Speaking of that, I can't wait for MDoD...[:D]
Jason
ORIGINAL: Cyote13
And as for the 6 year mark, I guess those of us that "helped" with the original ADG version were simply the warm up acts....like Spain, Ethiopia, or Austria?
When?
Moderator: Shannon V. OKeets
RE: When?
Don't forget Japan in China from 1937...
Speaking of that, I can't wait for MDoD...[:D]
Jason
Speaking of that, I can't wait for MDoD...[:D]
Jason
-
Sgt.Fury25
- Posts: 141
- Joined: Fri Jan 11, 2008 4:13 pm
RE: When?
Hello Steve,After all the work you did so far your head didnt explode yet?[:D]Seriously to everybody involved thank you!
RE: When?
Can't wait. But I guess I'll update my computer specs soon (on a different thread). As I have built 2 new systems since MWiF was started. However I am ready to get my 40" monitor so I can really see what's going on theater wide. Hmmm now that's a thought - a theater size screen on the order of say 16 feet for MWiF. Oh well enough daydreaming. Keep up the great work. By the way... when can we preorder?
Integrity is what you do when nobody is watching.
RE: When?
An impressive report! Someone actually spoke with the actual Harry Roland about the wording of a rule? I wonder what rule that could've been. I hope he's well, as well as you Steve. The date is beginning to sound more firm. I'm getting itchy dice palm.
-
StrictlyRockers
- Posts: 11
- Joined: Thu May 26, 2005 4:31 am
RE: When?
I am VERY happy to see things progressing so well. I am hoping for a finished product early next year sometime. I have been following the threads for the past few years. We have been playing this game for a long time and can't wait to see the finished MWiF version. I think it's going to rock. Steve, you have attained godhead for your efforts and execution of this massive project.
WE ARE NOT WORTHY OH GREAT ONE!!11!!! [&o]
WE ARE NOT WORTHY OH GREAT ONE!!11!!! [&o]
-
Justascratch
- Posts: 233
- Joined: Tue Feb 07, 2006 12:56 am
RE: When?
This prroject is certainly exciting. While I anxiously wait for the release, I just have to say that Shannon's attention to not only the games development but also to his participation in this forum set a high standard by which other Matrix dvelopers should be measure. Shannon, you're the real deal.
-
Shannon V. OKeets
- Posts: 22165
- Joined: Wed May 18, 2005 11:51 pm
- Location: Honolulu, Hawaii
- Contact:
RE: When?
My monthly status report is going to be late - probably on Novemebr 3rd (Hawaii time).
Our barbarshop convention starts today and I am responsible for the bus transportation. That means coordinating the movement of 850 people 6 times in the next 2 days. I also have other responsibilities during the convention - for instance singing in the chorus contest, performing a "Hawaiian set" as the host chorus, and generally performing the role of host to the people visiting from around the Pacific rim: Japan, Australia, New Zealand, western US, Canada, and Alaska.
I expect to be doing this 16 hours a day for the next 4 days.
Our barbarshop convention starts today and I am responsible for the bus transportation. That means coordinating the movement of 850 people 6 times in the next 2 days. I also have other responsibilities during the convention - for instance singing in the chorus contest, performing a "Hawaiian set" as the host chorus, and generally performing the role of host to the people visiting from around the Pacific rim: Japan, Australia, New Zealand, western US, Canada, and Alaska.
I expect to be doing this 16 hours a day for the next 4 days.
Steve
Perfection is an elusive goal.
Perfection is an elusive goal.
-
brian brian
- Posts: 3191
- Joined: Wed Nov 16, 2005 6:39 pm
RE: When?
have fun Steve!
meanwhile it's all
in here, and methinks that's good...the MWiF bits and bytes are going round and round for the playtesters...YAY!
meanwhile it's all
in here, and methinks that's good...the MWiF bits and bytes are going round and round for the playtesters...YAY!
RE: When?
It sounds like you'll be driving the Wiki Wiki bus [;)]ORIGINAL: Shannon V. OKeets
My monthly status report is going to be late - probably on Novemebr 3rd (Hawaii time).
