Re: [Rails-devel] CVS and XCode

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

On Fri, 2008-10-24 at 21:53 +0200, Erik Vos wrote:
> > > I do have a different Tile Definition layout, and it would 
> > probably be
> > > best to determine how best to integrate them together.
>  
> One missing item in Map.xml is the hex name (like A1, B2 etc). 
> Hex names are indipensible in PBEM play, and anyway generally useful 
> in discussing games.
> 
> > 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.
> 
> In addition, I export the XML definitions from TileDesigner and let class 
> rails.util.convertTilesXML convert these to the format used in Tiles.xml.
> The converted format is meant to support future route checking and revenue 
> calculation (but nothing of that has happened yet).
>  
> > 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.
> 
> Or merge the two. The differences are actually not that large. 
> 
> > > Revenue Centers can be towns (whistlestops or
> > > small city), or Large Cities (single, double, triple, quad). 
> 
> One more minor quibble from my side: 
> You use the term "RevenueCenter" where we now have "Station". 
> ("Junction" might be another option, although perhaps confusing
> with respect to point tiles like #23-#31.)
> My point is that there are junctions/stations/revenuecenters 
> that do not generate revenue, such as the 1841 passes and tunnels 
> (but these *do* count against the train length and can be tokened, 
> so they might as well be considered 0-revenue Cities). I admit 
> that Station might also be confusing as this term is also used for base
> tokens.
> 
> In 1860 we also have halts, and in 1854 medium cities.
> 

Naming conventions aside, I think there are (at least) two conceptual
directions to choose from:

A) There's a single object, call it a "location", that has various
potential attributes such as "revenue" and "counts as a stop". When we
need a new feature, we'd just add another attribute or find a clever use
for our existing attributes (e.g. revenue="0").

B) We have a hierarchy of objects. Starting with a basic "location" that
has a minimum set of basic attributes, and building up specific
sub-classes of objects for specific purposes and use-cases.

I personally don't know enough of the 18xx differences to know which
approach would be more maintainable over the long-term. I'll let you
guys weigh in on that. ;-)


> > I believe 18EU has new tiles. 18KAAS is just 1830 with a new map.
> 
> 18Kaas also has new tiles (B+ = B with 2 token slotes, and U).
> 
> > > The 1835
> > > Hamburg Tile with the tunnel is something I have not quite resolve how
> > > to draw properly yet.
> 
> It's actually a ferry.
> TileDesigner can't handle this one either. I doubt if any XML can define
> this one in a generic way without becoming overly complicated. For token
> placement and revenue calculation we might need to resort to special code 
> in an 1835-specific class. For drawing, I don't know...
> 

I don't know the rules around this tile. Can one of you give a
description of the game mechanics around this tile?


> Erik.

---Brett.

There's something different about us -- different from people of Europe,
Africa, Asia ... a deep and abiding belief in the Easter Bunny.
		-- G. Gordon Liddy