[Kde-games-devel] Here, there be feedbacks

[Matthew Woehlke]

Richard Hartmann wrote:
> On Fri, Aug 8, 2008 at 18:14, Matthew Woehlke
> <mw_triad at users.sourceforge.net> wrote:
> 
>> I tend to start a new game
>> to shave off the few seconds getting oriented from the app first
>> starting up.
> 
> That didn't parse. Can you rephrase, please?

Usually, when starting a game, it takes a second or two for my brain to 
get into "game playing mode". For timed games that start instantly 
(kshisen), that translates into counted seconds that I'm not processing 
the puzzle. So I usually discard the initial puzzle and start a new one, 
after my brain is settled into "game mode".

...not sure that's any more clear ;-).

>> For games with hints (kshisen, kdiamond) this should be
>> relatively easy to implement, just keep calling hint and then executing
>> that move.
> 
> Indeed. That is a basic AI. Throw a depth-first algorithm on it for games
> that allow you to undo moves and you have a full demo mode.

Nah, IMO it's no problem if the demo gets stuck ;-).

>> (Actually, for non-timed like ksame I guess it doesn't
>> matter, but for kshisen and knetwalk the scoring is muchly or wholly
>> about the time it takes to complete the puzzle.)
> 
> It would probably be depressing to try to match the time a computer
> takes to solve those kinds of puzzles ;)

Maybe, though I /expect/ the computer to be able to solve - or at least 
progress through - the puzzle very fast, so I don't think that 
expectation being met would have a crushing effect on my morale. 
Besides, IMO there is something wrong with me if I am trying to beat the 
computer's time. I /should/ be trying to beat my own time... or my 
friend's time :-).

Demo mode obviously would work like 'hint'; once used, no high score is 
saved. (Alternatively, Sherlock adds 30 seconds for every hint used, 
which is pretty reasonable for that game. Different games might need to 
add different amounts, but it's pretty easy to make a hint "cost" enough 
time that a modestly-skilled player will always achieve a better time 
without hints.)

-- 
Matthew
I was recently amused by issuing 'rm -rf $KDEDIR'... from Konsole, while 
in a KDE session. And nothing bad happened whatsoever. Try THAT on 
Windows :-D.