Our barbarshop convention starts today and I am responsible for the bus transportation. That means coordinating the movement of 850 people 6 times in the next 2 days. I also have other responsibilities during the convention - for instance singing in the chorus contest, performing a "Hawaiian set" as the host chorus, and generally performing the role of host to the people visiting from around the Pacific rim: Japan, Australia, New Zealand, western US, Canada, and Alaska.
I expect to be doing this 16 hours a day for the next 4 days.
No doubt the Australians will all be "driving the porcelain bus" (you know..."making a call to God on the great white telephone", "technicolour yawn" etc) after getting completely smashed in one of our traditional cultural exchanges. I'm always reminded of the fictional "Cultural Attaché", Sir Les Patterson, who has been described as "nearly as offensive as an actual Australian diplomat".
Here's Sir Les, with a "research assistant"...
Cheers, Neilster
- Attachments
-
- LesPatterson.jpg (193.11 KiB) Viewed 240 times
Cheers, Neilster
-
Shannon V. OKeets
- Posts: 22165
- Joined: Wed May 18, 2005 11:51 pm
- Location: Honolulu, Hawaii
- Contact:
RE: When?
I will get to writing the monthly status report today, but I have gone for 4 days without writing code. This was especially painful because I was right in the middle of writing "good stuff" when the convention descended upon me. So the first thing I did today was write all the code that had been filling my head since Wednesday.
Milton (the poet) went blind when he was older and had his daughters write his poetry & prose while he dictated it to them. If they were late in arriving in the morning, he use to complain about needing to be 'milked' (intellectually). I empathize with him now.
Milton (the poet) went blind when he was older and had his daughters write his poetry & prose while he dictated it to them. If they were late in arriving in the morning, he use to complain about needing to be 'milked' (intellectually). I empathize with him now.
Steve
Perfection is an elusive goal.
Perfection is an elusive goal.
-
Shannon V. OKeets
- Posts: 22165
- Joined: Wed May 18, 2005 11:51 pm
- Location: Honolulu, Hawaii
- Contact:
RE: When?
November 4, 2008 Status Report for Matrix Games’ MWIF Forum
Accomplishments of October
Project Management
Dan was unable to find time to work on NetPlay’s technical code so I have added that task to my task list. This changes our current planned release date for MWIF product 1 to late April 2009.
Communications
I monitored all the threads in the MWIF World in Flames forum daily and uploaded version 11.03 for the beta testers.
Patrice was fairly quiet this month. A newborn child, selling and buying houses, and moving is keeping him busy.
Peter Skoglund continues to help with developing scripts for the AI Opponent.
Nothing new from Robert Nebel or Michael Andersen (convoy pipelines).
Nothing new on unit writeups.
No information from Matrix about getting a price on a printed copy of the map.
No communications with Chris Marinacci or Harry Rowland.
Hardware and Software Development Tools
I have not installed ThemeEngine July/2007 - the status on this is unchanged.
Beta Testing
I uploaded 11.02 and 11.03 for the beta testers. The changes for 11.03 primarily concerned fixing bugs in the air-to-air combat processing and interface. There are many combinations of things that can occur during air-to-air combat involving different major powers and combat results. Exploring them all so that I was certain the code worked correctly took time. The beta testers were able to punch only a few holes in version 11.03, with most of the air-to-air code working as intended.
Units, Map, and Scenarios
Nothing new on any of these items. I believe they are finished.
Optional Rules
I validated the code for both air-to-air combat and land combat, checking it against RAC. Land combat has fewer possible outcomes than air-to-air combat but it has more phases/subphases because of all the optional rules related to attacker and defender strengths and modifiers.
Player Interface
I have started revising the land combat form so it resembles the new air-to-air combat form. To achieve this result, I am merging what had previously been two forms into one. In CWIF, selecting which combat to resolve, deciding on assault versus blitz , and converting shattered results to retreats were all done using one form. Then a second form was used for choosing which units took the losses. I now have these on a single form. It is more crowded, but it is also more cohesive.
Internet - NetPlay
I will write the technical code for communicating between computers in November. In December I will integrate that fundamental code subset into the master program for playing the game.
