Volunteering. How can I help?

[bugnguts]

Woot, my wife gave the go ahead for purchasing an Oculus Dev kit. Yes, I am a grown man and yes I am employed, process engineer, but it is best to keep my family happy. Anyways in getting the kit I would like to help in development, else might as well wait for the consumer version.

After losing myself in the 3D soundscape of Guild Wars 2 using Razer Tiamats 7.1 I couldn't stop thinking how incredible the Oculus would be. Now playing video games seems like mindlessly munching on bland appetizers while getting whiffs of the mouthwatering main course. So this is where I can see helping.

1: Most game companies are not likely to add support for older games since there is little profit in it. Backwards compatibility will need to come from the community. Projects like Preception and tools provided by Oculus will allow this. I have limited experience in programming so it would be great to have a few intro/how to videos.

2: Coordinating modders’ efforts (MTBS3D Forums) and having a website to download Oculus compatibility patches will help. Imagine an established and growing game library available to the public when the consumer version is released.

3: The community is an ideal source for alpha/beta testers for developers big and small to test their ideas/games and get valuable feedback.

I want to volunteer with any of these or help forum members with their Oculus projects. I've played around with ini files, created programs for system controllers, programmed a little C++ and can learn with just a little direction. If there is no outlet I will likely end up as an unintelligible jabbering crazed fan waiting in anticipation. Outside of work and family I got about 10-15hrs/week I can devote.

[squibbfire]

If you are a code jockey there is a forum group where cybereality is making a driver...check it out here...

http://www.mtbs3d.com/phpBB/viewforum.php?f=141

[GeraldT]

I like 1) ... please make some intro/how to videos, those are always appreciated

[Pingles]

There was a new developer on Reddit asking for advice and I requested that he creat a blog detailing his progress.

I'd love to see folks blog their way through this stuff so we can collectively learn as we go.

Once I get settled in I will be documenting everything in a blog.

[jayoh]

pingles, that's a great idea. documenting your progress and challenges in a blog would be valuable for others to learn from. it's also good for your own thought process.

[ElMatarife]

Help write items for the FAQ: http://www.mtbs3d.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=140&t=16308

I think the other thing that's going to be needed is a community wiki. I'd suggest splitting it into two parts, one for consumers / players, one for developers. The consumer / player side would have list of working games, how to get those games working, how to get the Vireo or other drivers working, and anything else your average player might need to know. The developer side would be filled with dev kit / API documentation, tips and tricks, along with code examples, etc. I think a DIY section might also come in handy, depending on how popular that option remains after the dev kits ship.

[Neil]

Hi Guys,

I can create a blog section of the site for members to make submissions and share. We did this for MTBS' Birthday Bonanza Contest, and something similar can be done here where users can submit stuff with graphics using a content management system. Would this be appealing?

Regards,
Neil

P.S. Sorry about the Wiki. I want to do it, it's just a bit more involved to set up (but I will do it, I promise).

[ElMatarife]

Sorry about the Wiki. I want to do it, it's just a bit more involved to set up (but I will do it, I promise).

If it's more of a maintenance nightmare than you want to have on your hands, it could just be on Wikia or something. The good news is, PHPBB and Mediawiki do a pretty good job of integrating, but unfortunately there were still a few caveats last I checked. For instance, PHPBB would let you create a username with a _ that wouldn't work in Mediawiki.

[Pingles]

Hi Guys,

I can create a blog section of the site for members to make submissions and share. We did this for MTBS' Birthday Bonanza Contest, and something similar can be done here where users can submit stuff with graphics using a content management system. Would this be appealing?

I had been considering making a website JUST to blog, which I'd rather not do. If you guys can open something up for that I'd love it!

[Neil]

Getting gamer or game developer blogs going on MTBS isn't that hard, and we've done it before. We want to do the Wiki too, it's just that there is some software testing involved. I don't want people to have to register twice to do the same thing. It's not hard to manage, it's just the setup that takes a bit of time.

