<commit_before>+++++
Proto by <NAME>
MALS Thesis / CUNY Graduate Center
Advisor <NAME>
+++++

DATE: 7/26/13

What is Proto?
Proto is the working title of this thesis with a Digital Humanities concentration.  The attempt is to write a Python code that shares established canonical interface with egodic texts from the 1980s.  

Purpose
To template a very simple example of a Python based DH project in a form that can be malleable (i.o.w. forked), useful, and engaging.  What is the result of transforming a literary text from the 19th Century into something interactive?  Can such a project cement pedagogy from within its structure?

Possible texts:
<NAME>
Pros: First Adventure Novel, Familiar with the text
Cons: Not sci fi which might be more in tune with the ergodic theme

VRIL - The Coming Race
Pros: Interesting proto sci-fi story
Cons: Charged revision in present day [could work as a pro, but could be a strong con]

The Machine Stops
Pros: Good proto sci-fi narrative, could be made ludic
Cons: Less familiar with text, too short and minimal for longer supplemental research paper.

MORE: Still ruminating on text choices, doing some reading through research specifically about 19th century literary scene and rules of proto-science fiction

Thinking about maybe even Twain... curious about researching into what influenced his time travel and trip to space narratives... even The Mysterious Stranger has a really modern sci-fi bend to it, very familiar with multiple manuscripts of said text.  

++++++

DATE: 7/27/13

Things I want in "text adventure":
Combat Engine: A way for battles to take place within the narrative, and experience points gained, and maybe two or three skills. [infinite escape skill] [fighting++] [magic]

Library: I think it would be interesting if I embedded pieces of information that required the user to go through an entire text (i.e., program an 1800s Bible, alchemical text, newspaper, penny dreadful, etc)

----

Thinking more and more about using <NAME>.  It just seems like it would translate better, in that book there are definitive protagonist running from antagonist/henchmen.  It is just a narrative that seems like it could be part of an engaging ergodic text.  Without a combat system I am finding it hard to think of a way to keep present day audiences engaged.

MUD? I think a MUD could be fun, since that would allow multiple users able to play, but it seems that that would be a more difficult endeavour.  What I want to do is research how I could best program this while making a transition to MUD engine less time consuming in the long run.

++++++

Date 7/29/13

So I've jumped into using <NAME> as my foundational text.  Thinking about scrapping the whole "Proto" name now that I'm moving away from proto Sci Fi.  The issue was I just was not familiar enough with the texts, and I was worried about dedicating a lot of time to something I don't really care for.  I know the whole Shelley, Godwin, Byron group are often over-examined, but I just haven't read any other 18th century texts that I feel I could add a ludic layer to.  C<NAME>ams is full of suspense and mystery... and suspense is a rare thing in an 18th Century narrative (at least from what I've perused).

I've started writing Python code -- VERY simple code.  I'm hoping I can grasp how to sort of combine some roguelike elements to text-based dungeon crawling... this may be out of my depth, but even if I can only make two projects side by side, I imagine I can find some help in cobbling them together.

Have been playing the following games:

Roguelike:
Rogue - MSDOS version

Text Adventure:
Zork
Rendevous with Rama
Collossal Cave Adventure

It is insane how much more playable the Roguelike game is.  Just the feeling of movement really makes more sense.  I'm starting to think that my foundation should be a roguelike game.  I'm seeing a lot about this python library called "libtcode" in tutorials, will probably play around with this.  I would need to know how much text I would be able to use.  My only prior experience with roguelike games comes from "ZZT" - a game maker for DOS that used ASCII characters to build games that look and play very much like a roguegame.  However I would not want to build on ZZT, as there is close to zero coding pedagogy to be derived from it[sidenote: I think this is the issue with a lot of entry level languages for kids.  They have a glass ceiling as one can never move into higher level techniques...that can be argued and is not made clear here... I DIGRESS!]

What excites me about this libtcode is some of the projects that have been made, some of them look like well produced SNES games (my favorite console), some have the "old school" ASCI look, but are remakes of some classic games that are VERY complex.

Anyway, need to start looking over some tutorials and see if a text-heavy pseudo-roguelike is even possible before I get too excited.

