rails-devel — List for discussion of Rails development

[Rails-devel] 1851 completed & game credits added

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

I have completed 1851.
The only exception I am aware of is the random assignment of privates;
for now, players should do this off-line and enter the result.

The main new thing was treasury trading at the end of the OR.
For a number of reasons, this has been implemented as a mini Stock Round.
I realise that it may be somewhat confusing to see the StatusWindow 
popping up at the end of each OR turn (except in OR 1). 
I have tried to clarify this by changing the window title to include
some CAPITALIZED text indicating this special case.

I have also added a Credits button to the initial Game setup window.
This will show general credits, including some legalese as discussed
a year ago in this list. In addition, copyright and other credits
have been added to the description (Game Notes) of each game.
All of this text is included in GamesList.xml, and tentative.

I will now take a several weeks break (barring any bug fixes or easy-to-do
requests).
After that I think I will start working on a game with more complex rules 
related to mergers of some form, to be selected from 18EU, 1856 or 1835.

Erik Vos

Re: [Rails-devel] Fix for 18AL Montgomery

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

I have also added:

- Improved tile rotation checking. 
Rotations that do not preserve previous track are no longer shown.
Invalid green-to-brown OO-city upgrades are not yet excluded.

- A new Remaining Tiles window (activated from a new Info menu item in the
OR window). 

Both features (as well as the below fix) have been requested by Fred Taton.

Brett, I think this is worthy of either a new release or a new build of the
current release 1.0.4.

Erik.

> -----Original Message-----
> From: rai...@li... 
> [mailto:rai...@li...] On Behalf 
> Of Erik Vos
> Sent: Wednesday 16 January 2008 00:01
> To: 'Development list for Rails: an 18xx game'
> Subject: [Rails-devel] Fix for 18AL Montgomery
> 
> Committed a fix for the special Montgomery green upgrade in 18AL.
> 
> Erik Vos
> 
> 
> --------------------------------------------------------------
> -----------
> This SF.net email is sponsored by: Microsoft
> Defy all challenges. Microsoft(R) Visual Studio 2008.
> http://clk.atdmt.com/MRT/go/vse0120000070mrt/direct/01/
> _______________________________________________
> Rails-devel mailing list
> Rai...@li...
> https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/rails-devel
> 

[Rails-devel] Fix for 18AL Montgomery

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

Committed a fix for the special Montgomery green upgrade in 18AL.

(Fred, this is file data/18AL/TileSet.xml, you can download it separately if
wou want).

Erik Vos

Re: [Rails-devel] 1851

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

When you extract the files from the zip-file (or tar.bz2 file), you
should have a rails directory that contains several files.

Look for either rails.bat or rails.sh.

On Windows, double-click the .bat file.
On Linux/UNIX, execute the .sh file.

Note: You need to have Sun's Java Runtime Environment installed first.


 ---Brett.


'What good is a candle at noonday?'
(Sourcery)


On Tue, 2008-01-08 at 22:47 +0100, Lonny wrote:
> Hello,
>  
> I have downloaded rails1.0.4
> But how do I start the program? 
>  
> Lonny Orgler

> 

Re: [Rails-devel] 1851

[Lonny <lo...@ka...>]

Hello,

I have downloaded rails1.0.4
But how do I start the program?=20

Lonny Orgler
  ----- Original Message -----=20
  From: Erik Vos=20
  To: 'Development list for Rails: an 18xx game'=20
  Sent: Tuesday, January 08, 2008 9:27 PM
  Subject: [Rails-devel] 1851


  I have committed code and XML that implements most of 1851.
  The main missing feature is selling/buying of treasury shares at the =
end of
  the OR.

  Erik Vos


  =
-------------------------------------------------------------------------=

  Check out the new SourceForge.net Marketplace.
  It's the best place to buy or sell services for
  just about anything Open Source.
  =
http://ad.doubleclick.net/clk;164216239;13503038;w?http://sf.net/marketpl=
ace
  _______________________________________________
  Rails-devel mailing list
  Rai...@li...
  https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/rails-devel

[Rails-devel] 1851

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

I have committed code and XML that implements most of 1851.
The main missing feature is selling/buying of treasury shares at the end of
the OR.

Erik Vos

[Rails-devel] [Announce] Rails 1.0.4 Released

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

I'm pleased to announce the release of Rails 1.0.4. 

It can be downloaded from the Sourceforge.net download page:
https://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=132173&package_id=145119&release_id=565937

Rails is a Java-based implementation of 18xx games. Our goal is to allow
computerized play of as many 18xx games as possible.

