Waving Hands Client / Server

[nawglan]

Ok. In my grand scheme of things, I'd like to set up a permanent server for both the archive as well as an alternative place to hook up and play Waving Hands. This would then be the primary interface to test potential AIs, etc.

One thing I'm thinking of doing is providing an open source client GUI (gtk# probably). I'd like to offer realtime games (ones that force surrender automatically after 24hrs of no activity), team based melee, standard melee, 3day, 14 day games and alternative spellbook possibilities.

I'd also like it to be able to provide an easy to use game annotator, in which a player could annotate their games and provide additional tips / clues as to what they were thinking at that time. The tips can be marked as private so that only that player / team (or future AI) could then review the notes.

Finished games would immediately be put into the archive and all stats updated automatically.

For the team games, I'd like to provide a method of private chatting between the team members. Also, there will be no need to surrender to end the match if 2 (or more) members of a team are left living at the end of the match. All members of the surviving team will receive a win. Elo adjustments will be based on # of turns participated in before death / surrender (same as melee, but with all members of the winning team getting the "winner" bonus).

The app will also provide a way to chat live with other players (and possibly have a MUD thrown in there too somehow.... very very tempting, Runelords comes to mind.) I want to provide some way to incorporate a LUA interpreter so that the end user can easily modify / write bots for the chat / MUD, etc. Other uses come to mind also.

The different spellbooks will be limited at first to just variations / omittions of the existing spells. You will be able to alter what gestures can be used to cast a spell, but the meaning of the spell will always be the same. For example, you can make para be FDF, but not FDFD or eliminate all elementals / storms, etc.

Will also provide a easy way to switch between alts. Single login for all your alts.

***Could do this as a web app, but I really want to learn .NET / C# / Mono / GTK#, etc.

*****One thing that struck my fancy: It'd be neat if there was a way to animate the match, so that you had a couple of streetfighter like characters battling it out Waving Hands style.

Thoughts, additions, naysayers?

[xade]

it's like my grand master plan that I'll never have time to make, put into action!

I love the idea of being able to alter which gestures make up the spells.

You want fireball to be PPSFDD, then go for it...

It would be nice to be able to alter the damage types on spells.

(ie, turn Lightning to cold damage, cause wounds to fire).

What would be pretty huge would be to have a library of effects, where an entire spell book can be built by entering the gestures, as well as the effects of the spell. You want a Charm person that causes 2 damage, (PSWDF)? or even a Charm person that cures a health point... (Pc)?

or yanno, if you want to be an idiot, you could make a magic missile (SD) that causes Disease, Poison and FoD...

but yes, it would be very exciting I think...

[Derfel]

Two gesture FoD? Fabtabulous.

[ExDeath]

I think FoD should be changed to 5 claps in a row.

[Derfel]

Applause of Death?

[awall]

Sounds like quite the ambitious project. I'm all for it in theory; the current server has some issues that it would be nice to fix, and it would also be nice to have the server hosted by an active player, rather than relying on the generosity of RB to keep the server running even though he doesn't play much these days.

But coding a WH implementation from scratch is more work than it sounds like. A lot of projects die shortly after getting off the ground when the owner realizes how much work goes into them. I'm not saying that'll happen - especially since you got the archive up, and that was a non-trivial amount of work - but just make sure you realize what you're getting into.

You mentioned you'd like this to be open source; I wouldn't mind helping out. I don't have a huge amount of experience with GtK or .Net, but I like to think I'm... well, at least a *decent* programmer, if not a great one.

[xade]

You mentioned you'd like this to be open source; I wouldn't mind helping out. I don't have a huge amount of experience with GtK or .Net, but I like to think I'm... well, at least a *decent* programmer, if not a great one.

oh yes... definitely wouldn't mind throwing my expertises into the ring if you need any of it.

ASP/ASP.NET natively, but a programmer by trade, so yanno, any help I could offer, feel free to ask

[nawglan]

Currently designing the client interface. I've ran a MUD before (over 150k lines of C code) which stayed active for over 2 years. Also wrote the Sierpinski Triangle mod for xscreensaver. (my only true claim to fame).

I have visual studio 2003, as well as a bunch of free IDE's for Linux. Trying to stick to as little propriety code as possible. Given the state of current toolkits, shouldn't be too hard to get the client part written and somewhat portable.

Then work will move to the server. This is the fun part. 8)

[Slartucker]

I think this is a neat idea. I think it's very ambitious, probably too ambitious. The MUD and animated graphics parts in particular But seriously, it sounds like a lot more work than the archive was. How much time have you devoted to the archive, and how much are you planning to devote to this?

I want to point out that RB's implementation, while it does not have every feature imaginable, is really really nice. It's simple, but it's blazingly functional. The no frills web interface gives it pretty much 100% universal access, something a "somewhat" portable (that word worries me) executable will never have. Warlocks is reliable in every imaginable aspect. Even the server is reliable, to the point that when my ISP acts up, warlocks loads in fewer tries than google does.

[toyotami]

I think introducing a new gesture would do the trick.

Y

Looks like that Italian curse thing where you wave your hand out from under your chin and go "yo' mamma" or "Eeeeeeeyyy"

[xade]

exdeath said:

I think FoD should be changed to 5 claps in a row.

heh... I think I remember clapping 3 times in a row against Toyo once...

That certainly would have put a different spin on that weave...

[nawglan]

heh. would seriously make me reconsider hitting someone with amnesia just as they completed haste.

[Derfel]

Actually, I think inserting a No Gesture (-/-) right before the final D would be best... adds to the suspense...

[vilhazarog]

I have 80% of the game implemented in Java. I actually threw a socket based "#irc" like interface in front of it, and played a few games. My implementation is a little more close to the original rules than Warlocks, not including a couple of bugs and design decisions that would need to be fixed. I wrote the majority of it before I even found the Warlocks site. I designed it to be easy to have lots of alternate spellbooks, and simple to add new spells.

I had it up for a little bit but no one was interested in such a primitive interface. I started a couple of different web implementations but lost interest because I'm not really a UI guy. The engine is the interesting part for me. Plus, IMHO the java web UI world totally blows.

Currently I have no where to host anything (even my avatar is busted ). If you are willing to host a tomcat server with my code running inside it as a servlet, I'd be perfectly willing to:

1) Open source my code and put it on a public cvs/svn server, like google code or something
2) Work with you to implement some sort of protocol to get your client talking to the server
3) Open the code up to whoever has an interest to hacking away at the server.
4) Give you full control of the project, since you're hosting.
5) Publish the protocol so anyone could write their own clients if they wanted.

Interested?
-Vil

[vilhazarog]

Wait, since I see you know about MUDs, my original creation was actually connected to a MUCK that I permanently idle in and was a bot that hosted a Waving Hands game. Sadly I could only get one person even remotely interested in playing a game with such an initial high learning curve.