Murdered Out Jreepad

I feel accomplished. I did something that is probably kind of nerdy. A few years ago I had tried working with the Jreepad source code, to tweak a couple things that bothered me. At that time I was overwhelmed. But after making a bunch of Java apps and games I'm fairly familiar with how to define the manifest and compile scripts etc.

So the other night I took the Jreepad source and gathered all the source files into one dir and wrote the manifest and build script. So I can edit it and build it without the need to use an IDE like Eclipse etc. So I can edit it in VIM and build it with my .sh script. No Maven or IDE or other forms of 'cheating'.

It actually builds! I still need to learn how to implement the lang properties files in the jar. Currently all the labels are hard-coded.

So it was time to start making it look like a console app. First I defaulted the dumb green bar setting to not visible. Not sure why that is even there. I also defaulted the toolbar to not visible. Eventually - assuming the hotkeys still work - I may even hide the menu. I want to make the whole app hotkey driven (At that point the lang support would be moot).

I replaced the JEditPane with a JTextPane (Even though I believe it's a bit more resource intensive) so I could make the background black and the text white. I turned off the splitter border and gave the split pane a dim gray background. So the splitter is now just a perfectly flat barely visible gray bar.

Boom! I now have a murdered out version of Jreepad. I'll have to post my hacked code somewhere - for anyone who might want it.

Recording

I use Tests (macros) all the time while I'm authoring games in my IF engine. The problem is defining tests involves remembering all the commands you want it to fire. Until last night. I added command recording. It's an admin tool that records everything the tester enters i to the game. If the tester fires another test as part of the recording session that test's commands are not recorded. When the recording is turned off the recorded commands are output so they can be copied and pasted into the desired test's commands list.

I've already used it once and it made life SO much easier. The further I get into defining the game the more invaluable this new tool will be.

Fun Again

After taking a break from my WorldWeaver IntFiction engine, and IF in general, I've come back. I'm working on a new iteration of the NetSplit cyberpunk/hacker game. And for the first time writing IF games I'm actually really having fun. Usually it starts out exciting - a good story/game idea etc. But soon becomes tedious. I spend hours defining mundane buildings and rooms. I start to wonder if the game - after all my hard work - will even be fun to play.

I'm not sure this game will be fun either but so far it's still fun to author. It may be that I'm learning how to use my own engine more effectively. I've been able to conversations, puzzles, and traps. I've also been able to code 'hacker commands' and time-based events.

I'll be updating the WorldWeaver site with the latest builds and WIP copy of NetSplit soon.