Offloading the client

As I mentioned previously, I've had to start working on a bare-bones client so I have a way to test server development as it goes forth. This was a bit disconcerting, because the goal is the server, not the client, but I may have found a solution!

I currently split my rare programming time between two projects, this one and Windows Phone 7 development. I try to give them equal time, and with this project having the client development requirement, that was resulting in maybe 25% of my coding hours going to MMORF. However, I may have found a way to soon return that to the 50% it deserves, by moving the client development to Windows Phone.


For the next little while, I'll still have to put some effort into this console client, just to have that for quick testing, but for anything more than a text interface, I can certainly justify it as "Windows Phone 7 development" and use my phone development time for it. And if my other phone-related projects suffer because of it, well, I can bitch about it over on that blog.

Time flies when you're hemming and hawing

Three months since my last post. Yikes. The main reason for this is because about two months ago, Microsoft announced their Windows Phone 7, which has attracted a lot of my meager free time.

On the one hand, WP7 development is done in C# and .NET, which is my target platform for MMORF, so learning C#/.NET is preparing me for both. On the other hand, producing something for the Phone is a lot easier than a mammoth project such as this.

On the one hand, WP7 is backed by either Silverlight or XNA, depending on whether you're making an application or a game, and both provide a front-end method for test clients for MMORF. On the other hand... producing something for the Phone is a lot easier...


MMORF development is appealing because it's a hobby, a challenge. It's something that I think that I can do (given enough time), and it's something that I want to prove to myself that I can do. But WP7 development actually has the potential to make money. In theory.


For the past few weeks, Ultima Online has been rearing its beautiful head, whether in my RSS feeds or mentioned in passing tweets, and as always, UO makes me reminisce and, ultimately, design. Oh yeah, you could do that in UO, and I would code that this way... it has made me very conscious of my neglect on MMORF's part, and has given me a renewed focus on how much time it will get, and WP7 will not. Besides, how much money could I *really* make from developing mobile apps... right? Right?

That being said, I'm aiming to whip up a rapid prototype of a basic backend with static objects and mobiles, and playing around with that. The basics of connectivity, of representation, of execution. It's likely to all get scrubbed in the end, but it's also just as likely to keep me driven and focused.