15 September 2010 Update

[dabo]

Hello, to make up for the big gap between blog entries in the past here comes another entry with the latest updates.

Jatahati has, since joining the project, been working on the groundwork including game object reflecting the database structure in code. He will continue to do so this week and expect to be done soon.

He has also been doing tests on the Eloquera object database suggested by riggert. Jatahati found the performance extremely pleasing and we have decided to use it going forward. The SQLite database we have been working on will still be used for pre-game data. When you start a new game you will have the opportunity to choose which database (SQLite) you want to use and from that point on the Eloquera database will take over. Using Eloquera we get improved performance, can keep the save game in one single file and prevent cheating since the data won't be easily accessible like in an SQLite database. In order to allow those who are interested in extracting stats etc. from saved games we will provide either an in-game feature and/or an external editor. Thank you again riggert.

In the meantime I have continued working on the first version of the SQLite database. With the assistance from McQwak I feel we have come a long way. The last major thing I am looking to add is the draft structure; if you have been visiting the forum lately you have noticed that I have been asking for help regarding draft rules etc. If you have good draft knowledge or know where to find info be sure to let us know.

Last weekend I spent some evenings trying to improve the user interface and make it less application-like. Thanks to WPF (and some cursing) I was able to come up with a design that both me and jatahati was very happy with but at this point we are not sure whether or not we will go with the WPF version or not since it takes a lot longer to work with than winforms because neither of us have a lot of experience using it. To give you a hint of what the new design looks like I can say that it is a mix between the old one and Football Manager 2010 with different shades of TBL blue. But for now, we will put the user interface decision on hold and focus on the foundation of the actual game; at least now we know we can pull off something prettier if we allocate some extra time for it.

With that said, until next time, take care.