The deeper dungeons of Abentia

Seeking a Dutch BYOND member to help with translation

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 09:49:26 GMT

If you speak both Dutch and English fluent enough to warrant a decent communication, could you assist on helping a poor soul over at the BYOND Help forum?
I'd need you translate my questions to Dutch and his replies to English.

Help would be much appreciated.

Open source MID (Mobile Internet Device)

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 03:39:33 GMT

Currently, I'm only aware of two semi-decent commercial portable media players that work as mobile internet device, Apple's iPod Touch and the Archos 5 Internet Tablet, yet nothing open sourced like Pandora.

I dislike the fact that the commercial products are rather highly branded (with their own stores and restrictions) and lack support for functionality I'd like to use.

The product should contain:

Touch Screen
WiFi
Built-in speaker and microphone
Power adapter/charger
GPS (as add-on, or pre-installed)
USB-port
Video out/in
Freely edible OS
Support software for run most common file-formates (e.g. VLC)
Webbrowser with Flash support (pref. FF)

I do not need a portable (gaming) console like Pandora, though I'd certainly enjoy being able to play (best with the iPod's shake feature) some games.

I'd greatly appreciate any hints or directions.
Thank you in advance!

Collaborative effort on creating decent art

Wed, 21 Oct 2009 09:21:10 GMT

The recent discussion on cooperation between programmers and artists combined with the actual lack of showcase artwork around BYOND got me to wonder if there would be some trustworthy aspiring artists who would like to be founded with software to help them create amazing art.
Considering the new isometric support for BYOND, a utility like World Creator 2.5 would seem rather promising.
The cost of £39.99 might deter one person alone, but what if four programmers combined monetary resources and funded an artist to create such beautiful graphics ?

Do you think an idea like this could work out?
Would you be an artist to look out for such an opportunity, or would you be a programmer in dire need of art work?

I'd be glad to hear your opinion!

Open-Server, a means of supporting developers

Fri, 28 Aug 2009 10:23:30 GMT

Falacy suggested the idea of an open-server.

Now, since I find the idea interesting, I want to gather information on how the community sees the possibilities of such a project.

Basically, the idea is to provide a shared server that can be freely used by certain competent game makers. As most developers on BYOND lack resources (including monetary), there are games that might see more activity (and thus an increased fan-base) if they would be hosted on a more frequent base.
It might be a far fetch, but it could be one additional step to feature original games, instead of spreading the player-base out on various low quality games.

I doubt (and don't think) that BYOND would (should) take the venture, because of the financial risk and the immense workload involved (imagine the spam by 'programmers' wanting to get a free slot), but a private person/group should have less trouble, if the concept is well planned.

My suggestion would be the following:

Start out by compiling a list of 'reasonable programmers' that be granted a slot in such an open-server
Assemble a team to operate the server (money and access wise)
Contact one of the BYOND hosting companies and negotiate on a somewhat decent server
Collect donations in advance and come up with a detailed service description (esp. what would be strictly forbidden)
Talk to Tom and query if such a service could have a little payback through referrals

Feedback and voting would be most welcome.
Thank you in advance!

P.S.: Please keep things civil.

Ripping - Reasons, measures and suggestions

Sat, 02 May 2009 10:01:30 GMT

Basing the creation of someone's net dream on (most often bad) source code has "gone from being seen as necessary (...), to a necessary evil(...)."^Stephen001, but why is it seen as such by that many people?
The problem seems simple at first glance.
They fail to create a project from scratch, as they lack knowledge of the language used to achieve this.
The reason for this absence is less obvious and less trivial though.
Short attention span (due to young age) and a low frustration endurance come to mind, but can this topic be really dashed so easily?
BYOND is created for and advertised as simplifying the process of creating certain types of games, so this is the measure that we should apply.
BYOND grants fast visual success compared to languages like C, but the main guide doesn't make much use of this.

Now, how can this be changed?

One main benefit would be a "click and play"-"drag and drop" like interface for BYOND, as seen in a large variety of game creation tools.
But as the attempt would be resource intense, it is logical that the BYOND team can not aim for this direction.

