[CF-Devel] Plea

[Chachkoff Yann]

Le Vendredi 7 Septembre 2001 07:44, vous avez écrit :
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      Well, I am around again (somewhat). I have a plea, is someone interested
     
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      in merging the alternate and standard sets properly? What this entails is
     
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      redoing the arch handler so that like xpm and png images, either standard
     
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      or alternate can be requested. How to do it, well it will require some
     
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      client adding (although it isn't actually necessary, the change can be
     
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      made and client authors can modify their clients when they have time).
     
     I think merging both sets is a bad idea. They have completely different 
drawing styles, and mixing them would not be good.
However, I agree that easier picture selection (on the client side) would be 
a very good thing.

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      I was disappointed to find there are no longer any servers using the
     
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      Alternate set, and as I know PM, BT and I put ALOT of effort into creating
     
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      a coherant and pleasing set it was very down heartening to find no one
     
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      even uses it. Peterm is away, and his server is no longer active, every
     
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      other server is running the standard set. Whether this is because:
     
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      Admins don't know how to install the alternate set
     
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      Admins can't be bothered
     
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      Admins don't like it
     
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      Admins wouldn't mind supporting both but are preferenced towards standard
     
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      Admins don't use CVS (see the first point)
     
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      Admins have tried it, but got an overall response to change to standard
     
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      again.
     
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     That's one of the reasons I thought pictures should be a complete client-side 
matter (but I already expressed this before, so I don't restart discussing it 
here). Else you are somewhat dependent on what the server admin decides to do.
Of course, on some clients, you can use the "cache images" facility to avoid 
the problem - simply fill the cache dir with custom pictures and you are on. 
But I do not think it is a good idea to do so because:

1-Most people don't know how to do this;
2-Some clients may manage the cache in a different way so that such trick 
would not function properly on them;
3-If this is the suggested solution to display an alternate gfx set, why 
isn't it THE solution to handle ANY set ? using two different systems to 
supply pictures (from server or from gfx cache subdir) seems quite confusing 
and redundant for me.

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      I can't say. None the less I know I prefered the alternate set, and this
     
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      leads me to believe other players may enjoy the crossfire experience more
     
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      if they were able to use these images. I ask if anyone on the dev team is
     
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      interested in finally releasing the alternate set, which (after looking at
     
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      the standard set) is in much more coherant form. I wish I were able to do
     
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      this, but I don't have the time nor skill to do so effectively.
     
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     Since the alternate set is available easily from CVS, I don't see where the 
problem is. If you want to make a "compiled" archive, simply make one and put 
it on your personal page.
Anyway, can't we imagine a simple picture-handling client program (maybe 
included into the client itself) ? It connects to a central server, checks 
the content of a "picture-set" folder, and displays a list of all available 
sets. Then you choose which one to use/update, and the required pictures are 
downloaded. Such server would contain a "picture core" common to all servers.
All sets in it would have to be complete. Each game server could be also 
associated with a smaller picture provider sending only pictures specific to 
that server.

I see some advantages to this:

1) Server admins would not anymore have to bother about how 
installing/updating a picture set - they simply provide pictures if they want 
to add a custom object.
2) GFX makers would not anymore have to wait admins to install/try their 
sets. They simply put them on the central picture repository (much like what 
is done now with CVS).
3) Players would not anymore have to find how to install alternate sets on 
their system - they could simply select the required set from a clear list 
with clear comments.

I want to know: is there anyone opposed to that general scheme and why ?

Chachkoff Y.