The next few versions of Shard I want to focus on the architecture and maintenance improvements. Things that won't so much affect its gameplay, but rather open up the possibilities in what can be scripted in the framework. It must be said I'm not doing a major rewrite NTai style, these changes are evolutionary and obvious additions.
0.31 Ballsey
Mid October-Mid November
- A Shard logo
- Basic Module support, think gadgets, so global systems that apply to multiple units. A simple but very useful structural change
0.32 Jolly Roger
December
- Initial basic Load balancing architecture
- Wordpress style action hooks and filters
I'm being conservative with what Im planning and when I deliver it, and I expect to add extra things as I go along.
I'll also be building a jquery style documentation setup on darkstars under the Shard project section. If I want people to make the most out of Shard they need to know the API methods, what the parameters are, and example usage. Not too hard, it's just time consuming, but I feel it has to be done if I'm to be a responsible developer.
I could do this within a week, but given my job and other commitments, I estimate this will take 3-4 months. Completion of the documentation of the API is unlikely to be complete by christmas due to additions, and will be an ongoing project.
Other ideas I'm weighing up for the feature expansion following the completion of the above include:
- Unit Taxonomies
Think about it this way, you have a weapons taxonomy with a list of 'flamers' a list of 'Artillery' and 'LRPC', then a type taxonomy with a list of 'vehicles' a list of 'kbots' a list of 'aircraft' etc or even a 'Canon' taxonomy with a list for 'fodder' and a list for 'command', and a list for 'heroes'
- Water body detection
No shipyards trapped in those ponds
- Resource map APIs
Heightmaps, metalmaps, etc
- AI Option support
Primarily for people working in Shard to add AI custom options for their games without it drawing in all the others
What do people think?