[Freeciv-Dev] Re: (PR#12099) Prune unnecessary server messages

["(Eddie Anderson)" <saywhat@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

<URL: http://bugs.freeciv.org/Ticket/Display.html?id=12099 >

"Per I. Mathisen" <per@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>
><URL: http://bugs.freeciv.org/Ticket/Display.html?id=12099 >
>
>This patch does:

(snip)

Short version:
    IMO, being able to save and restore the msg options settings is
the key.  This type of solution is also needed for the city report
configuration dialog (and potentially for other user-customized
data).

Long version:
    Please don't eliminate those msgs.  I still want to see them.

    But I can imagine how some people wouldn't.  I imagine that some
of the developers have such good memories that they could play
freeciv with *all* the msgs disabled - they have the entire game in
their heads anyway.  However, we mortals need to see those msgs
while we play.

    I suspect that, if it was your choice alone, the list of msgs
to eliminate would be even longer.  Right?  That's OK.  For the
civclient on your computer, why not?  You *should* be able to choose
to suppress those msgs.  In fact, *every* player should have that
option for his/her own civclient.

    As you stated, the issue becomes the ease (or lack of it) of
customizing the options.  I agree that the current msg option dialog
is lengthy and consequently, intimidating.  IMO, the msg options
dialogs should definitely be subdivided further than they are - ~10
options per dialog panel should be the maximum.  OTOH, the entire
msg options dialog, like the CMA, can safely be ignored by novice
Freeciv players until they're ready to learn how to use it.

    IMO the bigger problem is saving (and later reloading) those
customized settings.  This is the key.  AFAIK, currently the user
cannot save his/her msg option choices and reload them later.

    Assume that the user patiently slogs through all those msg
option dialogs - setting them just the way s/he wants them.  The
user plays for a while, then saves the game and exits.   As it
is now, when the civclient is restarted, all those carefully chosen
msg option settings will revert to the defaults.  All the user's
effort in customizing those msg options is wiped away.  A
save/restore facility would avoid that problem.


    How could the customized msg options be saved?  If Freeciv were
just a single-player game, then the most straightforward method
might be server option strings - like Startunits and the
Demographics report.  That way the player could save his/her
customized settings with just a "/write" cmd.

    But since Freeciv is a multi-player game, a client-side
save/restore facility may be needed.  Perhaps something could be
added to the existing "Local Options" dialog.  Didn't I see
some patch recently about saving tileset (and some other options)
from a civclient?  If so, then couldn't msg option preferences be
saved with those other option settings?


    Whatever method is used to save the msg option settings, the
data will probably be stored as some sort of string (char or bit).
Given the large number of msg options, that string could be quite
lengthy.  So perhaps the string should be broken into smaller
substrings.

    For starters, there could be separate strings that correspond to
the categories of the msg options - i.e. one string for popups, one
string for the output window, and one string for the message window.
These strings could be further divided along the lines of their
existing subcategories - city, unit, and enemy.  (BTW could "enemy"
be changed to "foreign" here? (because "foreign" is not always
equivalent to "enemy"))

    And perhaps the strings should be subdivided even beyond that
(e.g. into groupings like building msgs, combat msgs, production
msgs, WoW msgs, etc.).  That would allow the strings to be shorter.

    The msg option dialog panels could be subdivided
correspondingly.  That would also be less intimidating for the
novice player (because there would be fewer options on each msg
option dialog panel).

    Subdivided strings will also allow alpha characters to be used
(as the string elements) without fear of running out of letters in
the alphabet.  E.g. "a" (or "A") could refer to a different option
in the "Output window building messages option string" than it does
in the "Popup window combat messages option string" or in the
"Message window foreign WoW messages option string".


    I imagine that this sort of change may require a significant
amount of work.  I'm sorry about that.  I wish that I could think of
simpler fix.

    As a consolation (and hopefully an additional incentive to
implement it), this type of solution can fix more than one problem.
Which problem?  City report configuration width problems.

    A save/restore facility like this could allow users to set the
fields (and consequently the width) to what they want *once* and be
done with it.  Then they won't have to mess with it again (unless
they want to) until another field is added or modified.  Each user
can set the report width (by adding or dropping fields) to what
works best with the display s/he uses when playing Freeciv.

    The city report configuration dialog is similar to the msg
options dialog in the following ways: '

1) It has lots of options.

2) Those options are currently reset to defaults every time that the
   civclient restarts.

3) I usually change those options only once and then leave them as
   is for the rest of the time the civclient stays running.

    As it is now, every time I start civclient, I have to re-
configure the city report.  I've done it so many times now that I
can almost do it without looking at the screen or the keyboard (and
that includes temporarily upsizing the display in order to be able
to access the "Close" button).  It would be much easier if the
civclient automatically reloaded my chosen configuration each time
it started.


    In addition, there may be other user data which could benefit
from a save/restore facility like this.  Some possible examples
include:  Worklists, CMA settings, and preferred country/leader
name/capital city name.

    A save/restore facility would also enhance the benefits of all
the customizability that you developers have added into Freeciv.
I.e. by giving users the ability to save (and later reload) their
customized option settings, you will make it easier for them to
experiment with Freeciv (and find variations of the game that they
like even more than the defaults).

Eddie