CWIF Conversion
I am roughly halfway through rewriting the subphases for land combat resolution. In CWIF, there were separate phases for assigning losses, retreats, and advance after combat. So far I have eliminated the retreats and advance after combat phases completely (125 references in the program) and replaced them with comparable references to subphases within the land combat resolution phase. Currently I am working on getting rid of the 44 references to the Destroy Units phase. Once I am done, choosing which units to destroy as a result of land combat will all be done using the single Land Combat Resolution form.
MWIF Game Engine
I created the phase LandCombatResolution, which proceeds through the subphases:
• LCRspLandCombatSelection,
• LCRspChooseCombatType,
• LCRspLandCombatResolution, (i.e., rolling the dice)
• LCRspDestroyUnits,
• LCRspRetreats, and
• LCRspAdvanceAfterCombat.
This module puts all the code related to these subphases in a single Pascal file, rather than having it scattered about in several different ones. Conversely, I separated out the routines for calculating the combat column and placed them into their own file. The combat calculations, though complex, and fairly static. Once you get them written, they do not change. I am still refining the processing sequence so it is undergoing a lot of changes. By separating these two aspects of the land combat resolution code, I only print out 25 pages instead of 50 each time I want a fresh listing.
My short term objective here is to finish converting land combat resolution and then uploading version 11.04 to the beta testers. Then I will delve into the mysteries of the technical aspects of NetPlay communications.
Saved Games
Nothing new - it works.
Player’s Manual
Nothing was scheduled.
PBEM
Nothing was scheduled.
Historical Detail, Animations, and Sound
Nothing new.
Help System and Tutorials
I typed in the few changes I had make to the Rules as Coded (RAC) and uploaded it with version 11.03 to the beta testers for review.
AI Opponent
Peter Skoglund has completed the scripts for setting up all but the last couple of minor countries. I expect to write the last section of the documentation for LAIO this coming month.
Other
The Pan Pacific 2008 convention of barbershoppers in Honolulu was a great success. The buses ran smoothly, the food was both good and plentiful, the contestants appeared on stage in the order and at the time intervals desired by the judges, the attendees all had a good time (especially those who won medals), and my chorus made some money for all our hard work. We came in 7th out of 17 choruses and our single quartet entry also came in 7th (out of 25).
I spent 3 days more or less continuously on my feet conducting site visits to the theater for the competitors the day before the contests and then supervising the loading and unloading of the buses for 2 more days. We made 6 runs of getting 850 people between the convention hotel and the theater (where the 3 contests sessions and International Show were held). The longest we took to empty the theater and have everyone back in the hotel was under 60 minutes. Our best time was 44 minutes.
A lot of my time in October simply evaporated in preparing for the convention. For example, in the two months leading up to the convention I received over 750 emails about the convention (that I bothered to save) and sent out over 300 of my own in response. I did all the scheduling for: (1) the rehearsal rooms on Thursday and Friday for the 17 competing choruses, and (2) the warmup room assignments and schedules (to the minute) for both the 17 choruses and the 28 quartets for the contests. All of this involved bus scheduling as well. [Joey, there was at least one guy from Tasmania.]
====================================================================
October summary: The convention is disappearing in the rear view mirror and I can now return my attention full time to MWIF.
====================================================================
Tasks for November
Communications
Continue monitoring the forum threads.
Map and Units
Nada.
Beta Testing
Upload versions every 2 weeks. [est. 2 hours]
Redesign of MWIF Game Engine
Continue to work through the sequence of play giving each phase its own module. [est. 100 hours]
CWIF Conversion
Convert CWIF style internet formats to Game Record Log Formats. [est. 10 hours]
Player Interface
Finish the code for determining and displaying supply lines. [est. 10 hours]
Complete the Task Forces forms. Implement Task Forces as a new “unit type”. [est. 30 hours in Dec.]
Create hex destination lists for air missions. [est 10 hours in Dec.]
