[Freeciv-Dev] (PR#4638) Connect Dialog Patch, version 7 (ready?)

["Guest" <rt-guest@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Here's the next version of the connect dialog patch.  It now compiles
cleanly with the other guis (I think), though it only works for gtk.  I
think it may be ready.

The password handling is something of a cludge, because I haven't played
with passwords at all.  Someone please check if it works.

Christian Knoke wrote:
> On Sun, Jul 06, 2003 at 04:38:41PM -0400, Daniel L Speyer wrote:
> > Just when you thought I'd dropped off the face of the Earth....
> > 
> > Here is the lastest version of the game starting patch!  The connection
> > dialog has moved into the main frame (which, incidentally, eliminates
> > map-window embarisements), the terminal corruption is gone, and just
about
> > every server function now has a graphical interface.
> 
> Good. I find this patch very important.
> 
> Better feed the next version into RT.
> 

Done :-)

> > It is gtk1 only, and probably interacts badly with the other guis.
> > 
> > So check it out.  Comments, bug reports, etc. are ap[preciated as
always.
> 
> Frankly, I don't like the GUI very much. I understand that you cannot
make a
> complete GUI in one patch. So let's just make it useable, and fine tune
> later.
> 

I'll grant it's cluttered, but I've been realizing lately how few of our
players know about most of our features, and this exposes them.  And, as
you say, we can tweak the aesthetics later.

> Basically works ok, no hanging civservers ;-)
> 
> Technical issues
> ----------------
> 
> Several menue items should not be accessible. Fx:
> start civclient, menue->kingdom->find city->cancel, segfault
> 

Fixed

> The 'type' field allows too few characters (i18n).
> 

Fixed (you're talking about in the load game page, right?)

> When I login with a second client, I cannot /take a player, even if my
> username is a playername in the game.
> 

Huh?  If you set your name to the name of a player, you get that player.
 You shouldn't need to /take anything.  Which is good, because AFAICT
the /take semantics aren't fully determined yet.

> The server dies on disconnect, even if other players are logged in.
> Disconnect and "End game" are the same.
> 

Fixed

> The player and client lists are sometimes not updated (deleted), when the
> server quits.
> 

This is kind of out-of-scope for the patch.  I just back-ported the gtk2
player lists.  If they don't always work, that's a seperate problem
(though they work fine for me).

> Options are transferred to server, when set button is pressed, even if
they
> didn't change.
> 

Only if they've been changed and changed back.  This may be useful in
multi-player games (I'm sure you can think of such cases).

> civclient -t trident -P none -a
> gives segfault.
> 

Fixed, though I wonder if the whole -a tag needs re-examining.

> GUI issues
> ----------
> 
> 'disconnect' and 'End game' do the same - can disconnect go to choose
player
> window?
> 

I don't see any reason to go to different screens.  It would be highly
inappropriate in a metaservered game and keeping track of that would
just be ugly.

As to their doing the same thing to the server, that's fixed.

> There needs to be a way to translate the options. While it may be
acceptable
> to use the server option names (instead of more descriptive names) for
them
> in the english version, this is certainly not acceptable for L10n.
> 

Hmm.  We don't AFAICT *have* translated server options.  Anyone who
plays freeciv with options now needs to use the pseudo-english names. 
At least the help information is translated.

> connect is not the default action
> 

Fixed

> Top left globe grafics vanishes and never reappears.
> 

This is an old and unrelated problem.

> Not possible to set ongoing options before the game starts (segfault)
> 

I can't reproduce that.  What circumstances are you under?

> 
> GUI suggestions
> ---------------
> 
> Well this can be done in a future patch IMO; I note this for the records,
> but feel free to take one of these:
> 
> Enable/Disable set and reset buttons accordingly, when options are
changed.
> It is not obvious, that you have to use "set", to apply the modified
> options to the game.
> 

Strikes me as a bad idea, though I do see your point.  Reset is also the
way to read in other players' changes, so that should be enabled in any
case.  That makes enabling/disabling set rather ugly.

Maybe we can come up with something better.

> There should be an interface to use the server mechanism of
> saveturn/savename to save games.
> 

Done (they now appear in the ongoing options dialog)

> Use a fixed directory for savegames, fx ~/freecivgames
> 

Personaly, I hate it when programs do that to me.  We can discuss that
elsewhere, though, seeing as it's not really related to this patch.

> First rule for GUIs is "don't mode me", well you mode me all the time.
> Why not put the commands into the game menue? Go back to dialogs. Main gfx
> as usual.
> 

I think the game states are really a natural fit for moding. 
Occasionally it's a good idea.  And the internal states are just a
wizard, another case of acceptable moding.

> Better feedback, on what/if server is running (more verbose/gfx)
> 

Not sure what you're thinking of.  I like feedback too, but I don't see
what else to add.

> Sort the options into groups and present them in a tabbed dialog. Name the
> groups, so the user gets a feeling what they are for.
> 
> Tooltips for options instead of button to open a window.
> 

Both good ideas, but very difficult under the present archetechture. 
Let's put them off for now.

--Daniel Speyer

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

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