The Battle for Wesnoth Wiki - User contributions [en]

SummerOfCodeProposal rubend

2014-10-05T13:50:51Z

Rubend: Blanked the page

SummerOfCodeIdeas

2009-03-22T08:25:32Z

Rubend:

This is a compilation of ideas from ML. Needs to be refined (more detailed description, deliverables, workload estimation?):

== I want to be one of your Google Summer of Code students, what should I do... ==

Here is a quick list of things to do to get you started
* Create an account on gna.org
* Create an account on the wesnoth forum, and tell an admin on the IRC channel to mark is as a GSoC Student account (Admins are boucman, Ivanovic, mordante, Shadow_Master, Sirp and Turuk)
* Join the irc channel (#wesnoth-dev on irc.freenode.net) and introduce yourself. We will not give formal interviews, but we will clearly favor people we have learned to know during the selection process (basically communication via IRC is mandatory for our project! it is the main way of "every day communication" for Wesnoth. For the same reason, it's also a good idea to regularly read the [http://wesnoth.debian.net/?C=M;O=A IRC logs].).

* Start a wiki page about your idea, add a link on the bottom of this page and add this information on it:
** List your account names (gna, forum, irc nick) so that we can recognize you
** Fill the questionnaire on this page: [[SoC_Information_for_Google#Does_your_organization_have_an_application_template_you_would_like_to_see_students_use.3F_If_so.2C_please_provide_it_now.| List of questions to answer]]
** Detail your idea as much as possible, look at other students pages, and please give milestones and studies you've done
** Add a link to the page at the bottom of this page

* Though not mandatory, it is highly advisable to go to the [[EasyCoding]] and [[NotSoEasyCoding]] pages and implement one of these ideas (or any idea of similar scope) so we have an idea how you work. Be sure to use your gna account when submitting these patches so we know who it is coming from. You can also implement some features from our feature request database at gna. When you implement something, also list it on your own page with a reference to the patch.

* For working on Wesnoth you have to be able to compile trunk. To do so you should have a look at the [[WesnothSVN|page about svn]] and afterwards [[CompilingWesnoth|compile Wesnoth svn]].

* Once you have everything done here and think your idea is okay, go to [http://groups.google.com/group/google-summer-of-code-announce/web/guide-to-the-gsoc-web-app-for-student-applicants page at google] to submit your application. You have to submit it before '''Date to be supplied later''' or you have no chance to get in!

== List of Ideas for the Project (Suggestions from the wesnoth developers) ==

Here is only a short description of possible Ideas we have, each has a page of its own with a more detailed version on it.

=== Optimize implementation of WML for memory usage ===

Based on this idea: [http://dave.wesnoth.org/?p=9] optimize WML to minimize its memory usage. High memory usage has been a problem for Wesnoth, and this project will aim to reduce it.

=== Implement campaign statistics reports on stats.wesnoth.org ===

Wesnoth has an infrastructure which records details of campaigns that players play into a centralized MySQL database. However, we only have rudimentary reports based on this MySQL database available at this time, at [http://stats.wesnoth.org].

This project would involve writing a stats reporting web site which would take the data from the MySQL database and produce reports in chart and table form. Campaign designers would be able to use these reports to gather feedback on their campaigns and get ideas for improvements.

A student could largely make their choice of infrastructure for creating the Website -- whether they prefer Python, Perl, Ruby, PHP, etc. This is a great opportunity for someone who doesn't want to dive into hardcore C++ to make a valuable contribution to Wesnoth.

[[SoC Ideas Stats Server]] - Full Version of the idea, with detailed information

=== Extending the Multiplayer server ===

Our multiplayer community is generally strong and healthy, but we believe its growth is limited by some problems in the interface of the multiplayer lobby.

[[SoC Ideas Multiplayer server]] - Full version of the idea, with detailed information

=== Addon server ===
Wesnoth has an addon server which offers users to upload user
made content (UMC). This allows all other users of Wesnoth
to easily download and install this content. The server was
originally written for user-made campaigns but contains a lot
more types of addons nowadays. Both the server side and the
client side need to be improved.

