Pre-release roadmap

Here's a list of things to do:

1. parse files from the editor in C
2. export the very basic game files (for both client and server)
3. if required, make changes to the editor (to be able to edit some additional stuff so that the new content is actually usable in game?)
4. setup some local development environment (so that I can modify a local test server easily, etc)
5. prepare an automated patcher to modify the very basic game files (#2) basing on some public database
6. prepare a public test server, send out the client
7. test things out, make sure it's balanced
8. figure out PCK format to be able to edit item descriptions, colors, guild emblems (and possibly models/graphics/item icons in future as well)
9. publish a new patcher, deprecate the previous one
10. conquer the world

I'm setting myself a deadline to finish stage #6 till the end of January. After that, I'll switch back to editor development (other maps, mob editor, etc)

So assuming everything goes well, a loose roadmap looks like this:

9/01/2020:

• parse files from the editor in C
• export the very basic game files (for both client and server)

10/01/2020

• if required, make changes to the editor (to be able to edit some additional stuff so that the new content is actually usable in game?)

12/01/2020

• setup some local development environment (so that I can modify a local test server easily, etc)

17/01/2020

• prepare an automated patcher to modify the very basic game files (#2) basing on some public database

24/01/2020

• prepare a public test server, send out the client

9/01/2020 done:

* parse files from the editor in C

* export the very basic game files (for both client and server)

The code is in place, the exported game files are not corrupted, have proper size and content, but I'll be testing them tomorrow and we'll see

11/01/2020 done:

* if required, make changes to the editor (to be able to edit some additional stuff so that the new content is actually usable in game?)

Actually there is something important to be changed in the editor, but it's not urgent. I'll work on it as soon as I have some spare time

As for:

* setup some local development environment (so that I can modify a local test server easily, etc)

I can already test new changes very easily and the only improvement would be an automated patcher for the client, so we can consider this bullet done as well.

26/01/2020 done:

* prepare an automated patcher to modify the very basic game files (#2) basing on some public database

It worked for all projects that were published so far. It's currently just a headless program that I need to write some pretty interface for.

27/01/2020 done:

* windows interface done, but still needs to be tested on different systems

28/01/2020 done:

* prepare a public database for the project list (currently the patcher fetches from pwmirage.com just a few hardcoded projects)

* start working on some cache for those projects to speed up updating - we don't need to have the cache finished now, but at least designed so that I can make proper assumptions in the patcher executable (so that I don't need to distribute an updated version anytime soon)

//EDIT

The patcher also launches a modified version of PW that has TAB-select support

29/01/2020 done:

* finish up the server. it's up and it's working

to do:

* prepare the client and upload it to google drive

* prepare an admin panel to merge any project and automatically restart the server

30/01/2020 done:

* prepare the client and upload it to google drive

* fix some issues with other ppl not being able to create characters

* run some stress tests on the server

* play the game for a while

31/01/2020 done:

* work on some admin panel to merge any project and automatically restart the server

to do:

* look into securing the server, restrict database access, read some guidelines on PW server security

03/02/2020 done:

* prepare an admin panel to merge any project and automatically restart the server

07/02/2020 done:

* look into fixing corrupted databse, start writing an auto-fix tool

08/02/2020 done:

* parse item changes in the game patcher

* add a few checks for game data to prevent gameserver crashes (learnt the hard way)

* parse removed objects in the patcher (so they won't appear in game anymore)

* published new patcher version 0.2

11/02/2020 done:

* look into securing the server, restrict database access, read some guidelines on PW server security

* implement server API for remote management - it will be used e.g. for user registration. (we'll also create a GM panel from this later on)

21/02/2020 done:

* send out new patcher

It took me a few days to get this patcher done.

It features:

* asynchronous patching -> the window is no longer frozen after clicking the update button

* it uses one server connection to fetch all changes -> so it's quicker

* there's a custom text displayed inside the patcher that's fetched directly from the server

* when there's a new patcher version, a popup window will ask you if you want to download it now. If you click yes, a browser window with a new link and install instructions will open

* there's some image in the patcher -> on every update it's downloaded from the server

* there's a progressbar that reflects the update progress

* the patcher no longer leaves temporary files around, it only stores the current game version in patcher/version

* a patch log is now saved in patcher/patch.log. It contains detailed information about all custom content on the server

08/03/2020 done:

* quests can be parsed now -> it's possible to add new ones as well as modify existing ones

* moved patcher data to github -> downloading is much faster now -> https://github.com/pwmirage/version

* pushed patcher v0.7