Shoot the red guy

http://forums.mode7games.com/viewtopic.php?f=20&t=1867

My plan is to have the first FS client patch available on Monday May 3rd. This patch will have a lot of bug fixes in, but this post is not talking about bug fixes. This post is for features!

I really have only a limited number of features I can put in for Patch#1, as I don't have too much time. These are the features I am seriously considering:

1. Fix and attempt to balance scoring of all game modes.

2. Move "Poor General x needs a game" message to an ignorable pop-up.

3. Add game-type to the Challenge pop-up, so you can decide whether to accept the challenge based on that. If the person-who-asked-for-a-game set his game-mode to "Anything", the game-type will be chosen by the setting for the acceptee. Er... that really wasn't great English.

4. Time-limited turns...

This is probably the most difficult issue I'm facing now. It is by quite a long way the most-requested feature, but I also seriously worry that it will take away some of the relaxed, low-pressure nature of FS.

For patch#1, I am not going to put in time-limited turns at all, as I am still deciding what the best solution is (they will definitely be in in some form in the future). However, I am implemented the following:

In-match, your opponent's "Status" will be displayed. This status is automatically generated, and is between these three states

PLAYING: Your opponent is currently planning for the match you are also playing
IN ANOTHER GAME: Your opponent is playing another match
AWAY: Your opponent is offline, OR he has not moved the mouse in FS for the last sixty seconds

5. In-game messaging

You can send pop-up messages to the person you are in a match with. These will dissapear after a short time (not ideal I know - it's quite involved to set up a persistant messaging system which works and I think it's outside the scope of patch#1).


6. Units can speak messages (frivolous!)

There will be a "speak" order in the orders menu, so you can have a unit say something at any given time. You can choose for this "speech bubble" to appear anywhere on the map - it does not have to be next to your unit.


7. The IRC box will be dock-able at the bottom of the screen

(and you will be notifed if your name is used in IRC).


8. You will be able to remove games from your active games list

9. Add an option to "Concede". This is not quite as straight forward as it sounds - if you "concede", the game will be played out but you will not take any more turns - your opponent still needs to take turns (unless he also concedes) but your units will not receive any new orders. You can still win if you concede, if your final plan was good enough.

10. If your opponent has not done a turn for 24 hours, he will "concede" the match.

11. You may decline/cancel a game you were directly challenged to, you may not decline a game you agreed to via traffic light matchmaking.


Things I know are a serious issue which I will not be addressing in patch#1

1. Sniper balance - just need a lot more time to get this right

2. Pathfinding

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Ok! Let me know what you think about all of these, and whether there's something you think which is vital which I'm leaving off. Remember, I will be fixing a lot of bugs as well.