Spring RTS Engine

This isn't a code request or a development notion per se, so I decided to put it here. This has been swirling in my head for some time so I decided to place it here before i get old and forget.

Abstract:
A "Spring News Network" (SNN) server that would broadcast games, offer commentary from human announcers (if they were there), put other random tips there, etc etc.

What would essentially happen is that a SNN_NEWSBOT player would join a game as a spectator, and multicast the game packets that he was receving to whoever was watching. He would be like a hub for all the data and just send it out as he got it to the currently-attached machines woh were spectating him.

Integrate that with voice chat so that SNN_Newsbot could comment on the action (and we already have whiteboard) so you could, if you logged in before a battle started, listen to a very entertaining show.

Now, obviously someone can't be the newsman al lthe time, so in the off hours, there could be a bot that automatically joins some open battle or another, and uses a Cinematic Camera AI to still give really cool battle angles.


Of course, you still have to join before the battle starts accoridng to the current system. Now lets throw in something realyl crazy into the mix. Lets say you want to watch the SNN news network commentary of something already underway. Since the the replay file is always updated and stored, a mid-game joining client could receive the replay file, then use hardware virtualization (with a virtual clock at some insane value to fastforward to the current time) to come up to speed with the battle.

And of course, you could TiVo-like forward/rewind a battle at any time.

Also, what if you integrated it into simply a large portion of a web page <SOMEHOW WAAAA> and then had a full-featured IRC/voice chatroom at the bottom of said webpage, and an integrated Friends-list filter - then it would be like hanging out with your local buddies at a bar and chatting about the excellent football game currently being played!


WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!


*bleats*

Call it SIN: "Spring Integrated News"!

Hmmmmm, I'm wondering now, how hard would it be to have a bot that just automatically joined a game, and then simultaneously hosted a server of its own that could connect dozens of players to it, and simply served as a massive, dumb hub?

Well, the Problem is the Cheat Problem, joining with double accounts, or even two pc, to watch your oponent...

But i still love the Idea, and maybee the Bot could broadcast 10 Mins displaced...

Also cool would be a Spring:News-Ticker on every Side related to it. Unknown, the Lobby, this Side here :) ...
You know, such a Line like CNN has , e.g. +++ The NewMod: XY-Flamewarz is now BETA-DL-Link +++ New Map: XYZ +++ IamaCup emptys TEA-Server +++ and so on.. +++

Such things exists for other games, quake pioneered it. Search for GTV, HLTV.

Essentialy, a very good idea, but needs much more quality games to be worth the effort.

Cheating is usually taken care of with a delay of some sort. Could also easily have it look at your ip.

Solid idea, I've been playing with an thought of the sort for future promotion of E&E and some other mods. The cheating can be dealt with to some extent.

Only solution to cheating: play with people you trust.

Besides which, all of the good players we trust, and we'd only want to watch games with good players.

How about an RSS feed listing new maps, mod updates, tourney games, dev news etc?

I think it is a very good idea, I've been thinking of something similar some time ago (i.e. having a bot join the game and broadcasting data to other clients). Would require some modifications to spring source though.
Counter-strike (and other popular FPS games), as already mentioned, has it too and it's quite fun to spectate games between pro players.

Betalord wrote:I think it is a very good idea, I've been thinking of something similar some time ago (i.e. having a bot join the game and broadcasting data to other clients). Would require some modifications to spring source though.
Counter-strike (and other popular FPS games), as already mentioned, has it too and it's quite fun to spectate games between pro players.

Willing to help beta test the recever client (for some reason, I can't PLAY online, but I can occasionally spectate)

Hi, first of all sorry my english...

Now that you say in MMO, i tried to create a server for Spring, to use
a currency. The player needs it to construct units and gain it when
win a game or other things. The goal was to inform de currency of the
user in the chat windows, to not have to modify the Spring client.

After this, I need to say that I think the TA Protocol and lobby, a bit
bad. The fact is that I want a MMO with persistent and big worlds,
and modify the spring client is not a good idea, because all the
things needs to be changed/implemented ( terrain stream from hd,
good network protocol, etc... )

Then, i build from an existent engine, or build the engine itself from
the OpenGL libraries. Its not a complicated thing. A have a couple
of ideias, like:

- Futuristic theme, but more realistic. Constructors need to go to an
metal extration base, and get her tank fully of metal, go to the constrution
construct ( using the metal ) and repeat the process while the building is not finished. ( They can have itens other than metal and need to go to
other materials extractor/maker to use in the buildings ). No use
green mad particles, instead, can exists nano construtors that exit
from the construtor to the constrution, or cranes, etc... ( Of course,
an animation to dont need to stream this info in the net ).

- Limit the units ( 15? ) to dont explode the conection of the server.

- Have mobs to adquire money, and natural sites that have materials,
and the player needs to extract it ( like the rocks in the Spring ), but
more concentred, to the players dispute...

- Iam thinking in two opossite continents. This way, gives the fact that
when the user is prepared they can go to the frontier and war
Otherwise they can hunt the mobs in his "secury" continent.

Anyone thing equal to me?

No more ,
Diego

unknown files has been keeping a list of player ip's for a long time.

we could easily sort out who is watching their own battle (unless they happen to have a proxy that works with spring or 2 connections to their house)

that would discriminate against Lans(multiple people behind 1 router playing)

I reckon it would be an excellent idea. Also, as a run-of-the-mill player, I really couldn't care about possible cheaters. most players are honorable and imho wouldn't stoop to such tactics.

In the end, it's very hard to guard against cheats in Spring. If a member of tN, SmuG or XHC is speccing a game that clanmates are playing, you have no way of knowing whether or not they're relaying information over teamspeak, you just have to trust them. If you don't trust people not to cheat, don't play a game with specs.

I completly trust any member of Smug, XHC and WarC and have no problems at all if someone else from their clan is specing. Not like any of them is really "win thirsty".

thoes warc chaps are very shady!