[Freeciv] Re: Freeciv goals

["Dan Ward" <danward2@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

> Personally I dislike the Civ2 compatibility goal, but since it's that
> important to somebody, I'm absolutely in favor of splitting it up into a
> Civ2 mode and a Freeciv mode.

It's important to lots of people who like Civ but want a native Linux
version. This doesn't mean there's no scope for doing non-Civ things; work
lists, for example, are a fantastic feature that is not in Civ but is in
FreeCiv (congratulations to whoever wrote it BTW).

Personally I think FreeCiv is the most complete open source game available
at this time and this is mostly down to the goal of Civ2 compatibility. This
has provided the necessary focus to concentrate on getting the fundamentals
(client/server communication, ui, etc) right. Once these fundamentals are
in-place it will be significantly easier to focus on innovation &
creativity.

One other point, has anyone actually got a better plan than Civ2
compatability? I don't mean generally, wooley statements like 'FreeCiv mode'
or 'innovation & creativity' I mean an actual plan. Unless someone has a
definite plan I suggest sticking with the original goal until we reach it
and implementing a FreeCiv Next Generation project that focuses on
__planning__ for post-Civ2 compatibility. We don't need a rock solid plan
just something that keeps us all pulling in the same direction.

What I'd like to see in FreeCiv before any split;
1. Diplomacy (this will also require AI improvements)
2. AI: that is challenging for a wider range of players.
3. Front end: making FreeCiv more accesiable. IMO the whole client/server
implementation should be hidden from the user.
4. Isometric \ 3D graphics - not to everyones taste but I think the code
should be able to handle all 3 variants.

Basically FreeCiv is a fantastic achievement so lets not ruin it by pulling
it in several new directions before it's finished.


Dan Ward