Who says I'm "Human"? Personalize Forge Update...

[spr]

Personalize Forge
This will be primarily a cosmetic update but I do think it will improve the user experience immensely! Any objections please let me know. Any potential gotchas I might have missed please let me know. All things being well then expect a commit sometime this week-end.

• The aim of this update is to replace any reference to the impersonal "Human" with your own name/moniker.
• This is stored in a new setting, PLAYER_NAME.
• When starting Forge and PLAYER_NAME has not been set you will be automatically prompted to enter your name using the following sequence -
  

  

  
  

  

• This dialog will only be shown once on startup when PLAYER_NAME is empty. If you decline to provide a name then "Human" will be used as default and there will be no change from current behaviour.
• You can update the name at any time via the new Player Name preference setting under General Configuration.
  

  

• The AI random name generator has been updated so that if it selects the same name as the player it will choose another.
• The raw game log will now use PLAYER_NAME but for reference the MATCH_RESULT log entry will identify whether a player is HUMAN, COMPUTER or REMOTE.
  

  Code: Select all

  Match result: Steve [HUMAN]: 0 Keith [COMPUTER]: 1
Game outcome: Keith has won because all opponents have lost
Game outcome: You have conceded
Land: Steve played Plains (21)
Phase: Steve's Main, precombat
Phase: Steve's Draw
Phase: Steve's Upkeep
Phase: Steve's Untap
Turn: Turn 1 (Steve)
Mulligan: Keith has kept a hand of 7 cards
Mulligan: Steve has kept a hand of 7 cards


Cheers,
Steve

[moomarc]

What happens in a human vs human hot seat game? Is the name tied to the player or player type?

[spr]

What happens in a human vs human hot seat game? Is the name tied to the player or player type?

I am not familiar with the mechanics of a hotseat game, please can you describe it. The name is tied to the copy of "forge.preferences" being used via the new PLAYER_NAME setting - if you can have multiple instances of Forge that use the same preferences file then there will be a problem.

Cheers,
Steve.

[Max mtg]

In hotseat that's going to be another Steve... and that would be correct, since Forge refers to LobbyPlayer - well, that kinda prototype for user account in online game.

The change needed at system level to implement this feature seems relativelly easy - just make forge.game.player.LobbyPlayer.name mutable and assign a value to it as preferences are updated.

[spr]

In hotseat that's going to be another Steve... and that would be correct, since Forge refers to LobbyPlayer - well, that kinda prototype for user account in online game.

The change needed at system level to implement this feature seems relativelly easy - just make forge.game.player.LobbyPlayer.name mutable and assign a value to it as preferences are updated.

Sorry, I am none the wiser - please can you describe a typical use case when running Forge in hot seat mode. How would I go about emulating/running such a game for development purposes? Thanks.

Cheers,
Steve

[moomarc]

To play hot seat, select constructed match and change both player types to human (same as setting up an AI vs AI match).

[Max mtg]

The very feature was requested a few times, so I have added this mode after implementing player control effects, since the game had been just tuned up to show multiple hands at handle several players controlled by GUI.

I don't know many use cases. One could use it for playtesting (or maybe to teach someone how to play magic). It's impossible to use this mode for a comeptitive play, because all the hidden information is visible to both parties.

>> go about emulating/running such a game for development purposes
If you ask 'how to start a hotseat game' - then it's about setting player type to human for both players on constructed screen.

[spr]

Marc, Max - thanks for the clarification. This is an area of Forge I had never used before. My initial findings is that this update will not play nicely when I match Steve (HUMAN) vs Steve (HUMAN) - I was able to generate an exception without too much difficulty. I will look at how the current system handles this and see whether I can adapt the personalization code. Now I am glad I posted this before I committed!

Cheers,
Steve.

[spr]

r23430

• Displays a one-time only prompt when starting the next match after this update which offers user the chance to change the name they are referred to during gameplay.
• Added a new Game Player setting that can be used to change player name.
• Previously the user was referred to as the "Human" but occasionally was also referred to as "you" which was inconsistent. Now all messages should refer to user by their name.
• Hotseat games are not personalized with each "Human" referred to as "Player 1" and "Player 2".
• On the game summary screen renamed the buttons to be clearer and less ambiguous -
  - Continue -> Next Game
  - Restart -> Start New Match
  - Quit -> Quit Match

Cheers,
Steve