Author Topic: Scout from map  (Read 10141 times)

De-Legro

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Re: Scout from map
« Reply #15: March 04, 2019, 12:21:17 AM »
system resources.

The political map loads quicker and burns less resources to look at.

The other map I think is probably java based and sucks resources on borderline or non-optimized systems like a squirrel on caffeine...

It uses javascript sure, just like 90% of websites these days. As does the political map for doing things like hiding different icons when you want to.

The dynamic map only loads what you want. So when you select new layers it has to poll the server and retrieve that info. In terms of system resources my system is telling me that the dynamic map page is using a whole 20,000k more memory then this forum and 10,000k more then the political map. Enabling every single layer on Dwilight only adds another 20,000k memory footprint. So even on this ten year old laptop I notice no real issue in terms of performance.

For reference the Dynamic Map makes use of https://openlayers.org/ . This is a very mature and reasonably well coded open source library. M&F uses an old version of the library for a world that consists of many many more regions then any Battlemaster map (my realm alone consists of over 200 regions in M&F and it is not the largest realm in the game, which has more then 400 regions within their borders) and that loads okay even on my old pixel phone.
« Last Edit: March 04, 2019, 12:23:20 AM by De-Legro »
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Tourmaline

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Re: Scout from map
« Reply #16: March 13, 2019, 08:19:57 PM »
How would you avoid scouting from misclicks?

Perhaps a map when you click Send out scouts that you can click to scout a region would work, but I wouldn't put this on the political map.

Medron Pryde

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Re: Scout from map
« Reply #17: March 15, 2019, 11:44:26 AM »
And that's why I avoid 90% of the websites out there that are resource hogs and information scarce.

Oh sure, now that I've updated machines, the dynamic map doesn't drag my machine to its knees like it did my old netbooks.  And the less said about what it did to my older android devices the better.

But the political map is still just easier and quicker to open.  The dynamic isn't as annoying as it used to be, but I shouldn't have to upgrade a computer to play a text-based game because it relies on sloppy java code.  Not saying YOUR coding is sloppy.  Saying that java is sloppy, and there just isn't much you can do about that.  Other than stay the hell away from it.

But that's my Old Man Website Coder fingers doing the talking.

De-Legro

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Re: Scout from map
« Reply #18: March 15, 2019, 12:08:31 PM »
And that's why I avoid 90% of the websites out there that are resource hogs and information scarce.

Oh sure, now that I've updated machines, the dynamic map doesn't drag my machine to its knees like it did my old netbooks.  And the less said about what it did to my older android devices the better.

But the political map is still just easier and quicker to open.  The dynamic isn't as annoying as it used to be, but I shouldn't have to upgrade a computer to play a text-based game because it relies on sloppy java code.  Not saying YOUR coding is sloppy.  Saying that java is sloppy, and there just isn't much you can do about that.  Other than stay the hell away from it.

But that's my Old Man Website Coder fingers doing the talking.

JavaScript, it is an entirely different beast to Java. It worked fine on my old google pixel, it works fine on my 10 year old laptop.
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Zakky

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Re: Scout from map
« Reply #19: March 15, 2019, 02:02:04 PM »
Yeah. Javascript is not Java. But gotta say I love Javascript more than Java. Seriously !@#$ Java.

Ocean Yong Kiran

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Re: Scout from map
« Reply #20: March 16, 2019, 05:00:58 AM »
And that's why I avoid 90% of the websites out there that are resource hogs and information scarce.

Oh sure, now that I've updated machines, the dynamic map doesn't drag my machine to its knees like it did my old netbooks.  And the less said about what it did to my older android devices the better.

But the political map is still just easier and quicker to open.  The dynamic isn't as annoying as it used to be, but I shouldn't have to upgrade a computer to play a text-based game because it relies on sloppy java code.  Not saying YOUR coding is sloppy.  Saying that java is sloppy, and there just isn't much you can do about that.  Other than stay the hell away from it.

But that's my Old Man Website Coder fingers doing the talking.

I do not mean to cause the offense, but any person who calls javascript "java" knows little or nothing about the modern programming and should not have strong opinions in the matter

The politcal map uses less javascript and memory than your email client you use everyday. or almost any other page you visit, anywhere

Medron Pryde

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Re: Scout from map
« Reply #21: March 16, 2019, 08:36:00 AM »
You don't mean to offensive, and then you go total offensive.

I cut my teeth doing computer programming when both java and javascript were being implemented.

I remember well the introduction of both and what they made it possible to do across the computer landscape.  Mindblowing options across every computer platform that changed computing.

I also know very well how inefficient and insecure both can be when it comes to computer resources and computer security.  Javascript is one of the primary ways of distributing viruses, for example.

Hence why I do not install java on most of the computers in my network, and why I install javascript blockers to keep scripts from running unless I specifically enable them.

I have strong opinions on anything that uses the name java in any way.  Yes, I recognize that they are amazingly powerful, and I recognize that they can do things nothing else can do.  But they are my last resort when it comes to doing things, not my first.  Because I care about the system resources and security of the people who visit my websites.

As for the political map...yeah.  That's exactly the point I've been making.  The political map is an excellent example of a page that uses minimal system resources and gets maximal benefit out of it.  It runs perfectly on any machine built in the last twenty years without any hiccups.

The dynamic map when it first came out worked well on systems that were modern at the time, but brought five or ten year old systems to their knees because they didn't have enough memory or processing power.  Most of those older machines have now been retired, even by computer professionals who know how to keep them working, because computers built in the 20teens are generally superior.  Or because the spare parts to keep the older machines working are getting harder to find.  Take your pick.