[[SoC Ideas Addon Server]] - Full version of the idea, with detailed information

=== WML validation schemes ===
Wesnoth uses WML as basic data structure. Over the years
this language has evolved and got more complex. At the
moment the WML is validated at runtime and in case of a
problem the engine stops. With schemes these problems can
be validated when loading the WML, making it easier to find
problems before running into them.

[[SoC Ideas Schemes]] - Full version of the idea, with detailed information

=== Write a primitive library for Formula AI ===

Wesnoth has always had a simple C++ based AI. David (our lead developer) has been working on a simple language to write AI in Wesnoth: [[FormulaAI]]

The Wesnoth AI is used as an opponent in most campaigns, and as such is an important piece of code for the Wesnoth project. Unfortunately, because the skills required to understand and modify it are rather arcane, it is also one of the most neglected parts of the Wesnoth code. This is a place where a lot of research and useful work could be done. But keep in mind that [[WhyWritingAWesnothAIIsHard|writing an AI for Wesnoth is difficult]].

Writing a whole AI is so complicated that we believe it can't be done in a single Summer of code. All proposals should keep that in mind and try to identify an interesting subset that would be workable in the limited time of a summer of code

[[SoC Ideas FormulaAI]] - Full version of the idea, with detailed information

=== Savegame reorganization ===
The savegame formats of Wesnoth for single player campaigns
and multiplayer differ from each other. And they are processed
differently as well. Now there is an additional request coming
up: Multiplayer campaigns. The task will be to unify the savegames
for all types of scenarios in order to provide a maintainable code
again.

[[SoC Ideas Savegame]] - Full version of the idea, with detailed information

=== Other possible ideas to be fleshed out ===
A MapGenerator rewrite - better scalable for outdoor maps, plus the possibility to define areas (similar to the caverns in the cave generator) etc.

=== Make your own ideas ===
If you have your own idea the best thing is to join IRC wesnoth-dev at irc.freenode.net and discuss the idea with the developers there. If the developers think your idea is interesting and like the feature you can start to turn it into a full proposal. Once done discuss it again on IRC so the developers can accept your idea.

== Information about our Project ==
The information we provided google with about our project can be looked up at the site [[SoC Information for Google]].

Also see the [[DeveloperResources]] link (from the [[Project]] page).

== People to bug on IRC ==
We have prepared a list of people with their "area of competence". This is to give you an idea on which areas those people can be of help for you. Of course you should always just ask in the IRC chan, but those are the most likely ones to answer questions in the respective area. And here is the list:

[[SoC People to bug on IRC]]

== GSoC Student pages ==

Please add a link to your wiki page below

[[SummerOfCodeProposal_Velory| Velory - SoC Proposal]]

[[SummerOfCodeProposal_AI_Improvement_Crab| Crab - SoC Proposal - AI Improvement]]

[[SummerOfCodeProposal_Sparksteel | Sparksteel - Improving the AI engine design]]

[[SummerOfCodeProposal_Euschn | Euschn - Savegame reorganization]]

[[SummerOfCodeProposal_rubend | rubend - Extending the Multiplayer server]]

[[Category:Summer of Code|*]]

SummerOfCodeProposal rubend

2009-03-22T08:23:21Z

Rubend:

== Accounts ==
* List your account names (gna, forum, irc nick) so that we can recognize you
rubend, rubend, lmo

== Questions ==
1) Basics

1.1) Write a small introduction to yourself.

So I'm an 19 year old student in my 2nd year of computer science with a minor in electrical engineering . I am a big fan of video games and played them on a daily basis in high school. Now at university I'm more interested in linux and programming but still enjoy a fun game from time to time.

1.2) State your preferred email address.

(not so comfortable posting this on the wiki see irc/ forum account/ gna account)

1.3) If you have chosen a nick for IRC and Wesnoth forums, what is it?

rubend on the forums

lmo on irc

1.4) Why do you want to participate in summer of code?

