Open Legend App

[brianfeister]

The definition of "Open Legend App" will be different for every developer out there, however, I know alot of you out there have plans to use the content to make an app. I'm trying to get out from under this work load, so I hope to get the SRD out ASAP which will clarify alot.

Sneak peak: you'll be able to use all of the following: Attributes, Banes, Boons, Feats, Perks, and Flaws. So plan accordingly. The only stuff that won't be fully open-source (it'll be excluded from the SRD) is some of the stuff like the advice in the GM chapter, etc.

This shouldn't impact app developers, I assume.

The community license is a bit different from a typical open source license, because in our case, we're granting you the right to also use our logo, which I think you'll appreciate :)

I'm tagging the people who I already know are working on something. Even if you continue separate work streams, you should all have this place as a channel to hear about what other Open Legend apps are doing.

Talk amongst yourselves.

@raihje @jerenda @Hassurunous @Hvalfisk @ninjasudo @jean1880

[gearsong]

Hey Brian, thanks again for getting back to me on reddit. I think this setup is a good idea for those of us interested in doing some dev work for the system.

My current goal is to build a mobile app for making character sheets. The full scope is still in progress, though I want to include all of the relevant reference material.

I haven't built a mobile app before, so this will also be a good learning experience for me.

[pixelknitter]

@Brad93 I was considering building something similar. If you want to
collaborate on this I have professional experience as an iOS developer and
working on Android next year.

Right now I'm fleshing out how I'd organize an input for the components of
the system. I feel like a graph DB will be best for recommending synergies
in character creation which is always the most difficult.

https://gist.github.com/NinjaSudo/da261e5c0ad29f33f0d26880233dd766
Some thoughts shared here: https://openlegend.mightybell.com/posts/937843

[pixelknitter]

I'd suggest we collaborate on the models and relationships. Then we could try to translate this into https://www.firebase.com/ which would save us some time on building a backend and allow us to have synchronicity. Using the graph for recommendations. Translating a graph on mobile, however, will be tough since no open solution exists (that I know of), except perhaps realm.io (which lightly references a graph API).

Haha, okay perhaps I'm going a bit larger than you were thinking in scope. The above is data-sync and recommended builds that most tabletop rpgs don't have which would be added value... Honestly, given I had the time to do this, I could set up an MVP in a weekend once I've figured out the modeling and data synchronicity.

[pixelknitter]

Most apps I've seen use a clunky cloud file -- xml interface, I think we could do better.

[gearsong]

That's definitely larger than I was considering for scope. I hadn't given any thought to connecting to a database to sync user sheets, though I think it's a great idea. I have a lot of ground to cover in the current tech for mobile development, so that will likely be my first goal. I'm willing to collaborate, I think that may help me learn faster than I would be able to otherwise.

[pixelknitter]

It's often easier to start w/ an interface and then build down. Anyone in this group know a mobile designer / designer who plays TTRPGs and would be down to collab on this project? I could perhaps find someone, but this month is swamped.

[pixelknitter]

@Brad93 we'll need to define the models (how we'll store feats, boons, etc then how they relate to each other) and views (what the user sees / manipulates), then we can figure out how those get updated (the sync w/ a backend or through some file drop).

[brianfeister]

Hey Eddie, just a reminder that the new YAML format should be JSON conversion friendly

[pixelknitter]

@brianfeister which makes me want to squee since that'll allow for easier transportation. Build a service to pull updates from the YAML docs for mapping to mobile and graph distribution. Keep that in mind for future updates and I'll be happy.

[gearsong]

@NinjaSudo My original intention was to set up some functionality to parse the lists into models and set up the user views, adding relationships as I went. I had held off on starting on anything until I heard back about the potential legality.

[raihje]

I've never developed for mobile before, but I have a cyanogenmod phone I could use to test with. I was mostly going to make a database that auto-updates lists of banes/boons/feats/attributes (mainly a blurb about their uses) and have it push to a simple site similar to grimoire that can be used for writing out cards if necessary. If the search on the site is improved then my project is somewhat redundant I guess. I'm pretty good at designing stuff though even if it's just prototypes in perl for demonstration.

[pixelknitter]

@Brad93 cool, yeah I'd created the GraphGist start to help myself link things visually, so that's where my insanity began w/ an app project. Ultimately I'd want to build a series of tools: Character Creation Helper, sync'd Character Sheet, DM Organizer.

Were you going to build an iOS app or Android?

[raihje]

@NinjaSudo I'd be interested in a character builder / point calculator. I can see about getting a database that updates automatically together. Once that's done we can create charts or calculate things all we want using the database for quick pulls without bogging down Brian's site.

[gearsong]

@NinjaSudo I was going to start Android, since that's the type that I own personally. I've been trying to get a visual studio basic project going, but it's been giving me difficulties.

[pixelknitter]

@raihje well, you could take over part of the Neo4j GraphGist since that was my intention there. Then we can collab on building the sync service pulling the YAML updates into Firebase or some service such as that. Firebase will significantly reduce development time for this prototype.

@Brad93 ah good, the new Android Studio looks great. I can give you some recommendations on frameworks to use, though don't have much development time in a serious Android app.