++++++

7/30/13

Oooof, so yesterday proved to be an exhausting sifting through of options to a point where I ended up just playing a few old Dos Games on top of a desktop with about 500 windows opened.

My last talk with my advisor, the key issue seemed to be "Work on your elevator pitch"

There are a lot of options out there, and instead of jumping around from option to option, I need to know WHY I might choose one of those options.

My good friend, an ACTUAL programmer (you know, with talent and a portfolio) swears by writing out everything he is doing on paper.  I try this method and find myself often drawing comic book characters instead of pseudocode.

The way I look at this is the way I look at writing a novel.  I seem to be having the same issues I had when writing my novel (it was a failure or I'd show you where you could purchase and read it!) and that issue is finding an idea and sticking with it.

Well, I'm still not 100 percent sold on simply reorganizing <NAME> into an ergodic text and maybe throwing in some dungeon crawler derivitive alongside.

I first need to establish a canvas, set up a way to write something equivalent to a short story before I set about a huge undertaking of recalibrating a novel sized manuscript.

So here are the precise parameters I want to set up:

1 Room
A library - 500X700px screen made up of 
  Bookshelves
  red carpet
  desk in center of room
A protagonist
  can move up, down, left, right
  can not move through bookshelves or desk

Thats it, no wondering about how long I can make this
No retranscribing an entire novel and then thinking about how I can make it ludic
I haven't done anything like this in a long while and I need to give myself some practice.  I can worry about bigger things at a later point.  Must walk before I run.

Now lets stop trying to find the most esoteric method for making an esoteric style of game, open up pygame, and wet our feet...

Then I can log what is most challenging, then perhaps add some dialog when character touches each bookshelf.

I realize I made that big point about an elevator pitch, and I'm nowhere close to it.  Some people have a problem getting beyond the elevator pitch, I have problems making enough of a single point.  Whatever, I think an elaborate logging of these experiences is a good thing, especially if at the end of the road I have something worth a damn.

+++++

8/3/2013

I've been practicing with python and the pygame library for a few days now.  
Really feel good about moving forward with this method.  I'm really starting
to wrap my head around core competencies in python through praxis.  I've
also managed to animate sprites by importing glob.

The tutorial I've found most useful so far is a very recent one.  This makes 
me hopeful that more truly talented pygame users will start sharing their
expertise:
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mTmJfWdZzbo 
[<NAME> @ PyCon 2013 - March 2013]

I'll include the link to the tutorial that helped with my animation once
I get to that point in uploading materials.

++++

So right now I'm trying to decide what kind of interface I want.  Pygame 
instruction I've followed has been very graphical thus far, and I think
I'm going to have to break a lot of things to figure out how to get an 
interface that utilizes the graphical capabilities of a pygame library
with the general ergodic narrative functions of python in-an-of-itself.

I am also battling again with the idea of whether I want to focus so hard
on <NAME> or if I want to do something a little less pointed.

Even though I'm concerned with programming a ludic narrative, the construction
of an entire novel is very large in scope, and at least at first I think 
maybe I should do something smaller in scope, streamlined & contained, but
helpful to me when I'm ready to build something larger.  

Lots of thoughts, but running out of time.  Thats it for now...<commit_msg>added notes for 8.20.13<commit_after>+++++
Proto by <NAME>
MALS Thesis / CUNY Graduate Center
Advisor <NAME>
+++++

DATE: 7/26/13

What is Proto?
Proto is the working title of this thesis with a Digital Humanities concentration.  The attempt is to write a Python code that shares established canonical interface with egodic texts from the 1980s.  

Purpose
To template a very simple example of a Python based DH project in a form that can be malleable (i.o.w. forked), useful, and engaging.  What is the result of transforming a literary text from the 19th Century into something interactive?  Can such a project cement pedagogy from within its structure?

Possible texts:
<NAME>
Pros: First Adventure Novel, Familiar with the text
Cons: Not sci fi which might be more in tune with the ergodic theme

VRIL - The Coming Race
Pros: Interesting proto sci-fi story
Cons: Charged revision in present day [could work as a pro, but could be a strong con]

The Machine Stops
Pros: Good proto sci-fi narrative, could be made ludic
Cons: Less familiar with text, too short and minimal for longer supplemental research paper.

