About the possibility of open Source code

[woos1981]

First of all, I hope my speech does not violate any rules or laws, as well as the rights of developers, I just regret the current development of this classic game seems into dead ends, I propose that if it is possible to open the game Source code to experience gamers or developers，I think may be it could continue to make the game resurgence again, After all, this is how many loyal fans for many years of feelings and happiness. Finally, I would like to express my respect to the developers of this classic game. Please forgive me for any possible offense, thank you!

[sPzAbt653]

I would like to express my respect to the developers

These types of statements sicken me. Why people continue to praise a small number of selfish individuals that have hijacked the greatest game system ever known and have stagnated development since 2006 is beyond me. What we need is people raising their voices in favor of ousting the criminals that hold our dearest game hostage in their stinky little fingers.

If you want to thank someone, I would suggest thanking Matrix. They have put up with these little dictators and have fought for us [the public] for over ten years. Matrix is the only TOAW hero that we have. Do not worship any false gods.

[rhinobones]

If you want to thank someone, I would suggest thanking Matrix. They have put up with these little dictators and have fought for us [the public] for over ten years. Matrix is the only TOAW hero that we have.

I have a pretty good idea of who the hijackers and dictators are, but not familiar with Matrix’s contribution. What has Matrix done?

Regards

[woos1981]

Sadly, I had no power to free the hostages, only a voice to appeal for mercy。。。。

[Graymane]

Wow, a lot to unpack here. I’m not understanding the context of this. Matrix bought the rights in 2006 and released toaw 3 and then toaw 4. Is that an issue?

[Meyer1]

Wow, a lot to unpack here. I’m not understanding the context of this. Matrix bought the rights in 2006 and released toaw 3 and then toaw 4. Is that an issue?

I don't think Matrix owns the game, bout I'll let better informed persons explain that in detail.

[sPzAbt653]

What has Matrix done?

Matrix is the Distributor, not the Developer.

No one entity owns all TOAW rights. What Matrix has done is to lean on the developer[s] to have some direction/focus and to do something rather than let the game die. For years. It's a long process unfortunately, but at least there are some that stick around to contribute. Sadly, many of the best TOAW'ers have moved to other games [or possibly worse] due to the lack of development.

Support Matrix until this situation is resolved. We hope in our lifetimes.

[Curtis Lemay]

A few facts:

I’ve been coding TOAW since February 2016. TOAW-IV was launched in November 2017. During that initial period, I coded 17,253 lines of code. Major highlights of what I coded included: The Situation Report Expansion, The Counter Values Dialog Creation, The Fonts Editor Creation, The Combat Chart Dialog Creation, The Built-in Equipment Editor Creation, The Designer’s Preferences Dialog Creation, and The Expansion of Turn Lengths and Hex Scales. Also significant were splitting permanent vs. temporary losses up on the Combat Loss Report, several enhancements to the Combat Planner, effecting the impact on the BTS of late blocking units, and refining snow melting and mud drying. (Finally, note that I also devised the matrix used for the New Bridging Rules that Ralph coded). Note that most of this was UI stuff – prioritized by Matrix. My “selfish” desires were to do game-impacting things, and I kept telling myself that I would get to do that once everyone else’s desires were done.

The first year after launch, I coded an additional 1,518 lines of code. Most of this was bug fixing, which had to be prioritized. But I still managed to code a few features: The Dismount Feature and the Single Unit Density Feature for example.

Finally, in May 2019, I started coding on the first of multiple modules we planned for TOAW expansion. I still can’t tell what that module fully consists of, but everyone should already know that it includes Commanders. What I can tell you is that it currently consists of 13,532 lines of code. (Note that I also led the “Commander Task Force” during this period). A huge upgrade with multiple features. Unfortunately, there are still several thousand of lines of code to go, so everyone must continue waiting. But TOAW is not “stagnated”. It is being continuously developed.

