Asking to re-introduce 1.6 lobby as an optional choice

[michaelmax]

Hi all, and first of all cheers for the velocity of the 1.8 version, I find it so good. Anyways, here my proposal:
actually the 1.8 lobby has some bugs and it isn't really confortable to use, so why not reintroduce 1.6 lobby as an alternative choice and allow players to choose from 1.8 lobby and 1.6 lobby for the moment?
I think that a lot of player will be glad to have this chance.
Obliouvsly the new lobby could be the default one, and the 1.6 could be optional (example: can be an idea to add a command line like wesnoth --oldlobby) and obliouvsly in wesnoth 1.10 the new lobby could be the final one.
Thank for your time
Have fun all

[Noy]

Hello Michaelmax,

We cannot backport the 1.6 lobby to the new version; its just not technically possible because different functionality was added in 1.8. However we are making a very determined effort to deal with the system's bugs and we hope that within a month or two we will have a new stable version that deals with most of the annoying issues. Successive stable versions will have more detailed fixes for other less pressing issues.

We understand you have issues and we're trying to deal with them. If you have a problem you can make a bug report.

Noy.

[michaelmax]

Well, what I was talking about is not bug problems or something like that, but the interface of the lobby, that is really difficult to use, and if I find it hard, I can just imagine how that is for a newcomer. This lobby problem could really make some guys continue to use the older server cuz of the difficult of the 1.8 one. Just looking at the time the guys needed to pass from 1.4-1.5 at the 1.6 and the time they are taking now says a lot.
Ty for the time and the answering to all.
Have fun

[Noy]

Well, what I was talking about is not bug problems or something like that, but the interface of the lobby, that is really difficult to use, and if I find it hard, I can just imagine how that is for a newcomer. This lobby problem could really make some guys continue to use the older server cuz of the difficult of the 1.8 one. Just looking at the time the guys needed to pass from 1.4-1.5 at the 1.6 and the time they are taking now says a lot.
Ty for the time and the answering to all.
Have fun

I understand that and as I said we will be working on other issues later. That meant streamlining the GUI, which will be addressed. I think it will look significantly different and be easier to use. However we must immediately address the serious bugs, which are pretty severe. They cripple any functionality and must be dealt with.

[silene]

why not reintroduce 1.6 lobby as an alternative choice

Don't forget; the whole point of open source is that you have the possibility to do it yourself. It's about a 15-minute work (I tested it), longer if your computer is slower than my laptop:

• grab the 1.8 source repository,
• revert revisions 40127, 40126, 40125, 40120, 40111, 40110, 39491,
• compile and install.

You then get a Wesnoth executable whose lobby is the 1.6 one yet which works just fine on the 1.8 server (it's the one I'm using).

In fact, I may just as well attach the corresponding patch, just in case I messed when copying the commit numbers.

[Nobun]

Thank very much also by me for making this patch, silene.
Only a (noobish) question... how to use the "diff" file to patch the source?
Do you need some type of program?
Thank for your time

[Yoyobuae]

Use the "patch" tool:
http://linux.die.net/man/1/patch

[Iris]

And assuming you already have that patch program:

patch -p1 < path/to/diff/file.diff
(Must be run at the root of the distribution, i.e. the directory that contains the data/ and src/ directories and the changelogs.)

[thespaceinvader]

Just to confirm, since I think this may be part of the question: this patch is linux-only, right? No mac or windows options?

[silene]

this patch is linux-only, right? No mac or windows options?

It's a patch to the sources, so it doesn't have anything to do with Linux. Anyone willing to spend a bit of time compiling Wesnoth can use it. Instructions on how to compile Wesnoth for Windows, MacOSX, Linux, etc, can be found on the wiki.

[thespaceinvader]

Mmm, misphrase. Nothing available to patch existing windows and mac installs - it requires compiling.

[silene]

Mmm, misphrase. Nothing available to patch existing windows and mac installs - it requires compiling.

Even on Linux, there is nothing to patch existing installs and it requires recompiling too. I'm not sure why you are making a difference between the systems there.

[thespaceinvader]

Maybe I'm mistaken, but my impression is that there's a distinct difference in the proportion of users who are able to compile for themselves on linux as opposed to mac and particularly windows.

It's not really important, tbh.

[Sangel]

The majority of Wesnoth users are not savvy enough to compile their own copy of Wesnoth, unfortunately. That said, this patch is highly useful for those who are.

[ancestral]

What version of 1.7 introduced the new lobby?
And what version of 1.7 is the last known to be compatible with 1.8 multiplayer games?