Replays/Better Spectator Features

[iwantanimac]

Hi all

I have a suggestion I've thrown around with a few mates who play OpenTTD with me and they all think it'd be good, so I'm putting it out for the global OTTD community to contemplate.

Spectating OpenTTD games is currently a bit stupid. You have to look around trying to figure out where the action is. My idea is that the camera should automatically jump around to important events - this could even be used for a LAN party so people could spectate on one screen (Similar to some RTS games). It would take some tweaking to get it right, but I think it has enormous potential.

Also, replays are a feature that would be really useful for learning tactics. There should be the same features as in the spectator mode described above, but it should also include some extra windows for company performance and a log of how and where each company makes their profits, including the distance traveled and time in transit, as well as where they're building. It should also include a separate cursor for each player - which you can follow or just have visible. This should include AI players.

Not sure if these are entirely possible given the current nature of the OpenTTD code, but they're something I think would be valuable to implement.

So, comments? =P

[T-Unit]

I suppose being able to record a tutorial would be good. Itd be great for newbies.

[sforget]

I think for the "Auto-goto" a good solution would be to have viewports that can be "locked" onto another player.

This "locked" viewport would always stay centered at the same location as the players screen, thus allowing a spectator to watch what a specific player is doing - heck even watching multiple players can be done with multiple "locked" viewports.

I don't think this would be too difficult to code and wouldn't require any kind of event monitor to track important events.

One problem I see with the "event" model you suggest is the simple question: What is an important event?

Construction of a station?
Construction of a vehicle/train?
Collision?
Disaster?
Arrival/departure of a vehicle?
Arrival/departure of first vehicle?

any one of 1000's of other events could also be considered important - it depends on what you are watching.

The Player tracking idea I mention allows a spectator to choose who he/she wants to spectate and stay with that player.

[iwantanimac]

Thanks for the input, guys.

Recording for a tutorial would also be good.

I've just realized that probably the biggest reason there are no replays yet is the fact that it would basically require a separate savegame each time something happens, so i guess savegames would have to be refined, and it would need to be smarter, like recording only each action rather than the full map.

The "Important Events" should probably be configurable by the user. I guess it should be like the news system, completely configurable. I agree with your viewports idea. That's a good way to do it.

[AntBUK]

If you search the forums all the above has been previously suggested.

Video: http://www.tt-forums.net/viewtopic.php?f=32&t=32735

Viewport: http://www.tt-forums.net/viewtopic.php?f=32&t=32715

[iwantanimac]

If you search the forums all the above has been previously suggested.

Video: http://www.tt-forums.net/viewtopic.php?f=32&t=32735

Viewport: http://www.tt-forums.net/viewtopic.php?f=32&t=32715

The idea of having extra statistics isn't. Also, the viewport idea is different from that viewport synching, in that it would probably extend to multiple, windowed viewports.

[AntBUK]

Maybe not all then... But from what I can work out viewport sync will lead to the same problems.

[iwantanimac]

viewport sync will lead to the same problems.

Yep. The code isn't really optimised for things like that.

[sforget]

viewport sync will lead to the same problems.

Yep. The code isn't really optimised for things like that.

How much optimisation can be required for sending a simple set of co-ordinates?

All that should be needed is the co-ordinates of where the "locked" player is viewing. Otherwise, everything should be able to operate as it currently does.

Most users tend to build in the center of the screen so tracking exactly where their cursor is (or anything else) would be overkill

[iwantanimac]

viewport sync will lead to the same problems.

Yep. The code isn't really optimised for things like that.

How much optimisation can be required for sending a simple set of co-ordinates?

All that should be needed is the co-ordinates of where the "locked" player is viewing. Otherwise, everything should be able to operate as it currently does.

Most users tend to build in the center of the screen so tracking exactly where their cursor is (or anything else) would be overkill

Tracking the cursors would be useful for the replays if you don't have the viewports active.