Re: Supply

[Stan Shebs <shebs@cygnus.com>]

   From: Sami P Perttu <perttu@cc.helsinki.fi>
   Date: Fri, 14 Aug 1998 17:01:53 +0300 (EET DST)

   This is the third in a series of slightly whiny, yet constructive posts.
   Despite all the implied criticism I think the XConq project is very
   impressive; otherwise I wouldn't bother posting stuff here. Keep up the
   excellent work.

I'm always happy to discuss new ideas!

   Support for supply and logistics in XConq is currently inadequate. I
   propose a new algorithm (ripped from Advanced Third Reich) that I think
   is a major improvement over the old one (at least for the kinds of
   modules that I'd like to design). The algorithm would be run once per
   side per turn (probably at the beginning of each turn), and could be
   used in parallel with the old scheme. The algorithm is easy to
   implement.

This sounds like a good thing to do.  I've been putting off doing
any sort of a line-tracing-based model, but out of laziness more
than anything else.

   The result is a set of distinct supply zones and units belonging to
   them. Finally, the available materials should be distributed (equally?)
   among the consumers in a supply zone.

It seems like you could also cut the flood fill after a certain distance,
thus creating limited-length supply lines.  Pre-20th-century such as
Napoleonics need to have several limits on supply line length, as well
as the zoning.

   Any comments? :) If Stan endorses the supply algorithm I can work out
   all the details in terms of GDL and even implement the thing (shouldn't
   be difficult at all).

This is certainly worth developing further.  One thing to think about
is whether/how to display supply zones.  It would be very unfriendly
of the game to require that players do their own line length counting,
not to mention scrolling around looking for the supply source to see
how it's stocked!

I've been playing around a bit with an American Revolution scenario,
and one of the interesting aspects of that is that you'd want to
trace supply lines up navigable rivers but not through thick woods.
So the tracing algorithm needs to be able to account for connections
as well as cell terrain.

							Stan