The Mandate RPG Discussion Thread

[Guo Xiang]

Oh hi, you're still playing. Cool

You know, I was thinking of making an app for this game, because we're often forgetting the details, so I'm thinking maybe an app to keep track of which character is where and doing what would be useful.

What do you think?

Are you going to make that app now?

[IcyFox]

OK guys, here's the plan:

The app will be entirely web-based, to minimize incompatibility issues between Windows/Mac/iOS/Android/Blackberry/etc, and will serve the content in HTML5 exclusively so that you guys won't need to bother about updating Flash/Java plug-ins; all you would need is the current versions of existing popular browsers like Google Chrome (Safari and Firefox should work fine as well).

For the 1st release I'll keep things simple, and these are the features I have in mind:
- The map we've been using for this RPG will be the background
- Click a spot on the map to write a short description of the story event
- Enter the time with reference to some major event (e.g. 2 weeks after Pan attacks Donghai)
- A 1D timeline below the map will then show you how far you are in the storyline
- Select different points on the timeline to see the 'snapshots' of different periods in the story

To save me a lot of time and effort and to ensure a fast release of the 1st prototype before everyone loses interest in the RPG again ( ) , the map will be non-interactive for now, meaning that you won't be able to re-size the territories dynamically; you'd have to draw the new country-boundaries by hand and then upload the image for the new map.

Additional features/improvements will be added based on your feedback as we go along.

How's that?

[Guo Xiang]

The map we've been using for this RPG will be the background

This sounds bad already... considering how fugly it really is.

But otherwise it looks good. Are you really to do it?

[IcyFox]

This sounds bad already... considering how fugly it really is.

But otherwise it looks good. Are you really to do it?

Yep, everything except designing a new map. How good are you at Photoshop?

[Guo Xiang]

Yep, everything except designing a new map. How good are you at Photoshop?

I'm no good at Photoshop. I only have a grain of talent in writing, that's all.

[IcyFox]

Hmm, RYY, how 'bout you? You would love to help design a snazzy new map for this RPG, I presume?

[S Beaver]

Hmm, RYY, how 'bout you? You would love to help design a snazzy new map for this RPG, I presume?

i can help, but i'll take forever (and disclaimer, i am no good at photoshopping either)

[IcyFox]

OK, right now I'm doing the tedious admin chores right now, like setting up the database and creating the web pages...

Would you guys prefer to follow the development process from the ground up, or wait till it's a finished & polished product before I post it here?

[Guo Xiang]

OK, right now I'm doing the tedious admin chores right now, like setting up the database and creating the web pages...

Would you guys prefer to follow the development process from the ground up, or wait till it's a finished & polished product before I post it here?

I think anything will do. :O I wouldn't mind reading about your development process...

[IcyFox]

The RPG App

OK guys, here's what I've made so far - if you're waiting till I finish before checking it out, don't click the link below! I'll post a grand announcement when I'm done.

http://flickpeesai.webege.com/rpg.php

You guys can help test the app if you like, but I wouldn't advise you guys to save anything that's supposed to be permanent right now, because I'm most likely gonna have to reset the database several times during the development process, so all changes will just go poof!

-

I started off with the easiest part first which is allowing users to add characters to the story. So right now I'm working on the main canvas which is supposed to display the game's maps and timeline in a super elegant and sophisticated way.

Next on the list would be adding events to the timeline, and then comes the difficult part of linking the characters and the locations to the right place and right time on the timeline...

So, there you go.

[Guo Xiang]

The RPG App

OK guys, here's what I've made so far - if you're waiting till I finish before checking it out, don't click the link below! I'll post a grand announcement when I'm done.

http://flickpeesai.webege.com/rpg.php

You guys can help test the app if you like, but I wouldn't advise you guys to save anything that's supposed to be permanent right now, because I'm most likely gonna have to reset the database several times during the development process, so all changes will just go poof!

-

I started off with the easiest part first which is allowing users to add characters to the story. So right now I'm working on the main canvas which is supposed to display the game's maps and timeline in a super elegant and sophisticated way.

Next on the list would be adding events to the timeline, and then comes the difficult part of linking the characters and the locations to the right place and right time on the timeline...

So, there you go.

Wah. Looks interesting! Can't wait for the complete job!

[IcyFox]

OK guys, right now you can add events to the timeline as well as attach their associated map images. Please let me know if you notice any bugs, because file uploads can be rather error-prone...

I think I shall change the interface of the main timeline canvas to improve the navigation, but since the weekend's out, I kinda left it function-less as it is.

Stay tuned for more news next week!

[IcyFox]

OK just doing a 'stocktake' here; ignore my ramblings if they mean nothing to you.

