by Dennis M. Myers, 01/3/2023
December was a month of reflection, celebration, and diving into an old project to learn new skills.
My situation at work has altered slightly and I need to add to my skillset in order to properly handle the work I see coming my way. So I dusted off the ten year old code for Pocket Empire and began a massive rewrite. I use the same images and the old math used to compile and place the image overlays for the maps and worlds, but everything else has been redone. Instead of an old .NET application both front and back, it is now an angular application with a .NET Core web service. Same data, new presentation. I should warn you, it's still not a game, but the patrol ships are moving, and the map is dynamic and works well enough. I have even added to the system display the ships in orbit around each wold. Please note that as I write this, I only have the three factions frigates out there. A leftover from about 2017. I am creating an interface to actually manage the fleets as an administrator of the game which will eventually be chopped into ways for players to control a single ship, or their own fleet.
For the record, this game's background is in the same universe as my science fiction writing. Just a very different time. Where my first series started in 3288, the second in 2414, this game exists currently in 8855. Game time runs 7 times faster, so one real day is one game week.
This meant taking a bit of a break from writing. I wasn't really feeling the story I had been working on anyway. As a bit of a change of pace, I am now working to expand one of my unpublished short stories into a novella.
The holidays were peaceful and quiet. We had a family gathering on the 30th where I received news that my daughter, who is about to get married, is expecting. May and I will be grandparents. She's fighting it, so please, don't call her Granny May. She scowls at that one. Even Grandma gets her growling. As for myself, I'm all in. Looking forward to it with all my heart.
January 13th, 14th, and 15th are the days for MarsCon in Virginia Beach, VA. I plan on being there. Not sure if Granny May will be with me. Her work schedule has become a bit erratic.
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