Release 1.0.4 Highlights:

* 18AL fully playable.
* Initial XML and tile graphics for 18EU
* Fixed M&H/NYC swap in 1830.
* Many other bugfixes.

The main Rails homepage is located at http://rails.sourceforge.net


 ---Brett.


When in doubt, follow your heart.

Re: [Rails-devel] 18AL named trains

[brett l. <wak...@gm...>]

On Jan 2, 2008 6:16 AM, Erik Vos <eri...@hc...> wrote:
> OK, done.
>
> There was a bug in StartRoundWindow in handling par price setting
> for President's shares that come with privates.
>

Alright.   I'll start cooking up a new release.


---Brett.

Re: [Rails-devel] 18AL named trains

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

OK, done. 

There was a bug in StartRoundWindow in handling par price setting
for President's shares that come with privates.

Erik.

> -----Original Message-----
> From: rai...@li... 
> [mailto:rai...@li...] On Behalf 
> Of brett lentz
> Sent: Wednesday 02 January 2008 01:00
> To: Development list for Rails: an 18xx game
> Subject: Re: [Rails-devel] 18AL named trains
> 
> On Jan 1, 2008 2:47 PM, Erik Vos <eri...@hc...> wrote:
> > > Erik - are you happy with 18AL's playability? I'd like to 
> make a new
> > > release as soon as it's "done".
> >
> > Yes, I consider it done.
> > When starting with 1851, I found a bug in the start round logic,
> > so please await my next commit, but then it's time for a 
> new release indeed.
> 
> Ok.   Sounds good to me.
> 
> ---Brett.
> 
> --------------------------------------------------------------
> -----------
> This SF.net email is sponsored by: Microsoft
> Defy all challenges. Microsoft(R) Visual Studio 2005.
> http://clk.atdmt.com/MRT/go/vse0120000070mrt/direct/01/
> _______________________________________________
> Rails-devel mailing list
> Rai...@li...
> https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/rails-devel
> 

Re: [Rails-devel] 18AL named trains

[brett l. <wak...@gm...>]

On Jan 1, 2008 2:47 PM, Erik Vos <eri...@hc...> wrote:
> > Erik - are you happy with 18AL's playability? I'd like to make a new
> > release as soon as it's "done".
>
> Yes, I consider it done.
> When starting with 1851, I found a bug in the start round logic,
> so please await my next commit, but then it's time for a new release indeed.

Ok.   Sounds good to me.

---Brett.

Re: [Rails-devel] 18AL named trains

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

> > > "Game" is starting to look awfully
> > > out of place
> > > in our namespace. 
> I think that's a good approach, it will help with the ultimate goal of
> phasing out the Game namespace altogether.

What's wrong with game?
 
> However, I think we could very easily keep Game around until we split
> it up into Client and Server components.

Ah OK, that's a good starting point.

I think the client will (should) need the current rails.ui, the 
static objects that I mentioned (e.g. in rails.game.objects)
and the rails.game.action (PossibleAction) packages,
and little else.

The static objects should somehow be synchronized at game start.
The action objects are the main mean of dynamic info transport between
client and server.
So it would make sense to put these in some common group.

> Erik - are you happy with 18AL's playability? I'd like to make a new
> release as soon as it's "done".

Yes, I consider it done. 
When starting with 1851, I found a bug in the start round logic,
so please await my next commit, but then it's time for a new release indeed.

Erik.

Re: [Rails-devel] 18AL named trains

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

I can only add that I would't like to be forced to use the command line, I
prefer an Eclipse plugin.

Erik.

> -----Original Message-----
> From: rai...@li... 
> [mailto:rai...@li...] On Behalf 
> Of John A. Tamplin
> Sent: Tuesday 01 January 2008 22:58
> To: Dev...@sc...; 
> li...@sc...; 
> fo...@sc...; 
> "Ra...@sc...":an 18xx game
> Subject: Re: [Rails-devel] 18AL named trains
> 
> brett lentz wrote:
> > Yeah, svn solves several of the problems with cvs, but it's also not
> > exactly what I'd consider a "modern" RCS.
> >
> > We use svn where I work as well, but I've looked at git and bzr, and
> > both seem to offer significantly more advantages.
> >
> > I haven't made a decision just yet on whether to jump to a new RCS.
> > That's a big change to everyone's workflow, so I don't want 
> this to be
> > subject to only my whims.
> >   
> I haven't used bzr but I have used git, and I find git only gives an 
> advantage where you can have non-committers having their own "change 
> branches" local to their machine.  It also feels like it is just 
> complete enough to get the job done -- now I love the command 
> line and 
> the unix philosophy of lots of small tools that you put together 
> yourself to do interesting things more than most, but it still feels 
> unpolished.
> 
> So, if you want to switch, my preference would be svn.
> 
> -- 
> John A. Tamplin					ja...@ja...
> 770/436-5387 HOME				4116 Manson Ave
>                 		 		Smyrna, GA  30082-3723
> 
> 
> --------------------------------------------------------------
> -----------
> This SF.net email is sponsored by: Microsoft
> Defy all challenges. Microsoft(R) Visual Studio 2005.
> http://clk.atdmt.com/MRT/go/vse0120000070mrt/direct/01/
> _______________________________________________
> Rails-devel mailing list
> Rai...@li...
> https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/rails-devel
> 

