GeMMS (Gene's Mac Mud Server) / News: Recent posts

I've put this project on hold for now, but I do intend to get back to it when time and money permit.

Yes I've been away. I've been working on a free, though non-opensource Shogi game. I'm nearly finished with the first version of that, but I've been wanting to work on this project more.

The version of java I need for this project is finally out and pretty stable. I've also been giving som thought to potential enhancements to this project.

The newest technology I'm suriously looking at is javacc. It may be very useful on the mud server creation. After all, the mud server will really be a speciallized parser.... read more

Two bits of news.

First, I've pretty much finished the Map Maker tool. I have a few final touches, for this version, but I can't release any files until java 1.4.x ships, so there isn't much of a rush.

Second, I've started prototyping the first version of the server.

Third, (an off by one error ;) I'm working on a general purpose mud cyborg, half person run, half automated. The idea is that when this project gets farther along, I won't be able to find enough tester to stress test it, so I'll have a fleet of 300 bots roaming the mud server.

I'm checking out the xml parsing abilities of 1.4.x. I'm hoping to determine the how I want to integrate it into Gemms within a few days.

In a certain NDAed beta, I believe I can finish my xml work for Gemms Map Maker. I'm in the middle of some other projects currently, but as soon as I have a substantial break, I'll be working on Map Maker again.

Thanx unnamed company!

Well, Gemms Map Maker v0.1 cannot be finished until I have Java 1.4 on my mac, and I'm talking finished. Beta is nifty, but still nifty.

So I've decided to mess with writing a small IF. I'm writing it in C++ and will compile it for Linux, Win32 and of course our favorite OS -- OSX.

What does an IF have to do with MUD Servers? What is an IF if not a single player mud? I feel it gives me a slightly different perspective on this project.

All Versioned files are now in gemms_0_1_1 NOT gemms_0_1. I realized that I should have combine all the module targets, the Gemms Map Maker target and the GeMMS target into one project. I also realized that I should have made the Map Maker a Document based Cocoa-Java app.

I tried fixing this, but due to the way Source Forge handles CVS security, I only ended up making the whole gemms_0_1 module unusable. I settled for second best and started a new module at our cvsroot called gemms_0_1_1. I expect to be working from there for the time being. I'll have the sys admin blow away gemms_0_1 when I'm in the mood.

The official icons for Gemms, Gemap Docs, and Gemms Map Maker are done! They are based off clipart from a royalty free collection. They are copyrighted though, and cannot be redistributed seperate as clipart outside of the GeMMS Project though. They are not in the public domain, but they are cool looking.

All three icons are based off of a drawing of a Fury holding a torch with a long flowing ribbon and holding a slender golden spear. The Fury is wearing a long long flowing red and orange dress.

I'm pretty excited to announce the Gemms Map Maker v0.1 is nearly complete. I'm actually being held up by apple, since they haven't fully implemented/integrated java 1.4 in their dev tools.

To do:

* gemap xml parsing
* Open/Save/Save As/New

Yup that is all left for this version!

I have decided to drop support for drag and drop. It adds too much complexity with out a big pay off in functionality. It'll come later -- much later.

The Universe for v0.1 is coming together nicely. The Universe can now hold a World and the World can hold 16**2 Areas, and the Areas will soon be able to hold unlimited Items.

The Gemms Map Maker is only in need of some XML capabilities and it will be ready to make v0.1 maps!

I'm currently updating the project to handle new tools. First there is the Dec 2002 Developer tools and second the new Beta of java 1.4 for Apple. I haven't got them playing nice together yet, but since I'm almost out of thing that I can do on the Map Maker portion of v0.1 with out the 1.4 jdk, that real needs to start working.

Item and Area classes are now loading dynamically into Map Maker. The module lists in the NSOutlineView are Dynamic!

It's done. What design I'm doing so far anyway. I'm ready to start coding for real!

Expect to see a lot more CVS activity now.

The Project Builder project for map maker and for the items and areas targets is up in cvs. I will be doing to testing and designing before it gets very far though.

The *.gemap doc is up on the docs page. Gemap is the markup language used to store the initial state of a GeMMS mud.

Look in the "Docs" section of this site for the new documentation. It even has a couple of diagrams to illustrate my ideas.

I'll be making architectural docs next. I'm going to start with the GeMMS Map Maker app. Then I'll move on to the GeMMS Mud Server app.

Well, cvs and project builder play nice, but that doesn't mean there isn't a learning curve! I'm learning the *.nib and *.gif cvs wrapper info I need to know (as does anyone working on the GeMMS project). I'm going to write up a doc on cvs /wrapper set up when I'm sure I understand all the issues.

Late last night I got the first version of the GeMMS home page(s) up and running.

We've got our own little world on Source Forge. Don't expect things to happen at a break neck pace. I'm doing UML based design on the first non-functional proto type. It will be v 0.1. Its purpose is to give potential users a feel for where we're going with this.