Project Foundation

[+"Nessmuk"]

Where are you planning on announcing Code Name - Project Foundation? Should we be watching this forum for any news or someplace else?

[Ranger Fox]

Yes, please watch this forum. I'm trying to decide what day to announce it, where the progress stands, and just how much is demonstrable. I'll provide more information as to a possible date on this thread, but expect no earlier than August 28th. Over the past few days, we've actually been talking about the progress we've made, when to do the announcement, and how. I think I'll make the general introductory announcement and everyone on the team will introduce their projects so you know who they are and who's working on what. Initially, there will be a lot for you to read. As we get our projects into a demonstrable form, there will be more for you to play with.

 

Just remember everyone on this group, including myself, is volunteering his own time and resources. Please be nice and respectful. I organized this project during Christmas 2012 and work has been progressing ever since. There's an awesome amount of work involved.

 

This project's first phase goal is to lay a foundation onto which we can build Wherigo, hence the project's code name. Everything you can think of will eventually be affected by this project.

[+coachstahly]

Looking forward to it!

[Ranger Fox]

I have a meeting scheduled with Groundspeak Tuesday next week (the 27th). This was in response to my saying I decided to announce "Project Foundation" on the 28th, per my quasi-commitment here. Now, I don't know what they intend to discuss with me, but this project should have Groundspeak's backing. If you've been following some of my other posts in the forum this year, you'll notice I'm not saying anything new. So I'll either make the announcement on the 28th or explain why I have to delay it. But there's a reason why I can't delay for too long.

 

Do you want to know why I want to announce the project during this time? Well, the announcement will name and go over the project and will end with a request for comments and suggestions. That's the announcement's main purpose: I want this time to open the project to the community so I can have some good feedback from the people who will be using the project before I finalize the feature set and lock down development. I decided I'd choose this time due to what's coming in October. Since I photograph haunted attractions from the last week in September through the first week in November, I won't have much time to work on the project. And since it seemed likely (I created this timeline around February, by the way) the launch would be at the end of the year, I decided I'd give myself a few weeks of buffer time to deal with the initial comments and questions before my schedule is overrun with zombies and assorted horrors, drastically reducing my free time and thus draining my motivation and drive to do anything else. A month and a half, including working non-stop through the Christmas holidays, should be enough to finish the first phase of the project and launch it.

 

Just what type of project requires that amount of foresight and planning? If you said "Wherigo v2.0", you'd be incorrect. Wherigo v2.0 will take half a year to create the specifications and decide on the broad architecture, then at least a year and a half in development (because every person on the project team would be volunteering their free time and, thus, not working full-time).

[+"Nessmuk"]

My wishlist would be the announcement of improved Wherigo player support. Improving the player and in turn the game play would go a long ways towards towards Wherigo's being played. The more cachers we get playing Wherigo's the better. I am trying to put out one Wherigo a month in my area, I have four now and it has spurred lots of interest in both playing and cachers asking me about building them.

 

After the player I would add more Kit's because Kit's ease of use allows a big percentage of cachers the ability to create a cartridge easy and quickly.

 

If you need a volunteer programmer or tester I am available, I am a full time .NET programmer by day, but wouldn't be opposed to little extra programming or testing in the off hours.

 

Waiting in anticipation

 

ModernNessmuk

[Ranger Fox]

Then, as a .Net developer, you'll like this announcement. There's a lot to test and even more to build. Those of us working on the project will welcome volunteers. There's still a lot of work to do.

 

By no means will this announcement herald an instantaneous fix to Wherigo. That can't be accomplished within the time I've had to work on it.

 

Well, we'll see what happens after Tuesday's meeting, won't we?

[+MightyReek]

Oh boy, I can barely wait for the news... And I'm GMT and you're probably GMT+8 or something... I'll probably only read about it wednesday Thursday night... Oh precious, we hates them for that...

Edited August 27, 2013 by MightyReek

[Geo-Magician]

Oh boy, I can barely wait for the news... And I'm GMT and you're probably GMT+8 or something... I'll probably only read about it wednesday Thursday night... Oh precious, we hates them for that...

I hope the meeting went well. It is easy to create friction when enthusiasts and money earning entities work together. So far I think Groundspeak has navigated that choppy water acceptable, sometimes even nice. Can't wait to hear what transpired.

[Ranger Fox]

(Still waiting for confirmation. I'll wait until after 5PM PST, GMT-9, then I'll post what I have, regardless. I said to Groundspeak I needed that post reviewed by today and I'd give them that long; I intend to keep to my promises.)

[Ranger Fox]

I feel like I was waiting for a press release to make its rounds around my company's marketing department.

 

Anyway, "Project Foundation" is the formation of a group called the Wherigo Foundation. I'm trying to license the Wherigo intellectual property (the whole thing) from Groundspeak. With that, we'll be able to continue working on Wherigo and host our own updated site (hopefully at Wherigo.com). Quite a bit of work has been done, but there's more left. At the moment, the major work is the player. The site is almost done, save for all the tutorials, FAQ, and help articles. The API for Wherigo v1.1 is done.

 

Those looking to volunteer their time on the project can contact the appropriate person. Or, if you jump too soon, I'll route your email where it needs to go. I'm leading the foundation and the one creating the site and API. charlenni is leading development of the new player.

 

My full post can be found here. Questions on that thread will be welcome. I will continue to use this particular thread for "meta-comments," if needed.

 

I'm withholding the new site's URL from the forum until the intellectual property license meetings have completed because I need to know how to brand the site.

Edited August 29, 2013 by Ranger Fox