Re: [Rails-devel] CVS and XCode

[Brett L. <wak...@gm...>]

On Thu, 2008-10-23 at 19:21 -0500, Mark Smith wrote:
> 
>         
>         
>         Well, let's dig into it then. In my mind, the most important
>         question
>         is, how do you add new tiles?
>         
>         The current, rather convoluted, process is to create a new
>         tile with
>         Tile Designer, export the postscript file, convert it to SVG
>         and GIF,
>         then hand-tweak the SVG and GIF files. Obviously this is
>         sub-optimal,
>         but the tile set changes relatively infrequently, so I've just
>         accepted
>         the inefficiencies.
>         
>         If it's relatively easy to create new tiles in your format,
>         I'm not
>         opposed to ripping out the current tile sub-system entirely.
>         
>         
> 
> 
> The current way I create Tiles is I create the tile definitions is by
> hand. I laid out various points around the tile (center of each edge,
> points in the hex that are near a side, near a corner, far from side,
> far from corner, etc... and the center. Each of the Features of the
> tiles live either at one of these points, or extending across two
> points (like track segments). A Feature is like a Port, a Revenue
> Center (City or Town), a Terrain Feature, etc. Privates are a
> two-point feature to draw the "track" segment for them.  Revenue
> values are a feature, Names are a Feature... Basically just about
> anything that needs to be drawn on the hex/tile is a feature. One
> exception is the Blocked Hexsides, which is a feature of each hex (max
> 6) that is drawn AFTER any tile is drawn so that it overlaps the drawn
> tile. The hexes that allow only a Green Tile to be placed initially,
> is drawn as either a solid yellow hex (like 1835) or a Thick Yellow
> Frame (like 1830/1856). Revenue Centers can be towns (whistlestops or
> small city), or Large Cities (single, double, triple, quad). The 1835
> Hamburg Tile with the tunnel is something I have not quite resolve how
> to draw properly yet.
> 
> But I do have as part of my existing tile definition base is every
> tile that 1830, 1835, 1853, 1856 and 1870 use. I would also need to
> look at 18EU, 18KAAS, and such to see if they have any new ones.
> 

I believe 18EU has new tiles. 18KAAS is just 1830 with a new map.


> Each Game has a Tile Set specifies the collections of tiles used the
> game from the common Tile Definition Sets.
> 
> You should be able look athe XML FIles in the Data directory of my
> code base and see something about what I am talking about. 
> 
> Mark


Interesting. I'd skimmed the XML files when you sent me the game engine,
but they're difficult to decipher without the rest of the source code to
know how you're processing them. ;-)

I can't immediately see any major problems with your method of defining
and drawing hexes. However, it obviously needs documentation (and maybe
even a DTD) to help anyone else create new tiles.

Is the 1835 Hamburg tile the only tile you've had difficulty defining?


---Brett.

Van Roy's Law:
	Honesty is the best policy - there's less competition.

Van Roy's Truism:
	Life is a whole series of circumstances beyond your control.