diff --git a/TODO b/TODO
index b4d2b52..00f554e 100644
--- a/TODO
+++ b/TODO
@@ -9,7 +9,9 @@
 
 
 GAME
-	
+
+* display player panel information
+		
 * implement look/walk/attack modes
 	
 * expand player implementation

diff --git a/TODO b/TODO
index b4d2b52..00f554e 100644
--- a/TODO
+++ b/TODO
@@ -9,7 +9,9 @@
 
 
 GAME
-	
+
+* display player panel information
+		
 * implement look/walk/attack modes
 	
 * expand player implementation
diff --git a/client/crt-ext.lisp b/client/crt-ext.lisp
index 3d64869..974cac9 100644
--- a/client/crt-ext.lisp
+++ b/client/crt-ext.lisp
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@
 
 (defun query-user (scr msg &key (cls NIL) (val-width 30) (default ""))
 	"Display a popup asking the user to enter a value, then return that value"
-	;; I found croatoan's field/form to complicated to use (:form-default-keymap
+	;; I found croatoan's field/form too complicated to use (:form-default-keymap
 	;; doesn't seem to work), so I hacked up my own alternative
 	;; TODO display additional lines of text
 	(when cls (croatoan:clear scr)

diff --git a/TODO b/TODO
index b4d2b52..00f554e 100644
--- a/TODO
+++ b/TODO
@@ -9,7 +9,9 @@
 
 
 GAME
-	
+
+* display player panel information
+		
 * implement look/walk/attack modes
 	
 * expand player implementation
diff --git a/client/crt-ext.lisp b/client/crt-ext.lisp
index 3d64869..974cac9 100644
--- a/client/crt-ext.lisp
+++ b/client/crt-ext.lisp
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@
 
 (defun query-user (scr msg &key (cls NIL) (val-width 30) (default ""))
 	"Display a popup asking the user to enter a value, then return that value"
-	;; I found croatoan's field/form to complicated to use (:form-default-keymap
+	;; I found croatoan's field/form too complicated to use (:form-default-keymap
 	;; doesn't seem to work), so I hacked up my own alternative
 	;; TODO display additional lines of text
 	(when cls (croatoan:clear scr)
diff --git a/client/networking.lisp b/client/networking.lisp
index aa89563..ad66491 100644
--- a/client/networking.lisp
+++ b/client/networking.lisp
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@
 		"Send a request string to the server and return the answer"
 		;; If one argument is :ignore-errors, error strings are passed up
 		;; to the caller. Otherwise, they cause a crash.
-		;;TODO the client should handle errors gracefully!
+		;;TODO the client should handle errors gracefully
 		(unless naledi-server ;XXX do this with exceptions
 			(return-from query-server "You are not connected to a server!"))
 		(let* ((servstr (usocket:socket-stream naledi-server))

diff --git a/TODO b/TODO
index b4d2b52..00f554e 100644
--- a/TODO
+++ b/TODO
@@ -9,7 +9,9 @@
 
 
 GAME
-	
+
+* display player panel information
+		
 * implement look/walk/attack modes
 	
 * expand player implementation
diff --git a/client/crt-ext.lisp b/client/crt-ext.lisp
index 3d64869..974cac9 100644
--- a/client/crt-ext.lisp
+++ b/client/crt-ext.lisp
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@
 
 (defun query-user (scr msg &key (cls NIL) (val-width 30) (default ""))
 	"Display a popup asking the user to enter a value, then return that value"
-	;; I found croatoan's field/form to complicated to use (:form-default-keymap
+	;; I found croatoan's field/form too complicated to use (:form-default-keymap
 	;; doesn't seem to work), so I hacked up my own alternative
 	;; TODO display additional lines of text
 	(when cls (croatoan:clear scr)
diff --git a/client/networking.lisp b/client/networking.lisp
index aa89563..ad66491 100644
--- a/client/networking.lisp
+++ b/client/networking.lisp
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@
 		"Send a request string to the server and return the answer"
 		;; If one argument is :ignore-errors, error strings are passed up
 		;; to the caller. Otherwise, they cause a crash.
-		;;TODO the client should handle errors gracefully!
+		;;TODO the client should handle errors gracefully
 		(unless naledi-server ;XXX do this with exceptions
 			(return-from query-server "You are not connected to a server!"))
 		(let* ((servstr (usocket:socket-stream naledi-server))
diff --git a/client/user-interface.lisp b/client/user-interface.lisp
index b779719..77c82e7 100644
--- a/client/user-interface.lisp
+++ b/client/user-interface.lisp
@@ -183,42 +183,6 @@
 	(draw-place-panel placewin)
 	(draw-news-panel newswin))
 
