Towards tech demo 1

[maximinus]

Hi dudes, latest update from your friendly programming team here. What with some new attention from programmers and some advancement in the code recently, I'd thought I'd put together what we should work towards in our first tech demo.

This should go in the wiki really but I feel the wiki needs a major overhaul, ah well I might have a go in the next few days or so at work, but for now I'll leave it right here.

I relied partly on this: http://wiki.parpg.net/Feature_list in constructing this.

Tech demo #1:

• Add more objects to the game, and make them work with the inventory
• Add a right-click menu with options that depend on what you click
• Enable loading and saving of the game (probably via Python pickle)
• Have a map with buildings  that can be entered
• Enable dialog with NPC's

Only the last part could be tough, I don't feel that we are really that far away from the rest.

I think we should have a push and aim to have this done by the end of July 

Note to bretzel: we need to chat about to link up your inventory code with my object code so that the 2 are reasonably independant. Since we rarely meet on IRC, let me know what you think here.

[maximinus]

Part 4 of the above task, the ability to enter and leave buildings, has been completed.

Also, as part of a general code spruce-up, I've slowly going through all of the code to make sure it is fully epydoc complete, something we've been a little lazy with so far 

[Dave Matney]

Seriously good job guys.

[trained circus idiot]

Tech demo #1:

• Add more objects to the game, and make them work with the inventory
• Add a right-click menu with options that depend on what you click
• Enable loading and saving of the game (probably via Python pickle)
• Have a map with buildings  that can be entered
• Enable dialog with NPC's

Only the last part could be tough, I don't feel that we are really that far away from the rest.

Hello,

First: I'm new here so I apologize if I bring up something that has been properly answered elsewhere on the forum or wiki. I have been reading the PARPG development blog for a while, but haven't delved into the forums or wiki before today.

Second: what features are necessary for the dialog system in tech demo 1 (given that certain other engine features may be unimplemented, all the features listed here might not apply)? Is anyone currently working on the dialog system? Are there particular forum posts or wiki entries I should be aware of before implementing a dialog system?

[maximinus]

what features are necessary for the dialog system in tech demo 1 (given that certain other engine features may be unimplemented, all the features listed here might not apply)? Is anyone currently working on the dialog system? Are there particular forum posts or wiki entries I should be aware of before implementing a dialog system?

From top to bottom:

The minimum feature set, as listed in the forums, but you can start by implementing a sub-set of that.

No one is currently working on the dialog system.

Maybe look at http://forums.parpg.net/index.php?topic=135.0 and http://forums.parpg.net/index.php?topic=122.0.

Whatever you do, please submit a patch early on. I'd rather read a small amount of semi-completed code rather than having to check a huge patch. 

[tZee]

What do you intend to do with techdemo1? Or is it just a different name for a milestone?

[maximinus]

To implement no actual game, but to show we have the technology in place - map loading and saving, game saving, the inventory, the map format etc etc...

I suppose you could call it a milestone. It's just a statement that says 'here we are, and here is what we have done so far.' Also it may focus development in the short term.

[tZee]

So then what will happen with it? Is it the "get it working" application and then there will be the "get it right" one? Or will it be used as the base for further development?

I mean, are there any plans for when demo1 is finished yet? (Because this thread is like the closest to a roadmap I found to far. Though I noticed that there are many other things pending, like deciding on mechanics/features.)

[maximinus]

I suppose we are heading towards milestone demo from this: http://wiki.parpg.net/Roadmap.

Naturally, it will be used as the basis to work from. I suppose I'm looking for two things from it:

1: A way of focusing the minds of developers and having a short term goal.

2: As 'base camp #1'. "Right, is everyone good so far? Is this the right direction? Are we all happy? Then let's take a deep breath and continue on up the mountain (of code)"

[maximinus]

An update: thanks to meggie, we now have map loading and saving.

[meggie]

Saving/Loading is broken, presumably until the gameState/gameData stuff gets straightened out. I left a message on IRC for you or tZee. I read in the logs you were looking for a hash of maps and their objects, which is what the Saver class is (/was?). Anyway, I would also love to participate in the data storage discussions (^_^)...but right now it all seems a little poorly defined (no offense to anyone, I expect it's a byproduct of three people working on it separately).

[tZee]

It worked perfectly with the object oriented solution I implemented. I still await Maximinus' reason for merging it with the engine class.
I removed the saver class because it was redundant to my gameState class and because I changed the object's structure to be object oriented.

[mvBarracuda]

As already proposed in the other thread in the programming forums: it might be needed to sit down at this point and try to shift the focus from pure implementation with incremental changes / refactoring to more a "structured" approach. We could use the wiki to draft code design articles and start to implement these ones after they have been reviewed by the others. The old process worked fine with two programmers involved but as we're having an influx of new programmers lately, there is a need for more planning and design before implementation IMO.

[maximinus]

As already proposed in the other thread in the programming forums: it might be needed to sit down at this point and try to shift the focus from pure implementation with incremental changes / refactoring to more a "structured" approach. We could use the wiki to draft code design articles and start to implement these ones after they have been reviewed by the others. The old process worked fine with two programmers involved but as we're having an influx of new programmers lately, there is a need for more planning and design before implementation IMO.

It was and always has been structured. Whether good or bad, that's another discussion 

[shevegen]

Another question - should the first Tech Demo have a mini quest? Something simple, just to show that the actor can move around and achieve "objectives". No combat related stuff. It could be tied to the dialog of the NPC and could consist of moving objects already available in-game around solely from place a to place b.