PP: More message types

[NotAFile]

The protocol currently defines three message types:

Value	Type
0	CHAT_ALL
1	CHAT_TEAM
2	CHAT_SYSTEM

1.x expands this with

Value	Type
0	CHAT_ALL
1	CHAT_TEAM
2	CHAT_SYSTEM
3	CHAT_BIG (displayed on the center of the screen)

In addition, OpenSpades defines:

Prefix	Meaning
N%:	Displays a "Notice" alert.
!%:	Displays a "Error" alert accompanied with a sound.
%%:	Displays a "Warning" alert accompanied with a sound.
C%:	Displays a center-aligned large message.

The prefixes are kind of ugly, so I propose the following extension:

Value	Type
0	CHAT_ALL
1	CHAT_TEAM
2	CHAT_SYSTEM
3	CHAT_BIG (displayed on the center of the screen)
4	CHAT_INFO (displays a notice)
5	CHAT_WARNING (displays a warning)
5	CHAT_ERROR (displays a error)

Concerns:

• old clients might not support this. This can be easily solved with server-side version checking.

[xtreme8000]

Could you provide examples on how these new types should be displayed on screen?

[NotAFile]

I think that is up to the individual implementation. There's really no good way to standardize it, it has to fit with each games look and feel.

In OpenSpades, the following is used:

BIG: displayed in the upper half in large letters, usually message about the game state. E.g. X has captured the intel, You were killed by X.

INFO, WARNING, ERROR: Small popup box in the bottom half. Info has a black border, warning a yellow border + icon, error a red border + icon

[xtreme8000]

Maybe this could work like #15 (comment) too?

[xtreme8000]

assigned extID 0xC1 (193, packetless), version 1 in BetterSpades