I would also point out that I was the caretaker of the “Comprehensive Wishlist” document for years. I simply collected the wishes from anyone and everyone into that document. Nothing was rejected. The development plan for TOAW was devised directly from that document. Considering how egalitarian that document was, I don’t see how that plan could be considered to be “selfish”. Some of the items included in the upcoming update are things from that document that I, personally, didn’t think were all that important and said so. Yet they are in that coming upgrade.

Note that 17,253 + 1,518 + 13,532 = 32,303 lines of code I’ve written since starting. Since the entire code of TOAW is about 202,000 lines (just code – not counting libraries, help files, or foreign language files), I’ve written about 16% of TOAW’s code. Note that that is just new lines only. Edited lines were not counted in my total, but would add thousands more if they were. Note that I was just the Assistant Programmer.

[Curtis Lemay]

I don’t want to leave this without defending Ralph. His huge contributions haven’t been properly appreciated by either the public or Matrix. Unfortunately, I don’t know just how many lines of code Ralph coded. But you can bet that his contribution dwarfed mine, above. The best I can do is list his best highlights:

From TOAW-III:

Major ones were Assault Ratio Rules, New Supply Rules, New Turn Order Rules, Max Rounds Per Battle, PO Assist, Equipment Editing via BioEd, XML Export, Optimized Movement Paths, RBC Breakout from Combat, Windows Fonts, and Deployment and Terrain Combined. Still significant were The Circle of Stars, New Flanking Rules, Variable Supply Points, Crop Circles, a host of new Game and Force Parameters, Range 1 Bombardments, closing PBEM Cheat Paths, fixing the Donut of Death, Placename Bitmaps, Movies, Option to skip the Movement Popup, and making RFC dependent upon ending Assault Ratio.

From TOAW-IV:

Major ones were the Huge Naval Warfare Expansion, Intermediate Supply State, Battlefield Time Stamps, Tailored Bombardment Ranges, PBEM++, Huge increases in Game Parameters, Secondary Unit Icons, Expanded Unit Counter Display Options, and the Jump Map. Significant ones were Enhanced Motorized Movement Over Improved Roads, New Bridge Destruction Rules, Combat Review, Scroll Bars and Sorting on Dialogs, Group Composition View in the Unit Panel, Additional Zoom Levels, and the Steam Version.

But Ralph’s contribution exceeded what he coded. His professional software wisdom kept TOAW functioning in a continuously advancing Operating System/Technology environment. He is going to be seriously missed soon.

Ralph did go AWOL a couple of times – over about 15 years of coding. But that, in no way, can erase his huge contributions.

[Meyer1]

Thanks Bob for the update, I, for one, had no idea of those new features.

Couple of questions:

But TOAW is not “stagnated”. It is being continuously developed.

Only by you I take?

He is going to be seriously missed soon.

What that means?

[woos1981]

Thanks Bob for the update I wonder when the next update will come, but your efforts have been enough to ignite the dying heart of a loyal fan like me, And may God bless you with everything you're working on!

[woos1981]

A few facts:

I’ve been coding TOAW since February 2016. TOAW-IV was launched in November 2017. During that initial period, I coded 17,253 lines of code. Major highlights of what I coded included: The Situation Report Expansion, The Counter Values Dialog Creation, The Fonts Editor Creation, The Combat Chart Dialog Creation, The Built-in Equipment Editor Creation, The Designer’s Preferences Dialog Creation, and The Expansion of Turn Lengths and Hex Scales. Also significant were splitting permanent vs. temporary losses up on the Combat Loss Report, several enhancements to the Combat Planner, effecting the impact on the BTS of late blocking units, and refining snow melting and mud drying. (Finally, note that I also devised the matrix used for the New Bridging Rules that Ralph coded). Note that most of this was UI stuff – prioritized by Matrix. My “selfish” desires were to do game-impacting things, and I kept telling myself that I would get to do that once everyone else’s desires were done.

The first year after launch, I coded an additional 1,518 lines of code. Most of this was bug fixing, which had to be prioritized. But I still managed to code a few features: The Dismount Feature and the Single Unit Density Feature for example.

