Utilities, Controllers & Bots, Oh My!

[rkr1958]

I once saw a theory that Angela Lansbury's character was a very successful serial killer, who not only went around the country killing people, but, to prevent suspicion falling on her, would frame some innocent bystander of the killing. This always made sense to me, because what are the odds that a person wandering around the country would always find someone who has just been murdered? Clearly she is the cause.

I do enjoy the who done it series. Periot, Miss Marple, countless others. Bur they all suffer from the same statistically unrealistic event of a murder each week. In fact Angela Lansbury played Miss Marple in a 1980 movie staring Rock Hudson and Elizabeth Taylor. In that movie Elizabeth Taylor made a reference to Doris Day. In the pilot for Murder She Wrote Angela Lansbury made a reference to Elizabeth Taylor. They just don't make movies and series to the depth that they used to.

[Angeldust2]

18-Move-Units-Refinement.png

Looks fine. So your initial release will contain functions to edit
- file version
- position of units on the map (what about different off-map pools?)
- organised/disorganised status of units

That is already very helpful.

[rkr1958]

18-Move-Units-Refinement.png

Looks fine. So your initial release will contain functions to edit
- file version
- position of units on the map (what about different off-map pools?)
- organised/disorganised status of units

That is already very helpful.

Yes, plus hex control change. Also, will probably (50/50) include moving units between pools in this initial version.

[rkr1958]

2024JAN15. Daily Status Report (Don't expect these every day, but will try to provide up to the initial release).

(1) Weather SUCKS, artic blast came down, got sleet which covered roads & sidewalks. Unable to get my run in so I'm in a foul mood! On the upside spent 8 hours coding (working on MWIF MAGIC).

(2) Spent a couple of hours debugging game file input. Specifically, uncovered a bug where the number of game counters read in and reported by MAGIC was off by 1 from the game file. Fixed that dang bug and now they match.

(3) Spent the rest of the time getting the Move Units (which I'm going to change to Edit Counters) functionality coded and seemingly working.

(4) Passed the following simple unit test: (a) Move Monty from [68,35] to [74,27] & flip, (b) Move Hampden LND3 from [68,35] to [74,27] & organized, (c) Flip arty div in [68,35].
Pre Edit.

07-Pre-Edit-Game.png (554.93 KiB) Viewed 864 times

Post Edit.

08-Post-Edit-Game.png (601.36 KiB) Viewed 864 times

[rkr1958]

Ran Unit Test Via Windows BAT file (vs Anaconda/Spyder IDE). Windows BAT file will be how folks will run this initial version.

00-Command-Run.png (42.45 KiB) Viewed 862 times

Loaded game file & got units in hex [68,35]

01-Get-Units.png (52.63 KiB) Viewed 862 times

Made my Edits.

02-User-Edits-Inputs.png (21.49 KiB) Viewed 862 times

Edited (Moved) Units.

03-EDIT-UNITS.png (22.5 KiB) Viewed 862 times

[rkr1958]

Verified Units no longer in hex be (re)loading units in hex after the edits.

04-Get-Units-after-Edits.png (17.23 KiB) Viewed 861 times

Saved Game File (Edits are lost if not saved to a game file)

05-Save-game-file.png (27.71 KiB) Viewed 861 times

Log File

06-log-file.png (48.28 KiB) Viewed 861 times

Need to add some more info in the logging and error exception handling. Initial release will be a little thin of exception handling.

[lucliu]

The MAGIC looks promising.

[Joseignacio]

Before I get in love, ..., what are your intentions?

I mean, is it going to be user friendly for all of us who are not much or not at all into programming?

[rkr1958]

Before I get in love, ..., what are your intentions?

I mean, is it going to be user friendly for all of us who are not much or not at all into programming?

(1) That depends on this community and their efforts.

(2) It's a great opportunity to jump in, learn something new and contribute.

(3) As I stated numerous times previously, though I'm an experienced programmer and have worked professionally on numerous software delivered products, I've never done gui development.

