Enhanced Net MP the Key to WZ Revival

Reviving WZ Net MP is the Future

 * The Dai Senryaku of a WZ 2005 Revival.


 * 1 Thread, 2 Strands, the Backbone


 * Dai Senryaku is Japanese for "Grand Strategy"..


 * There is none. Components of one, but not cohered.


 * The whole kit 'n kaboodle rides on "One Thread" consisting of 2 entwined strands.


 * A backbone to all efforts if they are to end-result in a WZ Revival in '05.


 * That being defined as an ever growing active base of players.


 * All the New Content (extant & in progress), all the tools, the Code Re-dev Project, the Linux Port, implementing the Proposed WZ list of Changes.... ALL of it is tied to this..... Sooner or later.....


 * How shall the WZ Net MP experience be enhanced such that more & more peeps want to play ?


 * That is the binding "Thread".


 * I was led to it & the 2-entwined strands (that WILL amount to its tensile strength) by 4nE in the past, Rufus & trueblues more recently & then ultimately by the POVs of Kev, Killekulla & Cowboy.


 * Quite recently those discussions evolved into viable, working solutions addressing WZ's Net MP (two-fold) achilles-heel. Down to earth, no pie-in-the-sky, here & now viable  scenarios.


 * 1.) Structures to encourage greater variety of Map Types being played (now mainly confined to Flat / high-oil / $$ maps... "Team-wars" style). Hundreds of 1st Class MP Maps being ignored.


 * 2.) Dealing with Net MP cheating by re-dressing WZ's "Game Logic" or "Rules" with Secure Networking Protocols in mind:


 * #1 & # 2 are inextricably linked. For maximum effect both need to co-exist.


 * Till that happens WZ's influx of Newbies (greatly facilitated by Jocke & Bronco's efforts) will be short-lived.


 * They will come-in, enjoy the orginal Cam, some maps & mods, maybe the terrific Ski A.I.'s ...... BUT


 * As soon as they get a whiff of the state of WZ Net MP ....... They'll drift away.... Faster if they discern no solutions on the horizon.


 * In the end.....by that course, WZ will remain or revert to a niche rts.


 * Which there's nothing inherently wrong with.


 * However, WZ has the real potential to be mainstream popular & at the forefront of the rts genre.


 * But that is contingent on the Dai Senryaku touched upon here, IMHO.


 * Rman JackRman Jack 05:24, 1 Mar 2005 (GMT)

The Positive Feedback Loop

 * The ramifications of the proposed Dai Senryaku extend to creators past, present & future.


 * Like so....


 * Growing the WZ Fan Base of Active Net MP Players.


 * That end will have a "ripple-effect"....


 * It is not just the sheer numbers. Though that is crux.


 * There is also the "fresh" mind-sets, dispositions un-jaded & vigorously open-minded.


 * Also...... having that number of active players stimulates & motivates both Modders, Mapers & Coders to stick-to-it to compleation.


 * There are not many who want to work hard on stuff if the audience is not significant or actively interested when it's done. Basic human nature & perfectly understandable.


 * Growing the WZ Fan Base of Active Net MP..... provides that expansive audience for creators & their work.


 * That makes it a more satisfying experience for many creators.


 * Right now, I dare say, your lucky if a handful of peeps even acknowledge work done - 1st Class Work, not dreck, not mediocre...... grade "A" efforts virtually ignored.


 * Even less than a handfull when it comes to Beta-testing.


 * That prevailing situation, even for the most diehard creator, can be discouraging. It is certainly NOT inspiring. Nor does it promote creative synergy.


 * In the end your best creators drift to other, more positively active communities, where their efforts will be acknowledged, appreciated.... their maps & mods played, their tools used.


 * The WZ community at this stage is anything but that.


 * The Dai Senryaku would effectively change that dismal picture.


 * Rman.

Cowboy's POV on MP & DG

 * But I think MP issues are much harder to fix. At the moment, I don't believe we are all experts at the WZ code and know exactly what's going on and how to fix things. Perhaps, this might be fueling what we seeing now, small incremental changes and small bugs fixes towards a particular goal, ultimately, WZ MP. Fixing WZ MP is a very big task.


 * As for DG, it is probably best not to convince/persuade/argue about why DG should be implemented until I have something we can work with. My argument, DG as a viable alternative to Gamespy, should be persuasive enough. Truthfully, I think DG has been apart of a promise to cure Warzone from the plague. It has been in all of our minds since the Mplayer days and N.E.W.S.T. However, I think the real cure is new content, better software support, and lastly a streamlined MP experience, all of which are important for the cure.


 * It's nice to evaluate what were doing and where were going once every now and then.

--cowboy

Chojun's Thoughts on WZ MP

 * Sometimes I wish it were my full-time job to work on WZ. There's so much to be done, and so much that can be done if time is devoted to it.


 * Everything is already done, we just need to rework a lot of it (as far as I'm concerned, and this doesn't necessarily mean converting Core WZ elements to OOC++, that's for a different thread).


 * Revitalizing WZ doesn't (hasn't, and hopefully won't) come in the form of further hacking hacks or changing hard-coded numbers... It will come on both the design level and also the code re-organization level. These two levels are the most time intensive but at the same rate yield the most positive results.


 * Anyway, I think DG implementation for WZ ought to be indisputable, but at any rate DG is not complete, nor is Cowboy ready for WZ to implement it, which gives us some time to hit the drawing boards and figure out how to redesign WZs core network implementation to function how we would like it to.