RE: [Rails-devel] Reorganizing Hex Code

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

>> Right now, the easiest way to change between N-S and E-W 
>> oriented hexes is to change the signature of BattleHex, 
>> because it currently extends the particular hexmap. I'm still 
>> thinking on how to deal with that.

>I would make the map dynamically configurable, 
>as we are already doing in ComponentManager and GameManager.

>So there would be an XML definition somewhere, like
><HexMap class="EWHexMap">
>and then instantiate the map in HexTest (or whereever)
>with a statement like
>HexMap map = Class.forName(mapClassName).newInstance();
>where mapClassName would be either "EWHexMap" or "NSHexMap".

>This would mean that all code now in BattleMap should move to HexMap.


I think that's probably going to be the way to go.

How is your free-time looking?  Do you have a chance to work on some of this?

 
>> I'm thinking that replicating the tile laying mechanism that 
>> SimTex's 1830 PC Game used is probably the easiest way to go. 
>> While it would be nice to do drag-n-drop tile laying, I think 
>> clicking on the tile to click through possible upgrades is 
>> going to be easiest and require the least amount of screen 
>> real-estate.

>We could have the right button pop up a menu of valid tiles,
>then left/right clicking could turn the tile (counter)clockwise.


My main concern with this kind of interface is that, from a usability perspective, the things to do are not always obvious.

We can mitigate some of that obviousness with documentation and pop-up messages. However, I've encountered a few different Java games over the last few months that have similar usability problems; due to the way their UI is constructed, the operation of some critical features are less than clear to a new user.

One example of this kind of horrid UI is the Blood Bowl client used over at fumbbl.com. In order to access certain features like conceding the game, or enabling/disabling the sound, you have to right-click in this blue border that surrounds the game board.  However, there are no visual clues given that this is possible or necessary. Also, it is rather awkward to only allow right-clicking this particular border, and not simply anywhere in the window.

If possible, I'd like to avoid such problems altogether.

However, the downside to Simtex's design is that there's no way of knowing how many tiles are left in the stacks. Occasionally, this is an important detail that can affect a player's route planning.

I know there's a few different ways we can solve the problem. I think we may just have to try a few different things until we find one that works best.

---Brett.