I really want to do something interesting in the holidays. Normally I just tinker with my linux systems but contributing to the oss community is more like a dream occupation for the vacation.

I have been looking for an oss project to join for quite some time now and what better way to get to know a project than by getting a mentor that is understanding and there to help.

So my main objective is to find a project to keep contributing to and in the meantime getting some experience programming with a community.

1.5) What are you studying, subject, level and school?

I'm studying civil engineering: computer science electrical engineering at the Katholic University Leuven in Belgium (Europe).

1.6) If you have contributed any patches to Wesnoth, please list them below. You can also list patches that have been submitted but not committed yet and patches that have not been specifically written for Wesnoth. If you have gained commit access to our SVN (during the evaluation period or earlier) please state so.

/

2) Experience

2.1) What programs/software have you worked on before?

School team projects: an android application combining gps capabilities, a restaurant management system (bills/tables/...), a small strategy game.

2.2) Have you developed software in a team environment before? (As opposed to hacking on something on your own)

Last year one semester a project in a team of 2, the first semester this year in a team of 6 and this semester in a team of 2.

2.3) Have you participated to the Google Summer of Code before? As a mentor or a student? In what project? Were you successful? If not, why?

No

2.4) Open Source

2.4.1) Are you already involved with any open source development projects? If yes, please describe the project and the scope of your involvement.

I made an android application as I mentioned earlier but it wasn't released to the public (altought it was finished and working) because it was a school project.

2.5) Gaming experience - Are you a gamer?

Definetely, I'm not going to list my whole games collection but I'm quite a games. I've played everything from the sims to ut2004, gta, rtcw (gotta love it :-) ), command and conquer, rome total war, wesnoth, warsow, ... (30 games to list)

2.5.1) What type of gamer are you?

I used to be a frantic gamer. (on a daily basis in high school)

2.5.2) What type of games?

Mostly first person shooters and real time strategy games. Anything that requires some skill and has a lot of action in it.

2.5.3) What type of opponents do you prefer?

Ai and other people, depends on the game really.

2.5.4) Are you more interested in story or gameplay?

Both can make a game in my opinion, but if I really have to chose I will take gameplay. A bad story isn't that horrific if the gameplay is quite good. If the gameplay is bad however and the story is great than you just finish the story and never look back. (that is if the story is good enough to keep the game standing.)

2.5.5) Have you played Wesnoth? If so, tell us roughly for how long and whether you lean towards single player or multiplayer.

Some 20 hours or so. Mostly single player because I wasn't really that good at it and was quite afraid of going online. (That's why I'm so interested in improving the multiplayer lobby because that really makes or breaks the multiplayer experience.)

We do not plan to favor Wesnoth players as such, but some particular projects require a good feeling for the game which is hard to get without having played intensively.

3) Communication skills

3.1) Though most of our developers are not native English speakers, English is the project's working language. Describe your fluency level in written English.

I can read and understand everything I read on the internet and in all the course books I have. (most of them are in english) I see a lot of people whose primary language is English so I speak and understand English quite well. My writing skills are ok I presume.

3.2) Are you good at interacting with other players? Our developer community is friendly, but the player community can be a bit rough.

I've had my share of annoying team members and opponents in games and never had a problem with it. If someone is really disturbing the experience for the rest I might point it out and eventually kick vote. It's quite difficult to judge for yourself I think.

3.3) Do you give constructive advice?

Only when I have something useful to advise people on. I won't give directions to people just for the sake of it. (most people can't stand that)

3.4) Do you receive advice well?

When someone smart / knowing tells me something important I will quickly pick it up and try to follow it as good as I can.

3.5) Are you good at sorting useful criticisms from useless ones?

The rules of democracy rule here I think. When a lot of people share the same opinion it probably is something important. If there is just one lonesome guy shooting down every idea he sees, I find it useless. One of the first things to do is ask other people if they share the same thought.

