[Freeciv-Dev] Comments on CMA 2.6

[Gregory Berkolaiko <gberkolaiko@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi Raimar,

Below are some comments on CMA, now that I've tried it full time.

(*)First of all, an assert fails.  I have a savegame but it should fail
on any polar city.  The offending code is in build_cache3, within
city_map_iterate, you should probably avoid taking tile_stats of
UNAVAILABLE tiles --- they might be nonexistent.

The interface is nice, but saving your own settings would be a plus. 
However I can just edit citizen_management_frontend, so it's fine by me.

I don't like too many degrees of freedom in the interface.  Firstly,
minimal surplus should have a minimum of 0 (not -20) for trade and
science.  Moreover, sliders for minimal surplus trade and science should
not exist in the first place.  Benefits of the science and gold weights
in addition to the trade weight also seem doubtful to me.

(*)It is annoying that CMA switches off when it is unable to fulfil
minimal requirements.  Maybe it should try it's best (basing on some
weights), highlight the offending characteristics in red when CMA window
is open and give a warning if it is not open.  The weights for going into
negative could be preset at something like
100/(turns_to_deplete_the_stock) for production and food and something
else for gold.

The linear fitness function seems to perform well, due to the variety of
the available tiles.  It seems that Christian's Special is almost
universal "balanced development" setting.

Few very minor comments on the code (I just had a quick look at the
citizen_management.c).  Most probably my comments are in conflict with
your coding style, then ignore.
1. In count_worker instead of checking if (is_city_center(x,y)), you
could return worker - 1
2. In can_use_specialist can just 
 return ( (spec_type = ELVIS) || (city->size > 4) )
3. In build_cache3 you do base_city_get_*_tile(2, 2, ...).  Aren't the
coordinates of the center dependent on CITY_MAP_SIZE?
4. Plural of taxman is taxmen; role is spelt with single l.  You can put
a hat over 'o', if you really want to sound posh.

General comments:
I would suggest committing as soon as you are satisfied with the code. 
It is a great improvement in terms of gameplay (although (*)-marked
comments spoil the fun an incy bit) and should be accessible to all asap.

Best,
G.

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