Future plans?

Talk about everything related to CoCoNet or Colonial Conquest!

Moderator: Kroah

Re: Future plans?

Postby Kroah » 18 Nov 2011, 17:51

Welcome dizt3mp3r,

dizt3mp3r wrote:The only thing that is really required is the Move ALL button for armies/navies.

You can transfer the whole Army/Navy using the right mouse button.

dizt3mp3r wrote:Kroah, as you aren't going to be making any more changes for coconet are you thinking about making the code available to everyone so we can possibly make the changes ourselves?

I'm still updating Coconet.
It takes more time as intended, but is on his way. I'm building a custom Europe scenario. I hope releasing something in Q1 2012.
The source code will be released after the final release.

dizt3mp3r wrote:If you could make the code available and then document the build tools required then it might not be beyond some our skills to make some simple changes as per the above. It would also widen the scope of the game, pulling in more users. I see the game list is quite healthy.

I agree with you, but I don't think compiling the game will be an easy task though.

dizt3mp3r wrote:I love Coconet! A refreshing blast from the past and still as good as ever.

I'm still addicted to Colonial Conquest too :).

Thank you for your support!
Kroah
Site Admin
 
Posts: 430
Joined: 07 Feb 2006, 01:01
Location: France

Re: Future plans?

Postby Monty » 19 Nov 2011, 01:22

Kroah wrote:I'm still updating Coconet.
It takes more time as intended, but is on his way. I'm building a custom Europe scenario. I hope releasing something in Q1 2012.

Great! I'm still watching out patiently for new CoCoNet releases :D
Monty
CoCoNet Beta Tester
 
Posts: 70
Joined: 24 Jun 2007, 23:03

Re: Future plans?

Postby dizt3mp3r » 19 Nov 2011, 01:45

Kroah,

Colonial Conquest is the ONLY game I play now due to Coconet and is the only game I have played consistently since the late 1980s...

I didn't know you can transfer the whole Army/Navy using the right mouse button. I could have saved myself some serious finger ache...

With regard to future developments I'm quite good at graphics, if I can help in that way then I will.

Have a look here: http://lightquick.co.uk/jdownloads/other-downloads-3.html

I have a penchant for steampunk...
dizt3mp3r
 
Posts: 83
Joined: 15 Nov 2011, 12:02

Re: Future plans?

Postby dizt3mp3r » 11 Jan 2012, 20:28

Some minor requests, the ability to turn off the sound altogether. No battle sounds, nothing.

Changes to the AI to make the computer a better opponent are always welcome.

The option of being able to display the wartable in a permanent place such as in the middle of the atlantic would be most useful so that we always have a war status visible.

Limiting the number of fortifications that can be built per move. Perhaps linking it to the number of continents/countries owned.
dizt3mp3r
 
Posts: 83
Joined: 15 Nov 2011, 12:02

Re: Future plans?

Postby mael15 » 17 Jan 2012, 20:57

@dizt3mp3r: just in cast you did not find this yourself yet: you can disable all sounds in the Config.xml file in the main folder. just open it in your favorite text editor and set the SoundVolume value to 0. i think this feature would be nice to have in the programm options for easier access. I have the sound turned off myself because i like to listen to music while playing.
mael15
 
Posts: 44
Joined: 26 Nov 2011, 23:40
Location: Germany

Re: Future plans?

Postby dizt3mp3r » 18 Jan 2012, 13:26

Very good, thanks for that pointer. I hadn't looked at the structure of the program folder before but I see that xml file now.

Looking further I don't see enything that relates to map files so I presume the map is not human-drawn and then imported graphically but is done is some other fashion? How easy would it be to customise the map?
dizt3mp3r
 
Posts: 83
Joined: 15 Nov 2011, 12:02

Re: Future plans?

Postby Kroah » 19 Jan 2012, 00:22

@mael15: thanks for pointing out you can adjust the sound volume in the xml config file.

dizt3mp3r wrote:Looking further I don't see enything that relates to map files so I presume the map is not human-drawn and then imported graphically but is done is some other fashion? How easy would it be to customise the map?

Actually, the map is built at runtime. CoCoNet extracts all the information (data + gfx) from the game disk and create the map in RAM (png + xml) which is then injected in the game.

The CoCoNet version i'm working on can use custom maps. The host loads an external map file (png + xml) and each user connecting to the server will download the map if needed.

I will provide a brand-new custom map (and some instructions) with the release as example. The vanilla Colonial Conquest maps are automatically written to the map folder at runtime (one map for each scenario).

At first no map editor will be available (maps should be edited by hand with an xml editor), but according to the community feedbacks, nothing is impossible.
Kroah
Site Admin
 
Posts: 430
Joined: 07 Feb 2006, 01:01
Location: France

Re: Future plans?

