[Freeciv-Dev] Re: Project

[Jules Bean <jmlb2@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi Rob!

Exciting ideas!

> > I, and (potentially) 4 others, plan to be making an opengl interface for 
> > freeciv as a final project for a graphics course at Rose-Hulman
> > Institute of Technology (Terre Haute, Indiana).

Someone else was working on an opengl interface once - they posted here a
couple of months ago. Maybe they'll speak up again, or maybe they can be
found in the archives.

> >  Implementing, as a
> > minimum, a 3d landscape, and, potentially, 3d units, cities, and even
> > combat, given time allows it.

Do you simply mean a fundamentally 2D game, viewed in 3D, with units and
cities 'sticking up', like SimCity 2000 or Civ: CTP?

Or do you mean a genuinely 3D game, with varying landscape height (and
presumably the tactical implications of such)?

Either is an exciting idea, anyhow.

> >   Currently it looks like we would be using Mesa/Glut,
> > although the latter may change if we can find a better alternative
> > before we begin coding the modified server/client.  Server changes, at
> > least as we can forsee off the bat, would be a slightly different
> > terrain generation and savefile due to that.  Client changes would be
> > more dramatic; the goal is for as much of the interface to be 3d as
> > possible (this would, hopefully, enable users to, persay, rotate the
> > map, zoom in or out near indefinitely, etc.  Also a true spherical world
> > is a possibility I may discuss with the group.  Resources may or may not
> > need to be modified likewise, tho hopefully we can just modify the
> > terain's appearence appropriately (shimmering gold specs on the
> > mountains for gold, spouting whales, fields of grain for wheat, birds
> > flying around for pheasant... etc.  Again, all of this will be subject
> > to time constraints and the dilligentness of the team.  Also, if too
> > many members drop we may have to do a different project, but I figured
> > I should inform you as soon as possible of the plan.  Any
> > suggestions/opinions you can give would be greatly appreciated   :)

It sounds cool. Go for it!

Jules

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