22-09-2000 11:34									#1
	Too much shaking goin' on! Support Apolyton, buy Civilization 2

I'm terribly lost. A chaos has taken over the project as I see it. In several threads it seems the same discussion is taking place and some really important implications appear to be related with that discussion.

Axi says nothing happens in the Beast. F_Smith says he has stopped part of development because some other things needs to be solved, like population.

How to code/implement the game is becoming an issue where ethnic groups, techs and other things of the game seem to have interconnection problems and where the definition of the data structure, which is as I understand extremely important, still is unclear.

It has been suggested that mapsquares and ethnic groups should encapsulate most of the game info and methods, while the number of ethnic groups (and the evolution of this number during the game) seems to be a crucial matter, which in time seems to stop development until solved. If the EGs are going to be such a key factor in the game, shouldn't we all first find an agreement about these social entities being the best way to model social stuff?

How much to do in parallel and how much in "build up" is also turning into a big issue.

"Excesive" care about historical accuracy and details seem to kill the chances to keep the project moving on. More development and fewer discusions seems to be the new "call".


IMO we have a problem here concerning how the project should move on. It seems to me some key decisions about OO-implementation need to be taken ASAP. Also, I believe a change in the way we work is also needed to avoid topic conversations on small parts of the game caughting us for weeks.

All the things above are related to each other and my feeling is we're lacking of a master plan. Maybe we need to stop developing models for a while and concentrate on major decisions like the OO "master" data structure. Given this, a general guideline on how to advance with each model will be clearer and more coherent. Priorities can be this way also set, and maybe for some time we should simply forget about parallel development and just focus on some features or models of the game.

I strongly feel we need to put things in order here and clear up key issues before moving any further. The current state of the project scares me. I'm not sure in what moment the project turned chaotic, but for me it certainly has... Maybe we should blame Beör. Before his arrival everything was OK!! (just a joke, Beör)


Am I alone in this feeling? Should we stop and use a couple of days/weeks to settle the important things and setting maybe our "development philosophy" for the months to come?

	22-09-2000 17:09									#2
	Lose 30 kilos (of popups)

I've had the same concerns.

I am working on a high-level proposal for how most of these issues can be handled. I'll put it up when its finished sometime tomorrow and we can discuss it. Hopefully soon we can come to an overall agreement on how to handle these specific issues, and matters of the same type, and move on.

	24-09-2000 09:13									#3
	Enter the AD-FREE zone

Normally by this time I would have posted unsolicited opinions in most of the active threads, thus causing more confusion and chaos. For the next few days I'll take a break from active posting as I reconsider my role in this project. I'm fairly sure that discussion will go much better without my spam.

	24-09-2000 16:55									#4
	Increase the size of your Attachments

Richard:

We ARE Soliciting your opinions! Any process can be made to appear more efficient if only one person plans it. The problem is the one person may make the Wrong Decision. Please reconsider... Just focus more on core things and less on details, like the rest of us.

	25-09-2000 09:00									#5
	Support Apolyton buy from Amazon

Richard:

I want your input too. I think you're sharp, and have a quick mind.

I just think you need to learn the job of a 'Game Analyst'. You're trying to make technical decisions like data storage when you have no training or experience in the field. As a Game Analyst, I think you've played enough games and thought about game rules a bunch, and have a lot to contribute.

So if you can trust the technical people to make technical decisions, you will save yourself some frustration and a lot of work.

	25-09-2000 09:33									#6
	Remove this text

See the this post in the Overall Project Issues thread.

My problem is that I have too much technical experience. I've programmed many arcade games and an entire dungeon-crawl RPG in BASIC. But that experience has not served me well in discussing Java. For a long time I thought Java was a lot like BASIC.
[This message has been edited by Richard Bruns (edited September 24, 2000).]

	25-09-2000 02:47									#7
	Support Apolyton, buy Galactic Civilizations: Deluxe Edition

Richard: I too believe you're taking too much responability for the whole "current chaos" problems. You have no more blame than we do. We NEED your input in several topics.


All: I initiated this thread only to encourage people to talk about our current problems of disorder in the forums. Mark's thread "Project Issues-How to Proceed" was the perfect answer for this, so I think we should leave this thread sink to the bottom or just close it.

	25-09-2000 02:53									#8
	Remove this text

Rodrigo:

Done!