Re: Release plans

> The next release of the DPjudge, which is currently being tested (at
> http://www.floc.net/dpjudge/new) will be coming soon to a DPjudge
near you
> (USDP and others, to be specific). 

Actually "others" is kind of general. 

USPN is currently running this code. We've just put a stop to hot
fixes so that we can start packaging. 

Packaging is exciting because it means that other judges will soon be
running the DPjudge code. Unlike nJudge, DPjudges will (mostly) share
registrations. That means that you can play on USDP, USPN and future
DPjudges without duplicating the registration process and without
"placing all of your eggs in one basket". If one judge goes down, you
can have games still going on other judges. If one judge closes then
your investment in learning the user interface will still be useful. 

Even more exciting, the player base is going to grow. In the past 2
years, the email hobby (including DPjudge) has remained steady while
the open nature of phpDiplomacy has created 3 servers running over
1500 games currently. Minor enhancements to the user interface and
major improvements in availability are going to help DPjudge capture
and manage new users. As the keeper of the busiest public and private
nJudge installs, I can promise and deliver new players and new games.

> Exactly what "soon" means, I don't
> exactly know yet, but the feature-set for the upgrades is now
> nearly complete, and being tested.

We're freezing the code for 1.9.0 as of now. This is my first
packaging job, but I have a book that needs to be back to the library
by the 18th of this month, so my target date is the 11th.

> This next release of the DPjudge will be called release 1.9.  I have
decided
> that 2.0 will mark the point when I am happy with the (so-called) new
> (though it's six years old now) and (not really) improved Master's
Webpage
> that has been a half-completed thing you GM's have lived with for a long
> time.  Personally, I must admit that I miss the days of the previous
> Master's Webpage, with the GM able to directly edit the game's
status file.
> There is talk (inside my head) of at least bringing that capability
back as
> an option that the GM can use.  The nice checkboxes for all the
rules are
> cool (yes, I'm at least proud of those) in that they don't let a GM
set up
> any combination of rules that is invalid, but as I say, the whole of the
> Master's Webpage got to only about 80% complete (as some of you
know; for
> example, there's no easy way to do a couple of things in there, like
> changing the game's timing) by the time I began my sabbatical in 2002.

And I'm all in favor of having both interfaces available. If you want
to just focus on finishing the graphical one, however, the other will
be a lot easier in DPjudge 3.0. 

DPjudge 2.0 represents incremental improvements in the user interface
and new features. DPjudge 3.0 is a refactoring of the DPjudge code to
make it faster and easier to add features.

> Anyway, yeah, when I announce "release 2.0", that will mean it has a
> Master's Webpage that yours truly is once again happy with.
> 
> Another way-cool thing that I am hoping you will see in release 2.0 is
> something called DPeye.  I won't say much more than this about it
for now,
> but the hope is that DPeye will greatly speed up the process of creating
> maps for use on the DPjudge.

Cool. How far along are you? Will you consider supporting SVG support?

> The 2.0 release will also see some other changes to important stuff
(some of
> which you might not even notice, like mail handling) -- especially the
> DPPD.  The DPPD, too, was something that got to where it got and then I
> walked away for my six-year recharge, leaving the plans for and the
> implementation of the DPPD remain only nascent.  In 2.0, the DPPD
will come
> a good distance closer to being a separate entity from the DPjudges
on the
> network it supports, and hopefully there will be more and cooler
> functionality in the DPPD, allowing you to better manage the games
you play
> on the DPjudge network of judges, with searching for games of
various types
> and other pie-in-the-sky ideas.  We shall see....

The main thing we're hoping to accomplish right away with the new DPPD
is to keep the "register once for all DPjudges" property, but make it
so that loosing one (or perhaps more) DPPDs doesn't cripple game creation.

> In the meantime, 1.9 has a whole lot of cool stuff coming too.  Here's a
> (partial?) list:
> 
>    - The ability to read and review (on the Web interface) all the press
>    messages you receive and send.
>    - The Ambition & Empire variant.
>    - The Sengoku variant.
>    - A whole gob of new rules, which initially were either inspired
by or
>    necessary for the new variants coming in, but very useful for
GM's who want
>    to introduce a little variety in their own games on any map. 
Some examples
>    of these are VASSAL_STATES, DUMMY_FIRE, IMMOBILE_DUMMIES, and
well, a whole
>    bunch more.
>    - Support for "leagues", which can be used to introduce
restrictions to
>    things that a unit can do (with various degrees of restrictions
>    against acting against other units in your league, or other
leagues).  This
>    could be used to set up situations in which groups of powers are
naturally
>    more given to amity than enmity (or vice-versa), etc.
>    - The ability for powers to claim new home centers during the game (a
>    different way of doing so, at times decided by each individual player
>    eligible to do so -- thus, this is different from the already and
>    still-existing way of doing such a thing, which has all powers each
>    suddenly decide upon an entire new set of home centers at the end of
>    specific game-years).
>    - A way for omniscient observers to use the Web only (so they
don't get
>    overwhelmed by getting all the press in email).
> 
> Sure, maybe only the first one of these items (and in rare cases,
the last
> one) are of interest to those of you who only play the standard game
-- the
> rest of the stuff is for the variant-lovers out there -- but even
for the
> standard player, the new "press archive" stuff should (I hope) make the
> release something you'll want to look forward to.

The overall direction is to make it possible to use the email or web
interface independently. Once press is available for reading via the
web then there is no reason not to have game creation and joining on
the web too.

> Release 1.9 will see the removal of the current "groups" feature,
which was
> meant to allow GM's to set up games that are open only to specific
groups of
> players (kind of an alternative to the privacy-password way of
handling such
> things).  This "groups" feature hasn't been used much,
unfortunately, but we
> believe in it, and it will return in a future release.

I have a specific interest in social networking tools - features like
groups, friends, forums and blogs. Groups will be back in DPjudge 2
and more features will be bringing up the rear. The goal is to create
a rich social environment on a certain portion of the judges to
compete with Facebook for time drain.

> Anyway, I felt like it was time to give an update on the happenings
in the
> test judge.  Things seem to be getting hammered out and solid there, so
> since the day when 1.9 will be installed for everyone to use on USDP is
> coming closer by the minute, I figured I would give everyone here on the
> list a heads-up.

Meanwhile, if you've played on USDP then you're already registered on
USPN. There are standard games forming...

jackie_robinson_1947 is a novice press game:

jackie_robinson_1947 S1901M   Standard, Gunboat, Moderated (cbabcock),
Press:W-P-.
                    URL:
http://uspn.asciiking.com?game=jackie_robinson_1947
                    To join, e-mail "JOIN jackie_robinson_1947 password"
                     Forming: 7 more players needed.

monitor is a no press game with 3 day moves:

monitor   S1901M   Standard, Gunboat, Moderated (cbabcock), Press:----.
                    URL: http://uspn.asciiking.com?game=monitor
                    To join, e-mail "JOIN monitor password"
                     Forming: 6 more players needed.

nuoli_1 is a fast gunboat game:

nuoli_1   S1901M   Standard, Gunboat, Moderated (cbabcock), Press:----.
                    URL: http://uspn.asciiking.com?game=nuoli_1
                    To join, e-mail "JOIN nuoli_1 password"
                     Forming: 7 more players needed.

franklin is a standard game for regular players:

franklin  S1901M   Standard, Gunboat, Moderated (cbabcock), Press:W-P-.
                    URL: http://uspn.asciiking.com?game=franklin
                    To join, e-mail "JOIN franklin password"
                     Forming: 7 more players needed.

Best,
Chris




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