MORE: Still ruminating on text choices, doing some reading through research specifically about 19th century literary scene and rules of proto-science fiction

Thinking about maybe even Twain... curious about researching into what influenced his time travel and trip to space narratives... even The Mysterious Stranger has a really modern sci-fi bend to it, very familiar with multiple manuscripts of said text.  

++++++

DATE: 7/27/13

Things I want in "text adventure":
Combat Engine: A way for battles to take place within the narrative, and experience points gained, and maybe two or three skills. [infinite escape skill] [fighting++] [magic]

Library: I think it would be interesting if I embedded pieces of information that required the user to go through an entire text (i.e., program an 1800s Bible, alchemical text, newspaper, penny dreadful, etc)

----

Thinking more and more about using <NAME>.  It just seems like it would translate better, in that book there are definitive protagonist running from antagonist/henchmen.  It is just a narrative that seems like it could be part of an engaging ergodic text.  Without a combat system I am finding it hard to think of a way to keep present day audiences engaged.

MUD? I think a MUD could be fun, since that would allow multiple users able to play, but it seems that that would be a more difficult endeavour.  What I want to do is research how I could best program this while making a transition to MUD engine less time consuming in the long run.

++++++

Date 7/29/13

So I've jumped into using <NAME> as my foundational text.  Thinking about scrapping the whole "Proto" name now that I'm moving away from proto Sci Fi.  The issue was I just was not familiar enough with the texts, and I was worried about dedicating a lot of time to something I don't really care for.  I know the whole Shelley, Godwin, Byron group are often over-examined, but I just haven't read any other 18th century texts that I feel I could add a ludic layer to.  <NAME> is full of suspense and mystery... and suspense is a rare thing in an 18th Century narrative (at least from what I've perused).

I've started writing Python code -- VERY simple code.  I'm hoping I can grasp how to sort of combine some roguelike elements to text-based dungeon crawling... this may be out of my depth, but even if I can only make two projects side by side, I imagine I can find some help in cobbling them together.

Have been playing the following games:

Roguelike:
Rogue - MSDOS version

Text Adventure:
Zork
Rendevous with Rama
Collossal Cave Adventure

It is insane how much more playable the Roguelike game is.  Just the feeling of movement really makes more sense.  I'm starting to think that my foundation should be a roguelike game.  I'm seeing a lot about this python library called "libtcode" in tutorials, will probably play around with this.  I would need to know how much text I would be able to use.  My only prior experience with roguelike games comes from "ZZT" - a game maker for DOS that used ASCII characters to build games that look and play very much like a roguegame.  However I would not want to build on ZZT, as there is close to zero coding pedagogy to be derived from it[sidenote: I think this is the issue with a lot of entry level languages for kids.  They have a glass ceiling as one can never move into higher level techniques...that can be argued and is not made clear here... I DIGRESS!]

What excites me about this libtcode is some of the projects that have been made, some of them look like well produced SNES games (my favorite console), some have the "old school" ASCI look, but are remakes of some classic games that are VERY complex.

Anyway, need to start looking over some tutorials and see if a text-heavy pseudo-roguelike is even possible before I get too excited.

++++++

7/30/13

Oooof, so yesterday proved to be an exhausting sifting through of options to a point where I ended up just playing a few old Dos Games on top of a desktop with about 500 windows opened.

My last talk with my advisor, the key issue seemed to be "Work on your elevator pitch"

There are a lot of options out there, and instead of jumping around from option to option, I need to know WHY I might choose one of those options.

My good friend, an ACTUAL programmer (you know, with talent and a portfolio) swears by writing out everything he is doing on paper.  I try this method and find myself often drawing comic book characters instead of pseudocode.

The way I look at this is the way I look at writing a novel.  I seem to be having the same issues I had when writing my novel (it was a failure or I'd show you where you could purchase and read it!) and that issue is finding an idea and sticking with it.

Well, I'm still not 100 percent sold on simply reorganizing Caleb Williams into an ergodic text and maybe throwing in some dungeon crawler derivitive alongside.

