MJT Tip - Chromebook and MJT Issues/Tips


MJT Tip - Chromebook and MJT Issues/Tips

Please understand - I am not part of the Mahjong Time team. When you field questions, I answer as best I can and I reach out to the MJT team if I don't know the answer. I have no pull with them so please don't ask "can you get them to do x y z". It doesn't work with my husband, it seldom works with my son, and my puppy often will do what I ask but I also get that "talk to the paw" side-eye look on a regular basis. In other words, while I have all responsibility, I have no authority ðŸ¤£
So let's talk all things Chromebook.
Some can, some can't.
Some Chromebooks are able to run the Android version from the Google Play mobile store - but not all of them. Depends on the Chromebook model. You can only try and if it does, then it doesn't. Chromebooks were never meant to have a lot of processing power behind them which is why they don't work with most gaming systems or higher demand software.
But what about Lite Mahjong (on the MJT website)?
You do have the ability to run the Lite version (not thru the Epoch app, it is the free version you run from a browser by going to the MJT website).
Well.... Lite is probably less calories, but does it taste good?
Well, there are some differences - I played a few games this morning just to get a feel for it. So here are the similarities and differences to Epoch. Note that I have attached a picture of the screen during one of my games.
  1. There are no racks. The lite version doesn't have configurations settings so that can't change.
  2. Since there are no racks, your tiles put up for exchange display to the right of your tiles. A little getting used to there.
  3. There is no Game Helper (the tile counter on the right side that is only available for paid members). During tournaments, I turn that off anyway so maybe not a big deal. That is a judgment call.
  4. There is no tile hover telling you how many discarded or exposed/available. Again, that is a paid membership thing but that is something left on during the tournament. I missed that a lot playing this morning (I don't mind not having Game Helper but I like hover for my safety net).
  5. You can auto-arrange tiles (the AZ icon in the upper right corner).
  6. There is no chat.
  7. There is no choosing a game. You get assigned to the next American table available - sort of like playing Siamese on an iPad. You can set up private tables through to play with friends.
  8. The tiles all line up - they are not scattered.
  9. When you display with a joker, you know in Epoch how the joker displays a bright what the tile is? It does not do that here. Jokers display as jokers.
  10. A little thing. It announces all discards except your own.
Any bugs?
Yep. There is one. Not necessarily a deal breaker but might be. So here is the scenario.
  • Keep in mind there are 4 different flowers in each run of 4: plum, orchid, chrysanthemum, and bamboo).
  • PlayerA exposes FFFJ.
  • The system "identifies" that joker as a bamboo tile.
  • PlayerB is all excited as they have a flower that they want to exchange for that joker. But here is where the bug comes in.
  • If PlayerB has a bamboo tile in their hand, they can exchange for that joker as that is an "exact match" in the system's eyes.
  • If PlayerB has an orchid, however, the system says "you cannot exchange your orchid tile for that bamboo joker" and it refuses the exchange.
So there you have it.
I hope this helps!
Please keep asking questions - and we will learn together!



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