Optional Rules
Review, comment, modify, and create code for optional rules [est. 20 hours]
NetPlay
Write the technical code for communicating between multiple computers [est. 120 hours]
Implement the bidding capability using NetPlay. [est. 10 hours in December]
Incorporate the Indy10 code for the two player system into MWIF. [est. 20 hours in December]
Incorporate the multi-player (more than 2) system into MWIF. [est. 10 hours in December]
AI Opponent
Define LAIO variables with their supporting functions. Design the parser for LAIO. Create a few more rules as text and encode them for testing the parser. [est. 30 hours]
Help System and Tutorials
Nothing scheduled until March.
Player’s Manual
Nothing scheduled until March.
Historical Detail, Animations, and Sound
Nothing scheduled until April.
Other
There is the normal cleanup activity after attending a convention - trying to reestablish the rut that is my normal working day. I expect a couple of more meetings about the convention along the lines of loose ends and lessons learned. For instance, we have a meeting scheduled with 50+ barbershoppers visiting from Brisbane, where the next Pan Pacific convention will take place in 2011. They are taking a cruise of the islands this week and then coming back to Honolulu for a couple of days. What they want to do is pick our brains about how avoid problems when they are the host city.
================================================================
November summary: Get NetPlay functioning, and finishing half of the remaining revisions to the sequence of play are the main goals. Along the way I want to keep giving the beta testers new versions to work on.
================================================================
Accomplishments of October
Project Management
Dan was unable to find time to work on NetPlay’s technical code so I have added that task to my task list. This changes our current planned release date for MWIF product 1 to late April 2009.
Communications
I monitored all the threads in the MWIF World in Flames forum daily and uploaded version 11.03 for the beta testers.
Patrice was fairly quiet this month. A newborn child, selling and buying houses, and moving is keeping him busy.
Peter Skoglund continues to help with developing scripts for the AI Opponent.
Nothing new from Robert Nebel or Michael Andersen (convoy pipelines).
Nothing new on unit writeups.
No information from Matrix about getting a price on a printed copy of the map.
No communications with Chris Marinacci or Harry Rowland.
Hardware and Software Development Tools
I have not installed ThemeEngine July/2007 - the status on this is unchanged.
Beta Testing
I uploaded 11.02 and 11.03 for the beta testers. The changes for 11.03 primarily concerned fixing bugs in the air-to-air combat processing and interface. There are many combinations of things that can occur during air-to-air combat involving different major powers and combat results. Exploring them all so that I was certain the code worked correctly took time. The beta testers were able to punch only a few holes in version 11.03, with most of the air-to-air code working as intended.
Units, Map, and Scenarios
Nothing new on any of these items. I believe they are finished.
Optional Rules
I validated the code for both air-to-air combat and land combat, checking it against RAC. Land combat has fewer possible outcomes than air-to-air combat but it has more phases/subphases because of all the optional rules related to attacker and defender strengths and modifiers.
Player Interface
I have started revising the land combat form so it resembles the new air-to-air combat form. To achieve this result, I am merging what had previously been two forms into one. In CWIF, selecting which combat to resolve, deciding on assault versus blitz , and converting shattered results to retreats were all done using one form. Then a second form was used for choosing which units took the losses. I now have these on a single form. It is more crowded, but it is also more cohesive.
Internet - NetPlay
I will write the technical code for communicating between computers in November. In December I will integrate that fundamental code subset into the master program for playing the game.
CWIF Conversion
I am roughly halfway through rewriting the subphases for land combat resolution. In CWIF, there were separate phases for assigning losses, retreats, and advance after combat. So far I have eliminated the retreats and advance after combat phases completely (125 references in the program) and replaced them with comparable references to subphases within the land combat resolution phase. Currently I am working on getting rid of the 44 references to the Destroy Units phase. Once I am done, choosing which units to destroy as a result of land combat will all be done using the single Land Combat Resolution form.
MWIF Game Engine
I created the phase LandCombatResolution, which proceeds through the subphases:
• LCRspLandCombatSelection,
• LCRspChooseCombatType,
• LCRspLandCombatResolution, (i.e., rolling the dice)
• LCRspDestroyUnits,
• LCRspRetreats, and
• LCRspAdvanceAfterCombat.