Better tutorials and guiding material would be another way to go.
Not only would new innovative media (such as interactive video) look better, but the quality, sloop of progress and topic could need adjustment (not to talk about completeness even).
A tutorial based on common "tasks" for animé games (like "jutsu") and resulting in a skeleton game is likely attracting more attention than a lot of developer articles.
And again, this is a very resource intense task. Too intense for the BYOND team to tackle on, in fact.

If nothing can be done, is it a lost battle fought by a few determined people?

I would not think so, as both could be done by a group of developers on BYOND.
Outsourcing tasks to a community is a new and successful business strategy that should work here, if people could force themselves to cooperate and work under one official supervisor.

The values the Naruto series tries to convey with special regards to BYOND

Mon, 27 Apr 2009 02:05:44 GMT

Since the average BYOND customer seems to be attracted to Animé themed games, I decided to do a little "field research".
As Naruto is within the top three, I decided to watch the series in order to be capable of judging the games and communicating with the community.

Now, when I did listen to one of the theme songs, I was astonished seeing how the values that the song and the series most likely try to get across are not reflected at all in the BYOND Animé community.

The theme referred to as a whole:

"We are Fighting Dreamers aiming high
Fighting Dreamers don't care what people think about them
Fighting Dreamers follow what they believe
Oli Oli Oli Oh! Just go my way

Right here right now (Bang)
Hit it straight like a line drive!
Right here right now (Burn)
We're gonna do it and do our best!

Down a difficult road filled with endless struggles
Where do you think you are going following someone else's map?
A wise crow comes along to tear up the map
Now open your eyes and take a look at the truth (Yeah!)
There's nothing to loose, so let's GO!

We are Fighting Dreamers aiming high
Fighting Dreamser don't care what people think bout them
Fighting Dreamers follow what they believe
Oli Oli Oli Oh! Just go my way

Right here right now (Bang)
Hit it straight like a ine dive!
Right here right now (Burn)
We're gonna do it and do our best! Bang!
Right here right now (Bang)
Hit it straight like a line drive
Right here right now (Burn)
We're gona do it and do our best! Bang!"

Please allow me to get into detail now.

"Fighting Dreamers don't care what people think about them"
It seems that those playing care a lot about what others think of them. Heated flame wars, the desire to show what one's capable of and the reaction when someone defies the effort put forth to achieve a certain goal clearly point in that direction.
Sometimes, stepping back, rethinking an opposing position, taking criticism without reacting sore and staying calm (polite) might be useful and help the community.

"Where do you think you are going following someone else's map?"
To a community filled with stealing other peoples work, this ought to look like sheer mockery.
Even the very rare case that someone created source code and art on her own still leaves them stealing the copyrighted theme and general ideas.
People call this "fan fiction", trying to sound less like theft, but that is putting lipstick on the pig.
Sometime going through the (painful and hard) way of creating an own idea might pay off for everyone. Can your dream (Build Your Own Net Dream) be really the dream of someone else, or is that not more like taking the easy way and copying?

"Right here right now (Burn)
We're gonna do it and do our best!
Down a difficult road filled with endless struggles"
These people that take a source code, edit it slightly and release it as their own, did they take a difficult road?
Doesn't this try to encourage us to fight our way through learning the language and create something to be proud of?
Do the heroes of this series not work with blood and sweat to gain the abilities they possess (sharingan aside *smiles*, see I learned something!)?
Now, the brave reader is prone to reply that learning DM is too tricky, that she tried and couldn't overcome the obstacles in her way.
But this is where BYOND would desperately need your help. This is where you could shine and become a hero yourself!
Point out your problems to those in charge.
Try to analyse your effort and failure by seeking help in the developers forum and upon succeeding, create a document to help those coming after you.
Evolve from Genin to Jonin, from scholar to teacher and help those that try to get past the same problems you did with finding their way.
Or, even better, help others with doing this!
Since often aspiring programmers tend to overestimate their abilities after first success, clearly describe where you encountered problems and try to work together with experienced developers (Alathon, Stephen001, Tiberath, just to name a few) to get an article for the Developers guild, or even a better guide/tutorial.

I want to conclude this with a quote:
"Now open your eyes and take a look at the truth (Yeah!)
There's nothing to loose, so let's GO!"