Finally, in May 2019, I started coding on the first of multiple modules we planned for TOAW expansion. I still can’t tell what that module fully consists of, but everyone should already know that it includes Commanders. What I can tell you is that it currently consists of 13,532 lines of code. (Note that I also led the “Commander Task Force” during this period). A huge upgrade with multiple features. Unfortunately, there are still several thousand of lines of code to go, so everyone must continue waiting. But TOAW is not “stagnated”. It is being continuously developed.

I would also point out that I was the caretaker of the “Comprehensive Wishlist” document for years. I simply collected the wishes from anyone and everyone into that document. Nothing was rejected. The development plan for TOAW was devised directly from that document. Considering how egalitarian that document was, I don’t see how that plan could be considered to be “selfish”. Some of the items included in the upcoming update are things from that document that I, personally, didn’t think were all that important and said so. Yet they are in that coming upgrade.

Note that 17,253 + 1,518 + 13,532 = 32,303 lines of code I’ve written since starting. Since the entire code of TOAW is about 202,000 lines (just code – not counting libraries, help files, or foreign language files), I’ve written about 16% of TOAW’s code. Note that that is just new lines only. Edited lines were not counted in my total, but would add thousands more if they were. Note that I was just the Assistant Programmer.

Hi Bob, I'm sorry if this has already been discussed, but do you currently have any plans to recruit new full-time developers to the team? Or is it possible to open up some of your programming and development tasks to the public without affecting the core copyright of the game so that experienced or competent people can help you speed up the development process? Thank you very much!

[Curtis Lemay]

Thanks Bob for the update, I, for one, had no idea of those new features.

Couple of questions:

But TOAW is not “stagnated”. It is being continuously developed.

Only by you I take?

Yes. Ralph is gone.

He is going to be seriously missed soon.

What that means?

Technology marches on. Advances in OSs and PCs will eventually leave the current game in the dust if no adjustments are made. I'm confident I can advance the game itself. My nightmare is that it will then only run on my PC.

[Curtis Lemay]

Hi Bob, I'm sorry if this has already been discussed, but do you currently have any plans to recruit new full-time developers to the team? Or is it possible to open up some of your programming and development tasks to the public without affecting the core copyright of the game so that experienced or competent people can help you speed up the development process? Thank you very much!

All questions for Matrix. Even if I had any say about that, it would be confidential. But, for sure, there is an update in development, and, so far, it contains over 13,000 lines of new code in it.

[Zovs]

Wow when did Ralph die?

Man time really does March on and we are all just dust in the wind.

RIP Ralph

[Meyer1]

Wow when did Ralph die?

Man time really does March on and we are all just dust in the wind.

RIP Ralph

I don't think he meant that, only that is no longer involved. I hope I'm right...

[Meyer1]

Thanks Bob for the update, I, for one, had no idea of those new features.

Couple of questions:

But TOAW is not “stagnated”. It is being continuously developed.

Only by you I take?

Yes. Ralph is gone.

He is going to be seriously missed soon.

What that means?

Technology marches on. Advances in OSs and PCs will eventually leave the current game in the dust if no adjustments are made. I'm confident I can advance the game itself. My nightmare is that it will then only run on my PC.

Thanks for the answer.

[76mm]

Wow when did Ralph die?

AFAIK Ralph didn't die; I think Bob said earlier that Ralph had been "fired."

[Curtis Lemay]

Note that 17,253 + 1,518 + 13,532 = 32,303 lines of code I’ve written since starting. Since the entire code of TOAW is about 202,000 lines, I’ve written about 16% of TOAW’s code.

Time to update this a bit, since I just completed another 7,568 lines:

"Note that 17,253 + 1,518 + 21,100 = 39,871 lines of code I’ve written since starting. Since the entire code of TOAW is about 209,000 lines, I’ve written about 19% of TOAW’s code."

[fogger]

Thank you for your time and effort. If it was not for you then TOAW would be dead and buried.