Re: xconq on x86

[Stan Shebs <shebs@cygnus.com>]

   Date: Tue, 7 Sep 1999 15:22:56 -0700
   From: Jason Molenda <jsm@cygnus.com>

   It was confusing that the filename for the x86 prebuilt binary was
   different from the other files; I couldn't just go to the ftp site and
   spot the correct file to download.  I think you're trying to keep to
   an 8.3 filename convention--don't bother.  Wintel boxes haven't been
   restricted to 8.3 since '95.  Use a name that fits in with the naming
   scheme of the other pre-built binaries.

OK.

   You include the .dll files so that people don't need to have Cygwin,
   but you've made the file available in .tar.gz format, which I need
   cygwin to uncompress.  Most Linux systems have "zip" on them; you can
   probably make a .zip file with this that can be easily handled by users.
   You can publicize Infozip (http://www.cdrom.com/pub/infozip/Zip.html)
   for folks who don't already have some unzipper.  (infozip is an open
   source multi-host implementation of zip)

Doesn't winzip unpack .tar.gz files OK?  In any case, the zip/infozip
suggestion sounds good, at least until we have an InstallShield setup.

   I was annoyed when I had a game running and I had a factory producing
   troops (which I no longer needed)--I couldn't just click on the town
   to tell it to stop that.  I couldn't figure out how to say "I want to
   change _this_ item's current task".  Not an x86 specific prob, I know.

You can always just select a different thing to build - but right now
you have to switch to survey mode (gunsight/looking glass button),
click on unit, click on build button, click on unit type, then switch
back to move mode.  That's 5 steps, which seems like too many.  Can
anybody point out a game interface that does this more efficiently
and clearly?

   The scrollbars were really hosed while playing the Standard game.  My land
   was just right of the center of the world, and once I scrolled to the
   left with the scrollbars, I was unable to scroll back to the right again.
   It was pretty weird; I would drag the scrollbar to the right all the way,
   then it would snap back ~1/5th of the way.  I eventually got the main
   display window to show my land area by clicking in the world-view window.

Known bug with the map scrollbars.  I'm thinking of flushing those
scrollbars altogether, and just doing a combination of autoscroll near
map edge and goto via the world map, which is how the Mac interface
does it now, and it works pretty well.

   I only saw one other problem in the ~10 minutes of gameplay.  When I
   started the Standard game, I had a pop-up menu of options for the game.
   These clickboxes were grey colored, but when I moved my mouse over them,
   they became white colored.  (I didn't click any of them--just moved my
   mouse over them)

Yeah, it's pretty weird.  I'm inclined to blame tcl, I'm just using all
the widgets the way I'm supposed to... :-)

   I'd like to have a menu right at the beginning which says "Easy,
   Moderate, Hard?"  I'm a really lame game player, and I like these pop-ups
   on Windows games because I can select the Easy mode.  I got my ass kicked
   on the Introductory game within like three minutes.

Heh, that's the first time anybody has wanted to make the Xconq AI
*easier*... maybe that means it's getting better after all!

The Intro game is tweaked a little to make it easier for the AI to
figure out, and to have players come in contact pretty quickly.  The
two players should probably start a little further apart.  Don't want
a first-time player to just walk over the AI, but don't want them to
suspect the AI of cheating either...

   I didn't like having a DOS window around for I/O; I'd rather have a
   separate pop-up window if you want to output text.  Whenever I close DOS
   window, Windows tells me that I might be causing problems, blah blah blah,
   and I have to click OK on some warning box.

I need to fix that...

   The game really needs sounds.  I think the creative use of a narrative
   voice-over could help reduce the clutter of the Xconq UI.  Like "You
   just had a town taken over!"  In the Introductory game, I didn't realize
   that my towns were being taken over; I saw them switch to a fancier
   looking icon with a "2" and I thought they'd advanced to some more
   sophisticated state.  Oops. :-)

Heh-heh.  There is a textual notice at the top, but it often scrolls
by unnoticed.  The intro game needs real flags too, the numbers are
lame-o fallbacks.  And yes, I would like to do sounds, unfortunately I
don't know very much about making sounds in Windows apps - does
anybody know of some good sample code to look at?

Thanks for the feedback!  I'm busy with a rewrite of the networking
code for Unix/Windows and making good progress, soon I shall be able
to take over your country personally...

								Stan