Sillysoft Forums

[rip]

Sorry Dustin, just treating this as your to-do list.

I've got my map generator really working now, in its hacked-together, it-works-but-I-couldn't-explain-why, don't-breath-on-it, 1.0 version.

Time to rewrite it in Java, but I need an interface to write it to. Kin aw git one?

And while I would like to get a pane in the pref's panel for allowing the user to make adjustments to the output, it might be easier to give it a set of defaults that generate maps based on certain limited selections (a la small/medium/large on the current random map generator). In fact, I'll implement it for -s [small|medium|large] at the command line now.

Short term, an internal method for calling it from the command line would be sufficient for testing.

perl /path/to/mapgen.pl - -s [s|m|l]

The single dash (-) tells the script to output the luxboard to stdout.
The -s [s|m|l] tells the script to use standard, default configurations for a [s]mall, [m]edium or [l]arge board size.

Much luck on your Windows launch, and Mercy buckets!

rip

[dustin]

Yeah, I am sorry I've been such a deadbeat. However, the moral of the story is "keep bugging and you get what you want".

LuxMapGenerator.java - The java interface you must implement to create a map generator for Lux.
MapLoader.java - You will need this stub to compile your generator.

Consider this a beta, so your suggestions are welcome. I have re-jiggered my map generator to use this interface, so support for others inside Lux isn't far off. This interface could also be used to simply invoke a perl script as well. You don't have to rewrite it in java if you don't want to.

[dustin]

Also, the email address you specified for this forum has been bouncing back reply notices for a day or so.

[rip]

[dustin]

This message was created automatically by mail delivery software.

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[rip]

[rip]

Sorry, Dustin, you've made an assumption about the level of Java expertise that I have.

You assumed I had some.

I can't make heads or tails of what I'm supposed to do to implement the plug-in random map generator class.

Similarly, you called my 'bot a bozo (didn't place all his armies...what a bozo), and them's fighten' words. Eventually, I'll figure out all these little peculiarities, and then watch out. 2014, probably.

Anyway in order to make this less a rant and more a plea for info,

1) The 'seed', the 'unique value' that 'identifies a map'. Do you mean that if I pass a unique value to the generator, it should generate a specific (as opposed to a stochastic) map, regardless of the host machine involved? So if a player joins a network game that I'm hosting, you pass their client the id, and it generates the same map (and thus won't need to clog bandwidth by sending the map itself)? Or is it just a way for ensuring 99.999% probability that you don't overwrite a saved map with a generated one...

2) How do you make a callout to the underlying system from within Java, and read back the response from stdin? I'm not sure what the JVM security policies allow, or even what the specific code would be. The Java guy here at work is off at a certification class, or I'd ask him.

3) You might consider implementing the java 'external map generator' class for 'us', which would show how the internals of the class work without exposing your actual random-map class code to the world. That way, those of us who work in other languages can use what we know, and simply follow the protocol rather than learn an entirely new language.

4) Are there any blatantly incorrect assumptions here (remember, I Am Not a Java Guy):

In method 'generate', I would

loader.setBoardSize(ScrWid, ScrHei);
loader.setLoadText("What happens if I push this button?")

// generate map structures here...
// ...

// output the map
// do I need a <?xml ...> ident?

out.println("<luxboard>");
for(int i = 0; i < continents.length; i++)
{
out.println("<continent>");
// etc countries etc
out.println("</continent>");
}

etc for lines, etc.
}

5) Do I need to call anything to manage the printwriter? (ie, out.close, out.flush)

Thanks for your time!

rip

[dustin]

I am putting together a package with all the info required, along with some samples. I will try and put out a first draft of it today...

[dustin]

OK, a package has been made available. It is a MapGenerator that uses a perl script to do the work. You can customize it to use any script. I posted the link in a new thread in the 'Map making...' forum. Let's continue the conversation there.