So, with my university studies done for the year, I have some free time on my hands. In an attempt to chronicle my efforts a bit more completely, I will be posting about them here. Some will (hopefully) appeal to you, others won’t. I may be tackling concepts which are familiar to some of you, and I would appreciate your input on those. More details below the jump.
ConCMS 2.0
This is the software I developed to run the website and event scheduling for SYDCON and EYECON. Other groups are also using it (MacquarieCon). The original version of the software is good, but a little inflexible and I’m doing a ground-up rewrite to make it more modular and add in a number of features that both conorgs and con-going public have requested. One of my ultimate goals is to get it to a point where people can install and administer it with zero intervention from me.
Although my code-fu is moderate, there’s still plenty to learn. I’ll be specifically be looking to expand my knowledge in these areas:
- Git for version and release control.
- PHP5 for better object-oriented code.
- I need to figure out whether I’ll be sticking to the database abstraction model where customer-facing code does not use SQL statements at all, or turn it on its head and go for the flexibility of writing an SQL statement whenever I need information. I see a performance/ease-of-coding/security balancing act here.
- Smarty templates.
- Developing a modular framework so that new functionality can be developed as plugins
If you’ve got some god resources on any of the above, then let me know. Also, if you’ve used my software any time in the past, weigh in and tell me what you do or don’t like about it. I can’t promise I’ll necessarily implement your suggestion, but it’ll be good to get some feedback.
Mean Streets of Rome
On a slightly more urgent note, I am co-writing a module for MacquarieCon with Philippa. Obviously, we can’t talk about it much until after the con (in case you’re playing it, you know), but you can see from the blurb that it’s a Cthulhu Invictus game, taking a noir slant akin to Lindsey Davis‘ Falco novels.
Dragonlance
The campaign continues. We’re almost done with the first book, which will give me a chance to re-evaluate how I’m approaching the game. To be honest, I’m not enjoying the dungeon-bash focus we’ve had so far, and I know I set a different expectation with the players. I’ll be looking to open the world up more to their explorations while keeping them confined to the Heroes of the Lance arc. Not sure how that is going to work, but we’ll see.