kaiserfro

OpenSSL's libcrypto should provide md5. I've never tried it on windows though, but is should be doable, i would think.

It looks like once upon a time the Awesomium was GPL..but thats probably outdated. The new one matches up with newer versions of Chromium, but the license is not compatible. I agree that Chromium is unstable. In fact, Google's development model is to always push ahead, since they dont really have any customers for their work, they don't need to bug fix/stabilize releases. Besides, they way they figure it, everything is in "Beta" stage..nothing ever gets finalized. Maybe things change once Chrome OS starts becoming available on netbooks. Having said that reading about the API that chromium provides value added to webkit maybe overkill. To make the thinnest implementation, writing a new webkit binding would be ideal. A webkit to GL binding of some sort. Basically, do what awesomium does, but directly to webkit and the javascript engine, instead of through the chromium api. Wow, what a task.

Reading the blog of the developer, it looks like Awesomium 1.5 will be free for non-commercial use. See the blog. Unfortunately, it looks like much of this work is for windows. It may not be so portable.

I think this is a great idea too. I like the idea of being able to develop and test the GUI without the game itself. This could attract some new developers. Its ashamed that awesomium is closed source...as that sounds like it may be the way to go. It also sounds like the google api port may be a bit overkill. So it sounds like a new webkit or google api wrapper will be in order. I'm not all that versed about embedding webkit in a GL-based game a a texture. I've heard of people attempting this since webkit can render to a buffer. So I have a question...In a browser the rendered page is an dynamic entity, with controls (drop downs, links, etc.), and the DOM is modifiable on the fly. If the page is rendered to a buffer, that sounds a bit static to me. How does the user interact with the rendered HTML? Its like the GL engine would need to capture mouse events and trigger re-renders of portions of the HTML page to be redisplayed on the texture. Once thats all square, then you could do neat things like JS code to modify the pages on the fly. Maybe some AJAX like interactions for communicating with a game server and updating the pages accordingly.

I opened up a trac ticket #316 for the civ selection gui. I just started putting ideas down...

I filed a bug in trac, bug #315. I attached a patch file that seems to fix the bug. I don't think it is necessary to keep resetting the scroll position back to 0 everytime the dropdown list is opened. That was it'll draw the list to wherever the selected item is.

Somehow I figured as much. I thought I'd ask. I guess we shall see if the gui engine can replicate that then, eh?

Jeru, Do you have the XML that generated that screenshot?

That new one looks pretty neat. Personally, I don't care what it looks like, I'm interested in the function. Simple ui's for testing, and leave it up to people with artistic talent better than mine to dream up those neat screens. Theming that screen based upon the selected civ would be a neat idea (background image, foreground image, fonts, and colors). The data has to be separated from the view though.

The civ select screen is enlarged to be as large as the session setup screen. Additional panes are added for various pieces of information. The dropdown has the list of available civ's and selecting the civ actually changes the image...The text should change as well obviously, where there is text to change to.

The reason I say this is because looking around the existing collection of data, civ data is mixed up among a lot of different files. Technologies are in a technologies file, the sprites are in a sprites file, etc. For someone modding the game, it would be nice to refactor these types of things to put civ stuff together in a civ file. That way I can introduce a new civ to the game by creating 1 new file instead of modifying countless others. Of course, even with my limited time playing around with this stuff, there are PLENTY of things to do. I figured I'd start with something that seemed relatively simple and it seems to be exploding into a zillion little things. I guess nothing better to do then roll up ones sleeves and start digging in with whatever spare time I may have.

Note that I did modify the existing screen slightly to replace the civ name with a drop down. I think that would be a decent solution to the quick, "I want civ X" scenario. I notice a small bug(?) with the drop down list behavior though....when selecting an item, when you pull down the drop down again, it doesn't automatically move the list to the selection...it starts at the top again. I also noticed a typo in the emblem XML files...the Carth image is referenced as Kart.dds even though the actual name in SVN is Cart.dds.

The first is a simple modification of the existing game setup screen. Changing the Civ Name to a drop down. This would be the simplest and quickest way to change the Civ for experienced players. The second is a new screen that comes up when clicking on the Civ's image. One part of the screen showing the image again, plus previous/next buttons (maybe a drop down instead?). The rest of the screen can be civ information...It'd be nice if there was a HTML rendering text box, then you can put a nicely formatted HTML page full of history, civ bonuses, Hero lists, special buildings, etc. It appears there is still much underlying work that still needs to be done. Like, where do you get the civ information, the civ lists, what to do with the selection.

I think since its fairly simple to use the actual game engine to mock up an idea, I'll just capture some screen shots of what I'm thinking about...I'll post them when I get a chance. I have not gotten a change to go through all of the resources in SVN with a fine tooth comb. I was wondering if there is an XML file, or a series of XML files that describe the civilizations. I could see an XML containing information similar to the design documents for each civ (http://trac.wildfiregames.com/wiki/Civ%3A_Carthaginians). Basically something that has the name, brief overview (where it originated, short history, etc), civ bonuses, team bonuses, special buildings or special units for the purposes of displaying that information on the selection screen. Then additional information for the use within the simulation such as the list of units and buildings, etc that this civ is capable of using in conjunction with the tech tree for the civ. Is there a file like that existing already?

I tend to agree...I think since this is a feature that is missing, it shouldn't matter a whole lot in this early stage how it looks as long as it works...the nice thing is that the GUI is fairly easy to modify if need be.