[Rails-devel] Project Goals

[<wak...@ea...>]

OK... so, now that we've got a few people on the list, it's a good time to talk about the goals of this project, both long-term and short-term.

The long-term goals of this project are, in no particular order:

1. Allow human players to play of any and all 18xx games.
2. Support hotseat play.
3. Support play-by-email (PBEM).
4. Support network play.
5. Allow human players to play against computer (AI) opponents.
6. Allow for statistical analysis of games and strategies.
7. Support automated best-route calculation

The short term goals (i.e. first major release) of this project are:

1. Allow hotseat play of <the most "basic" 18xx game>. I believe this is 1830.

Milestones we need to reach before we can achieve the first release:

1. Create generic object framework for 18xx game mechanics.
     I've started the first stages of this.
2. Design and architect the UI for the game.
   2a. Stock Market Chart
   2b. Map
   2c. Little Company Auction
   2d. Other UI constructs
3. Determine what format the rulesets will be stored in, and code support for this.
     I'm thinking perhaps XML.
4. Determine what format the game's graphics will use, and code support for this. 
     Using PNG or PostScript for the tiles and maps, maybe?
5. Create documentation for new developers and new players.
6. Create graphics for the game, or, with permission, use graphics from another project.
     Someone has already posted references to existing tilesets. See the mailing list archives.
     Groups like the 18xx group on Yahoo! may be willing to allow us to use the materials they've already created for doing PBEM games.


That's the basic task list off the top of my head.  Does it sound about right? Am I missing anything?


---Brett.