Python and XML, my two loves in life.

I'm a big fan of Python. I'm also a big fan of XML. I also happen to like card games and am utterly frustrated by the complete lack of a card-game player/server that meets my needs. In short, I need something that I can throw cards of any shape, size, or content at and it not fall over.
Apprentice is okay, but it's closed source abandonware.
OCTGN is alright, but their newest version isnt _fully_ open source to keep the shuffling part a secret. And its written in .NET...not optimal.
Firemox is getting close, but its documentation is lacking, and the fact that I cant use Ubuntu's default JRE to run it is a pain. Also, its errors are less than helpful when writing up the XML files for the rules of your game.
There was a little program written in Python (and using Twisted too) that was made to play WoW:TCG. It's on the right track but it's really alpha quality. (I'll come back to this in a minute)

So, in a fit of rage against Firemox and their error "A card is broken, Fix it.", I decided to write a Jabber bot to play referee for card games. That idea didnt last long, but it did lead to an XML-RPC based server. As with all projects, the architecture has evolved as my old, crappy ideas get pushed out of the way in lieu of new, better ideas.

Anyway, the idea is to define a set of functions for the server to handle. Then a client can depend on a server having those functions. Always. Then client-writers only have to worry about what the "spec" says rather than what the server actually does. (This is where that WoW:TCG client comes in. It can be re-written to use those xmlrpc calls and use its shiny interface for good instead of evil :P)
It's abstraction, and it's good. After about a day of hacking on it, I have a reasonable skeleton for the functions, as well as logging in and out. Presence will come in the days to follow, as well as getting down to the actual "card game" bits.

Yes, yes, I know I very well could have used Jabber for that presence junk. And yes, I will probably have a "message_user()" function in there too. However, that will be rather simple compared to Jabber, as it has to support transporting messages over multiple servers, etc. Mine only has to worry about who's on the server it knows about. The independent servers cant, dont and wont talk to each other. Maybe the third time I rewrite it, who knows ;)

Sylva is on the back burner, but on the forefront of my mind. I probably wont get to touch it till this summer, but by then I'll have all sorts of ideas. The one that's highest on my list at the moment is "Loading objects and scene settings from a file." I neglected to mention that one in my previous post. But it's quite important. I would _love_ for that stuff to be randomly generated, but without settings, it's going to be a rather static random world :P

And yes, I'll be moving Sylva to Launchpad when I start working on it or maybe sooner. HG is great and all, but it really requires you to have your own public server :/

So I got stuck on Sylva.

So I got stuck on Sylva. The last thing I remember is AABSP Trees. Though, I did manage to add support for md2 props, so one could theoretically load up a hundred rocks, though it might get slow without those AABSP Trees handling occlusion (?).
I mean, that's kinda cool, right?

Also, Matt got terrain loading from a file working, and it is awesome.

So, then what else do I need to do to move it forward? (Each further out in the future than the last)
* Animated Props (Animals walking around, etc.)
* Physics/Gravity?
* Simple AI (walking around, eating plants, etc.)
* Saving/Loading the world
* Loading things on the fly (Debug menu, here I come.)
* Growing plants
* Terraforming
* Plants make seeds, plant themselves, and/or are dispersed by animals eating them
* More complicated AI (animals eating animals)
* Animal reproduction (not genetically at this point)
* (At this point, it should be usable as a screensaver, resemble a game, and self-sustain over time.)
* Points system
* More Content (Animals, plants, objects, etc)
* Networking (Multiplayer, visiting from other players, chat/IM, etc.)

In other news, I've made a little template for 3rd ed. style D&D adventures in OpenOffice.org, and it's almost partially usable. I started working in latex, but I spent a loot of time doing really stupid stuff, and I figured I could get it done in a fraction of the time I'd spend laying it out in latex. Not to mention latex's interface for people who just want to add content is kind of...lacking. Latex is great and all, but I just want to get the darned thing done already.
I do plan on releasing it sometime soon, once I hash out a sample adventure. Maybe Paizo will hire me on or something :P
(All kidding aside, freelance work like that would be really cool xD)