-(defun draw-map-old (win me)
-	"Draw a portion of the game map in an ncurses window"
-	(setf (croatoan:.color-pair win) '(:white :black))
-	(croatoan:box win)
-	(croatoan:move win 1 1)
-	(let ((x0 (- (first me) (round (/ (croatoan:.width win) 4))))
-			 (y0 (- (second me) (halve (croatoan:.height win)))))
-		;; NB. x0 and w are calculated differently to y0 and h because we insert
-		;; a space after each character
-		(dotimes (h (1- (croatoan:.height win)))
-			(dotimes (w (- (halve (croatoan:.width win) 'floor) 2))
-				;;TODO replace `coord' with `query-server'
-				(let ((p (coord (+ w x0 3) (+ h y0 1))))
-					(if (null p) (croatoan:add-char win #\space)
-						(if (and (= (first (patch-pos p)) (first me))
-								(= (second (patch-pos p)) (second me)))
-							(progn (setf (croatoan:.color-pair win)
-									   '(:white :black))
-								(croatoan:add-char win #\@))
-							(if (patch-occupant p)
-								(progn
-									(setf (croatoan:.color-pair win)
-										(list (.color (patch-occupant p))
-											:black))
-									(croatoan:add-char win
-										(.char (patch-occupant p))))
-								(progn
-									(setf (croatoan:.color-pair win)
-										(list (biome-col (patch-biome p))
-											:black))
-									(croatoan:add-char win
-										(biome-char (patch-biome p)))))))
-					(croatoan:add-char win #\space)))
-			(croatoan:move win (1+ h) 1))
-		(croatoan:refresh win)))
-
 (defun draw-map (win)
 	"Draw a portion of the game map in an ncurses window"
 	;;XXX request each patch char singly from the server - doing it all
@@ -261,28 +225,24 @@
 				(1+ (first (croatoan:.cursor-position win))) 1))
 		(croatoan:refresh win)))
 
-;;FIXME needs to be overhauled for client/server
 (let ((news '("Press h for help.")))
 	(defun draw-news-panel (win)
 		"Draw a thin panel at the bottom of the screen to display news items."
+		(collect-news)
 		(croatoan:clear win)
 		(croatoan:move win 0 0)
-		;;TODO get news from server
 		(croatoan:add-string win (car news))
 		(croatoan:refresh win))
 
-	(defun notify (news-string &rest formats)
-		"Append a string to the news to notify the user."
-		;;TODO needs to be moved to the server
-		;;A bit of a kluge, but means that `notify' supports formatting
-		(setf news
-			(cons (apply #'format (cons NIL (cons news-string formats)))
-				news)))
+	(defun collect-news ()
+		"Collect news for this player from the server"
+		;;XXX I don't quite understand why I need to do `read-from-string' here
+		(let ((messages (read-from-string (query-server "messages"))))
+			(when messages (setf news (append messages news)))))
 
 	(defun message-window ()
 		"Return a dialog window with the last game messages."
-		;;TODO complete
-		;;TODO get news from server
+		;;TODO complete - stop the window disappearing
 		;;XXX use `user-inform' instead of dialog-window?
 		(make-instance 'croatoan:dialog-window
 			:input-blocking t

diff --git a/TODO b/TODO
index b4d2b52..00f554e 100644
--- a/TODO
+++ b/TODO
@@ -9,7 +9,9 @@
 
 
 GAME
-	
+
+* display player panel information
+		
 * implement look/walk/attack modes
 	
 * expand player implementation
diff --git a/client/crt-ext.lisp b/client/crt-ext.lisp
index 3d64869..974cac9 100644
--- a/client/crt-ext.lisp
+++ b/client/crt-ext.lisp
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@
 
 (defun query-user (scr msg &key (cls NIL) (val-width 30) (default ""))
 	"Display a popup asking the user to enter a value, then return that value"
-	;; I found croatoan's field/form to complicated to use (:form-default-keymap
+	;; I found croatoan's field/form too complicated to use (:form-default-keymap
 	;; doesn't seem to work), so I hacked up my own alternative
 	;; TODO display additional lines of text
 	(when cls (croatoan:clear scr)
diff --git a/client/networking.lisp b/client/networking.lisp
index aa89563..ad66491 100644
--- a/client/networking.lisp
+++ b/client/networking.lisp
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@
 		"Send a request string to the server and return the answer"
 		;; If one argument is :ignore-errors, error strings are passed up
 		;; to the caller. Otherwise, they cause a crash.
-		;;TODO the client should handle errors gracefully!
+		;;TODO the client should handle errors gracefully
 		(unless naledi-server ;XXX do this with exceptions
 			(return-from query-server "You are not connected to a server!"))
 		(let* ((servstr (usocket:socket-stream naledi-server))
diff --git a/client/user-interface.lisp b/client/user-interface.lisp
index b779719..77c82e7 100644
--- a/client/user-interface.lisp
+++ b/client/user-interface.lisp
@@ -183,42 +183,6 @@
 	(draw-place-panel placewin)
 	(draw-news-panel newswin))
 
