09-06-2001 06:51									#1
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I've created this thread to serve as some sort of coordination to our design/model writing efforts. we can write here what we have, what we need and who's working on what. An ulterior motive is to also lower the threshold for any new contributors to join in... here is a list of stuff that needs to be done, so if you (yes, you!) think you can write something on any topics mentioned here, don't be shy.

Anyway, what we have now are:

Design Doc 0.3 (proposal)
Pretty thorough, though there will still be 0.4 before we can agree on it and finalize it as version 1.0. That will happen maybe in few weeks from now, and it shouldn't stop us from starting on the other models.

Turn Order Model
As sketched by amjayee a long time ago. This can probably be labelled as version 0.1. Needs to be updated, and I have kind of volunteered to roll up my sleeves and begin writing some stuff to this any day now. I'm not sure if I'll just alter it, or rewrite the whole thing... This needs to be done soon, because it is very fundamental to the game. The bright side is that this shouldn't be initially very extensive, though it is likely to be updated as the other models evolve.

Terrain and Map Model 0.1 (draft)
I labeled this as version 0.1, though it's essentially a free form discussion. Map will be one of the first things to be implemented, so we should probably look into the design as well pretty soon... I think this model is up for grabs to anyone who wishes to take over.

Population Model 0.3 (draft)
Very early draft, I might add... the Joker has talked about concentrating on this one in July, and I am also willing if I can put the Design Doc or the Turn Order Model into decent shape before that. Also, this version includes stuff about improvements and infrastructure, but those will most likely be put to a dedicated model.

Economy Model 0.2
Just guessing the version number, correct me if I'm wrong. Anyway, this needs to be revised based on the new design doc. I have not read it well myself, possibly Joker can tell more? Unlike the ones mentioned above, this is not a core model, so it's not that critical. Nevertheless it would be nice to have it updated.

Disease Model
Pretty much in the same shape as the Economy Model. Heardie, you know more about this than the rest of us?

We probably have a bunch of more ramblings that could justifiably be called first drafts of models, but I have excluded them because they are not on the web or because they are not as urgent as some of the above. These include:

Government
Social Groups (i think we have some documents on this, I'm just too lazy to search them out)
Military/Combat
Technology
Improvements and Infrastructure
Diplomacy
Religion
...

What else? We could probably list even models that are nowhere near completion, since it gives us a broader view of what we are doing and helps us to put things into perspective. And if anyone wants to write about stuff regardless of whether it's urgent or not, I think it would be nice.

L

	22-06-2001 13:47									#2
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Pardon me... I'm the new village idiot. How ya doing?

It seems to me that the map model, and the population model, are the two primary things you HAVE to have working. The economy, disease, religion, etc, will all flow from that. While you could model pop without the map being "relatively static", it would probably help.

Is religion going to be tied to government? Many religions do rule, after all... and the player is nothing but the government, if I have actually followed what was said elsewhere...

I would suspect that the turn model is going to change past the basics... as in the order things are done, and what needs to be determined.

Where is the weather model? tectonics? Are they models included in the map? Will environmental things like flora and fauna spreading be part of the map model?

Pardon the stupid questions. This village idiot is still reading through the archives and learn everything...

	25-06-2001 04:24									#3
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As the old village idiot, I suppose I should answer something...

You are correct in your observation that the Map and the Population are what everything else is built upon. But, the Map is something that can be developed more or less independently once the basics (hexagonal tiles, some properties in each tile) are laid, whereas populations are something that differs greatly from civ style and yet has a fundamental impact on the rest of the game. In other words, we have a solid view on the basics of the map, but not such a solid view on populations: therefore, pops should have higher priority at this moment. Or at least that is my opinion on the subject.

My humble opinion is that Government comes before Religion. The way I see it, Gov Model should describe how the populations/regions are governed, but leave enough room for politics and religion, which will probably be modelled later. The models will probably overlap a little bit, but at first I think we should aim for a government with just some basic properties and only then extend it to include theocracies and such. In an ideal situation, we will work the models side by side so that we'll have at least a little of both designed before we start implementing stuff.

Your impression on the turn order model seems to be exactly the same as mine.

Weather and climate, possibly vegetation and the whole biosphere are indeed a little bit different from terrain... perhaps the long-term changes could be labeled under Terrain Model, and short-term stuff under somethign else like Climate Model. Nevertheless, where we start would probably be the terrain. Which is, at the moment, not so thoroghly dealt with. I can imagine that we could have a Terrain and Map Model, and when it's mature enough we could spin off a Climate Model from that.

Leland