This module puts all the code related to these subphases in a single Pascal file, rather than having it scattered about in several different ones. Conversely, I separated out the routines for calculating the combat column and placed them into their own file. The combat calculations, though complex, and fairly static. Once you get them written, they do not change. I am still refining the processing sequence so it is undergoing a lot of changes. By separating these two aspects of the land combat resolution code, I only print out 25 pages instead of 50 each time I want a fresh listing.
My short term objective here is to finish converting land combat resolution and then uploading version 11.04 to the beta testers. Then I will delve into the mysteries of the technical aspects of NetPlay communications.
Saved Games
Nothing new - it works.
Player’s Manual
Nothing was scheduled.
PBEM
Nothing was scheduled.
Historical Detail, Animations, and Sound
Nothing new.
Help System and Tutorials
I typed in the few changes I had make to the Rules as Coded (RAC) and uploaded it with version 11.03 to the beta testers for review.
AI Opponent
Peter Skoglund has completed the scripts for setting up all but the last couple of minor countries. I expect to write the last section of the documentation for LAIO this coming month.
Other
The Pan Pacific 2008 convention of barbershoppers in Honolulu was a great success. The buses ran smoothly, the food was both good and plentiful, the contestants appeared on stage in the order and at the time intervals desired by the judges, the attendees all had a good time (especially those who won medals), and my chorus made some money for all our hard work. We came in 7th out of 17 choruses and our single quartet entry also came in 7th (out of 25).
I spent 3 days more or less continuously on my feet conducting site visits to the theater for the competitors the day before the contests and then supervising the loading and unloading of the buses for 2 more days. We made 6 runs of getting 850 people between the convention hotel and the theater (where the 3 contests sessions and International Show were held). The longest we took to empty the theater and have everyone back in the hotel was under 60 minutes. Our best time was 44 minutes.
A lot of my time in October simply evaporated in preparing for the convention. For example, in the two months leading up to the convention I received over 750 emails about the convention (that I bothered to save) and sent out over 300 of my own in response. I did all the scheduling for: (1) the rehearsal rooms on Thursday and Friday for the 17 competing choruses, and (2) the warmup room assignments and schedules (to the minute) for both the 17 choruses and the 28 quartets for the contests. All of this involved bus scheduling as well. [Joey, there was at least one guy from Tasmania.]
====================================================================
October summary: The convention is disappearing in the rear view mirror and I can now return my attention full time to MWIF.
====================================================================
Tasks for November
Communications
Continue monitoring the forum threads.
Map and Units
Nada.
Beta Testing
Upload versions every 2 weeks. [est. 2 hours]
Redesign of MWIF Game Engine
Continue to work through the sequence of play giving each phase its own module. [est. 100 hours]
CWIF Conversion
Convert CWIF style internet formats to Game Record Log Formats. [est. 10 hours]
Player Interface
Finish the code for determining and displaying supply lines. [est. 10 hours]
Complete the Task Forces forms. Implement Task Forces as a new “unit type”. [est. 30 hours in Dec.]
Create hex destination lists for air missions. [est 10 hours in Dec.]
Optional Rules
Review, comment, modify, and create code for optional rules [est. 20 hours]
NetPlay
Write the technical code for communicating between multiple computers [est. 120 hours]
Implement the bidding capability using NetPlay. [est. 10 hours in December]
Incorporate the Indy10 code for the two player system into MWIF. [est. 20 hours in December]
Incorporate the multi-player (more than 2) system into MWIF. [est. 10 hours in December]
AI Opponent
Define LAIO variables with their supporting functions. Design the parser for LAIO. Create a few more rules as text and encode them for testing the parser. [est. 30 hours]
Help System and Tutorials
Nothing scheduled until March.
Player’s Manual
Nothing scheduled until March.
Historical Detail, Animations, and Sound
Nothing scheduled until April.
Other
There is the normal cleanup activity after attending a convention - trying to reestablish the rut that is my normal working day. I expect a couple of more meetings about the convention along the lines of loose ends and lessons learned. For instance, we have a meeting scheduled with 50+ barbershoppers visiting from Brisbane, where the next Pan Pacific convention will take place in 2011. They are taking a cruise of the islands this week and then coming back to Honolulu for a couple of days. What they want to do is pick our brains about how avoid problems when they are the host city.