-(defun draw-map-old (win me)
-	"Draw a portion of the game map in an ncurses window"
-	(setf (croatoan:.color-pair win) '(:white :black))
-	(croatoan:box win)
-	(croatoan:move win 1 1)
-	(let ((x0 (- (first me) (round (/ (croatoan:.width win) 4))))
-			 (y0 (- (second me) (halve (croatoan:.height win)))))
-		;; NB. x0 and w are calculated differently to y0 and h because we insert
-		;; a space after each character
-		(dotimes (h (1- (croatoan:.height win)))
-			(dotimes (w (- (halve (croatoan:.width win) 'floor) 2))
-				;;TODO replace `coord' with `query-server'
-				(let ((p (coord (+ w x0 3) (+ h y0 1))))
-					(if (null p) (croatoan:add-char win #\space)
-						(if (and (= (first (patch-pos p)) (first me))
-								(= (second (patch-pos p)) (second me)))
-							(progn (setf (croatoan:.color-pair win)
-									   '(:white :black))
-								(croatoan:add-char win #\@))
-							(if (patch-occupant p)
-								(progn
-									(setf (croatoan:.color-pair win)
-										(list (.color (patch-occupant p))
-											:black))
-									(croatoan:add-char win
-										(.char (patch-occupant p))))
-								(progn
-									(setf (croatoan:.color-pair win)
-										(list (biome-col (patch-biome p))
-											:black))
-									(croatoan:add-char win
-										(biome-char (patch-biome p)))))))
-					(croatoan:add-char win #\space)))
-			(croatoan:move win (1+ h) 1))
-		(croatoan:refresh win)))
-
 (defun draw-map (win)
 	"Draw a portion of the game map in an ncurses window"
 	;;XXX request each patch char singly from the server - doing it all
@@ -261,28 +225,24 @@
 				(1+ (first (croatoan:.cursor-position win))) 1))
 		(croatoan:refresh win)))
 
-;;FIXME needs to be overhauled for client/server
 (let ((news '("Press h for help.")))
 	(defun draw-news-panel (win)
 		"Draw a thin panel at the bottom of the screen to display news items."
+		(collect-news)
 		(croatoan:clear win)
 		(croatoan:move win 0 0)
-		;;TODO get news from server
 		(croatoan:add-string win (car news))
 		(croatoan:refresh win))
 
-	(defun notify (news-string &rest formats)
-		"Append a string to the news to notify the user."
-		;;TODO needs to be moved to the server
-		;;A bit of a kluge, but means that `notify' supports formatting
-		(setf news
-			(cons (apply #'format (cons NIL (cons news-string formats)))
-				news)))
+	(defun collect-news ()
+		"Collect news for this player from the server"
+		;;XXX I don't quite understand why I need to do `read-from-string' here
+		(let ((messages (read-from-string (query-server "messages"))))
+			(when messages (setf news (append messages news)))))
 
 	(defun message-window ()
 		"Return a dialog window with the last game messages."
-		;;TODO complete
-		;;TODO get news from server
+		;;TODO complete - stop the window disappearing
 		;;XXX use `user-inform' instead of dialog-window?
 		(make-instance 'croatoan:dialog-window
 			:input-blocking t
diff --git a/params.lisp b/params.lisp
index 3b1f3fa..0519bb9 100644
--- a/params.lisp
+++ b/params.lisp
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@
 (defparameter *framerate* 1000)
 
 ;;Localhost defaults
-(defparameter *defaulthost* '("127.0.0.1" 21895)) ;default port: 21895
+(defparameter *defaulthost* '("127.0.0.1" 21892)) ;default port: 21895
 
 ;;Host server address to connect to - XXX global variable!
 (defparameter *host* (first *defaulthost*))

diff --git a/TODO b/TODO
index b4d2b52..00f554e 100644
--- a/TODO
+++ b/TODO
@@ -9,7 +9,9 @@
 
 
 GAME
-	
+
+* display player panel information
+		
 * implement look/walk/attack modes
 	
 * expand player implementation
diff --git a/client/crt-ext.lisp b/client/crt-ext.lisp
index 3d64869..974cac9 100644
--- a/client/crt-ext.lisp
+++ b/client/crt-ext.lisp
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@
 
 (defun query-user (scr msg &key (cls NIL) (val-width 30) (default ""))
 	"Display a popup asking the user to enter a value, then return that value"
-	;; I found croatoan's field/form to complicated to use (:form-default-keymap
+	;; I found croatoan's field/form too complicated to use (:form-default-keymap
 	;; doesn't seem to work), so I hacked up my own alternative
 	;; TODO display additional lines of text
 	(when cls (croatoan:clear scr)
diff --git a/client/networking.lisp b/client/networking.lisp
index aa89563..ad66491 100644
--- a/client/networking.lisp
+++ b/client/networking.lisp
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@
 		"Send a request string to the server and return the answer"
 		;; If one argument is :ignore-errors, error strings are passed up
 		;; to the caller. Otherwise, they cause a crash.
-		;;TODO the client should handle errors gracefully!
+		;;TODO the client should handle errors gracefully
 		(unless naledi-server ;XXX do this with exceptions
 			(return-from query-server "You are not connected to a server!"))
 		(let* ((servstr (usocket:socket-stream naledi-server))
diff --git a/client/user-interface.lisp b/client/user-interface.lisp
index b779719..77c82e7 100644
--- a/client/user-interface.lisp
+++ b/client/user-interface.lisp
@@ -183,42 +183,6 @@
 	(draw-place-panel placewin)
 	(draw-news-panel newswin))
 
