Pontes Backgammon, an On-line and Off-line Audio Game

[Manu]

After almost three months of work, Pontes Backgammon 1.0 has been realized.
This is an on-line and off-line Backgammon game programmed in BGT.
You can play on-line and off-line with a partner in the same room or against the computer. Playing with a partner in the same room, the board turns automatically for white and for black alternately; it’s a good way to have a board at home, cheaper than a physical one.
All the information about this game can be found at www.backgammon.pontes.ro, read first of all the Help Section.

Download Pontes Backgammon 1.0.

The beta is still enabled, you can play entire games for some days without buing the game. In demo mode, after removing the 4th checker from the table, the game closes. The name in demo mode is "DemoTester". The price is just 13 euros. The key is available forever, after reinstalling Windows or changing the PC, we will replace the key with another one and the old one will be disabled.

You can choose a favorite pair of dice during the game, you can listen to your favorite music using the Music Player installed under the board, there is a clock cuckoo and many others.

Available Keystrokes

During the Game:

• F1 opens this Help.
• F2 opens the chat in an on-line game. Escape closes the chat..
• F3 changes the board notation. There are two possibilities: points from 1 to 24 or from 1 to 12 (A for white's side, B for black's side).
• F4 says current point / position.
• F5 rolls the dice. Also the Enter key rolls the dice. When the dice are rolled, these keys says the dice not used.
• F6 chooses your favorite pair of dice.
• F7-F8 set the TTS voice rate.
• F9-F10 adjust the TTS voice volume.
• F11 opens a menu where it's possible to enable / disable the sounds during the game. Use up or down arrows to choose an item, left and right arrows to enable / disable it. For instance "Say all points automatically" option can be disabled after the user is accustomed with the board. Enter saves sounds settings.
• F12 says the current time.
• Space takes or puts down a checker. Using Space also re-enter a checker.
• Delete bears off a checker from the board, when all the checkers are in the home board.
• The arrows move the "cursor" on the table.
• The numbers 1 to 0 makes the "cursor" to jump the corresponding number of points.
• `, the key before numbers, changes the moving direction when using the number keys.
• Home and End move the "cursor" directly to the edges, home in home board, end to the opposite part.
• W says your partner's nickname.
• S announces the score.
• T says the time elapsed since current game started.
• H says how many checkers are in the home boards.
• I says the checkers on the bar.
• O says the checkers removed by players.
• P says the number of moving possibilities.
• X opens the music player.
• Z, X, C, V, B - the functions available in Winamp. N says the current track playing and the number of tracks loaded in the play list.
• Control + S saves current off-line game.
• Control + O opens a saved game.
• Escape closes the game after confirmation and goes into Main Menu.
• Alt + F4 closes the game after confirmation.

Keystrokes in the Chat Section:

• Page-Up / Page-Down: read the messages from history.
• Home or End go to top or bottom of history.
• Insert copies all the messages into clipboard.
• Delete cuts a message from the history.

Read all the information in the Help Section.

Download Pontes Backgammon 1.0

[Manu]

There is a new version of Pontes Backgammon: 1.2.
The main update is the support for other languages.
In the folder Languages there are files like: English.lng, Romanian Diacritics.lng, Romanian no Diacritics.lng.
If a new language is needed, the file English.lng can be copied with another name like Spanish.lng and all the messages can be translated, the parts after equal sign on each line. Please send a translation to backgammon@pontes.ro and I will include in a new compilation.

Changes in version 1.2 (6 November 2011)