================================================================
November summary: Get NetPlay functioning, and finishing half of the remaining revisions to the sequence of play are the main goals. Along the way I want to keep giving the beta testers new versions to work on.
================================================================
Steve
Perfection is an elusive goal.
Perfection is an elusive goal.
-
wfzimmerman
- Posts: 338
- Joined: Wed Oct 22, 2003 7:01 pm
- Contact:
RE: When?
The two milestones I am most eagerly awaiting are
1) beginning to test PBEM
2) beginning to test the AI
Which comes first?
Fred
1) beginning to test PBEM
2) beginning to test the AI
Which comes first?
Fred
Contribute to the Steve H. thank you book! http://www.nimblebooks.com/wordpress/2009/04/contribute-to-the-wargamers-wwii-quiz-book/
-
Shannon V. OKeets
- Posts: 22165
- Joined: Wed May 18, 2005 11:51 pm
- Location: Honolulu, Hawaii
- Contact:
RE: When?
The sequence is NetPlay, PBEM, AIO.ORIGINAL: wfzimmerman
The two milestones I am most eagerly awaiting are
1) beginning to test PBEM
2) beginning to test the AI
Which comes first?
Fred
Steve
Perfection is an elusive goal.
Perfection is an elusive goal.
-
wargameplayer
- Posts: 112
- Joined: Mon Apr 04, 2005 8:06 pm
RE: When?
I'd be upset if I were even half surprised or took his release estimates seriously. We are seeing more of the blame now for the release shift to other people. A bunch of you thought I was being too hard on the guy and glad handed him telling him what a great job he is doing. This project needed more people--which he specifically resisted because he was much more efficient working alone...ORIGINAL: wfzimmerman
The two milestones I am most eagerly awaiting are
1) beginning to test PBEM
2) beginning to test the AI
Which comes first?
Fred
What a disaster. I'm very angry with Matrix for letting this happen to the title and managing a project of this statute and size this way. Project in flames.
-
SamuraiProgrmmr
- Posts: 416
- Joined: Sun Oct 17, 2004 3:15 am
- Location: NW Tennessee
RE: When?
A disaster is buying a game that is of low quality because whiners with no patience got their way.
In the interim, I might suggest Vassal or Cyberboard.
In the interim, I might suggest Vassal or Cyberboard.
Bridge is the best wargame going .. Where else can you find a tournament every weekend?
RE: When?
We've all been waiting since, I believe, 1995? So what's another year? LOL!!! 
Seriously, the project certainly needed more than one developer, but that is the fault of Matrix. This is what happens when you want to do things on the cheap.
Seriously, the project certainly needed more than one developer, but that is the fault of Matrix. This is what happens when you want to do things on the cheap.
RE: When?
ORIGINAL: abj9562
Can't wait. But I guess I'll update my computer specs soon (on a different thread). As I have built 2 new systems since MWiF was started. However I am ready to get my 40" monitor so I can really see what's going on theater wide. Hmmm now that's a thought - a theater size screen on the order of say 16 feet for MWiF. Oh well enough daydreaming. Keep up the great work. By the way... when can we preorder?
What about a table, something like 8 feet by 4 feet large, or maybe 2 tables with a touchscreen (one Europe & one Asia). You know like the surface of the tables are actual computer screens and you move the counters and give your orders by touching the screen. Would be great!
[X(]
Michel Desjardins,
"Patriotism is a virtue of the vicious" - Oscar Wilde
"History is a set of lies agreed upon" - Napoleon Bonaparte after the battle of Waterloo, june 18th, 1815
"Patriotism is a virtue of the vicious" - Oscar Wilde
"History is a set of lies agreed upon" - Napoleon Bonaparte after the battle of Waterloo, june 18th, 1815
-
Zorachus99
- Posts: 789
- Joined: Fri Sep 15, 2000 8:00 am
- Location: Palo Alto, CA
RE: When?
Theoretically we could port vassal to Microsoft Surface...
Most men can survive adversity, the true test of a man's character is power. -Abraham Lincoln