Warscale 30 - Sounds and IM Chat
by Guimo · 12/15/2008 (10:13 pm) · 1 comments
Hi everybody!
After the last week debauchery, I decided to clear everything up and start again. Im still not sure where did I fail but I can swear I did everything exactly the same way and now the sound effects are working. I had some problems with the resource paths as Im still unsure where to use a relative project path (~/data/...) or an absolute path (warscale/data/...) but sound effects are working.
What was planned
Sound
The basic sound effect mechanism is working so I can add more specific sounds later (in the alpha to beta development).
I also found this nice windowFocusChanged function callback which is called whenever the window gains or loses focus. Its a nice place to pause or resume playing sounds so now I can minimize the window and soundtrack will pause and then resume when I restore the window.
Other thing which is solved is the weird bug of the music stopping when the mission starts loading. Now I manually stop the sound when mission loading starts and start an appropiate soundtrack when the loading finishes and the battle starts. Agreed, its not really different except that now everything is under my control.
Instant messaging
I have implemented a IM system meaning players may send private messages to another player at any time. I was forced to create a specific window for this purpose but works great. Also, there is a blocking mechanism which means players may block other players from contacing them. All this blockings are saved in the DB so that the client will restore your preferences on your next login.
And of course IM means you need to save your buddies. I have implemented a buddies list so you can keep close track of friends. Of course blocking also work with friends (you dont need to be always available).
What wasnt planned
Context menus
I noticed some actions were easier if some kind of context menu was provided. Think about it, just right click and a context menu will appear showing your options. Its only working for the players list right now so you can easilly block/unblock communications with other players but in fact may be used for many things.
Screenshots!
This first show shows the players list and the context menu. Notice how the players show two green icons (open channel) or one or two red icons (meaning the channel is closed maybe by you or maybe by the remote user).
This second shot shows the Im screen. No voice chat yet but soon.
The plan for this week
Its just 1 month remaining for my alpha release (January 15). Even when Im not planning to enter their contest, I want to finish the integration with green ear and add some more IM capabilities and voice chat. I would like to implement a GreenEar fallback mechanism... or maybe I should call it a Warscale fallback as I plan the warscale IM system to be the fallback mechanism. The idea is that the GreenEar network should be able to handle all the IM communications (text chat or voice), but in the event the GE network is down, Warscale should fallback to its internal IM system (text chat only, no voice). That way I can use the GE network as much as posible in order to minimize the use of the Warscale server but not to completely rely on it (license defines a 99.9% uptime... just prepare for that 0.1%).
If I finish this integration on this week I need to focus on the guiObjectView control in order to add some interesting features like particles. I want to be able to create a 3D scene on the menus (Warcraft3-like end-of-mission 3D scenes). I guess that will take 1 or 2 weeks. After that, I will have 1 week polishing some bugs and making a video to show you.
And maybe... just maybe... I can finish the alpha just before my BDay :) would be a great present to myself...
Luck with your projects!
Guimo
After the last week debauchery, I decided to clear everything up and start again. Im still not sure where did I fail but I can swear I did everything exactly the same way and now the sound effects are working. I had some problems with the resource paths as Im still unsure where to use a relative project path (~/data/...) or an absolute path (warscale/data/...) but sound effects are working.
What was planned
Sound
The basic sound effect mechanism is working so I can add more specific sounds later (in the alpha to beta development).
I also found this nice windowFocusChanged function callback which is called whenever the window gains or loses focus. Its a nice place to pause or resume playing sounds so now I can minimize the window and soundtrack will pause and then resume when I restore the window.
Other thing which is solved is the weird bug of the music stopping when the mission starts loading. Now I manually stop the sound when mission loading starts and start an appropiate soundtrack when the loading finishes and the battle starts. Agreed, its not really different except that now everything is under my control.
Instant messaging
I have implemented a IM system meaning players may send private messages to another player at any time. I was forced to create a specific window for this purpose but works great. Also, there is a blocking mechanism which means players may block other players from contacing them. All this blockings are saved in the DB so that the client will restore your preferences on your next login.
And of course IM means you need to save your buddies. I have implemented a buddies list so you can keep close track of friends. Of course blocking also work with friends (you dont need to be always available).
What wasnt planned
Context menus
I noticed some actions were easier if some kind of context menu was provided. Think about it, just right click and a context menu will appear showing your options. Its only working for the players list right now so you can easilly block/unblock communications with other players but in fact may be used for many things.
Screenshots!
This first show shows the players list and the context menu. Notice how the players show two green icons (open channel) or one or two red icons (meaning the channel is closed maybe by you or maybe by the remote user).
This second shot shows the Im screen. No voice chat yet but soon.
The plan for this week
Its just 1 month remaining for my alpha release (January 15). Even when Im not planning to enter their contest, I want to finish the integration with green ear and add some more IM capabilities and voice chat. I would like to implement a GreenEar fallback mechanism... or maybe I should call it a Warscale fallback as I plan the warscale IM system to be the fallback mechanism. The idea is that the GreenEar network should be able to handle all the IM communications (text chat or voice), but in the event the GE network is down, Warscale should fallback to its internal IM system (text chat only, no voice). That way I can use the GE network as much as posible in order to minimize the use of the Warscale server but not to completely rely on it (license defines a 99.9% uptime... just prepare for that 0.1%).
If I finish this integration on this week I need to focus on the guiObjectView control in order to add some interesting features like particles. I want to be able to create a 3D scene on the menus (Warcraft3-like end-of-mission 3D scenes). I guess that will take 1 or 2 weeks. After that, I will have 1 week polishing some bugs and making a video to show you.
And maybe... just maybe... I can finish the alpha just before my BDay :) would be a great present to myself...
Luck with your projects!
Guimo
Associate Tom Eastman (Eastbeast314)