(4) My experience has been in the development, coding and testing of algorithms used to reduce, analyze, plot and build reports on large data sets produced by digital and hardware in the loop (HWIL) simulations.

(5) The initial release of MAGIC (v0.01) will include functionality that I currently do easily with a text editor.

(6) I'm making this initial release for this community in the hopes (again I'll say it) that they (the community) will "embrace" it, improve on it and produce something far greater and user friendly that I, or any single individual, could do. Something that improves our enjoyment of playing MWIF.

(7) Something that hopefully includes user friendly convoy routing & production, uncoded optional rules (e.g., Guard Banner armies, Soviet-Japanese peace), two map scenarios, AAR style reports, multiple player game file integration (either via instructions or game file merging).

(8) It this doesn't happen, at worse I've gained the knowledge and the skill to build a crude GUI. Something that I'm likely to improve on either privately (if this effort petters out) or hopefully publicly (if it doesn't and takes off).

(9) AAR style reports is a personal area of interest to me. Two examples that will be included in this initial release are the already coded production & counter reports. However; I have visions of naval reports, which details units at sea; move reports that list which units were move from where to there, etc. Honestly, I won't need a gui to run them; but will be happy to make them available to the community through MAGIC if they wish.

(10) How far this project (MAGIC MWIF) goes will be based on the efforts of this community. I will make this initial release and we'll see where it goes from there.

(11) Also, there's an inch of ice (still) covering the roadway and this is the second day in a row I won't be able to get my run in, which puts me in another foul mood! I only missed 2 days last year (2023) from my daily 4-mi run. It's only mid-January 2024 and I've already missed that many and possibly more depending on weather. Also, the forecasted low tonight is -1 deg F (not C!). I live pretty far south and if it gets into the teens (F), we consider that very cold. Negative temps are crazy!

[paulderynck]

18-Move-Units-Refinement.png

Looks fine. So your initial release will contain functions to edit
- file version
- position of units on the map (what about different off-map pools?)
- organised/disorganised status of units

That is already very helpful.

Yes, plus hex control change. Also, will probably (50/50) include moving units between pools in this initial version.

Not sure you ever used any of the debug versions of MWiF that the beta testers have access to, but they included a debug form capable of moving units on the map and/or to some of the pools. I say some of the pools because that feature was the most finicky. Moving them on the map and changing hex control always seemed to work, but finding the unit you wanted to move was not very easy. There even was either a public release or hot fix (I can't recall which) that accidentally was the debug version, but more than likely that was too long ago for anyone to use because it has been superseded by versions with desired bug fixes.

At any rate, I'm not mentioning this to mean it's all been done before but to make suggestions as to how your version might be improved.
1. Origin and destinations for hex control or for moving units on the map should be able to be referenced by place names if a named place is in either hex - instead of coordinates only.
2. Should stacking restrictions at the destination hex be checked? With the Debug form, I never tried violating that because beta testers are expected to know what they are doing. But for general usage, it likely is a good thing.
3. Not sure how finding the unit you want could be improved. In MWiF you choose a country and get a form with pictures of all its units (somewhat similar to the set-up forms). You can filter the form based on many, many criteria. Then you select a unit and go back to the move, place units form. Sounds good at first blush but the process is slow and awkward.

[Zovs]

Before I get in love, ..., what are your intentions?

I mean, is it going to be user friendly for all of us who are not much or not at all into programming?

(1) That depends on this community and their efforts.

If you put it up on GitHub that would be great, you should be able to create a public (or private) repository and keep your code up there. That way others can clone your code and make modifications to it and someone can make sure those changes get merged into master, you can also create a release build from GitHub as well.

https://github.com/

Some of the various ways to use GitHub if your familiar with VASSAL.

https://github.com/vassalengine/vassal

I highly recommend you create a repo for others to share and modify your code.

[rkr1958]

Looks fine. So your initial release will contain functions to edit
- file version
- position of units on the map (what about different off-map pools?)
- organised/disorganised status of units

That is already very helpful.