Re: [Rails-devel] 18AL named trains

[John A. T. <ja...@ja...>]

brett lentz wrote:
> Yeah, svn solves several of the problems with cvs, but it's also not
> exactly what I'd consider a "modern" RCS.
>
> We use svn where I work as well, but I've looked at git and bzr, and
> both seem to offer significantly more advantages.
>
> I haven't made a decision just yet on whether to jump to a new RCS.
> That's a big change to everyone's workflow, so I don't want this to be
> subject to only my whims.
>   
I haven't used bzr but I have used git, and I find git only gives an 
advantage where you can have non-committers having their own "change 
branches" local to their machine.  It also feels like it is just 
complete enough to get the job done -- now I love the command line and 
the unix philosophy of lots of small tools that you put together 
yourself to do interesting things more than most, but it still feels 
unpolished.

So, if you want to switch, my preference would be svn.

-- 
John A. Tamplin					ja...@ja...
770/436-5387 HOME				4116 Manson Ave
                		 		Smyrna, GA  30082-3723

Re: [Rails-devel] 18AL named trains

[brett l. <wak...@gm...>]

On Jan 1, 2008 7:00 AM, Erik Vos <eri...@hc...> wrote:
> For a start: Happy New Year to you all!
>
> > "Game" is starting to look awfully
> > out of place
> > in our namespace. Perhaps sometime in the future we should consider
> > refactoring that a little.
>
> I have thought about that too.
> Perhaps we could move the "static" objects
> (like trains, certificates, tokens, phases, maphex etc.) to a subpackage,
> e.g. rails.game.objects.
> And the Rounds to e.g. rails.game.rounds,
> leaving a mixed bag of managers, Portfolio, exceptions etc.
> in the current package.
>

I think that's a good approach, it will help with the ultimate goal of
phasing out the Game namespace altogether.

However, I think we could very easily keep Game around until we split
it up into Client and Server components.

Erik - are you happy with 18AL's playability? I'd like to make a new
release as soon as it's "done".

---Brett.

Re: [Rails-devel] 18AL named trains

[brett l. <wak...@gm...>]

On Jan 1, 2008 8:28 AM, John A. Tamplin <ja...@ja...> wrote:
> The big differences between cvs and svn are that svn commits groups of
> changes atomically, change (release, etc) branches are easy to do, and
> it tracks moves/renames with history.

Yeah, svn solves several of the problems with cvs, but it's also not
exactly what I'd consider a "modern" RCS.

We use svn where I work as well, but I've looked at git and bzr, and
both seem to offer significantly more advantages.

I haven't made a decision just yet on whether to jump to a new RCS.
That's a big change to everyone's workflow, so I don't want this to be
subject to only my whims.

---Brett.

Re: [Rails-devel] 18AL named trains

[John A. T. <ja...@ja...>]

Erik Vos wrote:
> I am not familiar with the differences.
> So far CVS looks good enough to me, but I'm
> probably unaware of what goodies we are missing.
>
> For SVN we would need an Eclipse plugin, Subclipse seems to be the way to
> go.
>   
Subclipse is not bad, but it doesn't like it when you do anything with 
the repository behind its back.  I use Eclipse + svn at work all the 
time, and simply don't use subclipse and do svn ops at the command 
line.  The only time it is a problem is when you do a refactor that 
moves files, and there I just do the Eclipse refactor, mv the file back, 
then svn mv it to where Eclipse moved it.

The big differences between cvs and svn are that svn commits groups of 
changes atomically, change (release, etc) branches are easy to do, and 
it tracks moves/renames with history.

-- 
John A. Tamplin					ja...@ja...
770/436-5387 HOME				4116 Manson Ave
                		 		Smyrna, GA  30082-3723

Re: [Rails-devel] 18AL named trains

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

For a start: Happy New Year to you all!

> "Game" is starting to look awfully 
> out of place
> in our namespace. Perhaps sometime in the future we should consider
> refactoring that a little. 