-(defun draw-map-old (win me)
-	"Draw a portion of the game map in an ncurses window"
-	(setf (croatoan:.color-pair win) '(:white :black))
-	(croatoan:box win)
-	(croatoan:move win 1 1)
-	(let ((x0 (- (first me) (round (/ (croatoan:.width win) 4))))
-			 (y0 (- (second me) (halve (croatoan:.height win)))))
-		;; NB. x0 and w are calculated differently to y0 and h because we insert
-		;; a space after each character
-		(dotimes (h (1- (croatoan:.height win)))
-			(dotimes (w (- (halve (croatoan:.width win) 'floor) 2))
-				;;TODO replace `coord' with `query-server'
-				(let ((p (coord (+ w x0 3) (+ h y0 1))))
-					(if (null p) (croatoan:add-char win #\space)
-						(if (and (= (first (patch-pos p)) (first me))
-								(= (second (patch-pos p)) (second me)))
-							(progn (setf (croatoan:.color-pair win)
-									   '(:white :black))
-								(croatoan:add-char win #\@))
-							(if (patch-occupant p)
-								(progn
-									(setf (croatoan:.color-pair win)
-										(list (.color (patch-occupant p))
-											:black))
-									(croatoan:add-char win
-										(.char (patch-occupant p))))
-								(progn
-									(setf (croatoan:.color-pair win)
-										(list (biome-col (patch-biome p))
-											:black))
-									(croatoan:add-char win
-										(biome-char (patch-biome p)))))))
-					(croatoan:add-char win #\space)))
-			(croatoan:move win (1+ h) 1))
-		(croatoan:refresh win)))
-
 (defun draw-map (win)
 	"Draw a portion of the game map in an ncurses window"
 	;;XXX request each patch char singly from the server - doing it all
@@ -261,28 +225,24 @@
 				(1+ (first (croatoan:.cursor-position win))) 1))
 		(croatoan:refresh win)))
 
-;;FIXME needs to be overhauled for client/server
 (let ((news '("Press h for help.")))
 	(defun draw-news-panel (win)
 		"Draw a thin panel at the bottom of the screen to display news items."
+		(collect-news)
 		(croatoan:clear win)
 		(croatoan:move win 0 0)
-		;;TODO get news from server
 		(croatoan:add-string win (car news))
 		(croatoan:refresh win))
 
-	(defun notify (news-string &rest formats)
-		"Append a string to the news to notify the user."
-		;;TODO needs to be moved to the server
-		;;A bit of a kluge, but means that `notify' supports formatting
-		(setf news
-			(cons (apply #'format (cons NIL (cons news-string formats)))
-				news)))
+	(defun collect-news ()
+		"Collect news for this player from the server"
+		;;XXX I don't quite understand why I need to do `read-from-string' here
+		(let ((messages (read-from-string (query-server "messages"))))
+			(when messages (setf news (append messages news)))))
 
 	(defun message-window ()
 		"Return a dialog window with the last game messages."
-		;;TODO complete
-		;;TODO get news from server
+		;;TODO complete - stop the window disappearing
 		;;XXX use `user-inform' instead of dialog-window?
 		(make-instance 'croatoan:dialog-window
 			:input-blocking t
diff --git a/params.lisp b/params.lisp
index 3b1f3fa..0519bb9 100644
--- a/params.lisp
+++ b/params.lisp
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@
 (defparameter *framerate* 1000)
 
 ;;Localhost defaults
-(defparameter *defaulthost* '("127.0.0.1" 21895)) ;default port: 21895
+(defparameter *defaulthost* '("127.0.0.1" 21892)) ;default port: 21895
 
 ;;Host server address to connect to - XXX global variable!
 (defparameter *host* (first *defaulthost*))
diff --git a/server/item-methods.lisp b/server/item-methods.lisp
index c1260e4..6a97a58 100644
--- a/server/item-methods.lisp
+++ b/server/item-methods.lisp
@@ -11,17 +11,21 @@
 (in-package :naledi-ya-africa)
 