Yes, plus hex control change. Also, will probably (50/50) include moving units between pools in this initial version.

Not sure you ever used any of the debug versions of MWiF that the beta testers have access to, but they included a debug form capable of moving units on the map and/or to some of the pools. I say some of the pools because that feature was the most finicky. Moving them on the map and changing hex control always seemed to work, but finding the unit you wanted to move was not very easy. There even was either a public release or hot fix (I can't recall which) that accidentally was the debug version, but more than likely that was too long ago for anyone to use because it has been superseded by versions with desired bug fixes.

At any rate, I'm not mentioning this to mean it's all been done before but to make suggestions as to how your version might be improved.
1. Origin and destinations for hex control or for moving units on the map should be able to be referenced by place names if a named place is in either hex - instead of coordinates only.
2. Should stacking restrictions at the destination hex be checked? With the Debug form, I never tried violating that because beta testers are expected to know what they are doing. But for general usage, it likely is a good thing.
3. Not sure how finding the unit you want could be improved. In MWiF you choose a country and get a form with pictures of all its units (somewhat similar to the set-up forms). You can filter the form based on many, many criteria. Then you select a unit and go back to the move, place units form. Sounds good at first blush but the process is slow and awkward.

(1) I am a beta tester, have that version and use it move units around & change hex control. I do remember the accidental general beta version that Steve released and to which you're referring. It was long before I was a beta tester, I loved it but I think that was back maybe ver 2, so long gone.

(2) I'm developing MWIF MAGIC with my non-beta tester hat on for the community in general in a way that's NOT in conflict with my agreement as a beta tester and with information that's available to all owners of MWIF.

(3) This initial version will have minimum error checks, so saving your edited game file to another name and check it by loading it in MWIF is HIGHLY recommended.

(4) Again, if this takes off, we the community will add the more in-depth error checking, greater functionality as dictated & conceived by this community with the objective of making our MWIF playing and AAR experiences more enjoyable (and less frustrating). Two other objectives I have for this community project is to get back some of the folks we've lost over the years and add new folks.

(5) I don't want the MWIF forum and game to die, I want it to thrive.

[rkr1958]

Before I get in love, ..., what are your intentions?

I mean, is it going to be user friendly for all of us who are not much or not at all into programming?

(1) That depends on this community and their efforts.

If you put it up on GitHub that would be great, you should be able to create a public (or private) repository and keep your code up there. That way others can clone your code and make modifications to it and someone can make sure those changes get merged into master, you can also create a release build from GitHub as well.

https://github.com/

Some of the various ways to use GitHub if your familiar with VASSAL.

https://github.com/vassalengine/vassal

I highly recommend you create a repo for others to share and modify your code.

(1) Thanks. Will check it out. On track for a release of version 0.01 on Thursday (1/18/2024).

(2) Users for this initial release will have to have python installed, including numpy package. They will also have to edit a handful of paths in their MAGIC.cfg file (included with the release). Not sure if there are any other libraries required, but we'll find out. That's why I created the lib directory folder.

(3) Users will run this initial release via Windows bat (command) file that needs no editing if the user maintains my MAGIC relative file (folder) structure.

(4) The goal for a later community developed version is one that's an executable run independently of python. Or, not requiring python to be installed with the exception of possible libraries.

(5) By the way, I definitely could use your help in setting up a repo for this initial release. Also, maintaining the repo. Are you game?

(6) This initial version is so small that I'm probably just going to zip it up and email it to folks that want to try it out. I definitely used repo in my software development days (CVS or CSV? and others). But just a user. There was also another one in my last project that I worked that the REAL computer guys were excited about. I can't remember the name but this one guy installed it and used it on his own home computer for non-work related activities. He put together a 20+ page Powerpoint on using. I don't think I kept the presentation but will look in my garage. I pretty sure when I retired almost 4 years ago I gladly left that in my desk for whoever was to follow.

