[mosborne]

Hi:
Just want to toss this out again.

How about adding in a video feature. I can think of at least 3 ways, probably from easiest to hardest.

a) Concatenate the playback from each players turn.
b) Record the script for each unit action and results, then provide it at the end of the game. May require a standalone player to play the scrip, although I think the core of the player can be stripped from the game.
b) Like, "b", but record keystrokes also in the sequence. Thus you can see things like switching guns off, artillery assignments by which FO, etc.

Option (a) is probably the easiest, since I think all that is needed is to pipe the replay to a separate file for playing and extend it after each turn. This will make a nice game playback, although a bit choppy. Probably 3rd party software to do this, since it is simply a fancy screen capture (video pipe).

Option (b) is probably the happy middle ground. Downside, most likely will require recompile of the engine unless it has a debug feature that already permits this. Also, have to hold final generation until game ends to avoid cheating. Good points - much smoother battle replay, good for training sessions, and good for discouraging any most cheating.

Option (c) Slightly more complicated than (b), but would be the ultimate in training and the ultimate in cheat detection.

Please comment.
Thanks