 (defmethod move ((a animal) dir)
+	"An animal moves one space in the specified direction, if possible"
 	(let* ((here (coord (.x a) (.y a)))
 			  (target (coordsindir (.x a) (.y a) dir))
 			  (target-patch (coord (first target) (second target))))
 		(cond ((null target-patch)
-				  (logf 3 "~S is attempting to move out of bounds ~S" a target))
+				  (logf 3 "~S is attempting to move out of bounds ~S" a target)
+				  'OUT-OF-BOUNDS)
 			((patch-occupant target-patch)
 				(logf 3 "~S is moving onto occupied patch ~S (~S)"
-					a target (patch-occupant target-patch)))
+					a target (patch-occupant target-patch))
+				'PATCH-OCCUPIED)
 			(T (setf (patch-occupant here) NIL)
 				(setf (patch-occupant target-patch) a)
-				(setf (.x a) (first target) (.y a) (second target))))))
+				(setf (.x a) (first target) (.y a) (second target))
+				T))))
 
 ;; Default `update' and `action' methods are NOP
 (defmethod update ((i item)))

diff --git a/TODO b/TODO
index b4d2b52..00f554e 100644
--- a/TODO
+++ b/TODO
@@ -9,7 +9,9 @@
 
 
 GAME
-	
+
+* display player panel information
+		
 * implement look/walk/attack modes
 	
 * expand player implementation
diff --git a/client/crt-ext.lisp b/client/crt-ext.lisp
index 3d64869..974cac9 100644
--- a/client/crt-ext.lisp
+++ b/client/crt-ext.lisp
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@
 
 (defun query-user (scr msg &key (cls NIL) (val-width 30) (default ""))
 	"Display a popup asking the user to enter a value, then return that value"
-	;; I found croatoan's field/form to complicated to use (:form-default-keymap
+	;; I found croatoan's field/form too complicated to use (:form-default-keymap
 	;; doesn't seem to work), so I hacked up my own alternative
 	;; TODO display additional lines of text
 	(when cls (croatoan:clear scr)
diff --git a/client/networking.lisp b/client/networking.lisp
index aa89563..ad66491 100644
--- a/client/networking.lisp
+++ b/client/networking.lisp
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@
 		"Send a request string to the server and return the answer"
 		;; If one argument is :ignore-errors, error strings are passed up
 		;; to the caller. Otherwise, they cause a crash.
-		;;TODO the client should handle errors gracefully!
+		;;TODO the client should handle errors gracefully
 		(unless naledi-server ;XXX do this with exceptions
 			(return-from query-server "You are not connected to a server!"))
 		(let* ((servstr (usocket:socket-stream naledi-server))
diff --git a/client/user-interface.lisp b/client/user-interface.lisp
index b779719..77c82e7 100644
--- a/client/user-interface.lisp
+++ b/client/user-interface.lisp
@@ -183,42 +183,6 @@
 	(draw-place-panel placewin)
 	(draw-news-panel newswin))
 
-(defun draw-map-old (win me)
-	"Draw a portion of the game map in an ncurses window"
-	(setf (croatoan:.color-pair win) '(:white :black))
-	(croatoan:box win)
-	(croatoan:move win 1 1)
-	(let ((x0 (- (first me) (round (/ (croatoan:.width win) 4))))
-			 (y0 (- (second me) (halve (croatoan:.height win)))))
-		;; NB. x0 and w are calculated differently to y0 and h because we insert
-		;; a space after each character
-		(dotimes (h (1- (croatoan:.height win)))
-			(dotimes (w (- (halve (croatoan:.width win) 'floor) 2))
-				;;TODO replace `coord' with `query-server'
-				(let ((p (coord (+ w x0 3) (+ h y0 1))))
-					(if (null p) (croatoan:add-char win #\space)
-						(if (and (= (first (patch-pos p)) (first me))
-								(= (second (patch-pos p)) (second me)))
-							(progn (setf (croatoan:.color-pair win)
-									   '(:white :black))
-								(croatoan:add-char win #\@))
-							(if (patch-occupant p)
-								(progn
-									(setf (croatoan:.color-pair win)
-										(list (.color (patch-occupant p))
-											:black))
-									(croatoan:add-char win
-										(.char (patch-occupant p))))
-								(progn
-									(setf (croatoan:.color-pair win)
-										(list (biome-col (patch-biome p))
-											:black))
-									(croatoan:add-char win
-										(biome-char (patch-biome p)))))))
-					(croatoan:add-char win #\space)))
-			(croatoan:move win (1+ h) 1))
-		(croatoan:refresh win)))
-
 (defun draw-map (win)
 	"Draw a portion of the game map in an ncurses window"
 	;;XXX request each patch char singly from the server - doing it all
@@ -261,28 +225,24 @@
 				(1+ (first (croatoan:.cursor-position win))) 1))
 		(croatoan:refresh win)))
 
-;;FIXME needs to be overhauled for client/server
 (let ((news '("Press h for help.")))
 	(defun draw-news-panel (win)
 		"Draw a thin panel at the bottom of the screen to display news items."
+		(collect-news)
 		(croatoan:clear win)
 		(croatoan:move win 0 0)
-		;;TODO get news from server
 		(croatoan:add-string win (car news))
 		(croatoan:refresh win))
 
