wordbots · AlexNisnevich · Apr 27, 2023 · Apr 25, 2023 · Apr 25, 2023 · Apr 26, 2023
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
   "name": "wordbots",
-  "version": "0.19.0-alpha",
+  "version": "0.20.0-beta",
   "description": "A card-and-board game that showcases card game semantic parsing",
   "license": "MIT",
   "engines": {

diff --git a/src/common/containers/About.tsx b/src/common/containers/About.tsx
@@ -9,33 +9,51 @@ import Background from '../components/Background';
 import MarkdownBlock from '../components/MarkdownBlock';
 import Title from '../components/Title';
 import * as w from '../types';
+import { lookupParserVersion } from '../util/cards';
 
 interface AboutProps {
   version: string
 }
 
+interface AboutState {
+  parserVersion: string
+}
+
 export function mapStateToProps(state: w.State): AboutProps {
   return {
     version: state.version
   };
 }
 
-class About extends React.PureComponent<AboutProps> {
+class About extends React.PureComponent<AboutProps, AboutState> {
+  public state = {
+    parserVersion: '(loading)'
+  };
+
+  public componentWillMount() {
+    void this.lookupParserVersion();
+  }
+
   public render(): JSX.Element {
     const [version, sha] = this.props.version.split('+');
+    const { parserVersion } = this.state;
     const shaTruncated = truncate(sha, { length: 8, omission: '' });
 
     return (
       <div className="helpPage">
-        <Helmet title="About" />
+        <Helmet title="About / FAQ" />
         <Background asset="compressed/image1-1.jpg" opacity={1} style={{ backgroundSize: 'contain' }} />
 
-        <Title text="About" />
+        <Title text="About / FAQ" />
 
         <div style={{ display: 'flex', justifyContent: 'stretch', margin: '20px auto', width: '84%' }}>
           <div style={{ width: '50%', marginRight: 20 }}>
             <Paper style={{ padding: '5px 20px' }}>
-              <MarkdownBlock source={whatIsWordbots(version, shaTruncated)} />
+              <MarkdownBlock source={whatIsWordbots} />
+            </Paper>
+
+            <Paper style={{ padding: '5px 20px', marginTop: 20 }}>
+              <MarkdownBlock source={statusReport} />
             </Paper>
 
             <Paper style={{ padding: '5px 20px', marginTop: 20 }}>
@@ -51,6 +69,14 @@ class About extends React.PureComponent<AboutProps> {
             <Paper style={{ padding: '5px 20px' }}>
               <MarkdownBlock source={credits} />
             </Paper>
+
+            <Paper style={{ padding: '5px 20px', marginTop: 20 }}>
+              <pre>
+                Game version: v<a href={`https://github.com/wordbots/wordbots-core/releases/tag/v${version}`}>{version}</a><br />
+                Build SHA: {shaTruncated === 'local' ? '(local)' : <a href={`https://github.com/wordbots/wordbots-core/commit/${sha}`}>{shaTruncated}</a>}<br />
+                Parser version: {parserVersion.startsWith('(') ? parserVersion : <a href={`https://github.com/wordbots/wordbots-parser/releases/tag/v${parserVersion}`}>{parserVersion}</a>}
+              </pre>
+            </Paper>
           </div>
         </div>
 
@@ -69,44 +95,65 @@ class About extends React.PureComponent<AboutProps> {
       </div>
     );
   }
+
+  private async lookupParserVersion(): Promise<void> {
+    try {
+      this.setState({
+        parserVersion: await lookupParserVersion()
+      });
+    } catch (error) {
+      this.setState({
+        parserVersion: '(failed to connect to parser)'
+      });
+    }
+  }
 }
 
 export default withRouter(connect(mapStateToProps)(About));
 
-const whatIsWordbots = (version: string, sha: string) => (`
-## Wordbots [${version}](https://github.com/wordbots/wordbots-core/releases/tag/v${version})+${sha}
-![](http://app.wordbots.io/static/screenshot_mini.png)
-**Wordbots** is a customizable hex-based card game with a twist – _you_, the player,
-get to create the cards!
+const whatIsWordbots = `
+## What is Wordbots?
 
-Wordbots is currently in **alpha**.
-We _have_ a working (but not fully complete) parser for card text, basic gameplay functionality, and a lobby for multiplayer gameplay.
-We _don't_ currently have any mechanism to ensure that cards are reasonably balanced –
-that's still something we're brainstorming.
-`);
+**_Wordbots_ is a card game with a twist – _you_, the player,
+get to create the cards!**
 
-const howItWorks = `
-## How Does It Work?
+The basic gameplay of Wordbots is that of a positional card game _(think Hearthstone, Faeria, or Duelyst)_.
+The fact that players make their own cards makes Wordbots games rather wild and unpredictable, and also
+introduces behaviors that are not possible in other games, such as cards being able to _rewrite_ other cards mid-game.
 
-[Glad you asked! There's a whole separate page explaining the magic.](/how-it-works)
+Wordbots started as an experiment in semantic parsing, way back in 2016. It has since spiraled into a very-long-term side project.
+I guess making a multiplayer game is kind of complicated!
 `;
 
-const getInvolved = `
-## Get Involved!
 
-Interested in Wordbots? There are many ways you can get involved:
+const statusReport = `
+## What's the status of Wordbots? Is it "done"? Will it ever be?
 
-1. Join us on [our Discord channel](http://discord.wordbots.io) to discuss Wordbots.
+Wordbots is in **early beta** (but it will probably forever retain the "beta" designation).
 
