Proposed new set of levels for KGoldrunner

[Ian Wadham]

Hi Albert,

Thank you very much for all your help with this. Just a couple of questions below.

> On 8 Jun 2021, at 7:40 am, Albert Astals Cid <aacid at kde.org> wrote:
> 
> El dilluns, 7 de juny de 2021, a les 2:07:08 (CEST), Ian Wadham va escriure:
>> Hi Albert,
>> 
>>> On 7 Jun 2021, at 8:22 am, Albert Astals Cid <aacid at kde.org> wrote:
>>> 
>>> El dissabte, 5 de juny de 2021, a les 5:58:51 (CEST), Ian Wadham va escriure:
>>>> Hi Albert,
>>>> 
>>>>> On 17 Apr 2021, at 9:20 am, Albert Astals Cid <aacid at kde.org> wrote:
>>>>> 
>>>>> El divendres, 16 d’abril de 2021, a les 8:03:34 (CEST), Ian Wadham va escriure:
>>>>>> Hi guys,
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> I have received a new set of 50 levels for KGoldrunner from Gabriel Miltschitzky, one of KDE's KGoldrunner game composers. It is called "Gold Of The Living Dead" and is based around present-day zombie mythology.
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> It consists of two new files: a game-data file and a recorded-solutions file. So far, I have checked that all the levels and solutions work and I have edited the game description and hints, to make them more “standard” for the translators, among other changes. The files are currently back with Gabriel for final review. When he returns them, I will add any changes he suggests, then the two files will be ready to add to the KGoldrunner repository at kgoldrunner/gamedata, along with a small change to the kgoldrunner/gamedata/CMakeLists.txt file.
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> Unfortunately it has been many years since I committed to a repository and I no longer have commit access. So I would need help with getting the changes committed. I do still have a KDE Ident, so can participate in a Merge Request. I think the game-data file would need review to ensure that it meets current standards for translatable text (i.e. the hints and the game-description) and that the text can be successfully extracted, so I would need a suitable reviewer for that.
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> Finally, I have no idea when the next release cycle might start, nor how much time there is till then. I have googled around but found only the schedule information for the 20.12 release.
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> So, please could someone fill me in and help me get this new KGoldrunner game launched?
>>>>> 
>>>>> https://community.kde.org/Infrastructure/GitLab#Submitting_a_merge_request lists all you need to know to submit a Merge Request, but if you feel overwhelmed, just send the files my way and i'll create the Merge Request for you.
>>>> 
>>>> The files for the new set of levels are now ready to go into a Merge Request, so I would like to take you up on your kind offer, Albert.
>>>> 
>>>> There are two new text files, a game file and a solutions file, plus a small patch to the CMakeLists.txt file for kgoldrunner/gamedata. I will send them to you privately to avoid cluttering the KDE Games list with attachments.
>>>> 
>>>> These levels and solutions were composed by Gabriel Miltschitzky. My contribution has been editorial.
>>>> 
>>>> Re the Merge Request and review, Gabriel and I have reviewed and tested all the levels, hints and solutions. All of them are valid KGoldrunner puzzles, all of them work, all are playable (by Gabriel, but not all by me :-(), all the solutions work, all the Help texts and game description work and the texts are, to the best of my knowledge, in idiomatic US English and ready for translation into other languages. Gabriel and I have tested all this with KDE 4 and, in his case, also with a distro of KF5 KGoldrunner.
>>>> 
>>>> Further review and a small amount of testing are needed to cover the following, I would suggest:
>>>> 
>>>>   - That KGoldrunner, plus the new set of levels, builds with the latest KF5 environment (I am unable to check this),
>>>>   - That the new set of levels and its description appears in the New Game selection dialog (i.e. Game Of The Living Dead),
>>>>   - That the Messages.sh script correctly extracts for translation new strings and the translators’ note (i.e. that what is extracted is the entirety of what you see on the screen when you use Help or the game selection dialog in English — this is to check against a syntax error in the C++ pseudo-code in the game file),
>>> 
>>> There is a line with
>>> i18n("");
>>> in game_GotD.txt which makes no sense, you can't translate "nothing”.
>> 
>> My apologies, Albert. That line and the lines just before and after it are meant to be extracted as one translatable string, containing two short paragraphs with \n as separators.
>> 
>> I am sending you the corrected file privately.
> 
> Ok, all committed.

