins (171-112) 


Dotster vs. Jack - Dotster wins by default; jack couldn't make it. 


GregoryST vs. Gurg - GregoryST wins by default; Gurg never showed up. 





Second Round


Dotster vs. GregoryST - GregoryST wins (154-116) 


MadMike vs. Curt - MadMike wins, second or third game never finished 





Final Round


MadMike vs. GregoryST - MadMike wins (161-114) 





MADMIKE WINS! MADMIKE WINS!! MADMIKE WINS!!!








Several days after the tournament, I interviewed MadMike about his game.





Josh:  How does it feel to be the first winner of the first ever Metasquares tournament?  What was your strategy?  What was the first round like? the second? the third round?  Do you have anything to say to the people that did not win ;-).  How does the T-Shirt look?  Do you like it?








MadMike: Hey Josh


I first of all like to thank Mike and Eli for there contribution  of thier time and effort in getting the first Meta Tounament of the ground with a great success.





Winning the first Meta Tournament was a great feeling. The players I incountered were  not easy to play since all were A rated players. Each had thier own technique but i stayed with mine and somehow i was able to win.


The most difficult games were with Gregory. I am sure the next time we meet it will be just as hard, since we always seem to have very close games.


To the players of the next future tournament I would like to inform them that i will not be playing in.  i feel that they should  get a new winner and ill participate in the third one to make it more exciting for everyone. I feel that many Meta players didnt join  the first tournament because they all knew that i have a strong game and that they would not have a chance if they played me before the final rounds. Id like to see more players participating and having fun because that is what its all about.


I would be interested in hosting the next one and letting Mike and Eli get into the games too.


The Meta T-Shirt was a great first prize win. I actually had a chance to wear it a few times already (thnx Mike).





------------------------------------------------------------


5. The Top 10 Metasquarer players


------------------------------------------------------------





Metasquarer Top 10.





1.) GregoryST


     114.15





2.) Angeline


     112.49





3.) tincan


     109.65





4.) Pappy


     108.81





5.) PapaGin


     108.36





6.) Tester


     108.29





7.) dragon


     107.41





8.) Spillage


     106.78





9.) Skewlsout


     106.12





10.) JewshCurt


     105.63





Interested in becoming one of the Top 10 Metasquarers?


You can become one by downloading Metasquarer


at Metasquares.com or Metasquarer.com





------------------------------------------------------------


          Advertisement


------------------------------------------------------------


This could be your ad!


Yes that is right.  This could be your ad.  Are you


interested in reaching a wide audience at a low cost?  Do 


you have a business to promote?  Well, now you can promote


it here.  We offer lots of different styles of ads.  You 


can reach the entire subscription base!





GO THERE: Email editors@metasquarer.com.








------------------------------------------------------------


6.  Feature Article


------------------------------------------------------------





On May 13, 2001 Mike released a new build for MetaSquarer, Build 61.


After finding out that AOL had disallowed access to Metasquarer, very likely deliberately,


Mike rewrote the connection protocol and released build 62 to work around AOL's block.


While the proxy support may not current work correctly, we will soon have full proxy/firewall support.





Here are the changed in both builds:








Build 62, published on May 31, 2001:





Protocol changed, AOL's port block doesn't affect us anymore! 


This means AOL users should be able to get on just fine now. 


Connect code improved for everyone as a result of protocol change. 


Every move you sent in a game is sent to the server when you win or lose. 


We will soon have a flash movie on the website that will play back your game using this data. 


Added proxy support... this is still a bit shaky, no guarantee it works right. 


Ratings show to a variable amount of decimal points (Only if the other user is using build 62 as well). Default is 2, can be changed from 0 to 5 








Build 61, published on May 13, 2001:





The "challenge denied" form now plays the "challenge denied" sound. 


Added lobby skinning


Added option menu skinning


Added "challenge denied" skinning (It matches the shape of your image exactly. See the skin page for details on how to use skinning with this form) 


Added "Non-blocking socket" option for people having problems connecting. Don't enable this unless you can't connect at all, and make sure the server's up when you're connecting. 


Added "award" support to the web-interface. 


Right clicking a name now shows who that person is playing in addition to the other options 


Made the square lines thinner... they look more like the original square lines now 


To sum it up: It all looks a lot nicer now (I must agree =)





Thanks to Curt for the interface improvements





------------------------------------------------------------


6. Featured Web Site


------------------------------------------------------------





Interested in becoming a "Feature Web Site"?





All you have to do is link to Metasquares or MetaZine or both.  Then email me at editor@metasquares.com with the url of the page that it is on.  The site that displays our link most prominently and with the most people will get the slot.  Also, if you have good metasquares/metasquarer/metazine content, I will also take that.





Links for "Link to Us"


http://metasquares.com/


http://www.metasquares.com/metazine/about/link.shtml





------------------------------------------------------------


          Advertisement


------------------------------------------------------------


Want to show your support for Metasquarer?





How about wearing it on a t-shirt?





The MetaStore now offers T-Shirts, Sweatshirts, Mousepads, and


Coffee mugs in two sizes. We will soon offer hats. Prices vary,


most are slightly upward of $10. Check it out at:


www.metasquares.com/store.html





------------------------------------------------------------


7.  The Quote


------------------------------------------------------------





"The game is easy to learn, challenging to master, and beautiful to watch, thanks to nifty artwork from the Metacreations folks. "





--Scott Kim, www.scottkim.com





------------------------------------------------------------


8.  Subscription Management


------------------------------------------------------------





To SUBSCRIBE or join this Newsletter:


Go To Metasquares.com/metazine





To UNSUBSCRIBE or be removed from this Newsletter:


Go To Metasquares.com/metazine











------------------------------------------------------------


9.  Contact Information


------------------------------------------------------------





Thank You


Joshua Dickerson (developerlounge.com) - editor@metasquarer.com


Michael Barnathan - metasquares@metasquares.com








You can find Joshua on MetaSquarer.


Nickname: Groundup, Editor





You can find Mike on MetaSquarer.


Nickname: Mike, Tester





      +---------------------------------+


      |             Links               |


      +---------------------------------+


      | http://metasquares.com          |


      | http://metasquarer.com          |


      | http://metasquares.com/metazine |


      | http://developerlounge.com      |


      +---------------------------------+