(7) I also have the MWIF game file editing capture document in word that I've put together. That could someday, after some editing for organization and content, be a part of this effort and useful for folks who wish to add functionality. The disconnect is that I wrote the document in a non-computer way, meaning that descriptions of game file records elements start at index 1 versus index 0 as they are in the python code.

[Zovs]

(5) By the way, I definitely could use your help in setting up a repo for this initial release. Also, maintaining the repo. Are you game?

Yes, I can help out there.

[rkr1958]

(5) By the way, I definitely could use your help in setting up a repo for this initial release. Also, maintaining the repo. Are you game?

Yes, I can help out there.

Thanks. PM me your email address and I'll email out the initial release to you in a day or two. If you don't mind I'd also like to use you as a "guinea pig" to see what it takes to get MAGIC v0.01 up and running.

Also, anyone else that wishes this initial release PM me your email address and I'll send you a copy.

[Joseignacio]

(5) By the way, I definitely could use your help in setting up a repo for this initial release. Also, maintaining the repo. Are you game?

Yes, I can help out there.

Thanks. PM me your email address and I'll email out the initial release to you in a day or two. If you don't mind I'd also like to use you as a "guinea pig" to see what it takes to get MAGIC v0.01 up and running.

Also, anyone else that wishes this initial release PM me your email address and I'll send you a copy.

Ronnie, if I can help, just tell me and I will try, I didnt offer because I see this is a programming duty and I have no skills in that.

[rkr1958]

Yes, I can help out there.

Thanks. PM me your email address and I'll email out the initial release to you in a day or two. If you don't mind I'd also like to use you as a "guinea pig" to see what it takes to get MAGIC v0.01 up and running.

Also, anyone else that wishes this initial release PM me your email address and I'll send you a copy.

Ronnie, if I can help, just tell me and I will try, I didnt offer because I see this is a programming duty and I have no skills in that.

You, and anyone who doesn't code, could be a tester, advocate and visionary. PM me it want to be in on the initial version.

[rkr1958]

MWIF MAGIC ver 0.01. Daily Progress Report. Tuesday, January 16, 2024.

(1) Spent I think a productive day on MAGIC ver 0.01. It may be ready tomorrow, I just have one more form (Change Hex Control) that I need to finish.

(2) The looks, robust error handling and format are crude and have been sacrificed to get this initial version out in less than a week.

(3) I'm definitely learning gui development as I progress in this initial development. To an experienced gui programmer my initial release will definitely look amateurish.

(4) So those of you that are bravely going to take on this initial release please be patient with the "installation" process, feel and look. We'll definitely improve on all if we keep going.

(5) Here's the main screen as it currently stand with a few tweaks probably to make. Just thought of this but I'll probably add a visionary line below at the bottom below developers & testers.

01-Main-Screen.png (418.98 KiB) Viewed 749 times

[rkr1958]

Added 3 reports (Hex Control, Counters & Production).

02-Reports.png (47.67 KiB) Viewed 741 times

(1) Reports are in csv (comma delimited) format and are easily imported into EXCEL or opensource spreadsheet.

(2) Below, are examples of their content after I imported them into EXCEL.

(3) Production Report.

04-Production-Report.png (139.41 KiB) Viewed 746 times

(4) Counters Report.

05-Counters-Report.png (164.69 KiB) Viewed 746 times

(5) Hex Control Report.

03-Hex_Control-Report.png (127.11 KiB) Viewed 746 times

[rkr1958]

Change Hex Control Frame.
(1) You can manually or copy & paste enter row, column pairs that you wish to flip control.

(2) 9 "hardcode" country (Major Power) slots and 6 "spare" country slots where the user can enter country id (CID).

(3) Pretty close to finishing this form but going to relax and finish it tomorrow.

(4) By the way, I poured myself and enjoying Dalmore 12 year old scotch.

06-Hex-Control-Frame.png (27.67 KiB) Viewed 744 times