Re: [Rails-devel] 18EU game option: unlimited plain track

[Erik V. <eri...@xs...>]

My comments:

1. The 18EU rules don't specify unlimited yellow plain track tiles, so this
report isn't about a bug at all (which I guess explains why I have ignored
it so far).  Indeed several games do specify this feature, and it's perhaps
not a bad idea to open it up to all games.  BTW, has any word from the
designer been heard that he wants it this way for 18EU?

2. I suppose your layout-based behind-the-scenes selection of #7, #8 and #9
will do the job.  I just want to remark that in fact it hardcodes these
tiles even more that an explicit list (or some tile-specific  XML attribute)
would have done.  

3. IMO, the intermediate option should be named "Yellow Plain", not just
"Plain".  Or perhaps "Some" or "Partial" to leave open the option of
including (a list of) other tiles.

Erik.

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Bill Rosgen [mailto:ro...@gm...]
> Sent: Tuesday, October 25, 2011 12:38 PM
> To: Development list for Rails: an 18xx game
> Subject: [Rails-devel] 18EU game option: unlimited plain track
> 
> Bug 3064825 requests the ability to select unlimited plain track only
(i.e. tiles
> 7,8,9).  It is reported that this is included in the 18EU rules, though I
cannot
> find it in my copy.  In any case, it maybe doesn't hurt to have the
option.
> 
> I've attached a patch that makes this change for 18EU (and shouldn't break
> any other games).  The unlimited tiles checkbox is expanded to take the
> values 'No,Plain,Yes', with the default remaining 'No'.  I have also had
to
> make a change to Tile.java to implement the 'Plain' option.  Any tile with
no
> stations and exactly one piece of track is considered 'Plain'.  In 18EU
this
> applies to exactly tiles 7,8, and 9, but I would rather not hardcode these
tile
> ids.  I've also added the option to the 1826 prototype data files, but
it's not
> currently available as no variants are defined in GameList.xml.
> 
> It is maybe worth adding this test as a function isPlain() in the Tile
class, but
> I'm not sure: this makes the test easier to find, but will any other code
will
> ever need to ask if a tile is 'Plain'?
> 
> Other than the comment on the bug that this is in the rules for 18EU and
> 1826, I see no reason to limit this to 18EU.  If this is thought to be a
good idea,
> I can easily make changes to the other data files to enable the option
across
> all games.
> 
> I've attached a couple of patches, again the first is in git format and
the
> second is in Egit format.  If this seems like a good thing to apply
globally, let
> me know and I will produce a similar patch that applies to all of the
games
> implemented in Rails.
> 
> 
> Bill