Stuff to do for the Alpha version:
- Fix "Edit Event" function
- Build timeline nav panel
- Make map interactive to add characters to locations

Stuff to do for the Beta version:
- Fix security loopholes
- Add password protection (I'll send you guys the passwords via PM when ready)

Stuff to do for the actual release:
- See what other features/improvements can be done??

~

Projected date for Alpha version - this weekend (23/9).

[Guo Xiang]

OK just doing a 'stocktake' here; ignore my ramblings if they mean nothing to you.

Stuff to do for the Alpha version:
- Fix "Edit Event" function
- Build timeline nav panel
- Make map interactive to add characters to locations

Stuff to do for the Beta version:
- Fix security loopholes
- Add password protection (I'll send you guys the passwords via PM when ready)

Stuff to do for the actual release:
- See what other features/improvements can be done??

~

Projected date for Alpha version - this weekend (23/9).

I'm a little confused at how it's supposed to work. I didn't get anything working (except for characters which I have not tried). :O

[IcyFox]

HAHAHAHA user-friendliness failed...

OK, I'll go make a short video demo and post on Youtube when I've got all the essential elements in place. Sorry about this!

[IcyFox]

OK meanwhile, while waiting for the app to be complete and the video demo to be ready, maybe this rough sketch can help explain things:

$this->handle_bbcode_img_match('http://www.spcnet.tv/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=9130&d=1348043114')

The basic idea is, the 1st step is to create characters (feature complete), and step 2 is to add events to the timeline; Day 0 is the main entry point of the story, but doesn't have to be the beginning of the story (development in progress).

E.g. ~ In this RPG, the Pan-Xiwu wedding would be Day 0, and Prince Ying reaches the Donghai capital around 2 months after that (?), so this event will be added as Day 60 in the app. If you have flashbacks that happen before the wedding, then you can add them as Day -7, etc.

Finally (or so I believe), you can click anywhere on the map to tag characters and add a short description (similar to how you tag friends in photos on Facebook), so you can keep track of who is where at what time. Which is the original purpose of the app.

~

P.S. For each event, you can either upload a new image file to be used as the map, or use the previous map if it exists. However, you must tag an image to the event or the timeline will just show a blank screen. Since I'm using a free web host, there might be some hiccups when uploading big files - that can cause server timeouts which will crash the app, but that's beyond my control. Sorry.

[IcyFox]

OK there's been a rather severe setback; I think I might have to delay the Alpha version by a few days. Long story short, I was updating the app via the web editor and the server timed-out when I tried to save; yep, the most stupid thing that could've happened actually happened. Totally super WTF...

Dumb and lazy that I was, I didn't use GIT or even FTP; everything to do with this app is stored on the web server. So. I'll probably be spending the rest of the week picking up the pieces. My bad.

[IcyFox]

Hey guys, I've fixed yesterday's problem, and you can now add or modify events to/on the timeline. You can try it out and see if there's anything you don't like, or anything that didn't work as it should, please post here or PM me and I'll get to it ASAP.

Known issues:
- The navigation panel shows the all the events, but currently it's not interactive yet.
- Sometimes when modifying an event, the page loads the wrong date; I'm working on it right now.
- If you're using Google Chrome, some of its built-in tooltips overlap with the app's.

Anyhow, I've uploaded 2 of the maps from this RPG to my site in case you want to play with them:
~ http://flickpeesai.webege.com/uploads/themandate1.png
~ http://flickpeesai.webege.com/uploads/themandate2.jpg

And, I've added some sample events to the timeline during testing, so to help you guys understand what is going on, this probable storyline might illustrate what's happening in those events.

Day -5 : Xiwu's princess is about to leave for Pan.
Day -3: Xiwu conquers western Donghai.
Day 0: Zheng He sets sail through the Pacific.
Day 3: He somehow ends up in the Indian Ocean.
Day 5: Undaunted, he sails past the Cape of Good Hope into the Atlantic Ocean.
Day 7: He leads the 1st successful Chinese expedition to the North Pole.

This story may or may not have made sense. LOL

[Guo Xiang]

Now there's Zheng He too?

Sorry for not responding for so many days. You know how life is.

[IcyFox]

You know how life is.

Yep I know. Progress on my side is slow as well.

Anyhows, right now the nav panel (at the bottom) is ready, and you can see (and jump to) all events on the timeline.

Also, you can highlight specific locations on the map by double-clicking. It will bring up a menu for you to add the characters involved and generate a fat dot at those coordinates. However the saving function is not ready yet; I'll sort that out ASAP.

So yeah, with any luck we're good to go really soon. ^^