Given that OAD uses Javascript, how about noFlo?

[poVoq]

While many people know Javascript, it is not exactly the most liked programming language and for modders still not that easy to grasp.

Having an background as an artist, I really like those node-based shader editors (or Blender's somewhat limited logic blocks), which allow you to easily conceptualize the flow of a program visually.

Something similar also exists for regular Javascript programming: noFlo: http://noflojs.org/ and they also recently successfully kickstarted their development environment: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/noflo/noflo-development-environment

I think this could be really awesome for modding and given that itself also runs under JS, it should even be possible to integrate it in 0AD.

A big strength of such a system is also the shareability of code blocks, which could really kick off modding by vastly lowering the entry barrier for new developers.

What you do think?

Edited April 3, 2014 by poVoq

[sanderd17]

We must always watch out with including "new" stuff in a large code base like 0 A.D.. That new stuff can get abandoned quickly, and our work based on it would be completely lost.

Next to that, I don't see how noFlo would help. As our code base is so big, it would be just as difficult to browse through the graph as it is now to browse through the code. And our code blocks are also made as "sharable" as possible, with all extensions that came to our mind in the implementation.

So I see no use in it for modding. However, I do see a use of flow-programming when it comes to triggers. The first version of the triggers will be purely code-based. But it should be possible to generate trigger code with an easier interface. Such a flow based interface might work better. Whether noFlo is suited for it or not will have to be researched.