The dynamic map no longer bothers my current computer systems like it did when it first came out.  Because I've upgraded over the years and newer machines just don't slog down on it.  But I remember well when it did, and continue to use the political map as my goto resource because it works well and does what I need.

Ocean Yong Kiran

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Re: Scout from map
« Reply #22: March 16, 2019, 08:48:49 AM »
I shall say this in a different way.

Web pages are on one's own computer. Programmers have tools to analyse these pages.

If you analyse this map, you see there is almost zero javascript. This map is rendered with php on the server.

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« Last Edit: March 16, 2019, 10:03:16 AM by Ocean Yong Kiran »

Wimpie

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Re: Scout from map
« Reply #23: March 16, 2019, 11:10:37 AM »
I think we can get back to the point of this discussion now.

Scouting from the map or not.
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PolarRaven

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Re: Scout from map
« Reply #24: March 16, 2019, 08:02:18 PM »
BattleMaster is essentially a TEXT based game. 
This feature would not really add anything to the game that is not already possible.
A little less convenient and maybe not as "pretty", but possible with a few clicks of existing options.
Personally, I would rather see Dev time spent on things that would add to or improve the game.

For me it seems like this request is trying to move the game more towards a graphic oriented game where we can click on pictures for actions instead of words. 

I am also a firm user of the political map.  I find the dynamic map very aggravating as every time I try to move the map around to see a different area, a little box pops up (a nice box if that is what you want) and hides part of the screen.  I close the box and as soon as I touch the screen again, the box pops up again to block my view. 

As for scouting from the political map, I do not always want a scout report when I am looking at a region on this map.  I would hate to loose hours receiving scout reports that I did not specifically want.

Anaris

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Re: Scout from map
« Reply #25: March 16, 2019, 08:21:23 PM »
I don't think it would be too difficult to add a link to the box that pops up on the Dynamic Map when you click a region that lets you scout that region.

Adding more icons to the Political Map would, I think, be a mistake.
Timothy Collett

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Wimpie

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Re: Scout from map
« Reply #26: March 16, 2019, 10:15:27 PM »
BattleMaster is essentially a TEXT based game. 
This feature would not really add anything to the game that is not already possible.
A little less convenient and maybe not as "pretty", but possible with a few clicks of existing options.
Personally, I would rather see Dev time spent on things that would add to or improve the game.

For me it seems like this request is trying to move the game more towards a graphic oriented game where we can click on pictures for actions instead of words. 

I am also a firm user of the political map.  I find the dynamic map very aggravating as every time I try to move the map around to see a different area, a little box pops up (a nice box if that is what you want) and hides part of the screen.  I close the box and as soon as I touch the screen again, the box pops up again to block my view. 

As for scouting from the political map, I do not always want a scout report when I am looking at a region on this map.  I would hate to loose hours receiving scout reports that I did not specifically want.

I'm finding myself strongly agreeing with this.

It's a 'nice to have', but certainly not something worth current DEV time to be honest.

I don't think it would be too difficult to add a link to the box that pops up on the Dynamic Map when you click a region that lets you scout that region.

Adding more icons to the Political Map would, I think, be a mistake.

Unfortunately I'm also not a very big fan of Dynamic map and even if such button would be added, I would continue to not use that map  :)
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Ocean Yong Kiran

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Re: Scout from map
« Reply #27: March 16, 2019, 11:17:21 PM »
I don't think it would be too difficult to add a link to the box that pops up on the Dynamic Map when you click a region that lets you scout that region.

Adding more icons to the Political Map would, I think, be a mistake.

Why not put this in a popup on the *political* map? Perhaps this will work? If not, dynamic map is a little clunky but it can be a good first place to try.

I think some peoples here underestimate how much time is wasted running around finding new pages. This is not attempt for more graphic game. This is attempt to make small improvement to - I am sorry for the insult, but is very true -  a very bad, very inconvenient UX. With such bad UX, people play the game less for the time it takes to do even the simple tasks. With good UX people can use the time for talking.

Please - if you are not a developer, do not use "dev time" as excuse. The logic already exists. This is 20 minutes of work. If I must, I will volunteer and make myself, if this is the only point against


Ocean Yong Kiran

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Re: Scout from map
« Reply #28: March 16, 2019, 11:37:42 PM »
Fah!

I am on my island, I think to move to next region, i click travel page...wait! I mean to scout first. I must go to other page, look for scouting, send scout report while I am here. Okay, I am looking at scout report of region I want to go - yes! I will go here, where is "Travel to this region" link?...no, must first go back to travel, find again the link to click. Fah! I forgot to scout other regions! Must I stop for do this? I do not bother then, and now I am not so much interested in having talk with realm that does not talk much anyway.

All of us love the big, new ideas, the "roadmaps". But it is too much easy to look past all of the little things that can make something fun or a pain.

I think a collection of ideas of these small things, a small time to say yes/no on each, a weekend of coding - you have a game so much more convenient you are truly amazed

Anaris

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Re: Scout from map
« Reply #29: March 17, 2019, 12:21:15 AM »
Scouting from the travel page is actually something I've had sort of poking at the back of my mind for a long time. I think something like that would be an excellent idea—just have multiple links after each region you can travel to, one for travel, one for scouting. (Suitably separated, to make it harder to misclick.)

The political map doesn't currently have popups, and it would be non-trivial to add them.
Timothy Collett

"The only thing you can't trade for your heart's desire...is your heart." "You are what you do.  Choose again, and change." "One of these days, someone's gonna plug you, and you're going to die saying, 'What did I say? What did I say?'"  ~ Miles Naismith Vorkosigan