Virtual Basement

2008-06-02T19:08:00.000-07:00

Wow, haven't updated in a while!

Well, i've been sick, so too bad.

We did a full run of Milk Run, part 1, and identified a few areas that need to be rectified.

Although stable, still an issue with deleting slot 1.

Need a way to add or subtract from a total rolls result - this i added into the server already.

People need to be able to use hotkeys more efficiently.

So i'm taking the next leap forward, and enabling file i/o.

Won't be hard, i don't think. 1 file for hotbuttons, 1 for characters, 1 for scripted actions - like changing the background image and such, having those as hotbuttons is cumbersome at best. Replacing that with a select box, so you can scroll through for what's needed and fire it off.

So what will become of the existing .ini file? Keeping it as is, minus the button and character info, i'll modify it a little to change colors/styles, like a skin manager in a way.

how long will it take? Not long i suspect, it's not much different that parsing data received from the server for reading a character, for writing, well, pretty much the same. the hotbuttons are a little more challenging, because i'll want to make an interface - eventually - to prevent errors, but i may be able to copy and paste.

if i'm lucky, i can have it by the weekend...if this...flu or whatever lets me.

2008-05-04T16:44:00.000-07:00

So i dumped in the ability to add all dice rolled. It's stable. I need people to test it out with me, who's up for a Milk Run?

Been thinking about version 2.0. Thinking isometric as well as flat maps. Think I'll also add in a flat map builder thinger, to make use of building tiles or something.
Character animations would be nice too.

2008-04-30T20:35:00.000-07:00

seems with every change i make, i end up having more than one thing to correct. i think there's a word or a phrase about it somewhere, but it's late and i'm tired.
got the math down, ended up finding out something was in a loop that shouldn't have been. explained a brief flash on the screen when people moved, now i know why, so fixed the odd math bug, and as a result fixed the flash. fun stuff.

also figured out how to measure between characters. wanted it to be a right click, but that's a pain to code, tried to dbl click but that cause single click problems, so now just hover on a token and it'll give you the distance, easy to implement, tomorrow i'll copy/paste the function and pretty it up a bit to return the distance, and, more importantly, the scale!

don't remember what else i really wanted to have ready...maybe proper OOC text, that's too easy though and not a priority. stance, emotional state and facing maybe, as several games use these.

ah well, friday is a full milk run night, hopefully this time we'll end up outside the first room :P

gotta read up on combat, seems rules knowledge is slowing us down a fair bit.

oh if anyone wants a copy of this software, lemme know it'll be open for secondary beta testing this week

2008-04-30T16:14:00.000-07:00

full test worked quite nicely, just a few tweaks, one to clear the dice that haven't been rolled, and eventually a way to calculate distances. I'd forgotten about that, and it's a handy feature to have, other than that a 3 hour test without a single problem. i likes it!

2008-04-27T20:08:00.000-07:00

yeah, that was a bit of a headache
seems the method by which players are added was barely working correctly before, sure, on the client end it was fine, but the server saw it completely differently.

went thru and redid the entire method, and now it's 100% synced.

still plagued with the removal of the first added person, it can be removed, now, but only if it's the only one there. Simple solution, i'm addind a dummy to the first slot that will clear the hud. solve problems by taking them outta the equation. perfect.

full test on tuesday, then it's on hold for a week while it's play tested a bit, working on an adventure module a bit, when that's done i'll begin thinking and planning version 2.0

2008-04-26T17:25:00.001-07:00

fixed sync, you show up late, you get caught up, simple
wanna add the same person twice? TOUGH, disabled that buggy crap as it should be
wanna remove EVERYONE? ok, sure, do it.
fixed a lot today, all i'll need to do now is a small cleanup on the sync if someone's tried to add the same user twice, it'll mess up when trying to sync and leave the last 1-2 slots empty instead of backing up the user a step or two. minor fix

oh need to finish the OOC chatter, it ignores it right now because i haven't told it what to do with it.

yeah that's it, thoughts on version 2? big expansion?

what? users don't always know how it works instantly?

2008-04-25T21:56:00.000-07:00

lol first beta test was pure ass
config file overly complex, need an interface for it to make it seamless.

a lil tweaking that was resolved

problem two. what's that command again?
all these ~'s |'s and \'s are annoying, and caused crashes

eff it, they're gone and replaced with buttons, for die rolling and emotes and OOC's, also has what CHARACTER(user) says what, makes GM's job much easier.

forgot how sound worked so i had to alter that a lil but that works best as a hotkey anyway so not touching it, advanced users can handle it

killed the default map 'cause it's ass, replaced it with a blank.

