[Kde-games-devel] How do you play jigsaw puzzles

[Stefan Majewsky]

Am Mittwoch 21 Oktober 2009 00:15:29 schrieb Matthew Woehlke:
> > I think it would make sense for the puzzle creation UI to only ask for
> > the total piece count, but to internally store and use an X by Y
> > system. This keeps things simple for the basic user,  but allows one
> > to manually tweak the puzzle file if one wants tall skinny pieces.
> 
> Personally I would leave it up to the slicer. Maybe slicers should have
> a way to add options for that slicer; you could add 'aspect' as an option.

You should really have a look at the libpala API. Slicers already have a way 
to add options (even if the X-Y scheme is the only set of properties that is 
in use currently). Here's how the basic workflow is:
1. When the plugin is loaded, it creates an instance of a subclass of 
Pala::Slicer.
2. The Pala::Slicer creates Pala::SlicerProperty instances to describe its 
parameters. Possible types are string, integer, boolean; more types can be 
added to libpala.
3. Palapeli's create-puzzle dialog reads the property list of the slicer, and 
creates widgets to configure the property values.
4. When you click on "Create puzzle", the image and the property values are 
read from the dialog and packed into a Pala::SlicerJob instance, which is then 
passed to Pala::Slicer.
5. The slicer reads the input from the SlicerJob, creates the pieces and 
defines relations between them. This output is written into the SlicerJob.
6. Palapeli reads the output of the slicer from the SlicerJob, and creates a 
new puzzle file.

> > One other suggestion. Don't add highscores. I've already seen one
> > person suggest it at your blog and I have to say I'm strongly opposed.
> > The concepts of jigsaw puzzling and time pressure are so intrinsically
> > opposite that the idea of adding highscores to a puzzling game seems
> > downright blasphemous.  In my experience, the success of a puzzling
> > session is best assessed by the quality of conversation and the volume
> > of tea consumed in the process, not by a stopwatch. (Unfortunately,
> > curiosity got the better of me and I did some research. It turns out
> > there is such a thing as a speed puzzling competition. Sigh.)
> 
> ...or at least make them optional. But I agree, jigsaw puzzles should be
> relaxing. Timing them tends to break that (and then you need a 'pause'
> also).

Of course, timing will be optional. I think that other stuff is more important 
than puzzling against the clock and hunting for highscores.

Greetings
Stefan

-- 
Die Zukunft wird nicht gemeistert von denen, die an der Vergangenheit kleben.
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