I'm bored so I'm starting another thread about the future, with specific plans I think evyerone can agree on. * ones are disputable. Having completed the map editor, we are really making progress to 1.0 goals set a long time ago. Giszmo said that we should release 1.0 imeddiettly following the completion of the new map editor. Although I think that got lost in the confusion of the desync bugs that have cost us much progress.
1) We need a new, advanced campaign system. I'm planning on something like this, it would allow for complex map-unlocking chains, pictures, music and maybe even movies to be played as pre-mission dialogues. It would allot for an overhead map where you click on the scenario location (this is very difficult, unfortenetly, because Glob2 maps are torodial and thus can't be formed into a larger map). 2) Custom games need to be improved. Alliances need to be editable before the game starts. Random maps need to be generatable live and jumped into right from the custom game menu, without first going into the editor. I'm also planning on doing this. *3) The multiplayer base needs to be improved. The YOG server and client need to be able to facilitate easy enhancements to their protocol, perhaps by converting them to use an XML based protocol, which is easy to parse by machine or human, easy to expand and shrink, etc.. *4) On the same idea, the game host - game client code needs to be improved as well. Right now, as far as I can tell, it uses the same system that the system used in-game to communicate. This is a signifigant change, it would be desirable to convert it to an XML based protocol as well, maybe even merge most of the code with the YOG protocols, and leave binary based communication only for in-game. *5) With 3 and 4 done, we can easily make the internet gameplay feel exactly as it should - high paced, and unplanned (so to speak). We can add streamlined tournament system right into glob2 with minimal effort. Anywho, none of 3, 4, 5 are absolutely nesseccarry in my opponion, they are just nice pre 1.0 feature to get done. *6) No offense to Giszmo, but we should have another map generation system, perhaps using a different approach. I love Giszmos maps mainly because they are realistic and customizable. On the other hand, they are generally unballanced, making them better for scenarios when a realistic, unballanced terrain is desirable. The different approach I'm suggesting is using a somewhat constraint based system. For example - having the map generator select a position for an island of wheat based on the distance to each of the four players islands multiplied by a small random modifier between 0.8 and 1.2. This is certainly not a required feature by any means, just an idea. - Thought about the in-game net code - I think that the in-game portion of internet play is fine, aside from desyncs which are not directly caused by the current internet code. The talk I brought up earlier about rewriting the net code is sort of old. Really, the only problem with the net code is that 0-checksum desyncs, which are more of a bug causing a desync than an actuall desync. I'm not sure of donkeyhotay solved this bug or a different one. - The far-far future - The focus should be on gameplay, not graphics. I am making plans (years in advance) to use the Blender models of our globs to make a start on Globulation 2 3D, the globs weould be the only 3d thing, walking on a plane of the graphics we used to use. - The map editor should be crossed off other than bugs - Having updated the map editor, and in my most recent commit, made it into a semi-widget system (not GAGWidgets which aren't suited to the high-coupling enviroment of the map editor), the map editor is complete, and/or, easily enough extended to be complete. - We are getting close to a kick ass, open source game - After those changes are done, translations are all updated, a tutorial campaign and subsequently a storyline-based campaign is made, I think the game is ready for 1.0. -- Start and finish, Bradley Arsenault _______________________________________________ glob2-devel mailing list [email protected] http://lists.nongnu.org/mailman/listinfo/glob2-devel
