We've all felt it. The endless frustration of having spring lobby crash for the 2^94th time. And we bitch about it, "damn that spring lobby, its such a pain, i wish somebody would do something about it". Then today, one of those light bulbs popped above my head - what if i just did something about it myself instead of whingeing all the time? :D
On that note, I've decided to write up some lobby software of my own for spring from scratch, using a pretty traditional BNET style IRC system.. will include much needed features such as:
-built-in automatic mod-switching to avoid the consistent confusion when, for example, new players join a game labelled OTA and wonder why they dont have the units. For example, players without the correct unit packs will be automatically directed to links to download the correct files and denied access to games using these packs. I will include a very simple system for adding configuration files for new mods that can be read by the lobby program, and endevour to do as many of them myself as possible, to ensure consistency of mod versions spring-wide, and support the launching of new mods.
-Vital functions that have been overlooked, such as the ability of the host to kick a player from the game room, and instant messaging.
But, these will have to wait a short while, as a functional, NON BUG INFESTED lobby is first priority. I really feel a lot more people would be getting into spring if it werent for their core frustrations with the lobby software - in that its the most unstable piece of software they've ever set eyes upon.
Stay tuned, should have first betas out in a few days. Feel free to post your opinions on the poll.
And for the one guy trying to port spring to linux, i'm going to write this mofo in java, to make it cross platform, just for you :D
New Spring Lobby
Moderator: Moderators
Have luck!
Its a good thing to try to improve the lobby.
I think there is a new lobby in the works btw. wich seems quite fine
http://taspring.clan-sy.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=1289
(dunno if you noticed, didnt read all ur post).
there is also some writting about mod switching system.
http://taspring.clan-sy.com/wiki/Mod_specification
Wich makes me think there is already some work on a mod switcher by the developers.
Its a good thing to try to improve the lobby.
I think there is a new lobby in the works btw. wich seems quite fine
http://taspring.clan-sy.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=1289
(dunno if you noticed, didnt read all ur post).
there is also some writting about mod switching system.
http://taspring.clan-sy.com/wiki/Mod_specification
Wich makes me think there is already some work on a mod switcher by the developers.
Last edited by mongus on 19 Jun 2005, 06:33, edited 1 time in total.
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jouninkomiko
- Posts: 436
- Joined: 26 Aug 2004, 08:11
not to knock the development of the original lobby, at least someone bothered to write one, without which spring prob wouldnt have taken off at all, so kudos to that 
But you must admit, the old lobby needs a lot of work, which i'm prepared to do, but writing a new lobby from scratch will probably be easier for me than trying to understand someone else's code. That and i despise .net framework, heh.
The other new client's interface looks sexy.. but i dont see any functionality yet? I'll keep writing this for a few days and see how it comes out, if only just as a stable lobby for my own personal use
Either way, it's a learning experience for me to write this sort of program, and i plan to re-use it for some of my own personal projects anyway.
Oh and my intention involving the mod switching is to automate it entirely within the lobby program, to simplify things as much as possible.
But you must admit, the old lobby needs a lot of work, which i'm prepared to do, but writing a new lobby from scratch will probably be easier for me than trying to understand someone else's code. That and i despise .net framework, heh.
The other new client's interface looks sexy.. but i dont see any functionality yet? I'll keep writing this for a few days and see how it comes out, if only just as a stable lobby for my own personal use
Either way, it's a learning experience for me to write this sort of program, and i plan to re-use it for some of my own personal projects anyway.
Oh and my intention involving the mod switching is to automate it entirely within the lobby program, to simplify things as much as possible.
I am currently working on one in python...but....I haven't figured out how to get it to work in windows yet. 
I will eventually though. It runs really good in most Linux distros (or so I hear), but the windows version of the API seems to be different somehow. Either way, hopefully it will be done as quickly as possible.
I will eventually though. It runs really good in most Linux distros (or so I hear), but the windows version of the API seems to be different somehow. Either way, hopefully it will be done as quickly as possible.
The sad thing is...I might have to make use of my dual boot system to fully debug this mess. If I can get it working on my computer, then anyone can if they set it up right. Hopefully the code will only need minute changes.Cheery wrote:Ace07, excellent, I wish you get it working soon!
I gues it's just a simple thing which must be done different than in linux...
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jouninkomiko
- Posts: 436
- Joined: 26 Aug 2004, 08:11
Like I said earlier, GUI coding is NOT something I am good at, and the major reason why the lobby "sucks" is cause I had to use .NET to accomodate the need for an interface, and I was learning .NET while I was doing so. If given the opportunity to code the backend to an interface someone is working on, and could do it in c/c++, it could be wicked good. Contact me, ya?
Hrm...possibly....you could work with the C++ I have laying around here?jouninkomiko wrote:Like I said earlier, GUI coding is NOT something I am good at, and the major reason why the lobby "sucks" is cause I had to use .NET to accomodate the need for an interface, and I was learning .NET while I was doing so. If given the opportunity to code the backend to an interface someone is working on, and could do it in c/c++, it could be wicked good. Contact me, ya?
You would have to learn wxWidgets, but it is the best platform-independent window API around. I always wanted to do C++ in the first place, but I am getting horribly attached to python....
If python doesn't work out though...we could code the entire thing in C++, which would definitely be better for several reasons (we can use python as the scripting language for more dynamic editing of things, and also for the netcode). Also, I thought you couldn't help code anything until you got notice from your employer?
If you are interested in my offer, sign up here:
http://lolut.utbm.info/cgi-bin/mailman/ ... ring-linux
This is the mailing list we use to communicate our actions.
Thats more or less the mindset with which i approach it ace, its good and well that everyone's started making lobby software, but anyone who's developed software on a casual basis knows that that means that out of the four in development, 1 or two at best will ever be finished. Until i start seeing some concrete progress and function applications that actually do anything, i'm going to continue to view them in this light.Many people have stated they are making them, but so far none have been released. When I see the code, then I can say that there is more than one lobby.e
On a further note, i did some further testing with the game room lobby code today, and can happily say, i'm 90% to a public beta :)
I just have to quickly draft up the script generation code, which is easy, and after that, i'm going to polish up the GUI as much as possible and start adding new features. But functional beta is 1st priority :)
Expect a working lobby somewhere between 4-5 hours from now and tomorrow, depending on if i finish it tonight. For now, enjoy this screenie:
Last edited by fobbah on 22 Jun 2005, 10:25, edited 1 time in total.