2 problems remain
although text it now filtered, need to refine it a lil to prevent crashes

the server MUST sync with latecomers and disconnected users. after testing with more than 2 player this has become a serious issue causing instability, mostly with the slots. will stick a dump of slots in the login script first thing tomorrow and it should be all set.

all that'd be left it the major recoding issues, like a fog of war type thing, and a the problem of slot 1...still can't safely remove it, i'm betting i can just add a line like if count(slotboxes=1) add one null and remove the real one. it's late so sleep is yes

user manual

2008-04-20T09:51:00.000-07:00

oh figured I'd post some info on how to use teh damned thing

server:
start server, dbl click the listen box

client
enter a good username and enter the ip address of the server, 127.0.0.1 if the server's on your computer - these are assigned the values in your config file by default
click connect

select a character from the list of local characters and click add, it'll dump it on the screen, click the map to move it around

you can remove a character the same way, by clicking it on the map, the list of global users, or the slots across the bottom

admin type stuff... die rolls are simply d20~ or d12~, whatever the die you need, you can do multiples by adding more dice, d20~+d10~ or d20~ I'm gonna kill ya with a d10~, anything like that. these can be typed in manually, assigned config buttons, or changed on the fly in the dynamic boxes

~backpic~skin.jpg~image.jpg~|
this changes the current map to image.jpg. skin.jpg currently nonfunctional, this would be the image that hides portions of the map. for now, do it like a slideshow.

~update~audio~play~music.mp3~|
plays the mp3 named music.mp3
can be typed on the fly or hotbuttoned of course

finally emote
\ does something cool.
\ username sits down.

will add a code to insert the name of the selected character at some point.

alpha results

2008-04-20T09:08:00.000-07:00

So first alpha test went off without a hitch, I don't know what that means exactly, but we had a few problems.

1) firewalls suck

2) with one user typing text, no problem, but 2 would cause the cursor to jump around a lil when a user would send a line, that was fixed very quickly.

3) need to redo the config file for the new methods of rolling dice, simple, but it helps the testers

4) fixed up the emotes, they were being silly and sticking in the users name

all in all, a few minor fixes were made and the next level of functionality was implemented, and we now have sound support!

all set for a beta test this weekend, can't wait!

Core book!

2008-04-17T18:13:00.000-07:00

Got my core book. WOW
The quality is unsurpassed IMO, and having it landscape format makes total sense, less room taken up across the gaming table. Off to read it and see what else it needs. Alpha test this weekend for sure, final tweaks and we're off to beta!

2008-04-16T19:42:00.000-07:00

added support for 20 characters at once, however only 8 will show in the slots, but all can be viewed and updated in the HUD, so it's fine to have up to 8 party members and 12 monsters without worry, might expand the slots to 20 if i can setup a scrollbar on the bottom.

redid the rolling mechanics to parse roll strings and show what die was rolled

also repaired the slots update to add the newest slot in the first available slot

sound support, small chat modifications, and a way to mask out parts of the map people shouldn't see are next methinks

Oh yeah

2008-04-14T20:48:00.001-07:00

Forgot, I needed to add support for changing background images on the fly for beta, oops. Also added notes and status boxes, so you can show emotional effects and whatnots. My paypal just xferred the funds so my book should be on the way tomorrow/wednesday.

It's late and I'm exhausted. beta testing ready, drop me a line and we'll hook something up

Screenshot..and i think it's ready for a beta

2008-04-13T13:01:00.001-07:00

latest shot, I think it's ready for a test. Who wants to test it?

2008-04-12T15:57:00.000-07:00

Can add and remove characters, automatically updating, and without crashing if there's a duplicate, or the character doesn't exist. Small change, but increased stability significantly. Just need to tweak how it handles the first, and last, slot boxes so that it can re-adjust the slots more efficiently. also won't crash if you select a slot with nothing in it. Doing some minor updates to make the interface look a lil better, and run a lil smoother, all that's left is some minor synchronization for people who join after the session has begun, or crashed.

On a side note, found out someone's been making an online campaign for Alpha Omega, check out www.neopangea.net to see what's going on. Spoken to some of the HQ folk as well, monster book out for june/july if I remember correctly.

***update***
slots fixed, updates easily, and looks better, screenshots to follow
27 hotkeys, 6 are on the fly, 21 in the .ini file, posting a screen shot tomorrow but looks like i'm all set for a beta any time now.

only gotta done one or two small cleanups

2008-04-11T17:52:00.000-07:00

Here's a screenshot as promised.
it's ugly, as i said, but cosmetic changes will happen as time goes on.
going to setup the tokens on the map area to be transparent, if possible.
You'll notice a lot of greyspace around the buttons on the lower left area, I plan on adding another 24 .ini editable buttons, and kepe the 6 on the fly buttons as they are. More info in the HUD in the top middle area, as well as the slots on the bottom. Yes, the tokens look squished, all images were "borrowed" from "Milk Run" as a quick and dirty test.
of course I will also have to add some spacers, and lines to make everything look neater, but it works for now
oh, the two listboxes in the middle, the one on the left is all the characters located in the .ini file, the right, is all activated characters on the server. Activate makes them go live, update sends the recently changed data for a character to the server, like an HP change, pic change, etc.

