[Freeciv-Dev] Re: game modification

["baumans" <baumans@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

----- Original Message -----
From: "Hugh Lothrop" <hughlothrop@xxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <freeciv-dev@xxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Tuesday, February 25, 2003 5:24 PM
Subject: [Freeciv-Dev] game modification


>One of the greatest failings of Freeciv is that it degenerates into an
>arcade game when players direct units in combat.  This is because the
>player with the fastest mouse hand gets moves in first.  The game would
>be elevated into a class of its own by integrating movement so players
>would direct units to a destination, but the server would wait until the
>end of  turn before actually moving the unit and calculating whether and
>where units met.  This means that each units position would be
>incremented along its directed path until combat occurred.  For instance,
>if naval units were directed along paths that met on the same square at
>the same, combat would occur.  If the units did not collide then they
>would complete movement to their destination.  Movement would be relative
>depending on movement rate.  A unit with a movement of 1 would make all
>of its move in the first increment while another with 3 would make one
>third of its movement.  The total number of movement increments would
>depend on the unit with the most movement points.  Something to think
>about, anyway.
This is interesting, and a version of this has already been done in other
games.  This could cause some problems, though. What happens if two units on
different sides go to attack on different ways, and they slip right by each
other? If two units move at each other, are they both attacking? If one
moves back and one moves forward (during the same movement period) to the
space that was occupied by the other, does it attack the other unit?

A mode like this could be implemented in freeciv by only allowing gotos,
instead of regular moves, and making the gotos go in steps, as you proposed.
A replacement for regular (keypad) movements would be a line following the
path taken, and a half-shaded/semi-transparent version of the unit where it
currently would be moving to.  It might also be nice to lay out different
goto paths for every unit on the screen (maybe in different colors), so you
can see exactly where your other units are moving to, to coordinate them
more easily.