FWIW, on your local file system you can also have map in an expanded format. That same expanded format is exactly the same as what gets checked in to github. For example, compare the files hosted here:
https://github.com/triplea-maps/total_world_war
To how I have the map not zipped below:
Command line view showing 'downloadedMaps' folder contents, note the 'total_world_war' map is a folder and not a zip:
Same, downloadMaps folder from finder:
It looks like the territory color is determined by the territory owner player. Did you update any territory owners to be the new players?
I'm looking at Total_World_War as an example, for example this line:
./games/Total_World_War_Dec1941_2.8.xml: <territoryOwner territory="Bulgaria" owner="DanubeAxis"/>
There are some interesting lines when looking at the custom country 'DanubeAxis', for example:
./games/Total_World_War_Dec1941_2.8.xml: <attachment name="playerAttachment" attachTo="DanubeAxis" javaClass="games.strategy.triplea.attachments.PlayerAttachment" type="player">
@simon33 You're right about the difference on 'game play-type' vs adding more info when loading a save-game. I'm thinking perhaps the game could be smart enough to know it's a PBF continuation from where the file is loaded. If the file comes from physical hard-disk then it's a local game. If the 'save-game' is actually hosted on forum, then the latest version is downloaded and game could be loaded in PBF mode. In this case the 'save-game' file shown in UI would be a virtual place-holder.
I think a very first version of a save-game UI should simply show local save-games and the info about those games. A v2 feature could build on that to have 'cloud-hosted' games.
Alternatively we might be able to update the game to recognize the loading screen, when loading a save game from PBF screen then it would be loaded as a PBF.
For how easier to start up games, I've had these two thoughts, short-term and longer/medium term:
IMO likely a quick win here, have the 'to', 'cc' and 'game-id' fields contain drop-down values of previously used values. This would be somewhat similar to how the 'forum' field is a drop-down, but would allow new entries to be added. Useful when switching between multiple opponents when playing multiple games. Picture below has red circle where to add drop-downs, green check to call out the existing drop-down:
To load save games today, we show a file menu chooser and rely on the user to find the save game file and load it.
The suggestion here is to build a UI that would show a list of save-games that a user can use to select/load a game. IMO the nice thing here is we can help organize the various save-games and make them easier to launch. For example we could have a 'tab' or a filter to show the auto-saves. Before launching any game the listings would show the map-name, the game type (local/PBF/PBEM/live), game-round.
There's a few things to solve here, mostly how to persist and read data about save games. A brute-force implementation would scan from a list of folders and load each save-game and gather the round/map info that way. Less obvious is how to code/solve for a player listing and to encode & detect if a save game is local/PBF.
An important eventual element of this is that we'll be able to abstract away the physical file and the games to load could include for example PBF and load a file that was posted to forum.
I like the lines of thought @simon33 . To complement that idea I'd suggest the 'game-id' field to 'remember' previously used values with a drop-down. If a user types a value instead then we have a 'create topic-id' or 'create forum post' button that would populate the topic-id and enable the start button or start the game directly.
https://www.axisandallies.org/forums/topic/31487/us-movement-to-greenland/2
Playing G40 vs AI, I just noticed that US movement to Greenland while neutral is not allowed. Not sure if this is a bug or feature, but I thought I’d mention it, as it completely nuked my “Fortress Greenland” strategy.
The Pripet Martian 2019 2018 May 3, 2018, 8:08 AM
Looking into this, the movement through the SZ's to get to Greenland are blacklisted for passage.
To fix this, I would suggest we alter the map to allow the passage. Maybe something like add a canal to the great lakes to hudson bay. With that US could sail to greenland for a move cost of 3 and not need to pass through retristed SZ 106.
This would change game mechanics, and we would need a volunteer(s) to see this through.
@redrum I've always thought Copy/Paste buttons would be nice to have. A 'copy' button would save a set of units and enable a 'paste' button that would load those same units back. It's easy to launch two battle calc's, so it'd be a reasonably easy way to transfer data between the two. A next feature that would be nice is a side-bar that could save/manage a list of saved unit lists. For example it's pretty common to keep track of a specific stack, saving 2 or 3 stacks into the saved list could save a lot of redundancy.
The simple click on another territory to load units I like. Getting a good UX there will be a bit tricky but could be very worthwhile. It would also be good to see a way to 'add' units and not just replace units as well. Thinking of a scenario where you want to sum up attackers from 2 or 3 territories.
In a non-compat state we can't get upgraded game clients out to everyone that easily as well. Having a few more weeks and avoiding an emergency release is worth $20. @prastle please do a renewal for a year. We can 'sell' the domain before the expiry when we are ready.