Not much to report this week, I’m afraid. It has been another extremely busy week of term work-wise (working on a huge grant and beginning to mark student submissions from the class I’m teaching), but I’ve found a little bit of time to continue trying to get the finished URR 0.8 packaged. Right now there are two parallel strands I’m pursuing: I’m consulting with more knowledgeable folks about packaging URR 0.8 as a Python 2.7 program, and I’m also now updating a version of the game’s code to Python 3, to see whether that then lends itself to some easy packaging via, for instance, PyInstaller. I’m keeping at it, and will update again ASAP.

(I must also express my sincere appreciation for the generous comments in the previous blog post. It’s hugely reassuring to know I am not the only who finds these matters difficult, and everyone’s understanding remains tremendously heartwarming and valued. More soon!)

8 Comments

  • Hej man,
    I just want to jump on the wagon of people telling you that your struggles are normal. I’m also a trained sociologist even though I now work as pedagogist. It is since about 4 years that I’m trying to get into programming, and the number of times I’ve felt stupid in the process is by now beyond countability.

    Let me thus express my respect for the work you are doing regardless of your non-computer science background. That’s truly outstanding, both regarding game design and the sheer achievement of programming such a game. Also, it is quite the inspiration, because at times I felt a bit hopeless regarding my own programming goals – like, for instance, to start contributing to FOSS games I like (think CDDA or DCSS), on day 🙂

    Have a good day,
    eagerly awaiting the new release!

    • Olivier, thank you so much for this! I seriously appreciate it. Yeah, getting into programming from scratch – especially without any proper guidance – is tricky. I realise in hindsight that I discovered a tiny sliver of programming that “worked” and went far down that particular avenue, without understanding its context or framing or what allowed it to work. Probably a mistake in hindsight. But anyway: again, thank you so much for the kind words :).

  • Hey Mark! Congratulations on getting so close!
    If you successfully upgrade to Python 3, you should try to see if it works with Python 4 easily. Lots of fun stuff in 4.

    By the way, you have options when releasing:
    https://pythonspeed.com/articles/distributing-software/
    You could do it using a Docker method.

    Lastly, depending on what you’re thinking of doing with it, it would actually be way cooler if you didn’t EXE it. The code would be fun to peruse unless you’re going to sell it (and maybe you are). But for sure your game would be wildly successful as an age old open sourced game of legend.

    On the flip side, exe’s are easy for people to understand.

    • Thank you Paul! Oh gosh, Python 4?! Argh. The very thought terrifies me (see this week’s blog post for why!). And re: the exe option, I have considered this, but I actively don’t really want people perusing the code. I know it’s impossible to totally prevent, but I don’t want to make it trivial!

  • Hey Mark! Greetings from Brasilia, Brazil.

    It’s always tough when there’s something that seems small at first glance delaying all this work you do… But it’s gonna happen! Anxiously awaiting good news on this fascinating project! As a cultural historian and roguelike enthusiast, this game feels like it was designed especially for me! heheh

    • Hi there Diogo! Thank you for the Brazilian greetings – one of many countries I am very keen to visit again once travel becomes a possibility! But yes, thank you for the kind words – it’s super frustrating, but I am working hard on it and getting closer to figuring out the appropriate packaging options. And thank you, I also find cultural history totally fascinating (which I think shows in the game…!). Thanks again so much 🙂

  • As someone who struggled to learn MS Access (let alone an entire programming language), I have great respect for your struggles in learning Python for this project, and possibly even porting the code to a new version. Take your time and work on it when you get a chance.

    Stay safe down there in Oz!

    • Crowbar, thank you! Super kind of you, as ever. (See this week’s entry for the fun of porting to a new version…!)

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