Week Four Report

The first main thing I worked on this week was, of course, modifying TP Web. It was a bit weird this time in that I've known what exactly I need to fix because the bugs would present themselves one by one. But since this week was the start of implementing changes rather than fixing bugs, it was a bit disconcerting as to where I should start.

However, that unease was shortly lived, and I fell back into things soon after. I started with turning the static object types mentioned in the code (Ship, Planet, Galaxy) into a more dynamic list presented by the server. This began with modifying the backend python code because the function that constructs the JSON object data had a reference to this static object type list. However, the static object types were not as deeply ingrained in the backend code as they were in the frontend javascript code, so it was actually a simple modification.

I began working on the frontend code, and I believe the process, while somewhat more intensive, wasn't all that more difficult either. It was mostly just switching from reliance on a static object type array to using the object type name that gets sent in the JSON stream. However, this led to the realization that I would have to work on the dynamic media goal concurrently. Something to do with the css code needing it but I don't remember the specific reason.

Thus, I also went into the code to enable it to take the urls sent in the json stream and use those for icons and media images. What was difficult about this was that the image urls do not come with a image type attached to them, like png or gif. If it had, I could have just had the code in the frontend post the links as if they were images. Since that is not the case, I had to have the python backend go through each image link and test if it's a png. If that fails, it then tests if the image is a gif. This slows the code down a lot, and will need to be fixed later to find a more elegant solution, because it's really annoying.

When I had implemented this, I discovered that some image links that come from the server are not actually there. Llnz knows about this apparently, and I'm supposed to tell Mithro what images are not up there. But I haven't been on linux for the past couple of days, so never had them with me. Basically it's the universe/galaxy icons that are missing.

I actually managed to get those two goals done fairly quickly, so I worked on a reskin of the game. As it currently is, it looks a bit bland, not to do discredit to Tote or anything. So I spent the long weekend finalizing the redesign I've been working on since the start of GSOC. Unfortunately, any design thing I undertake tends to devour all my time and attention. I didn't think to save any in-progress shots, but here's the comparison between the current look of TP Web and the new design I plan to implement. There are still several things to address, such as the icon and the clicking menu, but I think I like the overall look.

With that, two goals are checked off. I'm a bit more ahead of schedule, but that will allow me to implement my reskin. Next week I'll work on putting the messages into a battle style format and implementing the redesign.

May 31th: Upgrade to TP04 Standard

June 7th: Upgrade to TP04 Standard
June 14th: Implement Multiple Queues
June 21st: Dynamic Object Type Support
June 28th: Dynamic Media Support

July 5th: Messages to BattleLog + Redesign
July 12th: Rollover Object Information Panel
July 19th: Display Trajectory of Objects
July 26th: Move Orders to Info Panel. Subsequent menus implement

August 2nd: Right-click Menu for Orders
August 9th : Build Commands Issuable through Right-Click
August 16th : Bug Hunting