Celestin Apprentice 2/Apprentice-Release2.iso/Source Code/C/Games/Xconq 7.0d16/Xconq 7.0d16 src/NOTES

Text File | 1993-12-20 | 10.1 KB | 296 lines | [TEXT/MPS ]

RELEASE NOTES

All versions still have lots of magic cookies and weird behavior.
You have to experiment.  The Mac version is closest to what the
final released versions will be like, is actually playable.

xtconq is basically broken, don't bother with it for now.

xconq is semi-broken; still some screen junk, plus some missing
bits of interface.  You can move units by clicking on the six-way arrow
icon in the corner, then clicking on destinations as for version 5.
Many version 5 commands works, many do not.  Player interaction in games
with multiple X displays doesn't work right, although all the windows seem
to work.

cconq weirds out periodically, can look around but not move anything,
but basically works.

The monochrome parts of the X11 and Mac image libraries are now synchronized.

The manual is not much changed from d14, but is much improved over the
d12 version.  It still needs much more tutorial material.

CHANGE LOG

Version 7.0d15 (6/10/93):

Added much more display drawing to the X interface.  Much remains
to be added.

Got X/Mac image conversions mostly working.

Added a basic set of function prototypes and fixed Lisp reader bugs,
both from Tom Richards.

Fixed fatal X11 bug found by G. Caronni.

Version 7.0d14 (5/6/93):

Added winds and clouds layers, a few effects of them, and painting/display
of them in the Mac interface.

Improved modularity of plan/task execution.

Eliminated junk code from mplayer.

Added temperature layer back, plus improved Mac display of temperature.

Fixed synthesis and side library lists to be real lists
that can be operated on with the list operations.

Changed all actions to include both an "actor" and an "actee".

Changed all actions to store ids rather than raw pointers.

Eliminated movement points as a distinct concept.

Updated many .h files to reflect the revised set of symbols,
modified read/write as well.

Finished making the source and manual consistent, modulo a few
obscure symbols mentioned in the manual.

Version 7.0d12 (2/11/93):

Expanded Mac's designer palette to include all types of layers.

Fixed parts of scorekeeper handling.

Started flushing the concept of separate move points.

Added reinforcement units that can be scheduled on appear on particular
turns.

Changed construction planning on the Mac to be able to examine and set
construction for all units at once.

Added new kinds of unit tasks.

Added a number of new/updated games to the library, including 50km
scale maps of Europe and world, and various ww2 game designs.

Implemented country growth.

Updated the manual to reflect the code more accurately, filled in
more details.  Wrote tools to compare source code against the manual.
Added and/or changed many of the parameter names and definitions
to be make the source and manual consistent.

Version 7.0d11 (12/4/92):

More work to make reader and writer consistent, added more control flags
to module that govern what parts are written out.

Added parameters to control maze generation.

Many fixes and cleanups in the library.  Added Magnusvew scenario,
nickname generator.

Finished the fire-at action, added Mac interface to it, add range specs
to panzer game, added AI to fire at enemies if possible.

Version 7.0d10 (11/22/92):

Minor Mac-specific fixes.

Version 7.0d9 (11/20/92):

Changed reader to work from keywords in keyword.def.  Eventually all GDL
symbols will be in a .def file.

Added more game end handling.

Added some construction and combat smarts to mplayer.

Cleaned up Xt code, made it use more resources.

Changed all actions to return success/error codes.

Changed all planning and tasking to buffer actions instead of executing
them directly.

Added world reshaping dialog to designer tools in Mac interface.

Did some display cleanup in curses interface.

Defined a build task that handles all the actions necessary to construction.

Added Massimo's ng-chinese.g.

Added a "task" command to skelconq to allow testing of tasks.

Added people-side info to world.

Version 7.0d8 (9/24/92):

Added Massimo's ship names to library (as ng-ships.g), edited for consistency
and added some more names and namers.  Modified flattop.g to use.

Patches to fix NULL derefs (incl. in strcmp calls) that Sparcs don't like.

Version 7.0d7 (9/16/92):

Added rubberbanding for selecting and dragging in the Mac interface.

Implemented the "actorstate" as an object attached to units that buffers
up actions to be performed and tracks acp/mp allowances.  Main execution
loop traces through single actor chain instead of one for each side.

Removed restrictions on borders and connections; now any number of terrain
types may be defined as such.  Changed name of the relevant area slot to be
"aux-terrain".

Implemented basic agreements.

Redesigned Mac game setup dialogs to be more compact and look better,
also added a splash screen, picture is still boring though.

Changed help interface to let interface just acquire help text directly,
instead of using a callback.

