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Priority SitRep

Yes, things are wonky and changing. I'm trying to work on the production website.

Progress has been made!

Okay, I have managed to bring out the various groups of articles for this website to the front page and make them work. There's still work to be done, but you can at least get there from here.

Also, thanks to Catalyst splitting every BA into Squads of 4, 5 and 6, not to mention the new additions to the Master Unit List, I am having to recombine the entire main database for Roster Builder. I am making progress. I am looking at another 2,300 worth of line items that I have to do the research on. More than a few will not make the cut, as they are too specialized, but many more will cause me headaches.

I am also combining the data so each MUL line item has both the CBT and AS information I need. Once this is done, I have to go back through the entire pile of code for Roster Builder that I have to handle the database alterations.

And it will be AWESOME!

I have not stopped working to bring you what you need. Progress continues on all projects and in a positive direction. I hope to release the next versions of both See Mark Paint and Roster Builder by the end of 2023. That may seem to be a long time for you, however I will be working furiously all day every day to get there from here.

 

Looks like crap, I know.

Bad news: I've run out of time, so I had to go with what I've built so far and push it from sandbox to production.

More bad news: I'm still working 50-60 hour weeks, so content will still be minimal at best. 

Good news: It will get better. Now that I'm here (current CMS and PHP 8) I can take my time and get it all fixed properly and without a Sword of Damocles time-crunch looming over me.

Falling back to regroup

My apologies, again I am working 60 hour weeks, fighting with my Ender 3, and more.

I am, however slowly working on See Mark Paint and Roster Builder. All that being said, I have to give you a fair warning, I am having to take a pause on posting. I mean, like not working on the website or content at all. The primary reason is this website is facing a forced shutdown. I'm running on an old version of PHP that will stop working soon. When I try to upgrade the PHP, it breaks the website. Add to that the CMS software itself has undergone a major revision that I must also upgrade to, with some of the modules I use not upgraded or I have to buy a whole new package. The look may change as well, as I may have to go to a new template. Hopefully not though.

So, all of my time normally allocated for even thinking about Battletech is now forcefully allocated for doing these upgrades. Fair warning, you might come here one day and find a static webpage. Rest assured I am diligently working on making it through these trials and tribulations.

See you on the other side.

 

New stuff!

I thought up a new game aid and posted an article on what it is and how to make them a little earlier. Head on over to Aerospace Movement Markers to see how to make them.

AeroMove4 sm

I also wanted to say that the Mac version of Roster Builder is moving along, slowly. I am putting a couple new features and bug fixes in, which will also appear in the next version for the Windows side of things as well. I use the same code for both platforms with an "which version is this again?" IF statement when there's differences.

Once this is out of the way (and I get my Ender 3 working properly) I'll start working on the next version of See Mark Paint..

AAAAHHHH!!!!

I use a plugin to my CMS software for this website to give "nice" URLs. Except this steaming pile of rinocerous turds won't do what I tell it to do. Which is, namely, DON'T MAKE URLS I DIDN'T TELL YOU TO MAKE!!!!! This stupid POS is scrambling my URLs like a Rubik's Cube.

I think I got shit straightened out, and it goes sideways again.

 

Just make it stop. Please.

New year, more work

No, I'm not dead yet (for the 38th time)...

Yes, I know I should be updating you more often with exciting content. Yes, I know a lot of links are broken. I don't know why (yet). I'm working on upgrading the website software and fixing these issues as fast as I can. I ask that you keep hanging with me. I have two jobs, a family, a house, doing commission painting, working on a minor update for Roster Builder, working on the MacOS version of Roster Builder, getting my 3D printers to work consistently so I can impart me knowledge to you about them in the next edition of See Mark Paint, and so on.

If someone could figure out a way to make days about 40 hours long and so I don't have to sleep, that would help out a lot.

I hope this next year treats us all better than the last two have.

Fixes applied

If this post doesn't make sense, it's because I have imbibed copious amount of Scotch and I have a a BAC well in excess of 0.20. While verifying everything after restoring the website, I managed to find, troubleshoot and fix several issues with the website while restoring it. I also managed to add some functionality despite my highly inebrieated state. Without the need of a spell checker. :-P You're welcome. :-)

Holy Sh*t!

Okay, THAT was an experience!

So here I was trying to upgrade my website software (which I'm not mentioning to piss off script kiddies) and ended up crashing the website. I immediately initiated a restoral... and it didn't work. OH SHIT...

I've tried several times to restore over the past couple days and finally got this time to work. I'll be more careful in the future.

The Issue is fixed!

If you are into Star Trek, you'll recognize this:

IDIC

This is a Vulcan IDIC symbol. IDIC stands for "Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations" and it is my primary way of fixing things when I don't know what I'm doing. I generally call it "Brute Force" because you're trying everything in every combination to see if you unbreak it. You change something, see what changes, document it, change it back, change something else and repeat. Or, as I sometimes say, "I can't fix it, but I can get it to work."

Since you're seeing this post, I'm going to surmise that you're smart enough to realize I fixed the issue related in the post below. The simple answer is, it was looking for a missing CSS file. I made a copy of the default.css file , renamed it to the offending filename and let it go, which seems to have worked.

Not only did I get that straightened out, I also capured enough logos to give every article an individual unit/house logo. The BatReps I will go back later to take one of their photos, trim/resize it and use them. I also added The Purple Nurples to the My Forces menu, I picked them up a couple months ago at a flea market at my FLGS.

That's it for me. It's after my bed time, I have to be up early to blow shit up and burn crap down tomorrow.

