PROJECT: What are you currently working on?

[MrBaggins]

Just FYI, I'm working on implementing that idea where you could specify different governments, in the database files. I'm doing this to not only add some useful functionality (which might be useful for game balancing too,) but to also to get familiar with the back end data structure used.

Progress? I'm figured out the yacc syntax I needed, and am working on the parser. The parser handles the definition, but I haven't decided how to optimally structure the member variables... the linked list for the actual data is fairly straightforward, but I'm not settled on how to deal with the list of government types yet...

After this, I'm going to be concentrating on the AI.

What about other coders?

[Peter Triggs]

Long term, I'm working my way through the AI files and trying to figure out how it works. I'm sort of documenting as I go along but I don't know if it will make sense to anybody else.

Yesterday I got bored with doing that so I've started filling in the SLIC AI functions from the patch.

[Maquiladora]

A couple of coders (aswell as J Bytheway) would be useful on PBEM

[kaan]

Im looking into the mayor not using entertainers problem but im still not really started and RL is taking a lot of my time right now (programming a car rental program).

[Peter Triggs]

As mentioned above, I've been filling in the SLIC AI functions (they're mainly diplomacy functions). When I started to debug I noticed that some of the existing ones weren't working as I expected them to. I suspect that not only were new ones added in but also more work was put in on some of the ones that were there already.

I propose to finish them off differently. For example, there's a function:

ConsiderNewProposal(sender, receiver, priority, ..., ID_String, ID_String, ID_String)

Those ID_Strings are never used. I've found examples of them in junk_str.txt which is described as "Junk: Trash can for obsolete strings that need to be there for the executable. Programmers should delete things from junk_str.txt" We don't need them for the SLIC function at all so I think it would be better to just remove those arguments from it.

edit: I forgot.

Maq, that's a good point. How about we make a list of things that need to be done and then try to prioritize it. Lots of people expressed interest in coding: they could either choose what they're specially interested in or start on the top priority.

[Maquiladora]

Well i only mention it so we can get started playing before anything AI related or new features are added, and would hopefully encourage people to give CtP2 another try.

[The Big Mc]

Attempting to create a universal mech based on the ctp war walker

[Peter Triggs]

Maq (or anyone else who knows),

How is diplomacy in PBEM or Hotseat supposed to work? They're supposed to be almost the same thing so I started a Hotseat game with the debug exe to see what it was like. So when you try to send a proposal to another human, nothing happens. But what should happen? When you start your turn, I guess you immediately get a whole bunch of proposals from the other players. I have a feeling that this isn't just a little bug: the necessary code may not have been written.

[Maquiladora]

Originally posted by Peter Triggs
Maq (or anyone else who knows),

How is diplomacy in PBEM or Hotseat supposed to work? They're supposed to be almost the same thing so I started a Hotseat game with the debug exe to see what it was like. So when you try to send a proposal to another human, nothing happens. But what should happen? When you start your turn, I guess you immediately get a whole bunch of proposals from the other players. I have a feeling that this isn't just a little bug: the necessary code may not have been written.

You send a proposal and on that next players turn he receives the proposal as a message waiting to be opened..... well this is how it works in CtP1 PBEM, so the buttons on the left-hand side of the screen might have to be brought back, to make it easy to see when you have new proposals.

Also on a similar subject, turns end properly in Hotseat mode but not in PBEM, i assume they both work in a similar way, this might be something to look at and compare?

[Keygen]

To exlain and supplement Maquiladora here's how diplomacy works in PBEM in CtP1:

a) You open the diplomacy screen, select the player you want to conduct diplomacy with and make the proposal the way you do it in the single player.

b) When the player where you have sent the proposal to opens his turn he receives a message in the left side of the screen as a small icon. When he clicks on it, a larger message box pops-up with a relative text to the proposal and two buttons to accept or deny the proposal.

c) When it is your turn again and you open it, you receive a similar message in the left side of the screen where you are notified whether your proposal has been accepted or not but with only one button to close it.

[child of Thor]

Just a thought on the Hotseat function, if we have working code for CTP1 would that mean it should be possible to import it to get it working in CTP2?
I always missed that function in CTP2, its great if you have a few friends around(one of the fun ways i used to play Civ2).

I guess the same could be done for PBEM?

I'm thinking if CTP1's code is basicaly the same as CTP2's, minus the fuzzy AI etc, but the main mechanics of it all, it should be possible no?

I guess it would mean more begging letters to Activision to get permission to use the code in CTP2?

OT: I'm working on a step by step tutorial for complete novices to the CTP type game(I've got an intro and general description done that adds to what we have in the manual already).

[J Bytheway]

I'm not actually working on the CTP2 code, but I'm working on an object-oriented scripting language compiler for another game in the hope that it will give me inspiration for working with a new language for CTP2...

CoT: With regard to the hotseat/PBEM - we can't do as you suggest because we *don't* have working code for CTP1. The changes I have made to the CTP2 code were working towards the way CTP does things, but obviously I haven't got there yet...

[Peter Triggs]

As mentioned above, I started a hotseat game using the debug exe. Boy or boy, there are a lot of bugs! As Pyaray said:

The reason it was cut, and yes it was cut recently, was because of insurmountable bugs. There were a lot of really horrendous bugs that quite frankly we didn't know how to fix in the amount of time we have. ... Once again I'm sorry that this disappoints so many of you, but this is not a trivial spend an hour to implement it kind of feature. It is actually a very difficult to implement feature.

I remember trying out hotseat mode a year or two ago, and I'm sure that there weren't that many bugs in it. So I assume that they fixed some of them for the patch (but not Human to Human diplomacy). Anyway, it's in a terrible state and I don't really know where to begin with it. I suspect that it needs someone who's more experienced at debugging to have a look at it.

[Martin Gühmann]

Currently working on, actual I was working on the Slic Database access at the end of last year, unfortunatly I had to do a break to do some work I had to do for university.

-Martin

[Martin Gühmann]

Originally posted by Peter Triggs
I propose to finish them off differently. For example, there's a function:

ConsiderNewProposal(sender, receiver, priority, ..., ID_String, ID_String, ID_String)

Those ID_Strings are never used. I've found examples of them in junk_str.txt which is described as "Junk: Trash can for obsolete strings that need to be there for the executable. Programmers should delete things from junk_str.txt" We don't need them for the SLIC function at all so I think it would be better to just remove those arguments from it.

I wouldn't remove those arguments at, I just would make sure that these areguments no slic errors throw so that old code is furthermore compartible with this version of CTP2.

-Martin