Wish/priority/fix list

Web version of freeciv. Please mention the site you're using, if speaking things other than general freeciv-web codebase.
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Corbeau
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Wish/priority/fix list

Post by Corbeau »

There are many requests for interface fixing and add ons and, obviously, developers here don't have time to fix them all (at least not all at once) and need to prioritize. So let's help them.

I have created a Longturn Web fix priorities table so feel free to contribute. It is a Google Doc and I believe no thorough instructions are needed: just take the next available column and fill in your priorities, sum will show automatically in the first column.

Do not vandalize or edit other people's grades. It will be discovered and I will revert to an older version and, if it persists, close automatic grading and collect numbers here and fill it in myself.

Also, if you have other suggestions and requests, please write them down here, I have blocked yellow columns for editing.
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AndreasR
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Re: Wish/priority/fix list

Post by AndreasR »

This will be useful, thanks!

I wonder if you could please create a similar list of prioritized bugs + new features required to play a single-player game on Freeciv WebGL.
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Corbeau
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Re: Wish/priority/fix list

Post by Corbeau »

Done. it's empty because I wasn't following that part so people - or one "admin" - can enter the bugs/fix requests on their own.
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Re: Wish/priority/fix list

Post by AndreasR »

I will get started on the highest priority issues in Freeciv-Web Longturn you reported.

For the prioritized list for Freeciv WebGL, what I'm asking is if you could try it out and then report the most important issues based on that. Thanks!
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Corbeau
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Re: Wish/priority/fix list

Post by Corbeau »

You mean me personally? I did play a bit, but never got to more than 15 minutes. But basically, it is the same engine so these are basically the same remarks.

One that I could add to the general engine is that right-clicking (to move the map) often doesn't go smooth and it twitches a lot.

And the thing is, the few times I ran 3D on my home computer, it was very slow. Now I started it at work (better computer) and I can say that the fogged areas are a bit too dark. Also, I don't really like how it looks, but that is just my thing. In my view, absolutely the best graphics in the whole series was Civ1. Yes, this is not a typo. When you saw a tile, you knew immediately what it was, there was no tile overlapping, information was absolutely clear and made it extremely easy to make decisions, and that is what I feel what Civilization should be about: making decisions.

But, again, that is just my personal preference.

But I can say one thing about graphics that I believe is general. There are two approaches: you can go for realism or you can go for schematics (maybe the wrong word; perhaps "symbolics" would be slightly better although there may be an even better one, I hope I am clear aobut the meaning).

With realism, you want to make it look good and real and draw people visually. However, when you go for that, you better do it VERY well because one mistake can stick out and spoil the whole impression. Also, visuals alone don't make people come back to it.

The other thing (schematics/symbolics/whatever) makes sure that when you see the map, you are immediately aware what is there and what you need to do to obtain the best result. It may not attract people visually, but when they do come, they tend to stay if the playability is good, and with Civ it definitely is.

Now, about 2D and 3D, the things are a bit paradoxical. 2D looks very nice and is just the way a nice game should look like, but when you start playing, the problems arise: city names cover the neighbouring tiles, it is not always immediately 100% clear on which tile the city is on, also I made a few mistakes when moving a unit because I misjudged on which tile it would land. But when I got used to it and concentrated on every move, everything worked. (But, the thing is, it is not good if you have to concentrate deeply on every unit move).

3D, at first glance, actually looks ugly. Those are basically textures that look like cheap industrial carpet (we call it "tepison", not sure what's it called in other languages). Also, in a few instances there is a problem when the terrain is going down and away from you, you have a bit less space to click on when you want to check tile properties. However, once you learn what is what on the map, it basically becomes very user-friendly and it is absolutely clear which tile is which, there seem to be no graphics overlapping, the only thing I'm not sure is what is the use for the 3rd dimension. It does look a *bit* cool, but it's almost a distraction. I played Alpha Centauri where 3D made perfect sense because it had an influence on gameplay, but here it is not really necessary. Also, the perspective sliding - or whatever it's called - is the most unnecessary thing there, and I have a feeling it is drawing a lot of processor time.

I'm not sure if I gave you what you are asking for. The "most important issues" are those that are important to people who are playing it more regularly - MUCH more regularly. And this is not me.

However, if you are asking about what to do to attract more people, I'd say: put everything on game functionality, visibility, easy interface, smoothing out the glitches. When something works and has a good core, people return to it. It doesn't have to be shiny and artistic, it needs to be efficient.

FreeCiv Web now has all the shine it needs (at least the 2D version). More will not really help. 2D does look good and I don't think there is much space for improvement. But, again, I'm not the person to discuss graphic issues. Like I said, for me, graphically, the perfect solution is Civ1.
Last edited by Corbeau on Thu Jun 08, 2017 3:13 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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pungtryne
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Re: Wish/priority/fix list

Post by pungtryne »

I will continue my reques to view in stacked units in this thread.

To answer Andreas' question, I think to view stack of (enemy) units is the single most important thing to do. Most of the things on the list are annoying, except for "embassy gives tech/money/government info" which I will say should be priority number two.

I'm sure some would say fixing the proudction info is more important, and it somewhat is as it's off-putting to new players. But I disagree, because it's simple math to calculate this manually with almost right accuarcy, whereas there is now way to know what hides under an enemy stack of units.

What is meant by "give tile info automatically with active unit"?
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Re: Wish/priority/fix list

Post by AndreasR »

Corbeau, thanks for the feedback about Freeciv WebGL!

I think I'll manage both stacked units, production details and some of the other things for the next release.
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Re: Wish/priority/fix list

Post by pungtryne »

A lesser priority thing is when a city grows, it seems to autoassign workers to tiles, ignoring what it was set to earlier. This gives a tiny bit extra work everything a city grows but you have to check the tiles the city works anyway. I think it would be good to put on list for some future time when the higher priority things are done.
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Corbeau
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Re: Wish/priority/fix list

Post by Corbeau »

Just realised I made a non-neglectible typo about WebGL. This should be what I meant:
Corbeau wrote:Also, the perspective sliding - or whatever it's called - is the most unnecessary thing there, and I have a feeling it is drawing a lot of processor time.
Abuot other things:

Yes, viewing a stack is important. I'd put it into the list, but Andreas said he'll fix it next so no need ;)

About a city auto-assigning workers to tiles, I'm absolutely sure this happens in the FreeCiv standard, too. And it may be or doesn't have to be a problem, I can think of situations when it actually makes sense. But I'll put it on the list so people can say their priority.

(And no, you can't calculate production manually, you'd have to keep track of it for several days and then you'd also have leftovers from previous production, which you don't know what they are; if someone wants to micromanage his production, it is absolutely impossible without full info.)
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Re: Wish/priority/fix list

Post by cazfi »

pungtryne wrote:A lesser priority thing is when a city grows, it seems to autoassign workers to tiles, ignoring what it was set to earlier. This gives a tiny bit extra work everything a city grows but you have to check the tiles the city works anyway. I think it would be good to put on list for some future time when the higher priority things are done.
This one actually happens at the server side, and is not specific to freeciv-web (also desktop freeciv suffers from it). It's very difficult to fix without breaking something else, and arguably it's even correct behavior. Integer math can cause optimal placement also for existing worker to change when there's one more worker to place.
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