Renovations underway

So, if you've noticed, clicking on the odd-numbered headers above ("Getting Started," " Game Aids," " Homebrew" and "My Forces") gets you get an error. I'm finally clearing time to work on this. What this means is, things might look wonky, radically change, or even stop working alltogether. The reason is my SEO (Search Engine Optimized) software (so you see the link for this post as "...com/blog/renovations-underway" instead of "...com/index.php?option=com_content&Itemid=101&catid=17&id=166&lang=en&view=article") won't work on my sandbox web server. So, I have to work on my production website.

Don't worry, I'm paranoid enough to back up the website before I start making changes. I can't make things worse than they allready are. Well, I can, but I would have to go through a lot of effort to do so. Which I probably won't do.

Making haste slowly

Everyone, while updates here are sparse, it's only because I'm very busy behind the scenes. Real Life has seriously been screwing with my gaming time. A new job, the unexpected passing of a very close friend, my hooptie doing a Blues Brothers and a whole lot more.

But those are neither here nor there.

Roster Builder 4 has been delayed. I was planning on getting it out today (May 19th). But finding a friend dead in his apartment kind of screws with your head. I did get the Clan TO&E worked out, and have gotten to build rosters using Alpha Strike units, I had forgotten the function to add non-Canon AS units. I'm giving you the option when you add a non-Canon CBT unit to also add it to the Alpha Strike side as well, plus entering non-Canon as just AS units. While I still have some things to Grok for that to work properly and elegantly, my subconcious is telling me "it will be soon." Soon for a fruit fly or soon for a mountain I can't tell you.

A medium priority once RB 4 is out is to continue porting this to Mac OSX and Unix. That's mostly screen layout, as I'm working off an old 13" MacBook Air. If you think I should be doing it on one of those 1000" display desktops, HMU so you can Zelle me the money because I don't have it.

I am also continuing my review of various Battletech-related products. I am waiting on one getting shpped to me, others are currently in various stages. Here's a picture of what I rolled out at a battle this past Saturday:

deathraydesigns1 sm

Once Roster Builder is out of the way, then work on the 5th edition of See Mark Paint will begin. I've decided to add a chapter on terrain and expanding the 3D printing information.

So, yes a lot is going on. I am making haste, but advancing slowly on many fronts simultaneously.

 

New Review

Just a quick note, I have posted a review for Lychee Slicer. Go check it out, then go get the product!

Busy busy busy!

I have been so busy...

I am moving forward on multiple projects simultaneously. I am in the middle of a couple of new product reviews, and advancing on the next versions of See Mark Paint and Roster Builder. I'm also doing some commission painting and so much more. I feel like a duck, calm on the surface but paddling like crazy out-of-view.

Progress is being made. It will become apparent when the groking achieves fullness.

Product reviews inbound!

Hey all, In case you didn't notice, the "header line" up there in RED has a new item, Product Reviews. It is my honest assessment of various things to buy and/or use in our community. I am not getting any kind of free or discounted product to give a "rah-rah" review. If I do, I will tell you up front about it. No matter what, you will always get my truthful and honest opinion, especially if it's a "stay away from this" kind of review.

The new look is here!

Okay everyone, MERRY CHRISTMAS (or whatever holiday you're currently celebrating).

I decided to go ahead and cut over to the new look today. Over the last several weeks, I've had to fight the CSS code, the author of the template, then review and update every article on the site. IThe links are all redone and the reviews are updated to reflect changed equipment and so on. Please enjoy!

Getting so close...

I am making a lot of progress on the website revamp. I have gotten many things aligned properly, and just need to work out a couple of issues.

-CSS to change one module is not working, despite my trying everything without result. If you know CSS, please help. I will pay you for your time. hehehe, I had been beating my head on my desk for a week over this, and less than an hour after I wrote this article, my mind had grokked fully and I figured it out.

-I am trying to add a map where you can add your comtact information and you can see who is near you. A Google map of "Find Battletech Players by Zip coide."

-I am also shuffling my "deep dive" articles around to regroup them into more sensible categories.

I am setting the official roll out to 1/1/21. I may move it up if I get everything done and tested ahead of schedule.

Changes are coming

I have grown weary of how graphics intensive the front page is, so I'm doing something about it. I dug up an old template that I bought to make another website in a project that fell through and never ended up using. I have been working with it in a "sandbox" environment (as opposed to this "production" website. In other words, you don't see it) and I am almost ready. I am still working out a few minor adjustments and one new feature.

Once I get those done, I'll move the changes over to here in the course of a weekend, probably overnight. Once that's done, I'm sure you will appreciate how much the website loads faster and certain items will be easier to find.

Painting challenge report is next week. See you then!

Wave 1 has arrived!

I received an email at 10:02am today that my Kickstarter Wave 1 Battletech Clan Invasion was on the way. It hit my front porch about 10:30am. SQEEEEE!!!

And here's what I got:

KS Wave 1

Shoutout for Aries Miniatures

I placed an order last week to Derek King at Aries Gams and Miniatures. From the time I hit "Send" until I got the email that the order was shipped was eighty-nine minutes. He said he "just so happened" to be near the computer when the order came through, but I think he's more like this, perpetually and anxiously waiting:

man staring at computer

They say for most any good or service, "Good, fast, cheap. Pick any two." With Aries, you get all three.

I am SO Sorry!

Quick note. I screwed up the file name when I uploaded the fixed See Mark Paint. I just realized it and it's fixed and tested.

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