[CF List] Player building (was Re: Castles and houses)

[Andreas Vogl]

The idea of in-game map development for Crossfire keeps coming
up here lately. From my experience with development on the
CFJavaEditor (Crossfire map editor) I've got a few things
to say on this topic:

In-game map development, certainly a cool idea, but how to
realize? I'll assume we can rule out the option to merge an entire
editor interface into every CF client. In fact, it would be alot
easier to merge a client into an editor, given the proportions
of complexity.

So, how do MUDs deal with the problem? They can be edited
with command line. And yes, this concept is successfull,
in MUDs. That's because MUDs are text-only, and the object
structure in MUDs is usually rather trivial.
Can we do the same thing for CF? - NO, definitly not.
Crossfire has graphics. It has a very complex object
structure and an even more complex arch (/map) syntax.
Learning the entire Crossfire arch syntax is about as
"easy" as learning Fortran 95, or C++.

Don't believe it? Try to write a 10x10 Crossfire map in
plain ascii, out of your head, without using a map editor.
The map should contain floor, walls and monsters.
Impossible, is it?

Look at the CFJavaEditor. It is an immensly complex program
that does nothing but aiding people to create maps.
So they do *not* have to write it in plain ascii.
And still, even with all that help and those interface-gizmos,
most people find it difficult enough.

Believe me, a command-line editor for Crossfire maps is
outright impossible. I mean you can create one, sure,
but it won't work.


AndreasV

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