4) Project

4.1) Did you select a project from our list? If that is the case, what project did you select? What do you want to especially concentrate on?

Extending the multiplayer lobby: I'm really interested in (re)designing the multiplayer lobby and making it something that everyone can enjoy. This is a really critical part of the multiplayer experience as I have mentioned before. Having seen a lot of them I know what annoyed me about some and what thrilled me about others.

4.2) If you have invented your own project, please describe the project and the scope.

/ the suggested idea was so great I didn't even worry about coming up with something else.

4.3) Why did you choose this project?

Simple: it's a well-known, entertaining and challenging piece of software with a big community. I knew it before and really want to make it even better. Everything from the concept to the speed and the people is great.

4.4) Include an estimated timeline for your work on the project. Don't forget to mention special things like "I booked holidays between A and B" and "I got an exam at ABC and won't be doing much then".

Well I'm an European student so I have exams in June:That's a really big problem.

Basically I won't be able to do a thing for gsoc during this month. (and probably a couple of weeks before that) The exam period officially ends the fourth of july. (meaning that for every student of the university everyone is finished by then) Chances are really big that I will be finished around 30th June.

The moment I come back from my last exam I will be available full time till the 7th of August. From around the 7th til the 21th I will be available part time but this period being the finishing time of the project (as told by the google gsoc calendar) this doesn't seem like a problem.

So schedule:

...-18th may available for preparations and research (for example collecting examples from multiplayer lobbies from other games)

18th may-30th June exams -> no time

1th july -7th something august full time availability for the project

7th august - 21th part time availability

As far as the project my planning is the following:

By the mid term evaluation I would like to have an (almost) finished design for the lobby. Having discussed with people from the community (players and devs). Starting from then I would like to do the changes and get some things done in the programming portion of the project.

4.5) Include as much technical detail about your implementation as you can

As far as technical details I think this project is mainly about the concept, the idea behind the lobby. I foresee that the implementation won't be the major hurdle.

4.6) What do you expect to gain from this project?

An interesting experience getting involved in a community that I am not yet involved in and experiencing open source development from the front row seat.

4.7) What would make you stay in the Wesnoth community after the conclusion of SOC?

Friendly people guiding me in the development experience.

5) Practical considerations

5.1) Are you familiar with any of the following tools or languages?

* Subversion (used for all commits)

Have been using it for 2 semesters mostly through subclipse but I understand the concepts and 'rules' so I expect everything to go smoothly.

* C++ (language used for all the normal source code)

My main knowledge is with java but I'm reading some books for transferring my knowledge to c++.(I'm also planning to get some more experience offcourse)

* Python (optional, mainly used for tools)

Really basic knowledge

* build environments (eg cmake/autotools/scons)

Not really.

5.2) Which tools do you normally use for development? Why do you use them?

Eclipse mostly because of university courses. Vim otherwise in combination with gcc.

5.3) What programming languages are you fluent in?

Java

5.4) What spoken languages are you fluent in?

English, Dutch, French

5.5) At what hours are you awake and when will you be able to be in IRC (please specify in UTC)

from 8 utc till 21 utc. (Can differ by a couple of hours) During my "full time availability" period I will probably be on irc during the day.(all day)

5.6) Would you mind talking with your mentor on telephone / internet phone? We would like to have a backup way for communications for the case that somehow emails and IRC do fail.

Not a problem, I would prefer internet phone because of the costs and privacy.

In general please try to be as verbose as possible in your answers and feel free to elaborate.

== End note ==

I know I'm not available during a long period of time but I'm really motivated and would love to make a difference. Might I not be chosen for this project nor another I might still want to participate in your community in July (by preference with a "mentor" or "guide") but this I cannot guarantee.

SummerOfCodeProposal rubend

2009-03-22T08:19:42Z

Rubend: first sketch

1) Basics

1.1) Write a small introduction to yourself.

So I'm an 19 year old student in my 2nd year of computer science with a minor in electrical engineering . I am a big fan of video games and played them on a daily basis in high school. Now at university I'm more interested in linux and programming but still enjoy a fun game from time to time.

