Re: AisleRiot fullscreen mode

[Sean <suseux googlemail com>]

On Thu, 2007-09-06 at 01:33 +0100, Alan Horkan wrote:
> On Wed, 5 Sep 2007, Vincent Povirk wrote:
> 
> > Date: Wed, 5 Sep 2007 18:47:14 -0400
> > From: Vincent Povirk <madewokherd+d41d gmail com>
> > To: Sean <suseux googlemail com>
> > Cc: games-list gnome org
> > Subject: Re: AisleRiot fullscreen mode
> >
> > Hi, Sean.
> >
> > Klondike is one of the better-coded games in aisleriot, and it's
> > fairly simple, for programmers at least, to change the number of cards
> > dealt and the number of redeals independently. So this is really a
> > policy decision, not a technical one. I think having two options that
> > could be set independently (1 or 3 card deals, 2 or unlimited redeals)
> > was deemed too confusing for some reason.
> 
> My recollection on this is fuzzy but I wasn't pleased about the merging of
> some of the game options given that I was going the other direction try to
> add more variations and programs such as Pretty Good Solitaire use the
> multitude of game variations as a way to show off how many games they
> offer.  In terms of usability and avoiding confusion my preference in this
> case would be to use good defaults ("priciple of least astonishment")
> rather than to remove these options.  Anyone who has looked at the code
> long enough knows many of these games are not fundamentally very different
> even if they are recongised as different games.
> 
> > We should definitely provide Klondike with 1-card deals and unlimited
> > redeals if someone wants to play it that way. We should be able to
> > make them independent options or, if there's a name for that
> > variation, add it as a separate game, but that's a policy decision so
> > I can make no promises there. Anyone?
> 
> I realise it isn't the ideal conclusive answer developers prefer but I
> always cite an existing precedent and Pretty Good Solitaire is the one for
> me in the case of card games.  Roughly speaking the way it does things is
> to set defaults (eg King Only - only a king may be moved into an empty
> slot) but also provide a simple option to override some those defaults at
> any point during the game by unchecking a menu item.
> 
> There is an interesting conflict between gameplay and usability as there
> are times when in the name of gameplay it makes sense to make things more
> difficult (challenging) but there is the risk of taking the fun out of it
> for beginners.  (A familiar example of this in Gnome Games might be the
> difficulty of Four in Row as many have complained it is too hard to win
> even at the easiest levels.)
> 
> I did have a brief phase where I happily added more variations to
> Aisleriot (trying to generalise some files and keep the inherit their code
> into the varient) and from that I gradually saw how the codebase could be
> cleaned up in various ways and certain patterns consolidated but
> realistically it isn't something I have the motivation to follow up on now
> that I'm no longer a student but I still watch the development of Gnome
> Games with great interest.
> 

Hi,

On the subject of KDE4 games(yes they look good), I'm currently working
on new card sets for AisleRiot which fit in current gnome much better,
using the tango colour palette. I also plan to do art for other gnome
games (set for 2.22) so no worries because it will look just as good. :)


SeanW