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Re: Client/Server Implementation



Mark Wedel <master@rahul.net> writes:
> 1) Finish the client/server split as soon as possible, and whether it
>    doesn't handle things particularly well (or in a limited fashion), or the
>    protocol is not documented is not important.  IT may also mean that
>    the clients become frequently obsoleted as additional commands are added.
This gets my vote.  So long as a version number is transmitted, you
can maintain limited backward compatibility for some reasonable time
-- say a couple of months, preferrably the time that I client would
become obsolete would be displayed.  Moreover, getting a client
working lets us remove all of the X stuff from the server which will
simplify it and make it easier to compile.

> 3) There should be good documentation on what the protocol is, good
>    documentation on what the code does, as well as keeping the code readable.
This is a good idea too; but if writing documentation stalls the
release of the client for too long, I'd rather release an interim
version.

> A) Client should handle almost all player commands locally (things like
>    pickup modes, changing ranges, inventory display, etc.)
In theory, the more the better.  We'll find out as we do things.

> B) Client should have fast startup.
Yes, a startup on the order of 5 seconds I think is important.

> C) Client should be able to take advantage of local image files so that
>    they then do not need to be transmitted.
Without this, B is violated over 14.4 modems.

> D) Client should be able to request all missing image files to be transmitted
>    at startup.
Perhaps, but this seems like more of an implementation concern than
anything else.

 E) Playing with the client over 14.4 should be possible and should
not directly result in the players death because too much data needs
to be transmitted.

 F) Different speeds of connections should not substantially slow down
other players.
          -Eric 
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