I have thought about that too. 
Perhaps we could move the "static" objects
(like trains, certificates, tokens, phases, maphex etc.) to a subpackage,
e.g. rails.game.objects. 
And the Rounds to e.g. rails.game.rounds,
leaving a mixed bag of managers, Portfolio, exceptions etc.
in the current package.
 
> Also, I'm getting rather tired of dealing with CVS's 
> bone-headed design.
> I know Sourceforge has other RCSes available (e.g. 
> subversion). I should
> probably investigate if migrating to a modern RCS would make 
> our lives a
> little easier.
 
I am not familiar with the differences.
So far CVS looks good enough to me, but I'm
probably unaware of what goodies we are missing.

For SVN we would need an Eclipse plugin, Subclipse seems to be the way to
go.
 
Erik.

[Rails-devel] 18AL (almost) completed

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

I have added the following features to 18AL:
- the NDY special ability to buy a train at half price.
- the destination ("historical objective") bonus.

This completes 18AL (with one exception, see below), 
and I have upgraded its status to "Fully playable".

The missing bit is the ability to trade private companies
between players. This feature also exists in 1830, but nobody
has complained so far about its absence, so I guess there is
no high demand for it. Indeed, I have never seen it used, 
and the 1830 PC game does not allow it at all.

It will have to be added one day, but I consider it low priority.

Two more things to report:
- I found that each individual class that can serialize itself
to the save file needs its own serialVersionID. 
I have added that to all relevant classes. 
The consequence is, that old save files cannot be loaded any more.
- Fixed a bug: payout for shares in the Bank Pool did not work (also in
1830).

Next I think I will work on 1851, which is relatively simple,
but adds the important feature of incremental capitalization.

Then it may be time to turn to bigger challenges, such as 1835 or 18EU.

Erik Vos

[Rails-devel] New tiles to be connected

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

I have added a check on laying yellow tiles,
that ensures that such tiles are somehow connected to existing track.
The obvious exceptions are:
- a city tile on the operating company's home base,
- unconnected tile lays enabled by private special abilities.

We can't yet check connection to a home base, 
but this new check already reduces the amount of invalid tile lays.

> 3. Initially I had created a new Move subclass to move the 
> ability object, 
> but it occurred to me that undoable object moves are in fact 
> pretty generic.
> The new class ObjectMove now handles both token and ability 
> object moves.
> Perhaps other objects moves can be merged into this class as well.
> Two new interfaces Moveable and MoveableHolderI support this 
> now generic mechanism.

Train and Certificate transfers are now also handled by ObjectMove.
This is all we can do here, I think.

Erik.

Re: [Rails-devel] 18AL named trains

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

> Erik Vos wrote:
> > 2. Another new aspect is that the train naming ability does 
> not disappear 
> > when the private closes. So I had to implement a new way to make it
> > permanent by moving the special ability object from the 
> private to the
> > company portfolio.
> 
> Why not treat the name chits as token-like objects which can 
> be placed on
> trains (as they are in the game)?

Yes, that is what happens. There is a difference between the 
NameTrains special ability, which has the effect that the
operating company owning it can assign name tokens to trains,
and the name tokens, which are NamedTrainToken objects, that
can be linked to individual trains.
Technically these remain owned by the special ability, though.

Each of the named train tokens has a long and a short name.
The short name is shown in the OR Window.
For instance, a 5-train named "Robert E. Lee" is displayed as 5'RELee'.
 
> > BTW I think the term (and class name) SpecialProperty 
> should perhaps be
> > replaced by SpecialAbility, as I find the latter a lot more 
> descriptive.
> 
> Does the class cover such properties as "the B&O private 
> closes when the
> B&O corporation acquires a train" and/or "Coal company X must 
> exchange for
> share Y when all other shares of Y have been purchased by 
> players"?  Those
> are not actions the player would choose, so I wouldn't call 
> them abilities.

That's right.
The way it's currently implemented, the B&O private closing is a property of
the B&O corporation,
but that isn't very relevant here. The latter case I haven't encountered
yet.

But your point is taken, perhaps I'll leave it as is.

Erik.

> 
> --------------------------------------------------------------
> -----------
> This SF.net email is sponsored by: Microsoft
> Defy all challenges. Microsoft(R) Visual Studio 2005.
> http://clk.atdmt.com/MRT/go/vse0120000070mrt/direct/01/
> _______________________________________________
> Rails-devel mailing list
> Rai...@li...
> https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/rails-devel
> 

Re: [Rails-devel] 18AL named trains

[John D. G. <jd...@di...>]

Erik Vos wrote:
> 2. Another new aspect is that the train naming ability does not disappear 
> when the private closes. So I had to implement a new way to make it
> permanent by moving the special ability object from the private to the
> company portfolio.

