Google Summer of Code 2010
Limited play area
Current spring map formats have an harcoded rectangle geometry, also they provide very limited support for defining aestetics of the surrounding environment outside the play area.
The new system should allow the map to restrict the playable area to a subset of the global area, possibly adding support for multiple shapes and/or non rectangular shape restrictions.
The restriction shapes should be readable and changeable mid-game trough the engine's Lua API. Proper handling of units which are suddenly off-map needs to be implemented.
Sensor handling redesign / simplification
Currently there are a number of different "sensor" systems in the engine: LineOfSight, Radar, Sonar, Seismic. Some can be jammed, some can not. Some respect terrain, and some are always circular.
A new sensor system should integrate the current LOS, Radar, Sonar, Seismic systems, to reduce amount of code per functionality, and eventually add additional features wich would be then available for all types.
Preferably this all should also be faster then the current system, or a compelling argument/experiment should be made that shows there can not be a faster system with the same features.
Engine level abstraction of resources
The Spring engine has it's roots in being a Total Annihilation clone; even if such intent has been dropped since quite some time, the TA resource system is largely present in the codebase being hardcoded in a lot of critical places.
The old system needs to be replaced, the new one should be enough flexible to reproduce everything that the old system did and be able to imitate the behaviour of most common RTS game titles.
The engine's Lua API to fetch resources will have to be adapted to the new system, and new calls will have to be added to edit it.
GSoC_Engine_resource_abstraction
Basic ingame lobby
All existing Spring interfaces ( lobbies ) are either difficult to customize for game developers or have a different look 'n feel from the game itself and require focus switch from the game itself to operate.
A new, Lua scriptable lobby should be implemented with customization and control in the mind, possibly integrated with spring codebase and/or running as a separate process overlaying to the game's UI.
GSoC_Engine_resource_abstraction
Work in progress Google Summer of Code 2010 ideas page.