2008-04-10T16:01:00.000-07:00

removal done, easily 100% this weekend, then some cosmetic changes and i'll post a few screenshots.

Some people have asked me why I'm doing this, and a lil about me, well, I've been gaming with D&D off and on, mostly off, since 1st edition AD&D, done some car wars, OGRE, warhammer, online games as well starting with LoRD and everquest. Worked in gaming stores for most of my life as well.

Why? Simple, I like gaming, and I see the hardest thing people have to face is finding the time and energy to get up and go to a game, or, finding the right people. Sadly it's guys 25-40 who have the hardest time with it and have to abandon their hobby, hopefully this will allow them to experience it.

Also I really wanna play Alpha Omega, and, despite Mindstorms amazing locator, I'm sure there's a few from far away that can't find anyone, or who simply, don't mesh well with their locals.

alpha this weekend!

2008-04-08T19:33:00.000-07:00

Got tokens moving around, got multiple characters loading in, it's looking very feasible to have a working alpha test this weekend, just gotta add in the synch, and the removal of characters. I had intended to have a way to move characters slots around, but instead went the easy route of just adding the newest player to the end, at least this way i can get things moving faster. of course i'll need to fix this eventually in the removal, if someone takes out someone from the middle it'd cause a problem, course I could just move everyone back one step, might be easier.
had some ideas for a lil measuring tool, and some other scale things, for measurement intensive tabletop stuff, thank Pythagorean theorem, should be able to do it with little to no difficulty.
Planning on doing a quick chess game, and an LOTR game without serious measurement, should be able to enhance the measurement over the weekend, as well as general functionality... If so, private beta of Alpha Omega's Milk Run I hope, well, if I have my core book by then.

full throttle

2008-04-06T16:15:00.000-07:00

So I decided to have a lazy weekend. I made some HUGE progress, but not as much as I'd have liked. Now able to move a selected character around on the screen, choose a character in the HUD system, activate local characters and move them to the server.
It works, but it's messy. Moving on the screen needs the relative location, not the overall screen location, and i need to grey out options that aren't available yet, need to blank out the status slot of what used to be in a given place as well.

The good news? All of this is relatively minor, the BIG thing I need to figure out, is how I can create and manipulate a picturebox on the screen, on the fly, I don't want to have to predefine 100 potential objects and sort them, even using an array or a hash table would be a lil better, but that's next week.

What really held me back, was not being able to order my copy of the Alpha Omega core book, Paypal's a great service, and I'm glad so many companies use it, seeing as I don't have a credit card, but sometimes it's just ass to use.

Can't wait to flip through it, it'll inspire me to stick in a skin and some background music.

All in all, I estimate another week until I can get a solid alpha test going with a half dozen characters involved, after that, maybe try a 1 on 1 game of LOTR to see how it can handle dozens of models at once.

woohoo

2008-04-03T19:43:00.000-07:00

So I scrapped the idea of using hash tables, then went back to them again and got them to work with no issue, realized though, that instead of having the character default to loading into slots 1-10, that they'd have to be added separately, as a result I scrapped the monster box, and came up with the HUD instead. Clicking a token will zoom the stats into the HUD and allow manipulation of numbers/info that way, if you've got permission. This also gave me the idea of a toy box. Have all potential characters in a window as tokens to be loaded as needed. Great for GM's, or larger scale games like LOTR, clix, etc.

Tired tonite, so I only got the temp values loaded on the server side, tomorrow I'll finish up the ability to update parts, x/y/z, hp/mana/end, notes/status/pic/token are the bursts I think, and a way to remove a character. Oh also need to load them into a slot, but I think I'll do that through the HUD to allow the local user to handle it.

Was planning on the maps this weekend, but I think the toy box is more important. Also uses the map routines so I guess it'll almost be 2 birds/1 stone.

Could this really be done this weekend and ready for a full alpha??

little behind

2008-03-31T16:52:00.000-07:00

Well I fell a lil behind, got stuck trying to make use of a hash table that I don't actually need. Gonna setup the formatting to send data, lotsa data like hp, positioning, etc. Speed's not important. Need to setup a confirmation to say "hey what's everyone doing again?" and update the displays accordingly, like, every minute or two.
Looking good tho.

2008-03-18T23:15:00.000-07:00

Chat formatting almost complete, as well as pictures, loading macros, die rolling, stats, pictures and a preliminary map area. Things are looking good. I'm hoping to have a proper beta by months end.

Back from a break

2008-02-26T13:48:00.000-08:00

ok got a preliminary version up and running, I'm able to chat, roll dice, but can't seem to change font colors or any of that fun stuff, gotta setup better parsing and text sorting BS to have it optimal, but it's looking solid so far

work begins

2008-02-12T20:36:00.000-08:00

Yeah, I'm just starting out this project, don't know what to write, who knows how long it'll take to get it all done, but I don't expect it'll take too much effort, basic communication, some parsing, a lil graphic work...ah well.