Why not treat the name chits as token-like objects which can be placed on
trains (as they are in the game)?

> BTW I think the term (and class name) SpecialProperty should perhaps be
> replaced by SpecialAbility, as I find the latter a lot more descriptive.

Does the class cover such properties as "the B&O private closes when the
B&O corporation acquires a train" and/or "Coal company X must exchange for
share Y when all other shares of Y have been purchased by players"?  Those
are not actions the player would choose, so I wouldn't call them abilities.

Re: [Rails-devel] 18AL named trains

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

On Sat, 2007-12-22 at 00:32 +0100, Erik Vos wrote:
> I have implemented the 18AL named trains (a special ability of the M&C
> private).
> 

Excellent!  With the holidays, I've had no time to do any coding. :(

> I have put these new subclasses in two new game-specific packages:
> rails.game.specific._18AL and rails.ui.swing.gamespecific._18AL.
> 

That looks fine to me.  "Game" is starting to look awfully out of place
in our namespace. Perhaps sometime in the future we should consider
refactoring that a little. 

Also, I'm getting rather tired of dealing with CVS's bone-headed design.
I know Sourceforge has other RCSes available (e.g. subversion). I should
probably investigate if migrating to a modern RCS would make our lives a
little easier.


> Looking back, I think the 1830 M&H/NYC swap is unique to that game, 
> so it might be an idea to take it out of the generic code. 
> I'll gladly leave that as an exercise for someone else.
> 

That's fine.  It's another good project for any potential new developers
looking for a small-ish task to gain familiarity with our code.


> BTW I think the term (and class name) SpecialProperty should perhaps be
> replaced 
> by SpecialAbility, as I find the latter a lot more descriptive.

That sounds fine by me. Java has other things it calls "properties" so,
I find that it's a little misleading to me as well.


 ---Brett.


Some of the things that live the longest in peoples' memories never
really happened.

[Rails-devel] Saved files

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

For testing purposes I have found it very useful to have 
a standard set of save files for various interesting situations
in a game. For 18AL, I have saved files at the point of first
possible application of each of the private special abilities,
at the start of the first OR, and just before buying the first
3, 4, 5, 6 and 7-trains.

Perhaps it would be a good idea to make these saved files publicly 
available in some way. Not sure if we can do that in Sourceforge.
I could also put my current set of files on my own website.

A problem here is, that in the current stage of development
saved files pretty often get unreadable by newer code.

Erik Vos
eri...@hc...
fax: 084 716 7187 

[Rails-devel] 18AL named trains

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

I have implemented the 18AL named trains (a special ability of the M&C
private).

As usual, this addition of a new special ability has caused some significant
side effects.

1. As I believe this ability is unique (or almost unique) to 18AL,
I have taken the opportunity to make this the first game-specific extension
that is not integrated in the generic code, but in game-specific subclasses.
I have put these new subclasses in two new game-specific packages:
rails.game.specific._18AL and rails.ui.swing.gamespecific._18AL.

Looking back, I think the 1830 M&H/NYC swap is unique to that game, 
so it might be an idea to take it out of the generic code. 
I'll gladly leave that as an exercise for someone else.

2. Another new aspect is that the train naming ability does not disappear 
when the private closes. So I had to implement a new way to make it
permanent 
by moving the special ability object from the private to the company
portfolio.

3. Initially I had created a new Move subclass to move the ability object, 
but it occurred to me that undoable object moves are in fact pretty generic.
The new class ObjectMove now handles both token and ability object moves.
Perhaps other objects moves can be merged into this class as well.
Two new interfaces Moveable and MoveableHolderI support this now generic
mechanism.

While testing this all, I also found and fixed two bugs in the public
company flotation code.

BTW I think the term (and class name) SpecialProperty should perhaps be
replaced 
by SpecialAbility, as I find the latter a lot more descriptive.

Erik Vos

[Rails-devel] More 18AL features

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

On the way to a complete 18AL implementation, the following has been added:

- Bonus token removal on buying the first 6-train. 
For this purpose, a new interface Closeable has been created, 
that can be implemented by any object that can disappear at a phase change.
I'm considering to use it for private company closure as well.
- Only one train can be bought per turn, until the first 4-train is bought.
- Optional unlimited 4D trains (default=no).
- Optional delayed 4-train obsolescence (default=yes). Obsolete 4 trains are
displayed as (4).

Also added an 1835 feature: trains can be traded between companies from the
green phase only.

I think only the M&CR and NDY special properties remain to be done.

Erik Vos