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ONLINE RENJU CLASS GAME CENTER
Screen snapshots ot client program
Enjoy your stay on ORC Game Center!
Welcome to ORC Game Center! It contains an online game server and a tournament server that are open to public, and an offline game and tournament server that is open to online renju class students.
Download |
Rating List: Renju / Gomoku | 
Tournaments
Blacklist | 
Games Archive | 
Help Content
ORC Game Center ver 3.0 (The main version with all the features. It uses the installation process. Recommended for home users.)
ORC Game Center ver 3.0 Lite (The compact version which does not require installation. Good for public computers, such as libraries, schools, offices where the installation is not allowed.)
Plain user interface. Fast to download. No installation needed. Just unzip all files to a folder and double click to run!
Optional. Provide bitmap board and stones for ORC Game Center Lite.
Download and unzip the files to the same folder of ORC Game Center Lite if you prefer bitmap board and stones.
Optional. Provide sound effect for ORC Game Center lite.
Download and unzip the files (under folder 'sound') to the same folder of ORC Game Center Lite if you prefer sound effect.
Lobby
Game Room
Questions? Suggestions? Tell us on Forum.
Installation and Uninstallation
Download ORC Game Center ver 3.0 here. It's compatible with Windows 95, 98, ME, NT4, 2000, and XP.
After downloading, run the setup file to install ORC Game Center on your computer. The major steps are as follow:
 Choose language for setup process |
 Choose destination folder to install ORC Game Center |
 Choose language packages for ORC Game Center, and start installation |
Language Setting
ORC Game Center offers several language packages(English, Chinese(PRC), Estonian, Swedish, Finnish, Chinese(Taiwan), Japanese, and more to come). User can choose to install one or more of these language packages at installation. Or download after installation with Auto Update.
Start ORC Game Center, click Options button. In the menu appeared (see below), choose your favorite language. And restart ORC Game Center.
Start ORC Game Center, turn on Auto Update and restart it (if Auto Update is already on, then no need to restart). Click Options button, in the menu appeared (see below), choose your favorite language and restart ORC Game Center. The language package will be downloaded and installed automatically.
Now you can enjoy ORC Game Center in your own language!
Auto Updating
Account Registration
Personal Settings
Playing Games
Observing Games
Chatting and Kibitzing
Pair Playing
Adjourning and Loading Games
Searching Played Games
Joining Tournaments
Others
ORC Game Center can check new versions and upgrage automatically if the option "Auto Update" is turned on. You can turn it off temporarily if you don'twant the program to check new versions at startup. But we suggest you to turn it on regularly so you can always have the latest version.
A user account is need to play or observe games on this server. If you don't have an account, you can register one for free. Unregistered account can be used temporarily to observe games or play unrated games. To enjoy the full benefit of this server, we suggest you register one as soon as possible (before it is taken by others ^_^).
To register, start the client program, use "Guest login" or simply type an ID (if it is not registered) without a password to login. When you login the server, click the "Register" button on the toolbar to register your account. You need to provide a valid email address at registration to receive your initial password. This is very important because you will need to login with your initial password to activate your account. Later you can change the password to your favorite ones.
Please choose an approriate ID. The user ID can only contain letters(A-Z, a-z), numbers(0-9), and underscore(_). The length of ID must be within 2-10 characters. Please note that renjuclass student IDs are reserved for the students. Others cannot use them.
There are several items that you need to set to let the server serve you better and let others know you better. For example, an estimated rank.
When you are first registered, your rank is set to "NR" (not ranked). You must set a rank before you can play rated games. The available rank range is 30k~1k, 1d~6d, and 1p~9p (for professional players). Please give yourself a self-estimated rank, and use the "Profile" button on the toolbar to set it. It is not important to get a proper initial rank. The system will depend on the results of the rated games and the ratings of your opponents to calculate your own rating. When you play enough rated games, and at least one rated-win and one-rated loss, you will earn a system rank (marked with a '*', for example, '3d*'). This can be thought as your "true" rank.
There are also other settings that you can change:
All these options can be changed through the check buttons on the toolbar.
Silent: if you don't want to hear any talk
Idle: if you have been idle for some time
Close: if you don't want to accept any match invitation
Look: if you are seeking for a game
Once you login, you can invite other online players for a game (if they are not already playing a game) or accept game invitation from others.
