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Re: THE problem with xconq (long)


At 02:18 AM 2/1/2002 +0100, Hans Ronne wrote:
> >I have been following XConq from the days of XConq 5 quite passionately.

>Stan fixed most of the problems back in 2000
>before he started on the SDL interface.

This is also about the time when he rejected suggestions that if he was 
going to do a major re-write effort, that he consider moving the code base 
to Java.

>THE problem with xconq is that nobody is working on it any more. Every
>project needs a critical mass of interested developers in order to keep it
>alive, particularly if it is done on a purely hobbyist basis.

I've been following XConq since before Stan left Utah, but I have no 
interest in working with computer technology that was obsolete back 
then.  Obviously, unless he's getting paid for it, neither is Stan.  He 
managed to convince his employers to pay him to write a game based on 'C', 
using a Lisp-based scripting engine.  Congratulations to him for pulling it 
off for as many years as he did.

>So this is where we stand today. If we could get a few more people
>seriously involved in this project, I'm sure several of the key tasks
>(network code, working Windows port and/or a fully functional SDL
>interface) could be completed within a year. Most of the work has already
>been done. If Stan is not interested, I could probably coordinate such an
>effort. I know enough about the xconq sources to tell others where to start
>hacking. But I can't do everything myself.

Linus wrote the original kernel in under a year.  Galactic Civilization 
(OS/2 game) was written in a little under a year.

I don't claim to have written an RTS game before, but it seems to me that 
rather then trying to treat symptoms, that maybe more folks would be 
interested in contributing to a project using technologies that would be 
beneficial to them during the day and that were designed to deal with 
exactly the cross-platform and networking problems being discussed.

I'd love to learn how to create a multi-player, RTS with Java and I would 
be glad to contribute to a project being led by someone who has been there, 
done it and has the T-Shirt and obviously has a lot to teach me about this 
area.  However, there is no way that I can afford to dig-out my K&R book 
(1st Edition), just to putter around with a piece of code that even its 
creator can't figure out what is wrong with it.  Why would I want to ride 
around on the weekends in a busted up, smoggy, diesel two-ton, when I can 
cruise on an Electra-Glide?

If Hans and Jim don't know Java and don't want to know Java, then I assume 
that eventually they'll burn out eventually, just like Stan did.  and XConq 
will go quietly into the night.

-- A. Rick


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