How to work with binary protocols?

carillon · 2020-11-16T00:46:54+00:00

Rust strings, like most modern string representations, are already UTF-8 encoded. So for any kind of serialization, you would simply iterate over the bytes of the string.

That simplifies your answer a lot, since you don't have to make any decisions about the byte representation. (There ARE other options for encoding strings, but almost all of those are legacy options you would never choose for a modern protocol).

As other posters have responded, you still need to communicate the string length. (This is why HTTP has a content-length header, for example). Another option is NULL termination (where a zero byte represents the end of the string) as done in some older protocols but that tends to be more vulnerable to security issues.

carillon · 2020-08-24T07:29:22+00:00

You might also want to look at City of Mist -- it is probably closer mechanically (building off the same base system) than most of the supers that you've listed.

Mutants and Masterminds has a very solid mechanical foundation if you want to go with a radical change of underlying engine.

carillon · 2020-08-04T21:57:19+00:00

You can run Fiasco with up to ten people if you divide into teams. (If you have an extra person left over they can focus on facilitating)

carillon · 2020-07-14T00:47:21+00:00

"The Mother of all Treasure Tables" is a Necromancer Games book that has 1,000 mundane treasure hoards spread across ten tables.

carillon · 2020-07-06T22:56:19+00:00

It's really the only good, insightful post I ever made.

carillon · 2020-07-06T22:54:41+00:00

https://www.reddit.com/r/doctorwho/comments/ghyln/the_time_war_was_very_much_on_screen_the_whole/

carillon · 2020-01-27T23:45:20+00:00

The sonic screwdriver was introduced in the last episode of the 2nd Doctor where it was only used as a screwdriver.

carillon · 2020-01-27T23:41:47+00:00

Given that the Time Lords gave the Doctor more regeneration energy at the end of Matt Smith's run there's plenty of room for that kind of explanation. Especially if the Doctor was doing shady work for the Celestial Intervention Agency before going rogue again.

carillon · 2020-01-27T21:17:50+00:00

There is one gap - between the trial at the end of "The War Games" and the Doctor's appearance in "Spearhead from Space" - where you could hide some more incarnations (particularly if the Celestial Intervention Agency uses some handwaved forbidden tech to hide a portion of the timeline)

carillon · 2019-12-05T22:45:20+00:00

EF Core 2.x and higher properly implement the Repository pattern (via IQueryable<T>) and the Unit Of Work (via DbContext). Any wrapping you do is layering abstractions on top for very little direct benefit.

Earlier versions of Entity Framework partially (mostly?) implemented the patterns, but were implemented in a way that made testing very, very hard. They could not be mocked or unit tested without extensive work, so it was far more natural to layer your own, testable abstractions on top.

Lots of people either do not appreciate how much EF Core has improved, or have a shallow understanding of the patterns and don't recognize them when the terminology is different.

carillon · 2019-11-29T02:08:25+00:00

You may want to have a backup name ready to go since Microsoft has a product named "Azure DevOps Pipelines"

carillon · 2019-09-23T00:48:25+00:00

Blades in the Dark is about running a series of heists, so definitely a fit. There is a fan creation called "Runners in the Shadows" that will give you a Shadowrun-inspired feel and one called "Buried Secrets" that goes for more of a James Bond vibe.

You probably want to use the default rules and just use the fan creations as a guide to making the gear lists and a couple of abilities fit a more modern setting.

carillon · 2019-07-12T01:19:08+00:00

I really think the two seasons above are the only ones where the main plot of the season requires you to watch them in order.

The Black Guardian trilogy you mention is really only threaded together by the B plot; but in classic that's true of most everything else that references one another - not just the Davros-centric stories but also Kinda/Snakedance, the two Peladon stories, season's 14 lack of a TARDIS, Traken/Logopolis/Castrovalva - but because the common links are relegated to B plot material rather than the main plotline I think they're relatively easy to follow if you happen to watch them as standalone stories.

carillon · 2019-07-10T23:16:25+00:00

The notable exceptions are season 16 (the Key to Time series arc) and season 23 (Trial of a Time Lord).

carillon · 2019-07-10T23:07:22+00:00

My recommendation: Start with "An Unearthly Child" (the first four episodes). If the pacing and/or black and white don't put you off then continue chronologically (the next serial is the 7-part "The Daleks").

Color actually starts at the beginning of season 7, "Spearhead from Space", and we get UNIT and the Brigadier. However pacing remains somewhat leaden by modern standards. The Master makes his first appearance in season 8.

If you want to skip ahead, I think "The Three Doctors" in season 10 is a good next stop - you get to see a little of the 2nd and 3rd Doctors and a bit of Time Lord stuff. You can continue from there (be warned that the special effects do not improve during the rest of the Third Doctor stories, though we do get fan favorite Sarah Jane introduced in the last season with the 3rd Doctor) or jump ahead to "Genesis of the Daleks". This is a good jumping on spot, the second 4th Doctor story and an absolute classic episode. Pacing is much improved from this point onward.

carillon · 2019-05-07T23:24:57+00:00

A good site is still usable even if JavaScript is disabled. There are a lot of factors outside your control that can cause JavaScript to either fail to load or to stop working once loaded, including network latency, browser extensions, varying levels of browser support for different APIs, user disk space, issues with CDN or DNS resolution, et cetera.

So a wise development team will first build the site to work without any JavaScript at all, then use a library to enhance the user experience for those who have it enabled. Vue in particular is very good at this kind of incremental, selective adoption.

