Variable Speed Round Lengths
A very popular request, originally suggested by herndawg is to simply offer faster options for speed games. I must agree that 5 minutes is not exactly speedy, especially for sequential games with many players. Well I have good news... you can now play 5 minute, 4 minute, 3 minute 2 minute or even 1 minute speed games! I imagine the 1 minute games could be quite hectic on complex maps and would change the game from a strategic challenge to a quick-thinking dexterity contest. I must try that out on Supermax: Prison Riot!
Based on feedback from the community, The extra time for eliminating an opponent is half of the round length. In other words it is still 2.5 mintes for a 5 minute speed game, but only 30 seconds for a 1 minute speed game!
The time remaining will now turn flashing red for the last 30 seconds of a Speed Game.
Speed Turn Alerts
Sometimes you have to wait a while for another player to take their turn in a Speed Game, so you start browsing the news in another tab. Next thing you know, you missed your turn! Other times your opponent makes this faux pas and you end up waiting for nothing! This waiting and forgetting business can even become a vicious cycle that kills the fun and excitement of a speed game. What's the solution?
The game will now detect that it is not "in focus" and grab your attention when it becomes your turn using any of the following methods (note that not all methods are supported by all browsers):
* Bring the window/tab into focus
* Change the title of the window/tab
* Play a sound
* Trigger a popup alert
This last one, the popup alert, could be quite annoying for those hardcore speeders who juggle several speed games at once, so we added a notification option under the Game Settings page to disable it.
Speed Game Ready Alerts
You started or joined a Speed Game, but it's not full... so now what? You would have to keep clicking refresh to see if it's time to play, or risk losing valuable turn time or even worse... forget about your game altogether
. What's the solution?If you have one or more Speed Games awaiting players, the Awaiting Players tab now opens an auto-refresh thingy that uses magic AJAX technology to check on your games for you. Once your game is full (provided you kept the Awaiting Players tab open) it will grab your attention using the methods described above. Now you can visit live chat or catch up with our forum while your game fills up, without worrying about missing anything!
Free Speed Games!
Of course, Speed Games are a feature restricted to Premium Members. These members who support our club financially deserve very much to be rewarded with improved Speed Games. But it wouldn't be in the holiday spirit to leave out free members entirely. Therefore I have granted 3 free Speed Game entries to every active member of Conquer Club. Using these free entries is as easy as joining a Speed Game. These free entries will expire by the end of January, so why wait? Enjoy a Speed Game today!
Don't forget we have also started Conquer Club's official Winter Holidays 2011 celebration, which will include unlimited Speed Games on the Christmas map during the designated period of time!
