[glob2-devel] The future!

[Bradley Arsenault]

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