1.2) State your preferred email address.

(not so comfortable posting this on the wiki see irc/ forum account/ gna account)

1.3) If you have chosen a nick for IRC and Wesnoth forums, what is it?

rubend on the forums

lmo on irc

1.4) Why do you want to participate in summer of code?

I really want to do something interesting in the holidays. Normally I just tinker with my linux systems but contributing to the oss community is more like a dream occupation for the vacation.

I have been looking for an oss project to join for quite some time now and what better way to get to know a project than by getting a mentor that is understanding and there to help.

So my main objective is to find a project to keep contributing to and in the mean time getting some experience programming with a community.

1.5) What are you studying, subject, level and school?

I'm studying civil engineering: computer science electrical engineering at the Katholic University Leuven in Belgium (Europe).

1.6) If you have contributed any patches to Wesnoth, please list them below. You can also list patches that have been submitted but not committed yet and patches that have not been specifically written for Wesnoth. If you have gained commit access to our SVN (during the evaluation period or earlier) please state so.

/

2) Experience

2.1) What programs/software have you worked on before?

School team projects: an android application combining gps capabilities, a restaurant management system (bills/tables/...), a small rts game.

2.2) Have you developed software in a team environment before? (As opposed to hacking on something on your own)

Last year one semester a project in a team of 2, the first semester this year in a team of 6 and this semester in a team of 2.

2.3) Have you participated to the Google Summer of Code before? As a mentor or a student? In what project? Were you successful? If not, why?

No

2.4) Open Source

2.4.1) Are you already involved with any open source development projects? If yes, please describe the project and the scope of your involvement.

I made an android application as I mentioned earlier but it wasn't released to the public (altought it was finished and working) because it was a school project.

2.5) Gaming experience - Are you a gamer?

Definetely, I'm not going to list my whole games collection but I'm quite a games. I've played everything from the sims to ut2004, gta, rtcw (gotta love it :-) ), command and conquer, rome total war, wesnoth, warsow, ... (30 games to list)

2.5.1) What type of gamer are you?

I used to be a frantic gamer. (on a daily basis in high school)

2.5.2) What type of games?

Mostly first person shooters and real time strategy games. Anything that requires some skill and has a lot of action in it.

2.5.3) What type of opponents do you prefer?

Ai and other people, depends on the game really.

2.5.4) Are you more interested in story or gameplay?

Both can make a game in my opinion, but if I really have to chose I will take gameplay. A bad story isn't that horrific if the gameplay is quite good. If the gameplay is bad however and the story is great than you just finish the story and never look back. (that is if the story is good enough to keep the game standing.)

2.5.5) Have you played Wesnoth? If so, tell us roughly for how long and whether you lean towards single player or multiplayer.

Some 20 hours or so. Mostly single player because I wasn't really that good at it and was quite afraid of going online. (That's why I'm so interested in improving the multiplayer lobby because that really makes or breaks the multiplayer experience.)

We do not plan to favor Wesnoth players as such, but some particular projects require a good feeling for the game which is hard to get without having played intensively.

3) Communication skills

3.1) Though most of our developers are not native English speakers, English is the project's working language. Describe your fluency level in written English.

I can read and understand everything I read on the internet and in all the course books I have. (most of them are in english) I see a lot of people whose primary language is English so I speak and understand English quite well. My writing skills are ok I presume.

3.2) Are you good at interacting with other players? Our developer community is friendly, but the player community can be a bit rough.

I've had my share of annoying team members and opponents in games and never had a problem with it. If someone is really disturbing the experience for the rest I might point it out and eventually kick vote. It's quite difficult to judge for yourself I think.

3.3) Do you give constructive advice?

Only when I have something useful to advise people on. I won't give directions to people just for the sake of it. (most people can't stand that)

3.4) Do you receive advice well?

When someone smart / knowing tells me something important I will quickly pick it up and try to follow it as good as I can.

