ExtendingMultiplayerServer

Me

Hi, my name is Gaurav Mitra. I am 21 years old and a 3rd year Software Engineering/Science student at the Australian National University, Canberra. I have been playing Wesnoth for about 2 years now, and its about time I contributed to its development!

Coding Experience

I am proficient in the following programming languages :

• C
• C++
• Java
• Haskell
• ADA

I am familiar with Linux environments which is where most of my coding is done. However, one of my home pc's has windows on it where I use Cygwin to compile programs. But I prefer Eclipse for Java and C++ projects. My favourite code editors other than Eclipse are Kate on Linux and Notepad++ on Windows. I have used SVN extensively for coursework and use the Tortoise SVN shell extension in windows for version control. I am also familiar with basic Networking concepts

My teamwork experience is as follows:

• In my 1st year I worked on a Java version of BlockOut in a team of 4 people
• I am currently working in a team of 6 on a year long project to develop a Linux Robotic Framework (in C)
• I have worked in groups of 2-4 for numerous presentations on topics such as AJAX etc

My preferred method of development is Agile and I like working in small groups (eg 2-3 people).

As far as GSoC participation goes, this is my first time! My motivation for participating is mainly to gain experience in developing a professional project and I get to develop Wesnoth which is great! But i intend on going through with Wesnoth development even after its over.

Gaming Experience

I started playing games about 10 years back when I got my first pc. I prefer strategy war games rather than first person ones, hence my interest in wesnoth. My personal favourite game though is Age Of Empires II Conquerors, in which I have a fair bit of multiplayer gaming experience. I also enjoy Rome: Total War. In general I do not favour the AI as an opponent because its moves can be predicted. I find human opponents more unpredictable and hence exciting to fight, which makes me play multiplayer games more often! I also prefer more of gameplay rather than storyline. I'm also very much in contact with a big wesnoth playing community here on ANU campus so I am in constant competition with them via LAN games!

Communication Skills

I speak fluent English , Bengali and Hindi!

Contact Info

> IRC nick: dudegaurav

> Wesnoth Forum : dudegaurav

> Gna : dudegaurav

> Email: dude.gaurav@gmail.com

> Skype name: dude.gaurav, available for voip anytime!

The times that i am awake are generally very flexible, usually I sleep from 15:00 to 21:00 UTC and am available the rest of the time. I will be logged into IRC most of the time but may not be checking it frequently so feel free to email me as i check mail every 30 mins !

My Ideas for Extending the Multiplayer Server

My motivation for choosing this project comes from the fact that I am a fan of multiplayer games and believe that Wesnoth would become more popular with more advanced multiplayer capabilities. I'm also proficient in C++ which helps I guess, and am a quick learner of concepts.

As mentioned by Wesnoth developers in their suggestions for this topic, the basic idea is to study the current multiplayer lobby, come up with tweaks, get them approved and code them! At the moment, the tweaks that are evident to me are:

• Support for different versions of Wesnoth i.e. different versions would have separate rooms and they could compete there rather than having to download the latest version again
• Support for different game types eg. Epic games (eg 100x100 maps), fast-turn games, large games and so on. Groupings of game types would enable players to choose games they are interested in faster and more easily
• Providing proper login authentication similar to IRC
• Player profiles, having info about player details, number of games played , won, lost, best match etc
• Having a multiplayer section on the website detailing player stats, game stats etc.
• Database for storing player profiles and ranking players based on their game statistics
• Grouping similar games, maybe making a grid layout rather than the current scroll up/down one
• Improved communication system between players i.e. private chat modes etc
• Simple room system similar to IRC, and separate rooms for different wesnoth versions, maybe more rooms for match-making purposes
• Filtering mechanism for games interested in i.e. game search system by specifying different criteria such as number of free slots, playing against whom (i.e. Northerners/Elves...), number of players, map size, map terrain, etc.
• Support for other languages for player convenience .

I also think it would also be a good idea to do some online research in the multiplayer lobby to find out what other Wesnoth players think needs improving!

Overview and Estimated Timeline

Page under construction at the moment , rest will be up shortly !