-	(defun notify (news-string &rest formats)
-		"Append a string to the news to notify the user."
-		;;TODO needs to be moved to the server
-		;;A bit of a kluge, but means that `notify' supports formatting
-		(setf news
-			(cons (apply #'format (cons NIL (cons news-string formats)))
-				news)))
+	(defun collect-news ()
+		"Collect news for this player from the server"
+		;;XXX I don't quite understand why I need to do `read-from-string' here
+		(let ((messages (read-from-string (query-server "messages"))))
+			(when messages (setf news (append messages news)))))
 
 	(defun message-window ()
 		"Return a dialog window with the last game messages."
-		;;TODO complete
-		;;TODO get news from server
+		;;TODO complete - stop the window disappearing
 		;;XXX use `user-inform' instead of dialog-window?
 		(make-instance 'croatoan:dialog-window
 			:input-blocking t
diff --git a/params.lisp b/params.lisp
index 3b1f3fa..0519bb9 100644
--- a/params.lisp
+++ b/params.lisp
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@
 (defparameter *framerate* 1000)
 
 ;;Localhost defaults
-(defparameter *defaulthost* '("127.0.0.1" 21895)) ;default port: 21895
+(defparameter *defaulthost* '("127.0.0.1" 21892)) ;default port: 21895
 
 ;;Host server address to connect to - XXX global variable!
 (defparameter *host* (first *defaulthost*))
diff --git a/server/item-methods.lisp b/server/item-methods.lisp
index c1260e4..6a97a58 100644
--- a/server/item-methods.lisp
+++ b/server/item-methods.lisp
@@ -11,17 +11,21 @@
 (in-package :naledi-ya-africa)
 
 (defmethod move ((a animal) dir)
+	"An animal moves one space in the specified direction, if possible"
 	(let* ((here (coord (.x a) (.y a)))
 			  (target (coordsindir (.x a) (.y a) dir))
 			  (target-patch (coord (first target) (second target))))
 		(cond ((null target-patch)
-				  (logf 3 "~S is attempting to move out of bounds ~S" a target))
+				  (logf 3 "~S is attempting to move out of bounds ~S" a target)
+				  'OUT-OF-BOUNDS)
 			((patch-occupant target-patch)
 				(logf 3 "~S is moving onto occupied patch ~S (~S)"
-					a target (patch-occupant target-patch)))
+					a target (patch-occupant target-patch))
+				'PATCH-OCCUPIED)
 			(T (setf (patch-occupant here) NIL)
 				(setf (patch-occupant target-patch) a)
-				(setf (.x a) (first target) (.y a) (second target))))))
+				(setf (.x a) (first target) (.y a) (second target))
+				T))))
 
 ;; Default `update' and `action' methods are NOP
 (defmethod update ((i item)))
diff --git a/server/player.lisp b/server/player.lisp
index 76a462c..30cc756 100644
--- a/server/player.lisp
+++ b/server/player.lisp
@@ -14,7 +14,8 @@
 	(name "")
 	(password "")
 	(online NIL)
-	(human NIL))
+	(human NIL)
+	(messages NIL))
 
 (defclass human (animal)
 	;; The game entity representing a human player
@@ -35,6 +36,32 @@
 	;;TODO
 	)
 
+(defmethod move ((h human) dir)
+	"A human moves one space in the specified direction, if possible."
+	;;TODO allow for attack/explore mode
+	(let ((p (get-player (.name h))))
+		(logf 4 "Moving player ~A (~S)" (.name h) p)
+		(case (call-next-method)
+			('OUT-OF-BOUNDS (msg-player p "Out of bounds.") NIL)
+			('PATCH-OCCUPIED
+				(msg-player p "This patch is occupied by ~A."
+					(leading-vowel (.name (patch-occupant
+											  (patchindir (.x h) (.y h) dir)))))
+					NIL)
+			(T T))))
+
+(defun msg-player (player msg &rest format-args)
+	"Send a message to a player (adds it to the queue)"
+	(setf (player-messages player)
+		(append (player-messages player)
+			(list (apply #'format (append (list NIL msg) format-args))))))
+
+(defun collect-messages (player)
+	"Collect this player's messages and clear the queue"
+	(let ((msgs (player-messages player)))
+		(setf (player-messages player) NIL)
+		msgs))
+
 ;; INVENTORY HANDLING FUNCTIONS
 
 ;;TODO convert to methods

diff --git a/TODO b/TODO
index b4d2b52..00f554e 100644
--- a/TODO
+++ b/TODO
@@ -9,7 +9,9 @@
 
 
 GAME
-	
+
+* display player panel information
+		
 * implement look/walk/attack modes
 	
 * expand player implementation
diff --git a/client/crt-ext.lisp b/client/crt-ext.lisp
index 3d64869..974cac9 100644
--- a/client/crt-ext.lisp
+++ b/client/crt-ext.lisp
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@
 
