[Freeciv-Dev] Re: measure the reaction time for diplomat actions

[Christian Knoke <chrisk@xxxxxxxx>]

On Wed, Oct 30, 2002 at 12:31:09PM +0000, Per I. Mathisen wrote:
> On Wed, 30 Oct 2002, Christian Knoke wrote:
> > > The diplomat is not stored, just hidden from view (and from zone of 
> > > control
> > > effects?) whilst a diplomatic dialog is being presented to the player.
> 
> Well, it has to be stored somehow and it has a relationship to the city,
> so it is only natural that it is stored in the city, maybe with
> information about which tile it came from.

Yes it is stored. You can treat it like a "ghost" unit, without a physical
representation. There are two logical representations: the tile (next to a
city or unit) from where he starts his mission and where he will reappear,
and the city he is investigating or the unit he is bribing.

When the mission starts, he disappears, the user gets the usual pop-up on
her screen. If she commands the mission (taking a choice from the menue),
the server tries to follow the command. If the mission is finally won,
the diplomat dies, reappears, or the spy is sent back home, respectively.

What happens on turn end? We have two implementation choices: either

1) The dipl dies.
2) The mission is still pending.

I am for 1). Time matters. It's a real time game.

In case of 2) you have to check, whether the city had changed, the bribe
costs changed etc.

BTW: what does currently happen if a unit moves away while the dipl tries
to bribe it?

> > After his mission he
> >
> > - is dead
> > - is sent back home (in case of a tech stealing spy)
> >
> > or
> >
> > - magically reappears on the spot where he started his mission.
> > If any enemy unit is on that spot, he gets caught (and lost).
> 
> Or is sent back home?

I'd say, the dipl gets caught, the spy can reach her home.

> > But this is still an improvement over the current situation,
> > where he can get killed _before_ he fulfills his mission.
> 
> Yes.
> 
> > While on mission, he
> >
> > - can't be attacked
> > - does not impose a ZOC
> > - is invisible
> 
> Or plain "isn't there".

Exactly.

> > If, while the dip is on mission, the city
> >
> >  - is conquered by another enemy: the mission fails.
> >  - is conquered by his nation or by one of his allies: the mission fails,
> >  but the diplomat survives and reappears in that city.
> >  - vanishes: the mission fails, the dip reappears on the stored spot.
> >
> > Give away cities is treated like conquering.
> 
> Ok, but what if turn ends? 

The diplomat dies, the spy is sent home.

> Or another diplomat from the same player tries
> to do a mission against the same city?

I see no problem here. If the first spy destroys the city wall, and the
second tries to do the same thing, she fails. Whatever currently happens
if the enemy players _sells_ the city wall inbetween.

> And how is this to be represented to the user in the client (in particular
> if a hostile unit now occupies the same tile that the diplomat did)?

You may want to see the tile marked, from where the dipl started.
But I don't think this is necessary.

Christian

-- 
Christian Knoke     * * *      http://www.enter.de/~c.knoke/
* * * * * * * * *  Ceterum censeo Microsoft esse dividendum.