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Monday, June 20, 2011 - 01:15

Hrm... maybe I just noticed it for the first time recently. (I grow increasingly impressed with GitHub!) It would be kind of nice to distinguish non-standard tasks, such as art or bugfixes from the rest, however.

Friday, June 17, 2011 - 15:44

It's been a pleasure! I feel that programming gives me such a kick because it is one of those things where you look at it and say, "It couldn't do that before and now it can!"

But there's no way I would be able to work on any features unless you provided that huge initial portion of code, Clint. Truly, I think we should tip our hats to you, for the strong foundation and opportunity you've provided us.

Thanks again! Cheers!

Tuesday, June 14, 2011 - 14:53

http://clintbellanger.net/rpg/todo.php

I know, I know, this page does not mention a 1.0 milestone. But this list has been really accurate up to this time. My guess is that after "Translations," the focus will shift to creating art assets (for nearly a year... see this post too) and then to putting together a full game.

It's probable that the GitHub milestone tracker will be more effective than the todo page in the future.

Thursday, June 9, 2011 - 19:36

It seems as if there are two types of mods we may be talking about. First there are full games or total conversions, and second there are localized overrides. It's probable that both will eventually be wanted.

For example, if someone likes the full 'fantasycore' game, but only wants to create a new set of weapons, then it is certainly more efficient to have a new items.txt file override the old one.

http://pastebin.com/5b2YYKGC

Just a thought. Naturally, the problem with this is that it duplicates a lot of data. The advantage, on the other hand, is its ease in creating a new game/mod.

Thursday, June 9, 2011 - 17:16

While possibly not the best solution, it certainly does simplify the development and programming process if you consider a "translation" to be a total conversion mod of the game. That way you could simply copy the whole game over and translate the files.

Hmm... the more I think about it, the more I like that idea. Mods and translations are the same thing.

You will want to add a 'mod' field to the save file, though, so you don't have weird effects by loading different mods.

Thursday, June 9, 2011 - 16:44

I think that having one large file each for powers and items is still the best way to do it. The way I envision both translations and mods is a supercession system.

Imagine this item, contained in core/items/items.txt:

[item]
id=563
name=Winter Shortbow
level=5
quality=high
type=off
icon=105,9
dmg=3,8
bonus=fire resist,6
power_mod=123
power_desc=Ice Ammo
req=o,3
sfx=wood
gfx=shortbow
loot=shortbow
price=28

It contains the whole item description.

Now, translations/fr/items/items.txt (I apologize for my Google Translation...):

[item]
id=563
name=Hiver Archet Court
power_desc=Munitions de Glace

Notice how it only contains the lines which supercede the original file? So first, the core/items/items.txt would be loaded. Then, the translations file (if applicable) would be loaded over the top of that one. Only the applicable values would be replaced. One advantage of this would be that a game can still be playable if only partially translated.

Now, let's say modders add some new items to items.txt. They place their file in mods/improved_armory/items/items.txt . This new file is loaded entirely instead of core/items/items.txt and blocks the loading of translations/fr/items/items.txt . If the mod also has a translations folder, it will load that in the same way it would have loaded the normal translation file.

Last notes:

To take care of internal strings in the flare-engine, there needs to be a separate external file containing them. I suggest core/messages/messages.txt as the name of the file. Then there would be a languages/fr/messages/messages.txt file as well.

Also, it may still be better for there to be a translations/en/ folder. That way it would be simple to copy/paste the directory structure, and all that's left to do would be translate the whole thing. On the other hand, the English portions of the files are often self-documenting (how would you know it was a Winter Shortbow unless you saw the name line?) and it may be worth it to leave those in the core files.

Saturday, June 4, 2011 - 11:34

Perhaps a good thing to have would be a "papercuts" list. A papercut would be a small (keyword: small) feature or bug that requires minimal change to code and minimal effort. Create a list of 20 or more of those and you'll keep coders busy for a while, and be able to test out how the Git system works for FLARE.

My papercuts would include: Give powers a fixed damage range option in addition to the weapon damage (eg. base_damage=2,5 instead of base_damage=melee), implement +1 skill rings, change mana cost to be numerical instead of boolean, give powers a % damage option (eg. 'dmg_multiplier=200' would cause the power to do double weapon damage)

Some (bigger) changes that probably would not qualify for papercuts since they would require serious change in the code (though I'd still want to see them in FLARE): enemy/npc patrols, vehicles/steeds.

It seems most of the patches have to be rejected because they are too large. This possibly could reduce the problem of large patches but still get a lot of code work done that Clint can't do/doesn't have time to do himself.

Wednesday, June 1, 2011 - 11:44

The FSF is a really good organization, but they tend to be overzealous, even by most FOSS advocates. As far as I'm concerned, a person should always use whatever tool is best for the task. If it's Windows or Mac or whatever, then use it. I find Linux the best OS for my purposes.

"Getting a sponsor would be nice, but I would prefer to pay out of pocket for my own preferred hosting setup than have free (gratis) hosting and be constrained by it" Pretty much sums up where the FSF goes wrong. Oddly enough, being "liberated" by using free software CAN constrain a person, if they deny that other software can/should be used.

Tuesday, May 31, 2011 - 16:18

Yes, much cleaner! This would speed up the process of submitting art. I especially like how the author information is off to the side, out of sight unless it is needed.

Tuesday, May 31, 2011 - 16:13
  • Mors Terrae - Latin: "Death of the Earth."
  • Terra Mortuis - Latin: "Land of the Dead" (Looks like there's a Ukrainian? band with this name)
  • Magicam Vetitum - Latin: "Forbidden Magic"

I'm certainly not a Latin expert. You should consult with someone who is so you can make sure that's proper grammar. Of course if you don't mind a pseudo-Latin name, there's a lot of better sounding variations.

One advantage to using Latin is that the domains are nearly all open. One disadvantage is that it may be harder for people to remember.

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