Regards,
Neil

[Baristan6]

bugnguts I'm in the same boat as you. My c++ skills are rusty. I've slowly been picking them back up while messing with cybereality's ViP, and have almost finished creating a bridge between ViP and FreePIE(no longer just mouse emulation with trackIR). After finishing this project I would like to help out adding support for games, but only halfway understand how to go about doing that.
A tutorial on how to add support would be great. Any organization of game support status(requests, which games are supported, which don't work and why ...) could also be useful. I think a Wikia would work well for this once Neil gets it up and running.

[Neil]

Ok! I invested some time into the site today.

1. Go to the front page.
2. When you log in, there is an article manager function.
3. From here, you can create and submit articles.
4. Articles won't be published right away, but you should be able to edit what you submit.
5. Use http://www.mtbs3d.com/gallery for uploading and attaching images - please don't use the CMS file manager.

It's still experimental, so give it a try.

Regards,
Neil

[bugnguts]

pingles, that's a great idea. documenting your progress and challenges in a blog would be valuable for others to learn from. it's also good for your own thought process.

There was a new developer on Reddit asking for advice and I requested that he creat a blog detailing his progress.

I'd love to see folks blog their way through this stuff so we can collectively learn as we go.

Once I get settled in I will be documenting everything in a blog.

Agreed, blogging for development projects like these is a munch easier way to document your work for others to follow and add on.

Sorry about the Wiki. I want to do it, it's just a bit more involved to set up (but I will do it, I promise).

If it's more of a maintenance nightmare than you want to have on your hands, it could just be on Wikia or something. The good news is, PHPBB and Mediawiki do a pretty good job of integrating, but unfortunately there were still a few caveats last I checked. For instance, PHPBB would let you create a username with a _ that wouldn't work in Mediawiki.

Thanks ElMatarife for the PHPBB and Mediawiki info. Looking at their community websites I would feel comfortable in aiding in a wikia creation.

Getting gamer or game developer blogs going on MTBS isn't that hard, and we've done it before. We want to do the Wiki too, it's just that there is some software testing involved. I don't want people to have to register twice to do the same thing. It's not hard to manage, it's just the setup that takes a bit of time.

Regards,
Neil

I could give a hand here especially if there is time consuming tasks.

Ok! I invested some time into the site today.

1. Go to the front page.
2. When you log in, there is an article manager function.
3. From here, you can create and submit articles.
4. Articles won't be published right away, but you should be able to edit what you submit.
5. Use http://www.mtbs3d.com/gallery for uploading and attaching images - please don't use the CMS file manager.

It's still experimental, so give it a try.

Regards,
Neil

Thanks Neil, I do not have much for an article/blog right now, perhaps what it is like getting involved in this great community.

[Pingles]

Ok! I invested some time into the site today.

1. Go to the front page.
2. When you log in, there is an article manager function.
3. From here, you can create and submit articles.
4. Articles won't be published right away, but you should be able to edit what you submit.
5. Use http://www.mtbs3d.com/gallery for uploading and attaching images - please don't use the CMS file manager.

It's still experimental, so give it a try.

Regards,
Neil

I decided to try this today. I'm afraid I can't find an Article Manager on the front page.
I made sure I was logged in. Even went to my Profile page to verify.

I found a DRAFT manager, but not article.

A general idea of where it is? I'm sure it's right i my face. Just can't seem to see it.

[Neil]

Once you are logged in, click the "membership" tab at the top of the screen. In the dropdown, there should be a button for article manager in the drop-down menu. Remember to log in on the front page, not just through the forums!

Regards,
Neil

[bugnguts]

Once you are logged in, click the "membership" tab at the top of the screen. In the dropdown, there should be a button for article manager in the drop-down menu. Remember to log in on the front page, not just through the forums!

Regards,
Neil

Thanks Neil for the added instructions. I was able to write and save a few paragraphs. Thanks again for your setting this up.

[Neil]

The gallery is here: http://www.mtbs3d.com/gallery

Once images are uploaded (you can create your own personal albums, by the way), you can link to the images directly from the articles.

Regards,
Neil