1. Added decimal key on numeric keyboard to remove a checker. (19 October 2011)
2. Home and End keys are available when is your partner's turn to jump directly to the edges of the board. (21 October 2011)
3. Added Alt + F4 to close the game when waiting for a partner as a client and in other places. (21 October 2011)
4. Added F7 and F8 keys to change the voice rate in menus. (21 October 2011)
5. Pressing tab key, you can hear the registration status, for instance: "Online No, Offline Yes" means that the game is registered for offline games, but it is not registered for online games. (21 October 2011)
6. Added the clock in the menus. Press F12 to hear the current time. The clock is also announced automatically if it is enabled in Sounds settings. (22 October 2011)
7. The music player is available also when waiting for a partner as a client. (22 October 2011)
8. Pressing Control + W during a game the current partner's name is spelled. (22 October 2011)
9. When the CD is reinserted in the music player, it searches now for current tracks in My music folder. It is possible to change the content of the My music folder during a game, just stop and restart the player to create the new playlist. (22 October 2011)
10. Added F9 and F10 to adjust the music player or background volume in the Chat section. (22 October 2011)
11. Pressing F1, the online help is opened anywhere: in the menus, in the Chat section etc. (22 October 2011)
12. Added support for other languages. Any file.lng can be found as a language in the Change Language option from Main Menu. You can translate the content of English.lng and put into a file named language_name.lng. [30 October 2011)
13. Romanian language is available. (01 November 2011)
14. Control + F11 opens the Change Language option. You can change the language during a game. (02 November 2011)
15. Some sounds were fixed to be played on the corresponding position. For instance the beep on a movable checker is heard like the checker itself produces it. (03 November 2011)
16. There is a new option in Main menu: Choose Ambience. Here you can choose the ambience in games, like: park, forest, night, cafeteria. Control + X opens this option during a game. [04 November 2011)
17. Fixed some problems with sounds. (when detected)
18. Fixed some minor bugs. (when detected)

Download the last version of Pontes Backgammon

[Manu]

There is a new version of Pontes Backgammon: 1.4.

Who doesn't know what Pontes Backgammon is, it would be better to read first the documentation or to visit the Pontes Backgammon site at www.backgammon.pontes.ro.

Changes in version 1.4 (16 January 2012)

1. Danish language is available. Translated by Alexander Nielsen. (30 December 2011)
2. In the chat window, pressing Control + Backspace you can delete the message written since last Enter key was pressed. (4 January 2012)
3. Croatian language is available. Translated by Igor Zelenika. (6 January 2012)
4. Added translation in chat. After writing a message, if Control + Enter is pressed, the written text will be translated and it will replace the writen text, just press Enter to send it. After choosing a message from the list, pressing Control + T that message is also translated. F5 repeat the last translation made by Control + T. You can choose your language pressing F3 or Shift + F3, and the partner's language pressing F4 or Shift + F4. F2 says current languages set. (8 January 2012)
5. When your partner is writing a message, a typing sound will be heard. When you partner presses the first letter in a new message, the voice will announce: "Your partner is writing a message...". (10 January 2012)
6. The timer in a game is paused when a chat session is running. (11 January 2012)
7. Pressing Control + U, you can hear the points where are vulnerable checkers. U was already saying the number of vulnerable checkers since version 1.0 revision 3. (13 January 2012)
8. Serbian language is available. Translated by Nikola Stojšić. (14 January 2012)
9. The abandon system added. If one of the partners closes the game, the other player will be the winner. There is also a timeout per turn: if one player doesn't move for 3 minutes, an abandon will be considered. (15 January 2012)
10. Fixed some bugs.

Download Pontes Backgammon, the last version

[Manu]

A new version of Pontes Backgammon, 1.5, is available.

In this version I added support for game pads and joysticks. The mouse support was also changed for a better usability.
I fixed a known bug which occured sometimes when bearing checkers off. Now everything works correctly.
Some sounds were changed, some new information added, like remaining time until an abandon is considered, who's turn is to move etc.

Changes in version 1.5 (7 August 2012)

1. Italian language is available. Translated by Claudio Garanzini. (20 May 2012)
2. Pressing key G, you can hear who's turn is to move. (14 July 2012)
3. Pressing control + t in an online game, you can hear the remaining time for current move. Remember that after 3 minutes without moving, it is considered an abandon. (14 July 2012)
4. Changed some sounds like the edges for history lists. Added a left beep when the entire message is deleted in the chat history. (15 July 2012)
5. The mouse support was entirely rewritten for a better usability. (17-23 July 2012)
The mouse status is also saved and charged at the start of the game for registered users.
6. All user settings are now saved into Windows Registry. The SApi voice rate, sound settings, board notation and other settings must be set again. (29 July 2012)
7. Pressing control + m you can set now the mouse delay, its speed. By default, the delay between mouse position refreshing is 200 milliseconds. (30 July 2012)
8. Game pad and joystick support added, read more about game pad and joystick support in the manual. (01 August 2012)
9. Pressing control + j you can set the game pad or joystick delay, its speed. By default, the delay between cursor movements made by a game pad is 200 milliseconds. (01 August 2012)
10. At game launch it is verified if an instance of Pontes Backgammon is already running. It is not possible to open Pontes Backgammon more times accidentally. (03 August 2012)
11. If Pontes Backgammon is registered, the Registration Manager can also unregister it. (03 August 2012)
12. German language is available. Translated by Dogan Yildirim. (04 August 2012)
13. All the Yes / No question dialogs where changed. Now it is possible to choose between Yes or No using the arrows or Tab key. The question is also repeated each 20 seconds. (05 August 2012)

