To celebrate, a public real-time chat was held with Bill Kendrick,
creator of Bill's Games.
A transcript of the most relevant parts of the chat are listed below.
Some messages were reordered to create groups of questions-and-answers
to make this transcript more readable.
(Note: Not everyone who attended said too much, which is why not everyone
is seen in the transcripts.)
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Bill-Kendrick
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So welcome everyone!
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bobobot
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So, Bill, what made you decide to set up billsgames.com?
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Bill-Kendrick
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Well, the games were originally running on my account at my school.
When I graduated, I had to move it to a 'real' ISP. I eventually decided
to go 'all the way' and set up a domain.
It was mainly an excuse to redo
all of the games so that they had the same 'look and feel.' That, plus
a domain, makes it look more professional.
However, bobo, if you meant
"why did I write web games," then, well... it was interesting. I've
been really into computer and video games since my family got an Atari
2600 back in `80 or `81.
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paisley
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thank you so much for a web tv web for games. also for the of countless
hours of enjoyment. i am known as the websame junky
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Moochie
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I'd like Solitaire much better if the cards wouldn't disappear off the
bottom of the screen
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Bill-Kendrick
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Moochie - I understand. I didn't get a WebTV myself until very
recently, and haven't actually signed up for the service yet. Once I
do, I'll be doing massive testing of my site with it, so things like
that will be changing.
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vee
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Hi there!! Happy Anniversary Bill
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Bill-Kendrick
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Thanks vee. I can't believe it's been a year already!
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Tiger
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I've used, a webtv, PC and a Mac to access ur games...the only one I've
had problems with is webtv...cards do dissapear but if u keep playing
it'll reapear...4 some reason the cards just don't always load
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Bill-Kendrick
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Tiger - The "non-loading cards" problem really appears to be a WebTV
Networks problem. If you're familiar with Epsylon Games (they have their
own large collection of Solitare and other WebTV-compatible games)...
they have the same thing happening to them.
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Tiger
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yeah I know...webtv has a problem with loading alot of graphics at a
time...but not always... It doesn't only happen durring solitare, during
just basic websurfing...usually reloading the page will fix it... but not
always
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Bill-Kendrick
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Tiger - I think WebTV might be expanding their customer base a little
faster than they're expanding their hardware. <:^( I know the
feeling, though. (You might have noticed I'm running my chat room on
a different server. BillsGames.com is VERY overloaded during the
evenings.)
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Tiger
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yup ;)
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Bill-Kendrick
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Tiger - BTW, I'm glad you say that (that it's not just solitaire, and
not just billsgames).
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grep
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Bill- planning on adding any new games in the near future?
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Bill-Kendrick
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grep - yes, eventually I'd like to add tons of fun games. Checkers,
Chess, Reversi (Othello)... Bridge seems a popular request, too.
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paisley
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happy anniversary and keep the games coming
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Bill-Kendrick
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So, quick survey. How did everyone here find out about Bill's Games?
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Moochie
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I must thank the book Web TV for Dummies for leading me to your site.
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grep
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found out about it from some guy by the name of Bill. ;^)
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Tiger
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I was on your mailing list...from the school site...I'm an oldie.
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grep
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Bill- Any plans for a server upgrade? ;-)
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Bill-Kendrick
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grep - No time soon. Software upgrades will help a lot, though.
(I know you've offered to help. When are you back in town? Or is
Davis not your final destination here on the west coast?)
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grep
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Bill- My start date at new company is the 13th - maybe we can get
together and discuss it. I won't be living in Davis, but I'll be up
there a lot.
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perica
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Hi Bill- You are my hero because I love your solitaire game
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Bill-Kendrick
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Thanks percia. If you were around about 2 years ago, you might have
hated me. I had it up and running for a few months, but had to take
it down. It was going to cost me $100's even $1000's a month to keep
it running!
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bluj
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Bill, at one time you were going to add Blackjack. What happened?
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Bill-Kendrick
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bluj - A friend of mine from college had offered to help out with that,
since he's an expert cardsman, and a very good programmer. He never got
back to me.
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bluj
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Yours is my favorite website. I hope you will add blackjack someday.
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virginia
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bill - we all love web same - we play a game a day
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vee
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Hi Virginia; we have something in common.
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Tiger
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Virginia- I love web same, too. I try to get at least 3 games a day tho.
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Vivian-Mason
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This is all Greek to me on my WebTv but thanks for the enjoyable site and
"Happy Annivesary"
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Bill-Kendrick
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Thanks vivian.
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Bill-Kendrick
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I think, perhaps, that I should keep a list of "games to add". Let's
see, Chess, Checkers, Bridge, Blackjack.. any other suggestions?
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Tiger
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Bill, what ever happened to the space game (can't remember the name)
you was going to start? I think that was at the school site tho
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Bill-Kendrick
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Tiger - "Planet Monger." I dropped the idea (for now, at least). I
need to spend serious time designing it before I can create it. Unlike
most games I've written (for the web and otherwise), it will take
forethought! :)
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reebug
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Bill, will you ever bring back the seasonal concentration game, but
bigger ?
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Bill-Kendrick
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reebug - The seasonal concentration graphics weren't very good. They
were also clip-art, so I probably shouldn't have used them. :) One plan
eventually is to become a 'real' company and hire people, like artists.
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virginia
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would it be possible to have list showing highest scorer of the month
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Bill-Kendrick
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virginia - that's a common request. I do plan on adding a highscore
table to at least WebSame, possibly WordScram, and Solitaire, too.
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virginia
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bill - dont need prizes - just so we can know where we stand
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Bill-Kendrick
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virginia - I understand. (Perhaps one day, if I make enough money from
this site, and can make sure the software is fraud-proof, there might be
prizes. MAYBE :) )
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virginia
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bill i dont think you need prizes -- we all enjoy the games
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Moochie
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Hearts is one of my favorite games. Did you consider that?
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Bill-Kendrick
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Moochie - Hearts.. I'll add it to the list. It might be more complicated,
since it's multiplayer, and that can be tough to manage, but I'll keep it
in mind.
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virginia
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how long has the chat room been in existence
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Bill-Kendrick
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virginia - 38 minutes. :) It will only be around now and then. I used
to run a chat on my personal site, but it turned into a major soap opera.
>:^(
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virginia
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tiger - web same is good therapy
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Bill-Kendrick
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I'm glad you guys like it so much! The idea wasn't mine. I first saw
the game for Linux (which is what I run instead of Windows). The game
was called "KSame." There's another called "Same GNOME."
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Tiger
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there's also a java version of websame called...SameGame de Java...its hard
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Bill-Kendrick
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Tiger - I think the "same games" I've seen are all based on one original
game, "SameGame." I think it's for the Macintosh.
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Tiger
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Bill, I don't doubt that...it really is a fun game
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JOJO
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What is the highest score on Websame?
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virginia
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my highest websame score about 3500 once usualy a 1800
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Bill-Kendrick
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I don't currently know the highest score on WebSame. I once calculated
the absolute maximum score (all pieces being the same, so you get tons
of points, plus 1000 for completing it), but it is so unlikely to ever
happen...
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