Application: Malice

[Malice]

Hello!

Nice to see the project running. First, I would like to congratulate devs. I'm really impressed and happy to see people writing Morrowind to run on Linux(and not only Linux), and that it's well managed. Good work! I hope that I won't change my mind after I start reading the code

Back to the topic: I'm a CS student from Poland. I know C++ and Common Lisp quite well, I've worked with Python, Ruby, bash, and touched some other languages. I don't have much time because of university and job, but hopefully I'll find a few hours a week to spend on this project.

I'm interested in Lisp, Linux, AI(right now working at one project and it's really interesting!), programming, {tabletop,computer} games, cooking, and few other things. Proud user of Gentoo and Emacs.

I've compiled required dependencies, and finally built OpenMW itself without any problems. It also runs(at least to the moment where you get option with new game/load/save; unfortunately I don't have access to Morrowind's files right now).
I'm eager to help because of my love for Morrowind. I hope that new engine means improvements, support and second life for Morrowind. I hope that I'll stick to this project.

If you have any questions, feel free to ask. As soon as I read documents, I'll grab some bug and try to fix it.

Have a good day!

[Jyby]

Hey Malice,

Welcome aboard! We are definitely in need of a C++ programmer. You do need to own a copy of Morrowind in order to run the game and develop. I believe you can find it on steam for ~$20...

You're welcome to start working on bugs, but in my experience I think it might be easier/more useful to you to start looking at previous bug fixes and feature implementations. Familiarize yourself with the architecture and then start fixing bugs.

If you can tell us more about your C++ experience I'm sure we can find an appropriate place for your to dig into.

[Malice]

I've mostly worked in hobby projects. I've worked on a really big project(but it consisted of several languages, and I've only worked in C/C++ for a month or so), so I guess that by now I'm kind of used to diving into huge codebase, or so do I think. If you have some list on "preferred bugfixes for newbies", you can drop it here, and I'll pick something for me

I'm also more of a pragmatic person, hence why I prefer to get my hands dirty(the worst thing that could happen is I won't send you my pull request), then to read someone fixing the bug - I feel I can learn more this way.

As for previous C++ experience - I would say that I wrote some really really small games that weren't even complete and I wouldn't count them as anything worth showing, plus some other things; I worked with SDL mostly, and STL; a bit of curses. I'm not too fluent when it comes to the graphics, but I can learn fast. I also worked a bit with AI(more like machine learning kind of AI) and natural language processing.

Oh, and by the way - I *have* two copies of Morrowind - they are just not in the city I'm now living in - and spending 20 euros on the game I already own isn't really appealing to me.

[Jyby]

At the moment we don't maintain a list of "preferred bug fixes for newbies." But I suggest you look for bugs that involve the game mechanics layer of the engine, as that tends be easily understood by newer folks(and novice c++ programmers) and should give you a higher chance of success.

I highly recommend you spend some time studying the coding style we generally use as well as learning how to integrate a debugger such as gdb. You can find more information on the Wiki, particularly Testing and Development.

You should also become familiar with Morrowinds GMSTs as those are the driving force behind many of the game mechanics.

[Malice]

I'm already familiar with gdb, so that's not a problem. I'll take a look at the code, GMST, pick some bug and start contributing