Postby dizt3mp3r » 18 Feb 2012, 18:02

An idea would be to implement some sort of regional movement control, restricting offensive action to areas in proximity to other areas already held. This would prevent naval attacks on islands deep within enemy held territory and instead cause you to perform island-hopping manouevres to get closer to the actual place you wish to attack. This could become a line-of-supply rule where you can only perform offensive operations where you have an unbroken line of supply either through occupying all adjacent countries from your supply centres to the front, or with naval units occupying intervening islands. This would give navies more of an 'occupying' role encouraging defensive use of your naval resources. At the moment Coconet is a little too fluid allowing attacks anywhere in your enemie's rear, not very realistic. Just an idea.
dizt3mp3r
 
Posts: 83
Joined: 15 Nov 2011, 12:02

Re: Future plans?

Postby Kroah » 22 Feb 2012, 11:38

dizt3mp3r wrote:[...] This would prevent naval attacks on islands deep within enemy held territory and instead cause you to perform island-hopping manouevres to get closer to the actual place you wish to attack.[...]

Yes i understand.

When i frist reverse engineered Colonial Conquest, I hoped they implemented some kind of handicap when attacking (by navy) a land without owning a zone adjacent to the attacked area. This would prevent deep strikes, or at least discourage doing so.

Actually, the only (and very important) rule penalizing deep strikes is "a retreated navy attack loses all its army IF attacking from a different region".
The problem with this rule is that sometimes, the attacked area is very close (2 areas away) but belongs to another region.
Kroah
Site Admin
 
Posts: 430
Joined: 07 Feb 2006, 01:01
Location: France

Re: Future plans?

Postby dizt3mp3r » 22 Feb 2012, 14:30

You could make a rule whereby navies can perform ONLY attack on countries within a region, the test being whether the combatant already owns a country within that region. Perhaps one attack only is allowed per move into an adjacent region where all the countries are owned by foreign powers? This simulates the focus that would typically occur on a military expedition. Attacking in all directions simultaneously is unlikely.
dizt3mp3r
 
Posts: 83
Joined: 15 Nov 2011, 12:02

Re: Future plans?

Postby dizt3mp3r » 22 Feb 2012, 14:32

Or simply you only allow navies to attack the adjacent sea area in the same way land units are restricted. They can't attack the other side of the world. That would be a far simpler change.
dizt3mp3r
 
Posts: 83
Joined: 15 Nov 2011, 12:02

Re: Future plans?

Postby CivLord » 22 Feb 2012, 17:09

I think we need to keep our focus to the game of Colonial Conquest.
Improvements to the interface are ok, different maps are ok, tweaks to the gameplay are also ok. But let's not change the game itself too much.

One improvement that would save me a lot of frustration will be the possibility to cancel moves/ attacks (while still in the same turn of course). I keep sending empty ships to countries I want to invade. :(
CivLord
 
Posts: 16
Joined: 26 Dec 2011, 15:12

Re: Future plans?

Postby dizt3mp3r » 22 Feb 2012, 18:30

I think changes to the game play are perfectly valid, they do alter the game play but they provide a variation to the main theme which would be very intresting to old hands of the game, like me, who are looking for something a little more challenging. These sort of improvements could fairly easily be switchable so that a simple menu on/off preserves the old game functionality. An option.
dizt3mp3r
 
Posts: 83
Joined: 15 Nov 2011, 12:02

Re: Future plans?

Postby Kroah » 23 Feb 2012, 14:47

Well, i would stay, let's first release a stable version focusing on the original game, then enhance it with various different gameplays.

CivLord wrote:One improvement that would save me a lot of frustration will be the possibility to cancel moves/ attacks (while still in the same turn of course). I keep sending empty ships to countries I want to invade. :(
Being able to cancel a move is a crucial feature but i did not found a good (and easy) way to implement it in the interface (clicking on the arrow is not always easy).
Any idea ?
Kroah
Site Admin
 
Posts: 430
Joined: 07 Feb 2006, 01:01
Location: France

Re: Future plans?

Postby CivLord » 23 Feb 2012, 17:37

Kroah wrote:Well, i would stay, let's first release a stable version focusing on the original game, then enhance it with various different gameplays.


You're absolutely right!

Kroah wrote:Being able to cancel a move is a crucial feature but i did not found a good (and easy) way to implement it in the interface (clicking on the arrow is not always easy).
Any idea ?


Clicking on the arrow wlould be my first idea. Maybe put a mid-way dot on it, to improve clickability?
Another idea would be adding an extra option to the context-menu of the destination area, to cancel all incomming moves/ attacks.
It doesn't have to be neat, it's just an emergency measure.
CivLord
 
Posts: 16
Joined: 26 Dec 2011, 15:12

PreviousNext

Return to CoCoNet Discussion

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 2 guests

cron