[Freeciv-Dev] Re: Introduction and Patch Approval Process

[Raimar Falke <hawk@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

On Fri, Aug 17, 2001 at 05:54:16PM -0700, Kevin Brown wrote:
> Per I. Mathisen <Per.Inge.Mathisen@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> > On Fri, 17 Aug 2001 col@xxxxxxxxx wrote:
> > > >  - the server should be in command of sound
> > >
> > > That would only cause some traffic
> > 
> > It would add a few bytes to the rulesets, but since they are only
> > transmitted once, it doesn't matter.
> 
> But if the client doesn't have the sounds that the modpack calls for,
> then it can't play the sounds anyway, and would have to get them from
> the server, right?  That's a lot more bandwidth.
> 
> > > >  - client and server should negotiate which sound to play
> > >
> > > There is no reason to do so
> > 
> > Yes, there is one: modpacks.
> 
> How often does a modpack have to be installed on the clients?  The
> Ancients modpack does, for example.
> 
> Even if not, I don't find modpacks a compelling reason to put sound
> support in the server.  Any event the client doesn't know how to play
> a sound for will not get a sound played, and if the player wants full
> sounds then he can install the modpack on his system, right?  I guess
> this might be problematic for modpacks that are "proprietary".
> 
> But definitely the sound support needs to have a way to specify what
> sounds get played in the ruleset.
> 
> Anyway, perhaps a good approach would be to do a client-side
> implementation first and see what limitations we actually run into,
> and burden the server side only as a last resort.  If the sounds are
> relatively small then it might make sense to set things up so that the
> server can (optionally) transmit them to the client.

The units ruleset for example is read by the server and sent to the
client. The tileset however is a client only thing. Modpacks require
changes to both the server (units) and the client (pictures of the
units).

The sound could be a server-only thing (server sends wav over the
wire), a client-only thing (like your initial plan) or a mixed
one. The mixed is IMHO harder than the first two since now server and
client depend on each other.

I agree that the must useful way is to continue your initial
plan. Then we can at least claim: "Freeciv has now sound support".

        Raimar

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