Wiki is severly outdated, needs to be more friendly

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Inothernews1
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Wiki is severly outdated, needs to be more friendly

Post by Inothernews1 »

It's 3:35 right now, but I'll try to type this out anyways. I desperately want to program games for the Uzebox, despite my lack of programming experience. But when I look at the beginners guide, and it links me to a Google code page that doesn't even work anymore, then we are off on a bad foot. Some pages give outdated information, and I get lost very quickly. I wish I could join this community, but from the wiki, it seems very elitist in nature, and doesn't want new people joining.
yllawwally
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Re: Wiki is severly outdated, needs to be more friendly

Post by yllawwally »

It does need much updating. I'm trying to setup my dev environment at the moment. I would suggest installing the emulator first. http://uzebox.org/wiki/index.php?title=Emulator Then follow the eclipse page instructions. http://uzebox.org/wiki/index.php?title= ... er_Eclipse This page has a lot of information. http://uzebox.org/wiki/index.php?title=Main_Page
This page describes how to copy a project so you can modify it, while still have the original. http://uzebox.org/wiki/index.php?title= ... e_Projects And last there is a my first project tutorial at http://uzebox.org/wiki/index.php?title=Hello_World
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kivan117
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Re: Wiki is severly outdated, needs to be more friendly

Post by kivan117 »

I'll definitely agree it's pretty cryptic trying to start out. I don't believe it's in any way intentionally elitist though. There are, thankfully, many knowledgeable members of this community so at times the forum posts or even the wiki may talk right over the heads of newcomers but the members and especially uze are very welcoming and encouraging of new efforts to contribute to the community.

Some of the info and links are outdated and if you're brand new to programming it can be pretty challenging at first. I know first hand it kind of sucks pouring through the wiki looking for a specific topic only to find "to do: finish tutorial". Keep at it though.

Getting the development environment setup is its own difficult step, then understanding how the video modes and make file impact the game is hard too if you're brand new to both the Uzebox and game programming in general.

All that said, I'd say you should also look through the info on video modes on the wiki in addition to the links above.

If there was one wiki page I wish existed it's a solid tutorial on how mode 3 scrolling really works. I'm still sort of working through it by trial and error at times :lol:

Keep reading what you can from the wiki and when you run into speed bumps along the way, don't be afraid to ask questions on the forums. Odds are someone else had the same one at one point and was just too afraid of sounding silly to ask.
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D3thAdd3r
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Re: Wiki is severly outdated, needs to be more friendly

Post by D3thAdd3r »

The entire project moved from Google Code to Github little more than a week ago since Google Code is shutting down so it seems it just got overlooked or people were too busy. I updated every link I could find to reflect the move, but some Linux specific lines need change. I made notes on those pages, so a Linux guru can fix it up for the rest of us :) Paul's "Hello World" tutorial is still on Google Code, as that is his separate space, and hasn't been integrated with the main kernel(yet, it should probably be integrated). If you find anything is missing or wrong just post it up, it will be fixed/added or even a tutorial made if you point out the specific need.

As a whole, this is all a complex subject by nature, and an occasional frustration in the learning curve is normal, else there is no reward for climbing a hill that anyone could on a whim. In my opinion, many like minded individuals here, probably like yourself, seek an "Intellectualist's Satisfaction" by an understanding/achievement/mastery of something complex. When truthfully analyzed, in my opinion, it's just the perfect desire to prove to oneself a worth, by the ability to be a useful part of some larger hypothetical "technocracy". I wager at the most basic level, such a mind has this hardwired on a short path to a reward system, and this madness is all to simply achieve some long lasting increases in dopamine levels :lol: Honestly though, I believe this is the best group of guys you will find in any scene. It is valuable feedback when people point out what it is that makes it hard to join the ranks, the wiki keeps getting a little better each year this way.
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uze6666
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Re: Wiki is severly outdated, needs to be more friendly

Post by uze6666 »

That's some harsh comments but very true, the wiki need a good cleanup. Good documentation/technical writing is a skill and not easy. I guess that's why us developer tends to make it last priority or just forget it all together. On that front I'm probably one of the worst offenders, producing lots of stuff and not documenting it so well on the wiki. Fortunately some charitable souls contributes from time to time to improve it and correct things.

Everybody's on their free time here so I can understand the least fun stuff receives the least attention. The important thing is to take note of those issues (on the wiki ;) ) and keep a log of it to be addressed when people have time.
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nicksen782
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Re: Wiki is severly outdated, needs to be more friendly

Post by nicksen782 »

Ive written a starter guide... The tutorials and such pages. I made it originally to document and guide myself and then i converted it to wiki. Those pages are missing lots of info that i could add now thanks to a year of experience.

Honestly the wiki can help but the forums and its members are the most valuable resources. A new person wont know who is who. I went through all the games and added up who made what kind of games and coding styles. I learned a lot from the source of games and through asking questions on the forums when i couldnt find the answer via search.

Keep up to date with the view recent posts link. Every day see new posts to keep up to date on what is new. D3thAdd3r puts out guides on some technical processes so keep a lookout for those and any new recent additions to the wiki.

Browse through the forum completely. It will take a while but so much of Uzebox history is here.
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danboid
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Re: Wiki is severly outdated, needs to be more friendly

Post by danboid »

I am slowly updating and adding new bits to the wiki. I have made a few improvements to the "Getting started on the Uzebox" wiki page today:

https://uzebox.org/wiki/Getting_Started_on_the_Uzebox

I added a new Tutorials section today.

I am posting my updates to the Tools, Documentation & Tutorials subforum viewforum.php?f=6
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uze6666
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Re: Wiki is severly outdated, needs to be more friendly

Post by uze6666 »

Winavr 2010 and Avr Studio 4!?! Wow the wiki indeed needs updates :shock: The getting started page specially. I'll try refreshing the Windows bits.
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Artcfox
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Re: Wiki is severly outdated, needs to be more friendly

Post by Artcfox »

I can update the Linux section too. Several years back I had a lunch meeting with a couple of Microchip guys about the neglected AVR 8-bit toolchain, and the put me in touch with the person responsible for maintaining it, and I am happy to see they are still updating it on their website. Their GCC 7.3.0 has all the AVR specific patches applied, and it produces smaller code than say the distro-provided GCC 5.4.0, and it is very easy to install (extract a .zip, and set a PATH).
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danboid
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Re: Wiki is severly outdated, needs to be more friendly

Post by danboid »

Have you told the Debian gcc-avr maintainer about this update Artcfox?

https://qa.debian.org/developer.php?log ... debian.org
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