-2. Got comments or questions? Is something not working? Are some elements of the game confusing?
-[Fill out our feedback form](https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSed43Rc8HcdZug7uW8Jdxsa6CpHP8kQLnioIz_tiFos2NvMtQ/viewform?usp=sf_link)
-to let us know.
+It's more or less "feature-complete", in the sense that:
+* the parser works decently well at what it does; and
+* there are a variety of fully-fledged gameplay formats, some more balanced than others
 
-3. Technical folks, follow the development of the game on [GitHub](http://git.wordbots.io).
-Feel free to add issues or even make a pull request if you're feeling brave.
+Is it a "game"? It's certainly playable! Of course, it's not going to be the next Hearthstone.
+Our goal is to get somewhere in the middle between "cool tech demo" and "successful multiplayer game".
+
+You can check out [Wordbots's version history on GitHub](https://github.com/wordbots/wordbots-core/releases).
+`;
+
+const howItWorks = `
+## How does it work?
 
-4. Last but not least, donations enable us to keep working on Wordbots, so if you're feeling generous,
-[send a dollar or two our way on Patreon](https://www.patreon.com/wordbots).
+[Glad you asked! There's a whole separate page explaining the magic.](/how-it-works)
+`;
+const getInvolved = `
+## How cool! Any way I can get involved?
+
+* Join us on [our Discord channel](http://discord.wordbots.io) to discuss Wordbots. This is the place to go with any general questions or comments about Wordbots – we'd love to hear your feedback!
+
+* Technical folks, follow the development of the game on [GitHub](http://git.wordbots.io).
+Feel free to add issues or even make a pull request if you're feeling brave.
+Interested in starter issues? Reach out on [our Discord](http://discord.wordbots.io)!
 `;
 
 const credits = `
@@ -123,11 +170,12 @@ with help from:
 * [John Patterson](https://www.johnppatterson.com/) - consultation, code contributions, voice acting
 * [Danny Burt](http://dbz.rocks/), [Bryan Hoyt](https://github.com/bryanftw), [Michael Ebert](https://github.com/MichaelEbert), [Tim Hwang](https://timhwang21.gitbook.io/index/) – consultation, [code contributions](https://github.com/wordbots/wordbots-core/graphs/contributors)
 * Asali Echols, James Silvey, Annie Nisnevich – extensive playtesting
-* Adam B, Honza H, Drew T, Greg S, Liam D, Erik K, John B, Alex B – playtesting
+* Adam B, Alex B, Daniel M, Drew T, Erik K, Greg S, Honza H, John B, Liam D – playtesting
 
-The Wordbots parser is built on top of the [\`Montague\` semantic parsing engine](https://github.com/Workday/upshot-montague).
+The Wordbots parser is built on top of the [\`Montague\` semantic parsing engine](https://github.com/Workday/upshot-montague),
+by Thomas Kim, [Joseph Turian](https://github.com/turian), and [Alex Nisnevich](https://alex.nisnevich.com/).
 
-The Wordbots frontend incorporates the following (MIT- and WTFPL-licensed) projects:
+The Wordbots frontend incorporates/vendors the following (MIT- and WTFPL-licensed) projects:
 
 * [\`react-hexgrid\`](https://github.com/hellenic/react-hexgrid) by [Hannu Kärkkäinen](https://github.com/Hellenic)
 * [\`spritegen\`](https://gitlab.com/not_surt/spritegen) by [Carl Olsson](https://gitlab.com/not_surt)
@@ -143,6 +191,8 @@ Wordbots uses the following fonts and icon fonts:
 * [Material Icons](https://mui.com/components/material-icons/) by Google
 * [RPG-Awesome Icons](https://nagoshiashumari.github.io/Rpg-Awesome/) by [Game-Icons.net](https://game-icons.net/), [Daniela Howe](https://github.com/nagoshiashumari), and [Ivan Montiel](https://github.com/idmontie)
 
+_No LLMs were used in the making of Wordbots._
+
 `;
 
 /* (No longer needed now that we have the New Here? widget on the homepage? -AN)

diff --git a/src/common/containers/Admin.tsx b/src/common/containers/Admin.tsx
@@ -195,9 +195,9 @@ class Admin extends React.PureComponent<AdminProps> {
   }
 
   private async lookupParserVersion(): Promise<void> {
-    const parserResponse = await fetch(`${PARSER_URL}/parse?format=js&input=Draw%20a%20card`);
-    const parserResponseJson = await parserResponse.json();
-    this.setState({ parserVersion: parserResponseJson.version });
+    this.setState({
+      parserVersion: await this.lookupParserVersion()
+    });
   }
 
   private async previewMigration(cards: w.CardInStore[], setId: w.SetId | null): Promise<void> {

diff --git a/src/common/util/cards.ts b/src/common/util/cards.ts
@@ -298,6 +298,12 @@ export function parseCard(
   );
 }
 
+export async function lookupParserVersion(): Promise<string> {
+  const parserResponse = await fetch(`${PARSER_URL}/parse?format=js&input=Draw%20a%20card`);
+  const parserResponseJson = await parserResponse.json();
+  return parserResponseJson.version;
+}
+
 //
 // 3.5. Keyword abilities.
 //

diff --git a/src/server/handleRequest.tsx b/src/server/handleRequest.tsx
@@ -59,7 +59,7 @@ function renderFullPage(html: string, head: HelmetData): string {
         <meta property="og:type" content="website" />
         <meta property="og:title" content="Wordbots" />
         <meta property="og:description" content="Wordbots is a customizable hex-based card game with a twist – you, the player, get to create the cards!" />
-        <meta property="og:image" content="/static/screenshot.png" />
+        <meta property="og:image" content="/static/static/artAssets/dome2.png" />
 
         <link rel="icon" href="/static/favicon.ico" />
         <link rel="apple-touch-icon" sizes="57x57" href="/static/icons/apple-icon-57x57.png" />