Re: [Rails-devel] Making Rails more suited to fast interactive play.

[Chris S. <chr...@gm...>]

This may not be possible, but I'd like some options to allow players to keep
control of their version of the game and prevent loading a new file if the
polling shows it's someone else's turn.  I imagine it would be annoying to
be looking at the stock market or be reviewing the game log, and suddenly
the game loads a new file and it's not even my turn yet.  In the event this
isn't possible, can we at least ensure that the window positions are
remembered, so if I'm looking at the stock market on a small laptop screen,
it isn't suddenly replaced with the map because an auto-load occurred?

Perhaps let the polling interval be player configurable?

When reviewing the log, if a player backs up and starts stepping through it,
we need to be sure this activity doesn't generate save files.

Will there be a configurable visual indicator (flashing? noise?) to tell me
that the polling has discovered it is my turn?  So I could turn off the
audible alarm if I'm sitting at my computer real time, but turn it on when
I'm running to the kitchen to make coffee?  And the task bar would flash to
let me know it's my turn when I'm checking my email.

--
Chris

Please consider the environment before printing this e-mail.


On Thu, Mar 17, 2011 at 5:15 AM, Erik Vos <eri...@xs...> wrote:

> > -----Oorspronkelijk bericht-----
> > Van: Erik Vos [mailto:eri...@xs...]
>
> > This should not be too difficult to do. The trigger would not be any
> button,
> > but just a change of who has the turn.
> > Every, say, 30 seconds Rails could check for new files, load these, and
> display
> > the results. A popup would signal your next turn.
> >
> > I'll try to write down a more detailed specification shortly.
>
> Here it is.
>
> 1. Autosave/load is activated by checking a menu option. Steps 2 and 3
> apply
> only if this option has been activated.
>
> 2. Every time that an active player loses the turn, the following is done:
> 2a. A saved file is written to the default location (the first time the
> usual popup will ask for it) and with the usual filename:
> <prefix>_<timestamp>_<player>.rails.
> 2b. The name of this file is written into another (new) file, named
> <prefix>.last_rails.
> 2c. Rails goes into polling mode. (Ideally, all actions should be
> prohibited
> except Quit and perhaps some more).
>
> 3. In polling mode, Rails regularly reads the .last_rails file to check if
> the filename has changed. The interval is configurable (default 30 secs?).
> If a new filename is found:
> 3a. This file is read and processed in the same way as Reload does it.
> 3b. Rails checks if the player has got the turn. If so, polling mode is
> suspended, and normal operation resumes. Otherwise, polling mode continues.
>
> 4. When Rails is restarted for an ongoing game, the last saved file must be
> loaded manually. Autosave/load can only be activated after that. If the
> local player does not have the turn, Rails will enter polling mode at that
> point.
>
> Notes:
> 1. Normally, each game should use a separate directory.  In theory it
> should
> be possible to run multiple games in one directory, if each game is given a
> unique <prefix> at the *first* save action, but this is not recommended.
> 2. Repeated reloading during polling mode ensures that actions by other
> players show up with a reasonable delay.
> 3. It does not matter if a saved file is missed because the interval is
> longer than the time between two saves by other players. Each saved file
> contains the whole game history.
>
> Comments welcome.
>
> Erik.
>
>
>
>
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