Note: Ergo is not actively maintained! Although it should still work on NNGS it may or may not work on IGS.

Ergo  A Java client for the internet Go servers. Version 0.91.3

Ergo is a client for the internet Go servers (NNGS and IGS) which is written in Java.  It should run on any platform that supports Java 1.1 or Java 2.  It has been tested on Windows 95/98/NT, OS/2, Linux (RedHat 5.1 and 5.2) and (briefly) on Solaris 2.5 with no unusual problems.  Java 1.0 is not supported!

View some screenshots:

1. A 19x19 game (70KB) - Screenshot taken in Windows 95.
2. The Terminal window (10KB) - Screenshot taken in Linux.
3. The Games window (6KB) - Screenshot taken in Linux.
4. Tho Who window (7KB) - Screenshot taken in Linux.

Ergo attempts to support all Go server features through the standard keyboard commands and all of the most common ones through the graphical interface.  The Ergo user interface is intended to be as simple and intuitive as possible.  If you find parts that aren't, please send me mail.

Ergo is not a full Smart Go Format browser, but it does allow you to easily edit games and load and save SGF format files.  Game kibitzes are saved in the game record and undone moves are saved as variations.

Some of Ergo's main features include:

• Works in web browsers.
• Works on multiple platforms.
• Realistic wood-grain goban and 3D stones. (Flat stones optional.)
• Observe multiple games.
• Browse or edit the game tree at any time, even while playing.
• Undone moves are stored in the game record as variations.
• Save/load games in SGF format. (Not available when used in a browser.)
• Local game scoring assistance.
• Automatically re-observes adjourned games.
• Command history.
• Context-sensitive popup menus.

Using Ergo from your web browser

If your browser supports Java 1.1 then you may be able to run Ergo as an applet.  This has the advantage that you'll always get the latest available version of Ergo and you don't have to deal with installation, but it has the disadvantage that you won't be able to load or save Smart Go Format files, and you won't be able to save your preference settings in an init file.  These restrictions are due to security issues in web browsers.

Ergo is known to work in the following browsers:

• Netscape

Versions 4.02 or 4.04 with the Java 1.1 patch
Versions 4.06 or 4.5
(Version 4.05 is not supported.)

• Internet Explorer 4.0 or higher

Click here to connect to NNGS using Ergo.  
Click here to connect to WING using NErgo.

Using Ergo as an application

If you like Ergo, you should eventually install it on your computer and run it as an application. This will enable certain features that are disabled in the browser due to security considerations, such as Smart Go Format file loading/saving and persistance of preference settings (i.e., it can save your ergo.ini file). To install Ergo just follow the first three steps below.

Download Ergo  (Choose whichever file format is easiest for you to unpack.)

ergo.tar.gz -- 219K (225087 bytes)
ergo.zip -- 302K (308936 bytes)

The sources are distributed under the GNU General Public License (GPL).
 
 

Read the installation instructions

Read the documentation

Send me comments or requests

It would be helpful if you include the version of the operating system you're using, and the version of the JRE or web browser you're using in any bug report. Feel free to read the bug list and wish list too. Let me know if you would like to receive mail when I have a new version of Ergo ready.

The following people have contributed to the creation of Ergo. Thanks! Special thanks to Antranig Basman, my main co-conspirator. Without him Ergo wouldn't have any cool graphics!

• Henry Story - For fixing some threading bugs that showed up on Digital Unix, and for prodding me to fix some of the modularity problems in the code.
• Wada Hiroyuki - For fixing some bugs that prevented it working with the Japanese language (and presumably all non-Roman alphabet languages) and an SGF bug.

Thanks to the following people for reporting bugs and suggesting new features. Sorry if I haven't fixed them yet. :-)

study, owl, dfan, geek, landon, talby, ianm, loveall, Takagi Tsuyoshi, coool, DBA, and others I'm sure I've forgotten!