3.5) Are you good at sorting useful criticisms from useless ones?

The rules of democracy rule here I think. When a lot of people share the same opinion it probably is something important. If there is just one lonesome guy shooting down every idea he sees, I find it useless. One of the first things to do is ask other people if they share the same thought.

4) Project

4.1) Did you select a project from our list? If that is the case, what project did you select? What do you want to especially concentrate on?

Extending the multiplayer lobby: I'm really interested in (re)designing the multiplayer lobby and making it something that everyone can enjoy. This is a really critical part of the multiplayer experience as I have mentioned before. Having seen a lot of them I know what annoyed me about some and what thrilled me about others.

4.2) If you have invented your own project, please describe the project and the scope.

/ the suggested idea was so great I didn't even worry about coming up with something else.

4.3) Why did you choose this project?

Simple: it's a well-known, entertaining and challenging piece of software with a big community. I knew it before and really want to make it even better. Everything from the concept to the speed and the people is great.

4.4) Include an estimated timeline for your work on the project. Don't forget to mention special things like "I booked holidays between A and B" and "I got an exam at ABC and won't be doing much then".

Well I'm an European student so I have exams in June:That's a really big problem.

Basically I won't be able to do a thing for gsoc during this month. (and probably a couple of weeks before that) The exam period officially ends the fourth of july. (meaning that for every student of the university everyone is finished by then) Chances are really big that I will be finished around 30th June.

The moment I come back from my last exam I will be available full time till the 7th of August. From around the 7th til the 21th I will be available part time but this period being the finishing time of the project (as told by the google gsoc calendar) this doesn't seem like a problem.

So schedule:

...-18th may available for preparations and research (for example collecting examples from multiplayer lobbies from other games)

18th may-30th June exams -> no time

1th july -7th something august full time availability for the project

7th august - 21th part time availability

As far as the project my planning is the following:

By the mid term evaluation I would like to have an (almost) finished design for the lobby. Having discussed with people from the community (players and devs). Starting from then I would like to do the changes and get some things done in the programming portion of the project.

4.5) Include as much technical detail about your implementation as you can

As far as technical details I think this project is mainly about the concept, the idea behind the lobby. I foresee that the implementation won't be the major hurdle.

4.6) What do you expect to gain from this project?

An interesting experience getting involved in a community that I am not yet involved in and experiencing open source development from the front row seat.

4.7) What would make you stay in the Wesnoth community after the conclusion of SOC?

Friendly people guiding me in the development experience.

5) Practical considerations

5.1) Are you familiar with any of the following tools or languages?

* Subversion (used for all commits)

Have been using it for 2 semesters mostly through subclipse but I understand the concepts and 'rules' so I expect everything to go smoothly.

* C++ (language used for all the normal source code)

My main knowledge is with java but I'm reading some books for transferring my knowledge to c++.(I'm also planning to get some more experience offcourse)

* Python (optional, mainly used for tools)

Really basic knowledge

* build environments (eg cmake/autotools/scons)

Not really.

5.2) Which tools do you normally use for development? Why do you use them?

Eclipse mostly because of university courses. Vim otherwise in combination with gcc.

5.3) What programming languages are you fluent in?

Java

5.4) What spoken languages are you fluent in?

English, Dutch, French

5.5) At what hours are you awake and when will you be able to be in IRC (please specify in UTC)

from 8 utc till 21 utc. (Can differ by a couple of hours) During my "full time availability" period I will probably be on irc during the day.(all day)

5.6) Would you mind talking with your mentor on telephone / internet phone? We would like to have a backup way for communications for the case that somehow emails and IRC do fail.

Not a problem, I would prefer internet phone because of the costs and privacy.

In general please try to be as verbose as possible in your answers and feel free to elaborate.

End note:

I know I'm not available during a long period of time but I'm really motivated and would love to make a difference. Might I not be chosen for this project nor another I might still want to participate in your community in July (by preference with a "mentor" or "guide") but this I cannot guarantee.