I need to really dig into my notes to find all the v6 and v7 and otherwise upcoming features and incorporate whatever they need into the new design.
I guess I need to detach the current version of NIFE so I can thoroughly play around with the existing featureset.
I can then play around with the panels and play areas to get a feel for the systems that are already in play, and how best they can be improved with a structural blank slate. Updates posts might help as well.
Structural
From there, I'll have some idea of what already exists and I'll be able to:
Come up with a new general API structure that handles all the new stuff (particularly instancing and different formats).
Build out the core database accordingly.
I want to hook into this database in a much saner way, so:
I need to finish up ASD (which also needs a conceptual update to fix some glaring contradictions).
I'll need some kind of general purpose framework for NIFE stuff that hooks into ASD and various files. Hosting panels definitely need to have ? and & links, while play.gtx0.com/game_name should just be the link for everything (other than signing up, making a new game or format, etc).
Things like hosting panels really really need to be able to reuse HTML code.
Engines
From there it makes sense to get a feel for the different formats and engines that might be in use so I can figure out how to categorize all the functionality.
I don't necessarily have to rebuild the functionality; I can probably just do a straight import or some kind of copy unless it doesn't make sense in its current format.
The grouping will definitely be different -- engines are definitely the focus of NIFE v6 and Archetypes on a level above that even.
Along the way I need to think about things like actions indexing, events, conditions, and custom actions. These should all ideally be built out alongside each feature.
Play Interface
In any case, once all the panels are done again, the Interface needs to be built:
It needs to be solid JS.
There needs to be ways of hitting actions from any method whatsoever, but all of this needs to be organized in such a way that the UX isn't overwhelming. Making room descriptions dynamic and allowing you to click things definitely makes a lot of sense. Same deal with items in the inventory (which can be categorized) as well as Engine-based menus of various kinds.
Speaking of menus, some definitely exist in the current iteration of NIFE and need to be reincorporated here.
Combat is its own set of headaches probably.
Conclusion
This is of course just an outline; I fully expect the project to change drastically the more I work on it. But it helps me at least get a feel for how much work is still ahead.
