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 wesnoth would have much better market value with more advanced multiplayer capabilities. Im 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 ( maybe 100x100 maps ) , Large games and so on . Grouping of a certain type of game would enable players to choose games they are interested in , easily
• Providing proper login authentication similar to IRC
• Player profiles , having info about player details , number of games played , won , lost , best match 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 scroll up/down (current) one
• Improved communication system between players i.e. private chat 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. Northeners/Elves.. ) , number of players , map size , map terrain , etc.
• Having a multiplayer section on the website detailing player stats , game stats etc.
• Support for other languages for player convenience .

Overview and Estimated Timeline

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