Cleaned up curses interface substantially.

Flushed the pseudo-datatype "bool" everywhere, replaced with "int".

Added a Battle of Gettysburg game design and scenario.

Updated/fixed mplayer and unit plan code.

Implemented more GDL parameters.

Removed the definition of set_xx_yy functions from type and table defns,
hacked to be more compact etc.

Changed the term "resource" to "material" everywhere.

Changed Mac interface to scroll by pixels instead of cells.

Version 7.0d6:

Added a "sea-level recognizer" to fractal terrain generation.

Fixed stupid bugs in the command-line parser.

Changed Mac interface to keep all its images in a separate resource file.

Started update of task handling machinery.

New layer encoding and read/write machinery in general.

Improved river generation algorithm (sort of, still has problems).

Version 7.0d5:

Wrote program to convert Mac image resources to the general imf format.

Added new menus to Mac interface, added selection of multiple units.

Added a "make-maze-terrain" synthesis method.

Redesigned the viewing machinery (side_view et al) to use separate layers
for terrain, units, etc.  This is so that terrain can be modified by a unit
without everybody seeing it instantly, also so that see-all bypasses view
caching entirely (no allocation!).

Many library cleanups and reorgs.

Version 7.0d4:

The xlib interface has been reorganized to look more like the "classic"
Xconq interface.  Its interaction still needs some work though.

The Mac interface has many enhancements, is starting to converge on
its final form.  See the Mac "Read Me" for details on how to use the
interface.  The Mac version now has many more images than the X version,
although it still doesn't know about named colors.

Scrolling works, but is still squirrely for both Mac and Xlib versions.

The kernel now has a default behavior for mplayers in games that
have no explicit scoring; each mplayer will act totally randomly, down
to and including making the units issue random actions, whether or not
appropriate for that type.  This has the effect of keeping the mplayer
"busy", plus it exercises the bulletproofing in unit action and planning
code.  This means that Xconq might crash randomly if mplayers are in a
game - most of those cases have been fixed, but I'm sure there are others.

Version 7.0d3:

My main push here has been to make the startup sequences and simple
movement work correctly for all interfaces.  This still has not been
achieved, but here's what works:

Curses: usual cmdline args, starts in survey mode, 'z' switches to move,
usual direction letters move, 'd' flips to next unit, '<cr>' to go to
the next turn.

Xlib: usual cmdline args, starts in "magnifying glass" mode, click on a unit
to select, click on six-arrows for move mode, click on destination.  Can
keep clicking on new destinations, selection is retained.

Xt: if no game on cmdline, new game dialog (still garbled) pops up.  When
game selected, pops up player/side selection, click on "Done", get windows,
but can't move, no input accepted.

Mac: pops up new game dialog, select a game (weirdness with list, have to
click a lot sometimes), get and OK a player setup, then click on a unit
and drag to move.  Command-M to go directly to next turn.

Machine players (AIs) do not appear automatically!  (We can now have games
with only one side, all-human only, etc)  You have to say "-e 1" at least.
Sides with no display and no AI are just supposed to sit and not do anything.
"*conq -g duel -e 1" will let you watch mplayer exploring with its one tank.

There is still a lot broken or missing, but there are quite a few workarounds
if you poke around a bit.

Misc changes to manual as suggested by Massimo, misc cleanups to library
but still many parts of modules are commented out.

The X11<->Mac image family tools are still in progress, as are the X11
image display tools xlsb and xlsimf.  Should be cleaned up by next time.

The .hqx file in the Unix version of the mac directory includes an
already-built application.  The library folder should be in the same
folder as the app (eventually some lib games will be resources, so this
won't always be necessary).  Re-creating MacConq requires Think C 5.0[.2] and
a 32-bit-int ANSI library.  It would be useful to have an MPW version.

Version 7.0d2:

The manual has been reorganized.  It now consists of four main chapters;
how to play, how to design games, reference manual, and how to hack.
The reference manual is a bare but formal description of GDL, while the
design chapter concentrates on how to use GDL and includes a tutorial.
The texinfo nodes are messed up again...

The distinction between sides and player is better defined now,
and I've started on the code that supports multiple AIs (new name
for robot players).

Skelconq has been improved as a test bed; you can now type in arbitrary
unit actions as commands.  See the man page and online help for details.

I'm starting to all the new parameters to *.def, but most are still
not implemented.  Much of the library still uses obsolete names.

All the executables remain unreliable or obscure - only "cconq -g tdnd"
and "xconq -g tdnd" usually let you move units, and in both cases you have
to switch modes/select units a couple times before you can get that.

Version 7.0d1:

First version released outside my home directory.