[Freeciv-Dev] Re: civ3 compatibility

[Marko Lindqvist <marko.lindqvist@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Per I. Mathisen wrote:

> Please note that Civ3 compatibility is not (yet) a prioritized goal for
> Freeciv.
 If I'm going to write any further tickets, I'll add this note to them.

 My list of needed tickets is still growing faster than I write them to 
RT. There would be much more tickets than I originally thought and thus 
maillist flooding would be quite a bigger problem than I hoped. Is there 
any way to prevent RT from sending mail? (At least some tickets seem to 
have comments that I have never received)
 As for goals, do we currently have any kind of goal at all?

> IMHO, changes needed for point for point compatibility with Civ3
> is less important than changes needed to produce good modpacks that have
> nothing to do with Civ3.
 For most part, I agree. I'd like to see ruleset format expanded so 
that good modpacks can be made. There is at least three ways to expand 
ruleset format:
 1. Just make random additions - There have always been and will be 
some activity of this kind, and that's ok (I personally enjoy most 
writing patches to this category) But it seems to me that development 
without real goals have been slower than it was when we were clearly 
targeting toward civ2 compatibility.
 2. Make additions based on plan that is original to freeciv - There 
have never been such a plan. Maybe we need to select one modpack as our 
primary goal and focus development on its needs.
 3. Take additions from existing games - We did this when we were 
heading for civ2 compatibility and at least freecivAC project does this. 
Note that even if individual ideas are not original to freeciv, 
composition of them makes original modpacks possible. Besides, when 
something is implemented such a way that it supports both games "a" and 
"b", ruleset generalization have often produced possibility "c". If this 
path is chosen, I'd rather see compatibility to several games as goal 
than focusing to just one game (no original composition here).
>  Personally, I do not want any changes that are
> specific only to a Civ3 modpack and are unlikely to be ever used
> otherwise.
 IMHO, If feature required by only one modpack breaks nothing from 
other modpacks, it can be taken to freeciv. Of course, it should have 
lower priority than those changes affecting several modpacks.
> Face it - Civ3 sucked, and we should be aiming higher.
 Civ3 has some quite stupid ideas and ideas that would require far too 
much work compared to their actual benefit, but it does have several 
quite interesting ideas too. I consider it just different from other civ 
games, no better or worse. Playing it is interesting experience every 
now and then.

 I don't know what jason meant when he wrote that tickets for civ3 
incompatibilities should be written, but I'm writing them as some kind 
of suggestions. Like I have said before, I'm personally against some of 
them, as they would be too much work or just plain stupid ideas, but I'd 
like to list all these 'suggestions' so they can be implemented, ignored 
 or properly shot down. At least RT would have records that these ideas 
have been somewhat considered.

 - Caz