[Kde-games-devel] KMines SVG

[Mauricio Piacentini]

Hi, guys. Due to peer pressure :), I have just committed the initial 
implementation of SVG theme loading in KMines.

Dirk wrote:
> I like it, but I think in case of KMines it's important to keep 
> something "classic". Although different themes may be overhead.

I agree with Dirk here. The initial theme I checked in is just the SVG 
version of the current KDE3 implementation, see a ref (PNG) showing 
current elements (including those drawn by code) and the SVG elements 
that will replace them at

http://www.tabuleiro.com/mauricio/ref_kmines.png

Only the main components are currently customizable. I am still 
undecided about text and fonts, as the current code uses the system 
default, which appears to be the right thing to do. The status/score 
widgets are not customizable right now.

The SVG is available in KDE SVN if people want to start playing with it. 
  Some more elements will be required (outer field frame, background, 
score areas) and I will add them when the code is ready for it.

Johann wrote:
>> What do you think about something like that (made in few minutes, just to
>> see)??
>>
>> http://johann.pwsp.net/wp-content/uploads/2007/02/kmine-test.png

It looks nice, specially the smiley. However, I believe the clickable 
areas need to have some depth, in order to differentiate between clicked 
  (cleared) and non-explored areas.
Also, the smiley is currently a button that also restarts the game. This 
needs to be considered, or we can think about changing this behavior.
Regarding the timer, I am all for removing the current KGameLCD 
implementations, but this needs to be worked in code before I can 
implement it in art.
I am not certain about the background. It looks great on this particular 
mockup and proportions, but KMines can have different board sizes and 
dimensions, so we would need to find something that works always.

Also, I (or someone) need to implement the code for displaying the 
background. And not only for displaying, but specially for configuring 
it, loading a theme, etc. Code hacking is also needed in order for the 
current status/score widgets and central field frame to be customizable.

I am raising these points because I believe we are getting slightly 
ahead of the current state of the game code. Do not read me wrong, I am 
all for prototyping, but someone needs to actually implement the design, 
make sure nothing breaks ,and emulation of the classic look is possible. 
I am planning to do this, but with no pressure. :)

Ian wrote:
 >Couldn't open the .svgz file properly (broken image), but it looks
 >as if you are getting somewhere, judging from your notes.  It really
 >is vital that you make contact with Mauricio before going much
 >further, if you have not already done so.

I could not view the SVG file posted by Matt. Inkscape does not include 
the referenced local PNGs when you save the file, this has bitten me 
before as well. That is why I posted a screenshot of the SVG file 
previously in this message.

But Matt, you can now get the kmines_classic.svgz file from KDE SVN, and 
maybe develop an alternative version for KDE4. As I mentioned before, 
some interface elements are not (yet) customizable, but the basic ones 
are there, smileys, bombs, cells. Feel free to experiment with it. And 
as an added bonus you can simply save over your installed KDE4 copy of 
the theme file and preview the results in-game, as the code commited 
today is already using it.

Ian wrote:
 >You don't want to be working at cross-purposes with him and
 >it is part of our etiquette that you should always check with the
 >maintainer or author.  That's why we have our maintainers' list.
 >Integrating graphics with a game needs to be a co-operative
 >effort between artist and programmer, I believe.

Don't worry, I was really needing a push in order to commit the partial 
stuff I had. But I agree that we need artists, and we need to make sure 
the programs can accomodate to the needs of the theme designer. But 
currently there are limits to this, as some code is at almost 10 years 
old, and not designed for it. Hopefully we will be able to use very 
flexible theming in the near future, so something like Johann's proposal 
should be possible with only a SVG file and some metadata in a .desktop 
file. We are not there yet, though :)

Regards,
Mauricio Piacentini