Minigames

[Peter]

I'd like to start working on the minigame controller, but I'm gonna be needing some of your views and ideas (particularly Peter's). About the signup system, I'm guessing it will mostly be command-based? And if so, should it be possible to have, say, 2 instances of the same race? I imagine that could lead to someone unwantedly starting a new race, instead of joining one.
I was also thinking to create a fancy minigame GUI (where people can start minigames, sign up for currently active minigames and see the participants and stuff), but I guess we'll cross that bridge when we come to it.

I certainly want the larger part of the new system to be controlled using commands, using GUI for this would only make it slower than actually required. I think having multiple instances of the same race and derby won't be required, however, it might be useful in case of a deathmatch minigame considering these have more importance to gang members.

Overall I think the general design of the commanding-handler is quite important, it needs a per-player state system, needs to be able to control and synchronize the dimensions players will be in with the other systems (including the spawn handler for multiple rounds / allowing deaths at gangwars?) and generally be the way to communicate between the different instances. The planning really needs to be done on a per component base from that point on;

I think basic GUI's for menu's if a player requests /race would be fine, however, not more than a few labels, don't create fancy maps with the roads highlighted for every race - that's absolutely not needed. The current syntax like /race 5 should however stay available as well, to make sure we don't force players to use the GUI (personally I'd prefer to use no GUI at all, hence that requirement) and that should be the same with the other minigame types, perhaps with the exception of deathmatch area's. Perhaps it's an idea to create an interface for every type of minigame (google for interface if you're not sure what it means):

IMinigameType
- void HandleSignup (player)
- void ForceLeave (player)
....

That way the controller can purely act as a proxy to the underlaying functions, and won't have to worry about the real implementations at all. That makes it easier for minigames like Hay as well, having the user set features using a simple GUI (weather, gravity, time, etcetera) rather than it being plain and non-interactive. That all improves the average player experience