How Courts Work
A court is a real playing surface at a venue, and in Vallio it's an active object rather than a label. Courts hold state: who's playing, who's waiting, and what they're about to play.
What lives on a court
Three things, and this is the whole category:
The current game — what's being played right now, if anything.
The queue — who plays next.
The vote — what they'll play, singles or doubles.
The queue answers who, the vote answers what. Together they decide the next game without anyone having to negotiate at the net.
Court status
Courts show their current state:
- ›Open — nothing happening, available
- ›Waiting — players in line, game not started
- ›Starting — a game is being set up
- ›Playing — a game in progress
- ›Finished — a game just ended, rotation about to happen
Reservations
Courts can be reserved, most commonly for an event. A reserved court shows a banner explaining it's held — you'll see it marked as reserved for the event, and it isn't available for general queueing during that window.
Courts running event matches show the competing teams rather than a queue.
Why courts and not just venues
A venue is a place. A court is where a game actually happens, and the difference matters once more than four people show up.
At a venue with six courts, "is it busy?" is the wrong question. The useful question is which specific court has a short line and a game about to end — and that's court-level state.
Playing on one
Starting a game from a court makes it a venue game, which earns more PaddleRank than a quick game and puts the court's features at your disposal.
See Playing a Venue Game.