To invite a player for a game, right click on the user ID in the players list, choose "Match Request" command in the popup menu. In the match request window that appears, you can set the game parameters, such as tentative black and white players, game rule (RIF standard, Sakata rule, Yamaguchi rule, Tarannikov rule, Jonsson rule, or Gomoku), game type (rated or free), game timing (main time, byo-yomi time, and byo-yomi stones. Set both main time and byo-yomi time to zero if you want an untimed game).
When you receive a game invitation, a similar window will appear. You can simply accept/reject it or adjust the parameters and send it back.
Once an invitation is accepted, the game will be created and a game window will appear. You can play and chat in the game window. Game will be ended if either side gets five-in-a-row, or black makes a forbidden move, or either side resigns, or either side gets time-over, or one side proposed a draw and the other side accepts it. Analyzing mode and forbidden point displaying are disabled if you are playing. (They are available only when you are observing.)
Undo is provided in case of obvious mouse or other mistake. But it is not encouraged to be used. Pass is provided according to RIF rule. If both side pass in a row, theh the game will end as a draw.
To observe a game, simply double click the game in the games list window. Another way to observe a game is right click on the game, and choose "Play/Observe" command in the popup menu. When you are observing, you can use analyzing mode to analyze the game. Also forbidden point diaplaying is provided to help you analyze the game. You can share your analysis to others by pressing the "Share button when you finished your analysis.
You can chat in main lobby or game rooms. Always remember that don't use rude words and don't disturb others much. If you are observing a game, you can choose kibitz instead of talk. Then all your comments will be sent to other observers only. The players will not see your words. If you use talk, then players and observers can all see it.
Set your status to silent if you don't want to hear others chat.
You can also whisper to individual players. Double click on the player ID in the list (or right click and choose 'chat' in the popup menu) to open the whisper window. Whisperings will not be seen by others.
If four players (let's say, B1, W1, B2, W2) want to play a pair game, just follow the simple steps:
Note that only player white can request or accept paring. Only free games with same rules can be paired. It doesn't matter that the two games have different timing, though. The server will choose the larger value to be the timing of paired game. Have fun! :-)
If you really have something emergent and have to leave, you can press "Adjourn" button to request adjourment of the game. The game will be saved for later play if your opponent accepts your request. Later when both of you are online and neither of you is playing a game, you can reload the game to continue it. To load a saved game, right click on your ID in players list, choose "Stored Games" command. In the window appears, choose the corresponding game and click "Load" button.
Note: Games with too few moves (less than 15) will not be saved. You can just restart a new one. Games will be automatically adjourned if one of the players gets disconnected.
Please don't take advantage of this function to save a losing game. On the other hand, please be kind to adjourn the game if your opponent has really emergent thing.
Finished games will be saved on server. And you can retrive them later. Click the "View" button on toolbar (or right click on a player and choose "Finished Games" command) will open the View Game Window. Double click in the game list to open the corresponding game. You can enter the userID and refresh to get the games of other players. Opened games can be saved in sgf (smart game format) files and review later.
Automatic tournament system has been brought into ORC game server since version 3.0. Now ORC users can enjoy tournaments with different rules around the clock!
Any registered users with a rating can join ORC tournaments. To sign up, right click the tournament in the list, and choose the Signup command. You can cancel your signup any time before the tournament is started. Users who signup but don't show up in tournament will be banned to join the next tournament.
Tournament detailed information can be viewed by double clicking in the tournament list. For future tournaments, it shows the signup list. For ongoing or finished tournaments, it shows the pairing and results for each round. Finished games (marked by a red square) or ongoing games (marked by a freen square) can be viewed by clicking the name block.
The tournament games will be started automatically by the server. The players just need to be online and be available for game (not involved in other games). It doesn't matter if the player set the "X" on. Please don't open the games yourself! All games will be played without boy-yomi, to make sure it be finished in time. The winners of the games will enter the next round. A draw or adjourned game will result in both players disappear from next round. So try your best to win!
Previous tournaments can be searched using the menu command when right click in tournament list. You can specify the date range and tournament rule to start your search. Searching results will be shown in the list. Double click let you view the details of the tournaments.
A web page is created and regularly updated which keeps a record of all finished tournaments and winners. You can open the webpage by right click in tournament list and choose the "Open tournament webpage" command. Enjoy!
There are a lot of other functions that you can use. If you have any problems, try to whisper to an admin, he/she will be glad to help you.