Re: Possible Contributions

[Jens Granseuer <jensgr@xxxxxxx>]

On 10.01.2005 21:00, Sascha Flohr wrote:
> On Sa, 2005-01-08 at 17:29 +0000, Jens Granseuer wrote:
> To learn the code structure I mostly try to implement something very
> small that's perhaps just useful for me.
[...]
> Another thing is a mouse-over-popup with the information that is now in
> the button on the bottom (Unittype, Strength, Rank). I will try to
> implement this the next few days.
> 
> And then I want to scroll the map with just push the mouse at the edge
> of the map window. Not yet clear if there is a way for this when in
> window mode. (But in fullscreen I want this :-)

I don't know if there's a sane way to do that without very intrusive
changes. The problem is that both of these tasks are time-based. CF
uses an event-based event loop instead of a time-based one, though
(ie. we don't poll the event queue all the time but wait for something
to happen before taking action). But give it a try. Stuff like
animations could benefit from your findings...
(If you rip out the event handling and replace it with a time-based
loop I might be interested too, but that's probably a little out of
scope.)

> If you are interested I may send the patches to you or to the list.

For stuff that's obviously only interesting for you there's not much
use in sending it to the list. Feel free to send me a copy, though.
We might both learn from it.

> > And there are a few things I'm not sure how to do (like network play)
> 
> I have thought about this a little bit. The simplest way may be to use a
> simple socket an push the saved games files over like in e-mail games.

At the very least it's probably the easiest way to get it up and running.
Have you already done some network programming? This is one particular
area which I'm not at all comfortable with.

> > or simply haven't gotten around to (like the file dialog)
> 
> What's wrong with the file dialog?

For crimson, it's fine. For comet, it would be nice if it supported
changing directories, for example. Or automatically selecting entries
when you type a name.

Now that we've mentioned comet, that one's basically one big pile of
loose ends. If you ever run out of ideas what to do and don't mind
working on the editor, let me know...

> About the
> fly-over-thingy I can agree with your statements about simplicity. It's
> not just implementing the functionality, but rebalancing the maps is a
> must too.

It's not just the effort needed to implement the engine feature. I
also think that you probably have to think harder about how to use
your airforce with the current rules than when you could simply fly
over everyone. Aircraft are very valuable but you need to use them
carefully or you'll not use them for long. I believe not having
this fly-over feature in no way reduces tactical options available to
you. It just makes the process a little different, and I like it that
way. So even if I could get fly-over by snapping my fingers I wouldn't
want it.

Jens