Re: [glob2-devel] Reverse Compatibility

[donkyhotay]

I've been having similar issues with customizable prestige settings.
When I first implemented it the maps wouldn't load since they were not
designed to have them. Because of this I've taken it out of the maps but
it feels a little awkward not having them there since they are one of
the few things in settings.cpp not saved into the maps. I almost have
everything programmed in except I haven't been able to get the
information to transfer across in network games. Sadly school is
starting for me soon and I'm afraid I may not be able to complete this. 

On Sun, 2007-04-01 at 18:29 -0400, Bradley Arsenault wrote:
> I'm looking to do some major re-designing in code related to
> SessionGame and SessionInfo (the map and game headers). This isn't
> particularly easy, the Session code is at the core of the Engine and
> file-save format.
> 
> So I'm looking at peoples opinions related to reverse compatibility.
> If we want a new, clean coded engine, at some point we are going to
> break reverse compatibility. Remaking map and game initialization code
> would be one of those things. All previous game saves and maps would
> be rendered useless.
> 
> It should be possible to do a conversion (somehow), but allot of this
> engine code will be refactored, and the end-user probably won't be
> able to easily convert his/her games.
> 
> I'm thinking about this mainly because there isn't really a good place
> to put something like team alliances that can be set before the game.
> Its certainly possible to implement this, but it would be yet another
> hacked in feature. I considered putting it into BaseTeam, only to
> realize BaseTeam was a static style object of the map, rather than a
> dynamic object of the game.
> 
> Backwards compatibility is really the only thing keeping me from
> starting fresh, deleting much of the old code like I did with the unit
> allocation system. In this case, If i'm not very carefull, all usage
> of previous maps could be eliminated. This is half the the problem,
> backwards compatibility is keeping us from implementing a completely
> new design. Glob2 is sort of a victim of its own success.
> 
> Anyhow, I just want to gather some opinion on the subject before I
> begin anything drastic.
> 
-- 
Do not be afraid to joust a giant just because some people insist on
believing in windmills.