 (defun query-user (scr msg &key (cls NIL) (val-width 30) (default ""))
 	"Display a popup asking the user to enter a value, then return that value"
-	;; I found croatoan's field/form to complicated to use (:form-default-keymap
+	;; I found croatoan's field/form too complicated to use (:form-default-keymap
 	;; doesn't seem to work), so I hacked up my own alternative
 	;; TODO display additional lines of text
 	(when cls (croatoan:clear scr)
diff --git a/client/networking.lisp b/client/networking.lisp
index aa89563..ad66491 100644
--- a/client/networking.lisp
+++ b/client/networking.lisp
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@
 		"Send a request string to the server and return the answer"
 		;; If one argument is :ignore-errors, error strings are passed up
 		;; to the caller. Otherwise, they cause a crash.
-		;;TODO the client should handle errors gracefully!
+		;;TODO the client should handle errors gracefully
 		(unless naledi-server ;XXX do this with exceptions
 			(return-from query-server "You are not connected to a server!"))
 		(let* ((servstr (usocket:socket-stream naledi-server))
diff --git a/client/user-interface.lisp b/client/user-interface.lisp
index b779719..77c82e7 100644
--- a/client/user-interface.lisp
+++ b/client/user-interface.lisp
@@ -183,42 +183,6 @@
 	(draw-place-panel placewin)
 	(draw-news-panel newswin))
 
-(defun draw-map-old (win me)
-	"Draw a portion of the game map in an ncurses window"
-	(setf (croatoan:.color-pair win) '(:white :black))
-	(croatoan:box win)
-	(croatoan:move win 1 1)
-	(let ((x0 (- (first me) (round (/ (croatoan:.width win) 4))))
-			 (y0 (- (second me) (halve (croatoan:.height win)))))
-		;; NB. x0 and w are calculated differently to y0 and h because we insert
-		;; a space after each character
-		(dotimes (h (1- (croatoan:.height win)))
-			(dotimes (w (- (halve (croatoan:.width win) 'floor) 2))
-				;;TODO replace `coord' with `query-server'
-				(let ((p (coord (+ w x0 3) (+ h y0 1))))
-					(if (null p) (croatoan:add-char win #\space)
-						(if (and (= (first (patch-pos p)) (first me))
-								(= (second (patch-pos p)) (second me)))
-							(progn (setf (croatoan:.color-pair win)
-									   '(:white :black))
-								(croatoan:add-char win #\@))
-							(if (patch-occupant p)
-								(progn
-									(setf (croatoan:.color-pair win)
-										(list (.color (patch-occupant p))
-											:black))
-									(croatoan:add-char win
-										(.char (patch-occupant p))))
-								(progn
-									(setf (croatoan:.color-pair win)
-										(list (biome-col (patch-biome p))
-											:black))
-									(croatoan:add-char win
-										(biome-char (patch-biome p)))))))
-					(croatoan:add-char win #\space)))
-			(croatoan:move win (1+ h) 1))
-		(croatoan:refresh win)))
-
 (defun draw-map (win)
 	"Draw a portion of the game map in an ncurses window"
 	;;XXX request each patch char singly from the server - doing it all
@@ -261,28 +225,24 @@
 				(1+ (first (croatoan:.cursor-position win))) 1))
 		(croatoan:refresh win)))
 
-;;FIXME needs to be overhauled for client/server
 (let ((news '("Press h for help.")))
 	(defun draw-news-panel (win)
 		"Draw a thin panel at the bottom of the screen to display news items."
+		(collect-news)
 		(croatoan:clear win)
 		(croatoan:move win 0 0)
-		;;TODO get news from server
 		(croatoan:add-string win (car news))
 		(croatoan:refresh win))
 
-	(defun notify (news-string &rest formats)
-		"Append a string to the news to notify the user."
-		;;TODO needs to be moved to the server
-		;;A bit of a kluge, but means that `notify' supports formatting
-		(setf news
-			(cons (apply #'format (cons NIL (cons news-string formats)))
-				news)))
+	(defun collect-news ()
+		"Collect news for this player from the server"
+		;;XXX I don't quite understand why I need to do `read-from-string' here
+		(let ((messages (read-from-string (query-server "messages"))))
+			(when messages (setf news (append messages news)))))
 
 	(defun message-window ()
 		"Return a dialog window with the last game messages."
-		;;TODO complete
-		;;TODO get news from server
+		;;TODO complete - stop the window disappearing
 		;;XXX use `user-inform' instead of dialog-window?
 		(make-instance 'croatoan:dialog-window
 			:input-blocking t
diff --git a/params.lisp b/params.lisp
index 3b1f3fa..0519bb9 100644
--- a/params.lisp
+++ b/params.lisp
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@
 (defparameter *framerate* 1000)
 
 ;;Localhost defaults
-(defparameter *defaulthost* '("127.0.0.1" 21895)) ;default port: 21895
+(defparameter *defaulthost* '("127.0.0.1" 21892)) ;default port: 21895
 