Thanks again, Albert. Just two questions...

I looked at https://invent.kde.org/games/kgoldrunner/-/commits/master and even logged in as KDE ID “ianw”, but could find no branch or merge request. Should there be one, or am I missing something?

Also, could you send me a file of all the strings the latest KDE translation scripts extract from file kgoldrunner/gamedata/game_GotD.txt? Then I can check that they all appear as intended (i.e. no fragmentation or missing bits).

> I did some testing and i guess it works, i'm terrible at playing kgoldrunner so ... :D

So the build worked with the new files in it. They are just data-files, no changes to C++ code, so I would expect KGoldrunner to work as before, in the latest releases and with the latest libraries. So no need to play… :-)

When you start KGoldrunner, the demo tests almost everything except GUI actions and menus.

The new levels, Game Of The Living Dead, can be tested by loading each (or any) level and its solution. To step through several levels, use H (for Help), Esc (for Show A Solution) and Y (for Play Next Level). 

Each recorded level should terminate with all the gold gone and the hero on the top row of the layout. Failure to get there would mean that there is something wrong with the layout of the level or something is not working properly down in Qt, as happened before in 2007-2008 when QGraphicsView and KDE 4 first appeared.

Gabriel and I have already tested all levels on various earlier versions of KDE. Also he composed them and can play and win all of them, as evidenced by the recorded solutions. I can play only a fraction of them… too old for this stuff now… not fast enough any more… :-(

All the best,
Ian W.

> Cheers,
>  Albert
> 
>> 
>>> Since i don't really understand the syntax of that file i can't suggest a solution.
>> 
>> Basically the syntax consists of i18n() or i18nc() function calls (the displayable, translatable strings) and C++ comments that contain the data for the KGoldrunner levels, but the file is not a complete, compilable C++ program. The game-data files (“kgoldrunner/gamedata/game_*”) all follow the same scheme.
>> 
>> What has happened in this case is an example of how a hand-editing error by me can lead to translatable strings being fragmented, truncated or not detected by KGoldrunner's Messages.sh script. I hope there will be no more such cases. I wish I had some better way to test that than just proof-reading the strings on a screen in English.
>> 
>> Cheers,
>> Ian W.
>> 
>>> Cheers,
>>> Albert
>>> 
>>>>   - That US English and spelling is used correctly throughout (I am dual Austrlian/UK nationality and Gabriel is German, but we have done our best),
>>>>   - That there are no hard-to-translate phrases,
>>>>   - That no typos have escaped Gabriel and me,
>>>>   - That the English style is in-line with KDE Community conventions (my memory of these is somewhat rusty).
>>>> 
>>>> All that said, I can thoroughly recommend the 50 levels of Game Of The Living Dead to all KGoldrunner fans. Although some of the levels are extremely difficult, all are entertaining and exploit the quirks of KGoldrunner’s behaviour in amusing ways, even if you just watch the solutions.
>>>> 
>>>> I am hoping they will appear in the KDE Gear 21.08 Release.
>>>> 
>>>> A quick note to potential reviewers: you can step through the levels, hints and solutions by repeatedly hitting Y (for Play Next Level), H (for Help) and Escape (for Show A Solution).
>>>> 
>>>> All the best,
>>>> Ian W.
>>>> 
>>>>> Cheers,
>>>>> Albert
>>>>> 
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> Thank you, in advance.
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> Cheers, Ian W.
>> 
>> 
> 
> 
> 
>