Re: [pbmserv-dev] source code

[Richard Rognlie <rrognlie@gamerz.net>]

On Fri, Mar 29, 2002 at 01:38:15PM -0500, Lyman Hurd wrote:
> Sorry to jump in with stupid questions.  I take it there is an API for game
> development?  Where does one download source?  Is the source code for
> existing games similarly available?

   For those of you who have an interest in implementation of pbmserv
   modules...
   
   My PBeM Server is implemented as a series of scripts/commands.
   
   When mail is received by pbmserv@gamerz.net, it looks for the subject
   line to tell it what to do. If it is not an administrative command
   (signup, change password, list, etc.) it looks to see if it has a
   games of that type defined (currently trax and twixt). If so, it
   executes the command specified by the subject line.
   
   The PBeM server script also sets a couple of environment variables
   that are inheritied by the game commands: INPUTFILE name of the file
   containing the message being processed LOGFILE name of a log file
   SENDER email address of the sender FROM Name of the sender (if known)
   
   The pbmserv script itself is written in perl.
        Subject: fetch.2 pbmserv.pl
       
   will retrieve the script.
   
   It is up to the individual game implementations to keep track of
   whatever they need. However, Soren and I have implemented a series of
   C++ classes that will make implementation of additional pbmserv
   modules easy.
   
   All PBeM stuff is located under the $PBMHOME directory
    $PBMHOME
                /etc            misc PBeM files
                /bin            command executables
                /games  
                        /Ataxx
                        /Trax
                        etc.
                /history        history files
                /ratings        ratings files
                /standings      standings files (for tournaments)
                /help           help files
                /src            source code
                /src.2          source code (for the 2nd generation pbmserv cod
e)
       
   All games *must* support a 'list' command to show what games are
   on-line (both current and recent past). 'show' and 'preview' commands
   are nice. 'standings' is also nice. 'challenge' allows two players to
   begin a game. Most of these commands are handled by the generic "Game"
   class. The important parts are
        Init()                  -- initialize the board
        MakeMove()              -- validate the move, and apply it to the board
        PrintBoard()    -- display the board
        IsGameOver()    -- is the game over?  who won?
        MustSkip()              -- can the current player make a move?
        ForcedMove()    -- is the current move forced?  if so, what is it?
       
   To get a sample implementation (Ataxx is a good example), send pbmserv
   a fetch.2 request...
        Subject: fetch.2 game.h game.cpp board2d.h board2d.cpp ataxx.h ataxx.cp
p
       
   Known bugs in the current implementation include 1st move resignation
   not resulting in a board "cancellation", and simultaneous move
   forfeits are not necessary handled correctly.
   
   --Richard
   apache_pb.gif (2326 bytes) 
-- 
 /  \__  | Richard Rognlie / Sendmail Ninja / Gamerz.NET Lackey
 \__/  \ | http://www.gamerz.net/rrognlie/    <rrognlie@gamerz.net>
 /  \__/ | No trees were killed in the sending of this message. 
 \__/    | However, a great many instructions were executed.