 ;;Host server address to connect to - XXX global variable!
 (defparameter *host* (first *defaulthost*))
diff --git a/server/item-methods.lisp b/server/item-methods.lisp
index c1260e4..6a97a58 100644
--- a/server/item-methods.lisp
+++ b/server/item-methods.lisp
@@ -11,17 +11,21 @@
 (in-package :naledi-ya-africa)
 
 (defmethod move ((a animal) dir)
+	"An animal moves one space in the specified direction, if possible"
 	(let* ((here (coord (.x a) (.y a)))
 			  (target (coordsindir (.x a) (.y a) dir))
 			  (target-patch (coord (first target) (second target))))
 		(cond ((null target-patch)
-				  (logf 3 "~S is attempting to move out of bounds ~S" a target))
+				  (logf 3 "~S is attempting to move out of bounds ~S" a target)
+				  'OUT-OF-BOUNDS)
 			((patch-occupant target-patch)
 				(logf 3 "~S is moving onto occupied patch ~S (~S)"
-					a target (patch-occupant target-patch)))
+					a target (patch-occupant target-patch))
+				'PATCH-OCCUPIED)
 			(T (setf (patch-occupant here) NIL)
 				(setf (patch-occupant target-patch) a)
-				(setf (.x a) (first target) (.y a) (second target))))))
+				(setf (.x a) (first target) (.y a) (second target))
+				T))))
 
 ;; Default `update' and `action' methods are NOP
 (defmethod update ((i item)))
diff --git a/server/player.lisp b/server/player.lisp
index 76a462c..30cc756 100644
--- a/server/player.lisp
+++ b/server/player.lisp
@@ -14,7 +14,8 @@
 	(name "")
 	(password "")
 	(online NIL)
-	(human NIL))
+	(human NIL)
+	(messages NIL))
 
 (defclass human (animal)
 	;; The game entity representing a human player
@@ -35,6 +36,32 @@
 	;;TODO
 	)
 
+(defmethod move ((h human) dir)
+	"A human moves one space in the specified direction, if possible."
+	;;TODO allow for attack/explore mode
+	(let ((p (get-player (.name h))))
+		(logf 4 "Moving player ~A (~S)" (.name h) p)
+		(case (call-next-method)
+			('OUT-OF-BOUNDS (msg-player p "Out of bounds.") NIL)
+			('PATCH-OCCUPIED
+				(msg-player p "This patch is occupied by ~A."
+					(leading-vowel (.name (patch-occupant
+											  (patchindir (.x h) (.y h) dir)))))
+					NIL)
+			(T T))))
+
+(defun msg-player (player msg &rest format-args)
+	"Send a message to a player (adds it to the queue)"
+	(setf (player-messages player)
+		(append (player-messages player)
+			(list (apply #'format (append (list NIL msg) format-args))))))
+
+(defun collect-messages (player)
+	"Collect this player's messages and clear the queue"
+	(let ((msgs (player-messages player)))
+		(setf (player-messages player) NIL)
+		msgs))
+
 ;; INVENTORY HANDLING FUNCTIONS
 
 ;;TODO convert to methods
diff --git a/server/server.lisp b/server/server.lisp
index a1d0baf..5eba089 100644
--- a/server/server.lisp
+++ b/server/server.lisp
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@
 
 	(defun add-player (name passwd)
 		(let ((np (make-player :name name :password passwd :online NIL
-					  :human (make-instance 'human
+					  :human (make-instance 'human :name name
 								 :x (random *world-size*)
 								 :y (random *world-size*)))))
 			(setf players (cons np players))))
@@ -251,7 +251,7 @@
 			  (x0 (- (.x plr) (halve width)))
 			  (y0 (- (.y plr) (halve height)))
 			  (submap (make-array (list width height 2))))
-		(dotimes (h height submap) ;;XXX remove submap again of doesn't work
+		(dotimes (h height submap)
 			(dotimes (w width)
 				(let ((p (coord (+ w x0 1) (+ h y0 1)))
 						 (next-char #\space) (next-col ':black))
@@ -262,13 +262,6 @@
 									next-col (biome-col (patch-biome p)))))
 					(setf (aref submap w h 0) next-char
 						(aref submap w h 1) next-col))))))
-		;;XXX Arrays are pretty-printed with linebreaks, this causes a
-		;; client-side error (as the client only expects one line).
-		;; The following code takes apart such a pretty print and puts it
-		;; back together without linebreaks. However, this means that the
-		;; server returns a map string enclosed in _two_ quotation marks,
-		;; so the client has to perform an additional call to `read-from-string`
-		;;(string-from-list (split-string (to-string submap) #\newline) "")))
 
 (defun describe-patch (&optional (x 0) (y 0))
 	"Return a set of lines describing the patch at these coordinates."
@@ -312,4 +305,6 @@
 		(list "signup" #'create-player)
 		(list "map" #'get-map)
 		(list "describe-patch" #'describe-patch)
-		(list "move" #'move-player)))
+		(list "move" #'move-player)
+		(list "messages"
+			#'(lambda () (collect-messages (get-player (thread-player)))))))