Hello everyone, I felt now is an appropriate time to make an update as to how the project is coming along.
Development Progress:
We are slaving away to get the first beta build of ProjectKorra completed and stable enough to run. We are a bit more than halfway there, and progress is picking up, however, there is a lot of work left to do. I have created a Trello page for anyone to follow Development, it is updated live, I'd give it a look:
Trello: https://trello.com/b/df60DRGP/projectkorra-plugin
The plugin is runnable, however, it is not very usable at this time. That said, we are waiting before we release the first BETA until it is a bit more usable and more feature packed. Any of the beta builds are not recommended to be used on live servers, especially the first one. When we release the first beta build I would absolutely love for it to be run on several test servers, while reporting bugs back here so they can be fixed.
The project is also on GitHub: http://github.com/ProjectKorra/ProjectKorra
It should also be noted that the first beta build wont be completely optimized. Once we have the plugin's code base to a stable point, we will be able to pinpoint areas for optimization and go from there.
Some Notable Features This Far:
The major feature that ProjectKorra has to offer is a modular ability system. What does that mean exactly? Abilities can be altered, added, or removed, without having to edit the plugin itself. When you load ProjectKorra for the first time, two files will be created. The config.yml, and the Abilities folder. The default config will house some of the internal features of the plugin (Chat Functionality, etc), but abilities may alter it as well to make themselves configurable.
For you developers: ProjectKorra comes with an Ability API. That means that you can create your own abilities, using this API, and export them as individual jar files (YOU DO NOT NEED TO CREATE PLUGINS, just hook them into ProjectKorra (a detailed tutorial will come after the first beta is released). These ability jar files can be placed in the Abilities folder and will be loaded at startup. That means we can update individual abilities without having to update the plugin as a whole, developers / servers can share their custom abilities, etc. You can also hook into other abilities if you needed to.
What about the abilities that exist now? The basic abilities, coded by orion304 over on Bukkit, are not in the plugin by default, but this is what is holding up development a bit. Not really holding up, but it is taking a while to get them all done. An Ability Pack will be released alongside the first developmental build of the plugin that will have each of orion's 39/40 or so abilities as addons to the plugin. Passive abilities are in the plugin as is.
So, long story short, this new functionality will make the plugin easier to develop with. You often see servers with custom versions of the Bending plugin as is, we hope to turn this Project into a place to share abilities. Long gone are the days of having to edit a plugin's entire code base to add one new ability. The API is very straightforward and easy to use.
Full feature lists / details will be released on the wiki with the plugin.
When will the first beta be released? Well, I'll be gone for a week. I wont be returning until the 22nd (I leave on the 15th). The plan was for the project to start after I returned, but I got bored and began coding one night and the project picked itself up. However, due to not being able to address the inevitable bugs that will be present in the first version / release any emergency builds or fixes / work on the plugin at all, I am postponing the release until the 22nd or 23rd. I expect the first build to be ready Saturday, so I'll spend some time getting documentation up to speed, and then we will release. Sorry for the inconvenience, but the wait should be well worth it.
What can you do? If you want to help the project out at all, you can always apply for staff, or simply spread the word, hype the project a bit, etc. The more people we have participating in idea sharing and the community in general, the better off we will be.
Forum staff will also be officially picked when the first beta build is released.
So there you have it, the first major development update. Hope it wasn't too bad of a read.
Development Progress:
We are slaving away to get the first beta build of ProjectKorra completed and stable enough to run. We are a bit more than halfway there, and progress is picking up, however, there is a lot of work left to do. I have created a Trello page for anyone to follow Development, it is updated live, I'd give it a look:
Trello: https://trello.com/b/df60DRGP/projectkorra-plugin
The plugin is runnable, however, it is not very usable at this time. That said, we are waiting before we release the first BETA until it is a bit more usable and more feature packed. Any of the beta builds are not recommended to be used on live servers, especially the first one. When we release the first beta build I would absolutely love for it to be run on several test servers, while reporting bugs back here so they can be fixed.
The project is also on GitHub: http://github.com/ProjectKorra/ProjectKorra
It should also be noted that the first beta build wont be completely optimized. Once we have the plugin's code base to a stable point, we will be able to pinpoint areas for optimization and go from there.
Some Notable Features This Far:
The major feature that ProjectKorra has to offer is a modular ability system. What does that mean exactly? Abilities can be altered, added, or removed, without having to edit the plugin itself. When you load ProjectKorra for the first time, two files will be created. The config.yml, and the Abilities folder. The default config will house some of the internal features of the plugin (Chat Functionality, etc), but abilities may alter it as well to make themselves configurable.
For you developers: ProjectKorra comes with an Ability API. That means that you can create your own abilities, using this API, and export them as individual jar files (YOU DO NOT NEED TO CREATE PLUGINS, just hook them into ProjectKorra (a detailed tutorial will come after the first beta is released). These ability jar files can be placed in the Abilities folder and will be loaded at startup. That means we can update individual abilities without having to update the plugin as a whole, developers / servers can share their custom abilities, etc. You can also hook into other abilities if you needed to.
What about the abilities that exist now? The basic abilities, coded by orion304 over on Bukkit, are not in the plugin by default, but this is what is holding up development a bit. Not really holding up, but it is taking a while to get them all done. An Ability Pack will be released alongside the first developmental build of the plugin that will have each of orion's 39/40 or so abilities as addons to the plugin. Passive abilities are in the plugin as is.
So, long story short, this new functionality will make the plugin easier to develop with. You often see servers with custom versions of the Bending plugin as is, we hope to turn this Project into a place to share abilities. Long gone are the days of having to edit a plugin's entire code base to add one new ability. The API is very straightforward and easy to use.
Full feature lists / details will be released on the wiki with the plugin.
When will the first beta be released? Well, I'll be gone for a week. I wont be returning until the 22nd (I leave on the 15th). The plan was for the project to start after I returned, but I got bored and began coding one night and the project picked itself up. However, due to not being able to address the inevitable bugs that will be present in the first version / release any emergency builds or fixes / work on the plugin at all, I am postponing the release until the 22nd or 23rd. I expect the first build to be ready Saturday, so I'll spend some time getting documentation up to speed, and then we will release. Sorry for the inconvenience, but the wait should be well worth it.
What can you do? If you want to help the project out at all, you can always apply for staff, or simply spread the word, hype the project a bit, etc. The more people we have participating in idea sharing and the community in general, the better off we will be.
Forum staff will also be officially picked when the first beta build is released.
So there you have it, the first major development update. Hope it wasn't too bad of a read.
The easy ability to add custom moves and such. I am sure a lot of developers would love this!