Fixed bugs:
- If alt + tab is pressed and JAWS is running, the screen reader will work correctly outside the game window. (Thanks Philip) (13 July 2012)
- A nickname longer than 15 characters is now spoken entirely. (14 July 2012)
- The ambience can not be changed anymore pressing control + x while the music player is running. (14 July 2012)
- To open a saved game, control right + o is also available. (14 July 2012)
- The current time announced automatically by clock cuckoo is not repeated more times. (14 July 2012)
- When writing or deleting text in chat, the space is also pronounced by synthesizers. (15 July 2012)
- Alt + shift and control + shift change now the speak output mode also in the chat window. (15 July 2012)
- Corrected some mistakes in the history games files found in My Games folder. (16 July 2012)
- The music player jumps now to the next track also in chat window. (16 July 2012)
- Fixed an important bug at bearing checkers off time. Now it is impossible anymore to remove a wrong checker in some situations. (21 July 2012)
- Fixed other bugs.

The size of this package is: 12.4 MB.

Read about Pontes Backgammon at www.backgammon.pontes.ro.

Read the manual clicking the link below:
Help and Documentation
In the manual you can also read about game pad or joystick support.

Download the last version clicking the link below:
Download the last version of Pontes Backgammon

[Manu]

A new version of Pontes Backgammon, 1.6, is available.

Changes in version 1.6 (11 May 2014)

1. Pontes Backgammon can be played also using only the numeric keyboard. (10 September 2012)
- 5 announces current position, 0 takes and puts down a checker, comma removes a checker, 7 and 1 have the functions of home and end keys respectively, 2 4 6 8 have the functions of the arrows keys.
2. When playing offline, pressing key Q you can hear the names of the available partners waiting as host of an online game. (13 September 2012)
- During an offline game, the available partners waiting for clients are announced automatically periodically if their list changes.
- In Sound Settings You can enable or disable the automatic announcement of available partners.
3. Added a new ambience. You can choose now to play like in a restaurant on the beach. (16 December 2010)
4. The typing sound in chat has been changed. It is not heard anymore for each key pressed by your partner, but constantly while he or she writes. (04 January 2013)
5. By default, wrap navigation is enabled in all menus. Pressing key W in menus, the wrap navigation can be enabled or disabled. (21 January 2013)
6. Added support for other sound themes. The default theme is Pontes Backgammon Modern, a new one. (16 February 2013)
- It is possible to change the theme from Main Menu or pressing Control + F6 during a game. The classic theme is still available.
7. Hungarian language is available. Translated by Tanko Csaba. (26 March 2013)
8. Added the possibility to pause an offline game. Press F2 to pause and Escape to resume. (27 April 2013)
9. Added a dice game to be played while an offline game is paused. The target score is 6. See more details reading the Manual. (28 April 2013)
10. Pressing F12 twice quickly, current date is announced. (29 April 2013)
11. Aded a new option in the Main Menu: Information. (29 April 2014)
- It is possible to ask for your number of played games, total points, positions in score boards.
12. The statistics and scoreboard web pages were updated. (04 May 2014)
- You can see stats and scoreboard for a chosen period of time.
- It is possible to see stats like score between you and a partner.
13. When a player has problems with Internet connection, it is considered an abandon. (10 May 2014)
14. Added the possibility to send a buzz or various audibles in chat. (10 May 2014)
- Press Control + G to send a buzz, or Control + M to choose an audible.
15. Some sounds were replaced by new others.

Fixed bugs:
- Fixed an inconsistence in Windows Registry. Now Pontes Backgammon can be played also if the user is not an administrator. (22 Octomber 2012)
- Fixed a file writting permission issue. Now the chosen language will be remembered also if the user is not an administrator. (18 December 2012)
- Fixed an error when choosing the ambience. Pressing key Escape, the ambience is not changed anymore. (20 January 2013)
- Q key is available also in menus. (02 May 2014)
- Fixed other bugs.

The size of this package is: 13.8 MB.

Read about Pontes Backgammon at www.backgammon.pontes.ro.

Read the manual clicking the link below:
Help and Documentation
In the manual you can also read about game pad or joystick support.

Download the last version clicking the link below:
Download the last version of Pontes Backgammon