Update: 9/2/09

So this is kind of an exciting time for me, and one of the most frustrating and tiring at the same time.

Various Cyra related projects are coming to a head now, and things have been a little slow overall because each one relied on parts of the other being complete. To put things in perspective, I've been building not one or two but five different programs at once:

1] The game engine.
2] The game client.
3] The re-built land mapper for cyra's designers.
4] The simulator for prototyping advanced engine functionality.
5] The web services for some of these programs to use in order to communicate with game data on the database.

This is all separate from considering the game's lore and considering the website.

While the tools are almost entirely my responsibility, I consider myself extremely lucky to not have to do it all myself. Livor has been a strong force in getting the core of our mechanics fleshed out, and his unique points of view often help me tackle difficult programming situations from ways I hadn't even considered. Rashka has been tirelessly (though I'm sure she'd argue that) working on updating the graphics for the client and will, eventually, try her hand at the website's look and feel to tie it all together. At the end of this month I'll have all the resources I need to start putting the client together again, graphically. There is also Enki, our wayward world designer, who has returned more or less to take up the lore and basic land design up again. I cannot stress enough how grateful I am to them for all they have done, and all they continue to do. They are my support structure, in practical and motivational terms, and this game would not have had a chance without them - of that I have no doubt.

The simulator mentioned last week is up and running as of this weekend in its primary phase. As we finish out tests and need more functionality I will be fleshing it out to do more and more complex things. Essentially, the inner guts of the engine are being built on the simulator first, and then transplanted over. This is exciting for me because we're able to thoroughly design test cases and it means a coming end to theoretical ideas and a beginning of solid features and evidence of concept.

The mapper was put on hold in favor of the simulator, with the simulator up Livor has some work to be doing while I continue working on the former. It's not quite at the level the old mapper was yet, but I hope to be done with that by the end of the month. With the mapper in place, when Enki is ready with enough basic 'landmarks' of the world, we'll be able to begin world design again so that we have things in place when the engine is ready.

The client work will begin after I receive all the new graphics. There's a lot of work to be done on it to glue everything in place, but all of the other projects have done nothing but strengthen my abilities with the GUI elements that C#\WPF have to offer. It will be the best MUD client - ever.

If that's not enough to keep one busy for the month, I don't know what is. I will try to keep you guys updated 'officially' at least once a month like I have been, this is a very active time in the game's cycle and I remain committed to making this thing happen.

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