TO Mass Game Creating Engine

[patrickaa317]

Some discussion that was going on in a different place:

I personally think adding some enhancements to allow community TO's would keep this community of players more involved.

I have ran a fair amount of tourneys in the past, the majority being more than a single elimination 8 team bracket but I probably won't be running many more if any in the future just because it's such a manual process with little satisfaction upon completion. I would be all about organizing tournaments if we could get something like this in place: viewtopic.php?f=704&t=195813

Being the data geek that I am, I recognize how easily it would be to have a spreadsheet with all the data columns automatically created, then just import a CSV or XML file into a game creation engine to spit out a giant batch of games. Of course this would have to be limited to those who are proven able to use such a tool but I think this would be a HUGE benefit to the community as there would be a whole new set of tournament styles created. I would even volunteer myself to be a main point of contact for reviewing each file before it is imported and games created to ensure it was what the TO was expecting and follow proper formatting.

I'm all for many of the changes described above (especially patrick's spreadsheet idea, which exists in the Suggestions Forum as well)

Can we get this removed from the Rejected bin then

(also, in fairness, it was originally Robes idea but I am a huge proponent of it and it can be noted that I will take full ownership of review and importing of datasheets if this is agreed to be implemented. That is how big of a fan I would be of it.)

Well, I got overruled by blake, who argued that it wouldn't be worth the time to implement this. You'll have to convince him

I'm all for many of the changes described above (especially patrick's spreadsheet idea, which exists in the Suggestions Forum as well)

Can we get this removed from the Rejected bin then

(also, in fairness, it was originally Robes idea but I am a huge proponent of it and it can be noted that I will take full ownership of review and importing of datasheets if this is agreed to be implemented. That is how big of a fan I would be of it.)

The suggestion (if it is the one I think it is) needs to be much more clear before I'm able to properly consider implementing it.

Exactly what things should you be able to define with such a spreadsheet? How will you define them? How will the system handle things it doesn't understand?

I'm all for many of the changes described above (especially patrick's spreadsheet idea, which exists in the Suggestions Forum as well)

Can we get this removed from the Rejected bin then

(also, in fairness, it was originally Robes idea but I am a huge proponent of it and it can be noted that I will take full ownership of review and importing of datasheets if this is agreed to be implemented. That is how big of a fan I would be of it.)

The suggestion (if it is the one I think it is) needs to be much more clear before I'm able to properly consider implementing it.

Exactly what things should you be able to define with such a spreadsheet? How will you define them? How will the system handle things it doesn't understand?

The settings you can specify in Start a Game - game settings, labels, passwords, and players.
The same way the api defines them.
It can trigger error messages and not create the games - or we can have someone (a bunch of someones, if need be) review the files before they're submitted - patrick has already volunteered, and I would certainly be willing to help.

sempai

I'm all for many of the changes described above (especially patrick's spreadsheet idea, which exists in the Suggestions Forum as well)

Can we get this removed from the Rejected bin then

(also, in fairness, it was originally Robes idea but I am a huge proponent of it and it can be noted that I will take full ownership of review and importing of datasheets if this is agreed to be implemented. That is how big of a fan I would be of it.)

The suggestion (if it is the one I think it is) needs to be much more clear before I'm able to properly consider implementing it.

Exactly what things should you be able to define with such a spreadsheet? How will you define them? How will the system handle things it doesn't understand?

System should reject the file completely for anything incomplete or improper format. I would expect all parameters to be defined within the file.

Everything needed for game creation would be in the CSV or XML file. I've attached a CSV as that is easier for average people to understand so I'd assume that would be your preferred approach, though I personally think XML would be much more powerful and cleaner. I could even build an app for verification of the XML using XLinq (more to come on that as I'm just getting my hands wet on that skill set )

I can't seem to get an attachment in my reply but here's a pasted in example, copy and paste it to a notepad file then open it in excel. It's looks ugly when pasted in as text so don't let this first impression sway you.

Code: Select all

Headline,Number of Players,Type,Initial Troops,Play Order,Spoils,Forts,View,Trench,Round Limit,Round Length,Map,tournament,Game label,password,Player 1,Player 2,Player 3,Player 4,Player 5,Player 6,Player 7,Player 8,Player 9,Player 10,Player 11,Player 12
Valid entries:,2,S (Standard),A (Automatic),S (Sequential),E (Escalating),C (Chained),F (Foggy),N (No Trench),0 (None),24 (24 hours),exact name,tournament name,freeform,freeform,,,,,,,,,,,,
,3,E (Terminator),M (Manual),F (Freestyle),F (Flat),A (Adjacent),S (Sunny),T (Trench),20 (20 rounds),5 (5 minutes),or map_id if exists,or tourney_id if exists,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
,4,A (Assassin),,,N (Nuclear),U (Unlimited),,,30 (30 rounds),4 (4 minutes),,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
,5,2 (Polymorphic 2 slots),,,Z (Zombies),P (Parachute),,,50 (50 rounds),3 (3 minutes),,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
,6,3 (Polymorphic 3 slots),,,0 (None),N (None),,,100 (100 rounds),2 (2 minutes),,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
,7,4 (Polymorphic 4 slots),,,,,,,,1 (1 minute),,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
,8,D (Doubles),,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
,9,T (Triples),,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
,10,Q (Quadruples),,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
,11,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
,12,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

Code: Select all

Game example (13835171)
2,3,A,S,E,C,S,N,0,24,Bamboo Jack,Serbia's NFL 2013 Poly Trip,Kansas City vs NY Giants,password1,JoJo123,patrickaa317,,,,,,,,,,

This conversation can easily get out of hand and we might want to move it back to the TO game creating engine thread. But generally, I support the use of a CSV file (which can be easily programmed or built from an office spreadsheet software) with strict parameters for each game, with one game per row.

completely agreed. And I think the one game per row is mandatory. And I know I can create some Excel files with appropriate logic that I can share with a team of volunteers to verify all current checks done in the UI upon game creation. (i.e. Poly is sequential and 2 player only; Assassin needs to be 3 players or more, Age of Realms is only ok with 6 players or less, etc, etc).

[JamesKer1]

Funny how the times change.