Add more obvious indication that it is your turn to move, or to "poke" your opponent

Hi,

While playing, I noticed that it's sometimes not that easy to notice when 
it's my turn. Especially if I've been off looking at some other window.  I 
know that the "name" of the wave in the inbox becomes bold when the wave 
changes, but that doesn't help me if the inbox isn't shown. (I've for 
instance used another wave in "ping" mode to have a conversation with my 
opponent, which then obscures the inbox. See my attached screenshot in 
case it's unclear).

When you're not looking at the wave, I guess that a visual indication 
won't help, but if it was possible to allow the wave to make a small sound 
when the opponent moves, that would work splendidly!

Separately, I think it would be good with a stronger visual indication 
that it is your turn to move. Not sure how about how, but here are some 
suggestions. Note that I think these visual indications should be 
optional, although perhaps on by default, in case the player finds them 
annoying:

* Have a blinking text overlayed on the board saying it is your turn.
** When it's your turn, add an overlay with text that shows the time
   since the opponent moved. 

* Add a an extra thick frame to the board when it is your turn. Perhaps 
the border could be black when it's black's turn, and white when it is 
white's turn.

* Change the background colour of the board when it's your turn.

* Make the last played stone stand out more, e.g. by making it stronger in 
colour or blinking, or slightly animated so that it's changing in size 
back and forth, or just wobbling in position. (Small motions are easily 
noticed).

* Perhaps an animation of the stone being placed. (This seems like 
overkill to me, but it would be noticeable).

* Make the whole board wobble a bit, or doing some other kind of 
animation.  

Finally, it might be good to have some way of "poking" your opponent to 
really tell him it's his turn. I don't know if it's technically feasible, 
but if the "poke" could somehow cause a small sound on your opponents 
computer, that'd be good. Or perhaps a link that sends a 'Wave ping' to 
your opponent with a predefined text message like "It's your turn". 
Although I believe if you poke your opponent to often, he's not going to 
want to play with you...

Best regards,
Christian

Original issue reported on code.google.com by christia...@gmail.com on 30 Dec 2009 at 1:06

Attachments:

request_for_stronger_visual_indication.jpg

ZforFun / gameofgo-wave-gadget

Add more obvious indication that it is your turn to move, or to "poke" your opponent #19