Long Time No Post

A lot has happened since I last posted. The biggest news is that I created a Kickstarter for this project, and it was successfully funded. So I'm now working on Weapon M like it's my day job. I'm on track for completing my basic design goals around the end of October. I'll release it to the public around the end of November, after my ten-dollar-plus backers have had it for 30 days.

While the Kickstarter was underway, I ran into a serious limitation of the database software I was using. I decided that I don't want any more surprises from it, and I wasn't entirely happy with it anyway because although it's gratis, it's not libre. Its license forbids redistribution, so users would have had to download and install it separately. After considering several other options, I decided to rewrite the database to use plain old serialization. It may not be ideal, but I knew I could do that much faster than I could learn the quirks of another ODBMS, and without the risk of running into more unfamiliar problems that might result in wasted time.

My plan for tomorrow is to set up hosting somewhere so I can release a preview for my fifty-dollar-plus backers. It's certainly not ready to replace other helpers yet, but the database and script API are far enough along that it can perform a few useful tasks. Considering the various scenarios where players might want to send commands in a burst as they log in, I removed the fixed default auto-login behavior from the core program and made it the domain of user scripts.

But the script API has been put aside for now, and it will change significantly when I turn my attention back to it. I've thought of a way to allow advanced script writers to create their own parameter dialogs, and it will require changing the sequence of method calls during script loading.

I'll try to get back into the habit of updating this blog at least every two weeks, so check back for updates.