This could be either built in to a client or a separate add-on. I am in favor of making is a separate add-on, as then it could be configure to run any client when you connect. It also reduces the amount of memory consumed while waiting for a game. -----Original Message----- From: netrek-dev-bounces at us.netrek.org [mailto:netrek-dev-bounces at us.netrek.org] On Behalf Of Zach Sent: Thursday, April 12, 2007 4:04 PM To: Netrek Development Mailing List Subject: Re: [netrek-dev] netrek ideas On 4/12/07, ChronosWS <chronosws at comcast.net> wrote: > I would go with the idea of creating a task bar applet (or equivalent for > the target OS.) You would configure this to say which kinds of games you > were interested and potentially which servers you were interested in as well > (in case you specifically want to use only a subset of the ones listed on > the metaserver.) This information would be communicated to the metaserver > at the time a metaserver refresh is made by the applet. The metaserver, in > turn, would broadcast the number of players waiting for games matching each > server to those who are listening (other applets, the metaserver > application, etc.) When the applet sees that enough players were available > to start tmode for a particular server, it would pop up a notification > informing the user of such, which if clicked would launch the Netrek client. > > This would require the following code: > > 1. A Windows taskbar applet (or equivalent for other OSes) allowing the user > to: > a. See the current status of servers, just like the metaserver > window. > b. Allow the player to signal they want to play and specify: > 1. Game type (Bronco, Sturgeon, etc.) > 2. Specific server > 3. Other fields as desired > c. Broadcast the desire to the metaserver once per minute. > d. Re-read the metaserver status every few seconds (15, 30?) > d. When a particular server has enough players, pop a notification > indicating > 1. Server and game type > 2. Number of interested players along with number of players > in the game > 3. Allowing the user to click the notification to start the > client and connect to the game. > > 2. Modification to the Metaserver as follows: > a. Maintain a list of players desired games > b. Add a 'waiting' count to each server line indicating the number > of players waiting for a game on that server > c. Remove a player from the list if a refresh has not been received > in the past 2 minutes. Yeah. Do you plan on adding this functionality to your new client? Zach _______________________________________________ netrek-dev mailing list netrek-dev at us.netrek.org http://mailman.us.netrek.org/mailman/listinfo/netrek-dev