Soon!

When referring to projects and bug fixes, one of the common GM-isms is "It's On The List."  Roughly translated, this means that there are plans to develop/address the project in question.  This is not to be confused with "Soon!" which means development on the project has commenced.  The ultimate goal is to get the project moved onto the "Done!" list, which means that it has been implemented within the game.

I have a very long list of projects that are On The List, and a longer list of projects that will be completed sometime Soon.  My current method of time management – which is to nibble away at multiple projects at once – has met with mixed results; some of the smaller projects get Done while other larger, complicated projects seem no closer to being completed anytime Soon.

To paraphrase Skirwan, I have more projects than time.  Dividing my time evenly amongst my projects has not been an efficient method of managing my time.  I can say this now because after working exclusively on the mannequin.npc script, I found that devoting all of my attention to one singular project worked got the project moved from Soon to Done.

The lesson learned: focus on one thing, and it gets Done faster.  I hope to apply this method of time management to my other projects so that they will get moved from On The List to Done.

"Soon!"

Fa Fa Fa Fa Fashion

You equip your shirt named “test”, which is in nearly perfect condition.
You equip your cloak named “cloak of testing”, which is in very good condition.

Not only do mannequins remember /name'd clothing, but they now also correctly display belt colors, and the colors of the mannequin NPCs are no longer transparent.  Three bugs fixed; three bug cases closed.

There are no words to describe just how happy I feel right now.

Well, maybe there are.

109

Team Fortress 2 tracks the number of hours that one spends playing the game.  So far I have logged 109 hours on Team Fortress 2.  109 hours.  Two and a half work weeks.

In other news, I have spent 109 hours not developing content for Clan Lord.  I wonder if TF2 had an achievement for that!

Won't You Please, Please Help Me

The mannequin script continues to torment me.  I opted to throw away my changes and start over.  I benefited from this decision, as the script has been updated since I started working upon it.  I am now able to incorporate my changes to a more efficient version of the script.

I spent very little time working on the mannequin script today, as a good portion of my day was spent meeting with one of the CL Helpers.  Together we power-debugged one of the scripts for a new area, and I found the experience sufficiently humbling:

Helper: I want the script to perform a specific task.
Me: I have an idea on how we should handle that.
We try my idea and it does not work.
Helper: How about if we try it my way?
Me: Let's try to debug my way first.
We try debugging and continue to experience problems.
Helper: I think my way will work.
Me: Okay.  Let's try it.
The Helper adds one line of code and the script works flawlessly.

Moreover, the Helper's solution was a method that I would never have thought of doing.  It was simple, straightforward and elegant.  If I continue to experience problems with the mannequin script, then perhaps I should ask the Helper for help!

Splash Screens

Clan Lord is in desperate need of a new splash screen.  The current one is five years out of date.

I thought that it might be fun to do a short series of new splash screens that show old areas that are no longer used (like the Castle's Mirror Room), old areas that were developed but never used (Puddleby Sewers), and perhaps include some previews of areas in development.

Asides from needing to submit one new splash screen for each update, there is also the issue that players would need to download every new splash screen as they are updated.  They're not small – around 400k in size – and I am mindful that some players are using dial-up modems.

The simplest option is to update the copyright information on the current splash screen and stick with that, but if we were to do that then we would never see charming Glacier Town, built circa V212.



I would like an updated splash screen for V660.  This is update week, so content is due Friday.  That does not give me a lot of time.

Procrastinationcomplete!

I had intended to spend this evening debugging the mannequin script.  Instead I spent four hours hanging around the Fairgrounds and chatted about music, red onions, boobies, clothing, and the Clan Lord community.

In short, I completely procrastinated.



While I did not spend any time debugging, I still feel that my evening was well spent.  Thanks to everyone for stopping by and keeping me company.

The Man With The Golden Harm

Today, while I was diligently looking for bugs – or for something that may be a bug – I missed a golden opportunity.



Instead of unlocking the Golden Wrench in Team Fortress 2, I spent my day repeatedly jumping around in the healer's animal pen, willfully allowing myself to be mauled by Lyfelidae.  I suppose that it could have been worse.  I could have unwillingly allowed myself to be mauled by spies!