A client is a piece of software which connects to a JaoServer and either provides a user
interface for a person to play Jao or is a computer player.
handle
A handle is the word or phrase that you appear as in the player list and when you chat
with other players. It is similar to a "nick" in IRC. A handle can include any set of characters
except a space, a slash ('/') or a colon (':').
joined (to a game)
A client that is playing or watching a game is said to be "joined" to that game.
A client can only be joined to one game at a time, but one person may have multiple
clients running, and thus can play two (or more) hands in the same game or play
multiple games at once. A client that is not joined to a game is in the lobby.
latency
See ping
lobby
All clients that are not joined to a game are in the lobby. Clients see the other
clients in the lobby in the player list and any player chat is sent to all clients in
the lobby.
moderator
The client who creates a game becomes the moderator for that game.
The moderator has different responsibilites for each kind of game. The moderator is
responsible for controlling the dealing and bidding and may have to adjudicate some
rules in specific games. The moderator controls who is allowed to join, whether they
are allowed to play or watch and can control who plays and watches during the game.
In the current implementation the moderator cannot be changed to a different client
during the game.
mutable game
A game whose rules change during the course of the game. The players may be aware
of what the rule is (such as in a game based on Nomic) or not aware of what the rule is
(such as in a game based on Mao).
ping (message)
A ping message is sent by the client (to the server) periodically to keep the connection "alive".
A ping message is also sent by the server (to the client) to determine the period of time it
takes for the client to reply. This length of time is called the "latency" of a client.
A ping message contains no information and the reply message contains no information.
player list
The player list appears in the left hand area of the game's UI. If you are in the lobby,
it displays all the players in the lobby. If you are in a game, it displays the all the
players joined to your game. The Swing client displays different background colours for
each player depending on their latency or "ping times", which is the length of time
required to send and receive a "ping" message.
ruleset
A ruleset defines the basic rules for a particular card game. It includes whether or
not the dealer is the first to play, if there are any restrictions on the exact number of
players (Hearts and Standard Euckre must be played with 4 players) and whether or not
certain cards are legal plays (following suit, trump, etc.)
rulesmaster
See moderator
Swing
Swing is a technology for building graphical user interfaces in Java applets. It
is predated by AWT.