I first need to establish a canvas, set up a way to write something equivalent to a short story before I set about a huge undertaking of recalibrating a novel sized manuscript.

So here are the precise parameters I want to set up:

1 Room
A library - 500X700px screen made up of 
  Bookshelves
  red carpet
  desk in center of room
A protagonist
  can move up, down, left, right
  can not move through bookshelves or desk

Thats it, no wondering about how long I can make this
No retranscribing an entire novel and then thinking about how I can make it ludic
I haven't done anything like this in a long while and I need to give myself some practice.  I can worry about bigger things at a later point.  Must walk before I run.

Now lets stop trying to find the most esoteric method for making an esoteric style of game, open up pygame, and wet our feet...

Then I can log what is most challenging, then perhaps add some dialog when character touches each bookshelf.

I realize I made that big point about an elevator pitch, and I'm nowhere close to it.  Some people have a problem getting beyond the elevator pitch, I have problems making enough of a single point.  Whatever, I think an elaborate logging of these experiences is a good thing, especially if at the end of the road I have something worth a damn.

+++++

8/3/2013

I've been practicing with python and the pygame library for a few days now.  
Really feel good about moving forward with this method.  I'm really starting
to wrap my head around core competencies in python through praxis.  I've
also managed to animate sprites by importing glob.

The tutorial I've found most useful so far is a very recent one.  This makes 
me hopeful that more truly talented pygame users will start sharing their
expertise:
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mTmJfWdZzbo 
[<NAME> @ PyCon 2013 - March 2013]

I'll include the link to the tutorial that helped with my animation once
I get to that point in uploading materials.

++++

So right now I'm trying to decide what kind of interface I want.  Pygame 
instruction I've followed has been very graphical thus far, and I think
I'm going to have to break a lot of things to figure out how to get an 
interface that utilizes the graphical capabilities of a pygame library
with the general ergodic narrative functions of python in-an-of-itself.

I am also battling again with the idea of whether I want to focus so hard
on <NAME> or if I want to do something a little less pointed.

Even though I'm concerned with programming a ludic narrative, the construction
of an entire novel is very large in scope, and at least at first I think 
maybe I should do something smaller in scope, streamlined & contained, but
helpful to me when I'm ready to build something larger.  

Lots of thoughts, but running out of time.  Thats it for now...

+++

8/20/13

So I've spent a lot of time NOT logging what I've been doing, primarily 
because I am trying to figure out how I can display a more professional
looking development journal without having to just type notes into this 
github page.  Obviously I could just take to tumblr, which would most
likely be the more intelligent route, but I decided I would tackle 
django... which has been a very difficult addition to lump onto everything
else I've been exploring.

Many of my ideas about my project have changed as well, as the semester
is very close to starting, and I need to have some solid foundations
to present to my advisors.

I'm not sure if I'm even going to be doing a "Python Game" per say, because
honestly it seems that I would do better to build a couple very simple apps
before I take on something as abstract as a game.  

Would it be easy to create a text based game with a very simple engine?
Yes.  Would it be to the standards of an MA thesis?  I fear it probably would
not. 

So for my own benefit let me summarize where I was initially vs where I am 
now:

Originally ----------------+--------------------- Now
                           +
PROTO - a ludic explora-   +  ProtoCX (Working title)
tion of proto sci-fi te-   +  An attempt to create a 
xts.                       +  1. blog
                           +  2. wiki
THEN...                    +  3. SIMPLE app
                           +
a ludic exploration of     +  1 & 2: Both will be co-
single 18th century adv    +  nstructed in a single
novel, <NAME>      +  python inclusive frame-
                           +  work
initial tools experime-    +
nted with:                 +  3: An app I have been
* Pygame                   +  working on in python
* Python 2.7               +  I will attempt to imp-
* emacs                    +  ort into framework of 
* gedit                    +  1. and 2. / App will
                           +  store themed metadata
			   +  about a select collec-
			   +  tion of public domain
			   +  literature.
			   +
                           +  Initial tools:
                           +  * Python 2.7
                           +  * emacs
                           +  * gedit
                           +  * Django 1.5

I will go into more detail about the new project intent
as I move forward.  I think it will be a more valuable
contribution both to academics and for my own portfolio.

More to come...
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