Re: Patches, ftp, new releases.

[Tero Haatanen <Tero.Haatanen@lut.fi>]

At least nobody can say that crossfire deveplopment is dead. I add some
of my thoughts in this discussion. 

I think that the first we need the new release, so that people who like to
try crossfire can get the stable and working version. Crossedit 0.7 and 
crossfire 0.90a must merged together and it seems interested challenge 
without mixing server/client concept there. So maybe next (not alpha/beta)
version should contain
	- crossfire 0.90a code and new features
	- crossedit 0.7 editor and new map format and so on
	- xpm patches 
	- good set of maps

There have been some talk about getting a good set of maps, but nobody
have said anything about bitmaps/pixmaps. Currently these are like maps.
There are good ones and bad ones and everything between those. And all
walls and houses have different 3d look :). If there are any artists who
like to take a small :) project and redraw those bitmaps it would give
a new look for crossfire. Seriosly this isn't easy task, but I see it 
still quite important one.

After we have the stable version we can start doing the client/server 
version. Like Kjetil descripted differences between crossedit 0.7 and 
crossfire 0.90a, those don't affect client/server code. I would like 
that new version would in reasonable time, so that people don't loose 
their interest. The first version of client could use the current 
interface, after that people could do Xaw/Motif/whatever clients. I 
don't see it problem to have different clients if they just offer same 
functions.

Also we have time to discuss, what client does and what server does and 
how they communicate with each other. I think that server should handle
everything, excluding maybe animation. So slow client could have option
no-animations, but this probably requires that where animation is used 
something important (i.e. opening/closing gates), those have to be done 
with changing objects.

Client also could handle inventory, so that server only knows what item
is applied, dropped, etc. How that is applied is client trouble (i.e.
clicking with mouse or pressing 'a'). And when server sends info that
player has 10/105 hp's, client can draw status bar, print numbers or
play audiofile in /dev/audio :).

Map caching in client offers interest possibilities. I'am not sure that 
it is more efficient, since maps changes dynamically quite much, monsters 
move, items get picked up, and so on. And it makes code more complicated.
But one where it could be use is automapping feature. Player could 
remember where (s)he has visited and get map on that area (Note that isn't 
same that magic mapping).

I think that possibility that there is ability cheat with 'superclient'
isn't important. Mainly because there is not very much to gain. It's 
easier gain exp in the maps where you can kill trapped monster and gold
collecting all those 'free' treasures on maps. And there is always some 
maps where this is possible. Only useful feature a can think is automatic
'read recall' when low hp's, but that probably cause more problem that
it helps. Mud-players have done this kind of things and it's normally
easy to detect.

And binary distributions with RSA means much more work and many people
don't like idea installing binaries from net, especially when it the 
network game.

Good luck to new maintainer Mark Wedel. He probably needs it :)

 -Tero