Shaving my Yak

Browsing through github projects in C/C++ Trying to find ways to link up the goblin_camp project with more automated testers, I started looking around the Readme.md files of other C/C++ projects in github. From neovim, I found AppVeyor, and although I have not yet set it up, it promises to supplement Travis CI with Windows test builds. I also found Coverity Scan, which might be a way for us to scan the large, preexisting code and fix goblin_camp. Then, from Cataclysm-DDA, I found Bounty Source . The icon had a dollar figures on it, so I assumed it was some sort of funnily-named fund raising site. It was, but with a twist. Show Me The Money Apparently, this site is designed to help the project by having people put down money into a pot to fix certain issues listed in Github. Some of the issues were very popular: enough people contributed to the pot of 250 dollars. I would also imagine those are tough ones. I found myself a less-popular, 4 year-old issue of 15 dollars . I am mor...

Digging through the dirt My fascination with the Goblin Camp, and by extension Dwarf Fortress, continues. One of the first thing the team did was to implement the initial setup of Travis CI to the repository: I made the issue and linked the account for it, and Robert figured out the configuration file and got it to do something. Our plan is to use this to tell us when, in fact, the game compiles properly. It is spamming me now that the build isn't working, but one day, it is going to show me a green light. The next task was to dust off the 7-year old libraries and implement spanking new ones, starting from Boost. So first, I researched on how boost is included into the repository. There seems to be largely three ways to go about it: system-wide installation, copying over the full source code, and using modular source code. First, just to see if it would work, I replaced the old /vendor/boost folder with the most up-to-date version of full boost. It did not work. Well, it co...

Brief Introduction of the Dwarf Fortress The Dwarf Fortress is a well-established, closed-source, free game that has been continuously developed since 2006. It has inspired some of the most famous games, such as Minecraft. It is considered a rouge-like game, and it chiefly relies on ASCII characters to represent various parts of the game, although there had been many successful efforts to add more advanced graphics to make the game look more attractive. Despite the modest-looking graphics, the game is packed with many features including highly complex physics emulation (liquid and solid), path-finding of multiple characters based on various personal needs, and comprehensive mechanical construct emulation. Curiosity that is about the kill the Cat The game is closed source, so how it is designed and scaled is unknown to the public. That said, it seems to be a public understanding that the game, despite having many moving parts, is created to be a single-threaded program as was th...

Hactoberfest A Hactoberfest takes place in October where coders are encourages to churn out a set amount of Pull Requests in the month. And a Pull Request is essentially a contribution made to the community. It is an interesting opportunity set to help motivate coders to take an active part in the open source communities in general. I certainly enjoyed the chance. This blog is dedicated to the Hactoberfest and acts as my index to my contributions and associated blogs. That Index I was talking about... A failed attempt that will be revisited and its blog Rocketfuel and Zinc and its blog Protein Powder Realism and its blog A lesson on .308 and its blog A tribute to Hannibal and its blog Awl-pike with a weight issue and its blog The Good I have made five pull requests, contributing to open source programs for the first time. In many ways, this is my dream come true; just 3 years ago, I never even thought this to be something within my power to do. I was always a cons...

Last time... In my previous commit, I had the pleasure of studying the guns and their ammo and how they are reflected in the world of Cataclysm-DDA. This time, the some members of the community were buzzing about a 3-meter-long pointy stick called awl pike. Awl Pike The awl pike is basically an extra-long spear designed specifically for use in a formation attack. A formation of 3+ ranks hold the longest possible stick at their disposal and poke the enemy that stands in front of them or charging at them. It is very powerful weapon against things that stands in front of them, but due to the need for formation and the shear unwieldiness of the weapon, it is not very versatile and adaptable to changing circumstances. In a one-on-one combat, the weapon would be very difficult to stay effective. How do I know all this? Well, there was the entire discussion about it in the issue page. Like I said, this kind of games brings out the geeks from their closets and provide the floor to sp...

The Gun Nuts Some of the most beautiful thing about open-source, rouge-like games are that it brings out the geeks in all of us. In one game , it brought out the geography geek to express themselves into the game that turns a simple management game into something that teaches you a bit about geographical compounds and where they are formed. In the case of Cataclysm-DDA, and in this particular issue, we tapped into the gun nuts. Based on some comprehensive review , someone provided a case to convince the community to fix a simple typo mistake. I mean, it's a typo mistake on a simple ammo object, and this person went and dug up information only the hard-core gun enthusiast would care to pen down! I certainly enjoyed reading and learning more about the world of guns, ammo, politics, military, and a piece of history just so that I can understand the need to add the negative sign in front of a number. It was fantastic. The fix This was a simple case. The issuer even spelt out e...

The thing about Cataclysm-DDA is... This is a zombie-survival game. This part is going to be more gruesome than usual, so I suggest you spare yourselves and turn away right this moment. . . . . . . Proceed at your own discretion. . . . . . . You have been warned. . . . . . The survival is meant to be tough and difficult. A bunch of city-folks are thrown into the deep-end of the nature with added quirks of friendly next-door neighbors giving you a helping hand in becoming one with their stomach. No grocery stores, no farms, no livestock, no help, not at the beginning, anyways. Therefore, the game explored the possibility, and the horror, of survivors doing everything they must do to survive. That, to some, meant eating the flesh of other humans given the chance. The game features many meat-based food items, and almost all of them has a counterpart that uses human flesh in place. This includs the protein powder. I told you to look away. Caveat This particular...