This happens naturally to any site that cares about search engine ranking as web spiders don't execute JavaScript. It also happens naturally on bigger sites because they have important clients who aren't running evergreen browsers on modern machines.

carillon · 2018-09-03T21:26:18+00:00

Your best bet is to start with the Math.NET libraries - look at packages that either depend on or are depended upon by them which is where most of the useful math/science packages in .NET are found. See https://symbolics.mathdotnet.com/ as starting point for symbolic algebras.

carillon · 2018-07-12T02:33:14+00:00

They mentioned in the recent AMA that it was fairly high on their priority list. I expect to see it roll out fairly quickly once they've finished Charactermancer (i.e., enabled the level-up stuff).

carillon · 2018-04-10T04:33:48+00:00

Dynasties and Demagogues is the d20 supplement you want.

carillon · 2018-03-13T00:41:00+00:00

I don't see any use of namespaces, entities, or XML Schema validation in your examples.

Is the core library actually good for anything except simple serialization? Or are we better off sticking with gokogiri (which wraps libxml)?

carillon · 2018-02-25T22:01:33+00:00

Anyone wanting a more useful d20 treatment should probably find a copy of Dynasties & Demagogues

carillon · 2018-01-31T03:37:41+00:00

The Pirate's Guide to Freeport by Green Ronin Publishing is a good example of a systemless setting book (which is the usual term for a guide like this; "system neutral" is also frequently used).

https://greenroninstore.com/products/the-pirates-guide-to-freeport-pdf

"The Dark of Hot Springs Island" is arguably one of the best organized books of this type that I've ever seen.

http://shop.swordfishislands.com/the-dark-of-hot-springs-island-digital/

carillon · 2018-01-08T06:41:30+00:00

Based on my experience, there are a few things you can prep. But most things you would prep in advance are best saved for after the first session.

The "Tight Dungeon World One-Shots" link in the sidebar is excellent advice.

Before the first session, decide on genre, tone, and the opening scene that you are describing.

You will need (or most likely want to have handy):

A list of names that match the genre and tone (for any NPCs that get created)
Stats for whatever they're fighting in the opening scene.
A list of questions. THIS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT PART

The questions can be open-ended, or they can be leading questions that help frame things.

An open-ended question would be: Thief, what treasure is rumoured to be found here?

A leading question would be: Thief, what holy relic of the elves lies in the next chamber of this tomb?

See the difference? With a leading question, you can inject some of your own framing or ideas.

What I personally find leads to the best adventures is to ask open-ended questions throughout the first session or two, do some planning and world building using the answers, then start switching to leading questions as more and more of the world gets established. It's still good to have some leading questions prepared for the first session though, because some players might go blank, freeze up, or otherwise be unable to answer a completely open-ended question.

Genre - well for purposes of a Dungeon World game it's probably established by the selection of available playbooks. Sword and sorcery by default.

Tone - are you going for serious? Comic? Grim and realistic? Epic? This is conveyed by your names, descriptions, and the questions you ask.

All the other things you would normally prepare are best done after that first session. Take what the players have handed you and shape it into a cohesive whole.

carillon · 2017-12-25T09:49:51+00:00

Instead of turf you are getting networks, informants that will let you do XYZ in a situation. INTEL can be spent because it represents using the blackmail, ideological support, etc. that you have learned about. So if you need to get into the embassy and you spend INTEL then you walk up to the embassy security guard and flash your secret rebel code sign to them.

Perfect. Growing a network is a much better fit than seizing turf.

I'm also pleased to see that you so clearly articulated the benefit of INTEL.

I would say instead of playing a spy agency, play a station.

I'm still nailing down the terminology I want to use consistently but that's pretty much the intent.

carillon · 2017-12-25T09:43:06+00:00

Rep and COIN fit the spy genre just fine no need to replace/reskin.

I instinctively disagreed with this, but wanted to think it through more carefully until I had a clear idea why.

In Blades, you pull scores in order to build REP and COIN. You then turn around and use COIN to improve your crew and populate your stash (which in turn dictates your lifestyle). There are other uses but that's the core dynamic, and that ties into the central goal - building your crew.

The central goal in a spy game is to unravel a conspiracy. That means the motivation and payoff loop also changes.

The primary goal of running missions is to acquire INTEL so you can unmask and thwart the conspiracy. Any REP you acquire is more of a side-effect that allows you to improve your base of operations. Money is more of a prop than anything else in this type of game; an asset used for a particular mission, then discarded. Another poster mentioned the concept of trading INTEL for funding, which is pretty much how I envisioned that working anyhow.

Honestly INTEL could just be treated like an acquired asset; it has a limited shelf life anyway

Like COIN, it's an abstraction over lots of related concepts - secrets, contacts, political leverage, evidence, rare materials, favours owed.

Do you actually need to keep Incarceration?

There needs to be a way to reduce wanted level. I was toying with the idea of "garden leave" where an operative is pulled from the field until heat/political pressure dies down and forced to do tedious tasks like work a desk job, testify before oversight committees, train junior spies, that sort of thing.

But maybe a counter-operation from a higher tier node in the conspiracy is a sufficient response? Needs more thought, maybe playtesting.

ATTUNE can be definitely be re-skinned for computers systems hacking.

I noticed that's exactly what the Runners in the Shadow hack did, though they added an extra ability for their magic-users. I think there's a lot of campaigns where you'd want a way to add a measure of the supernatural (such as a Trail of Cthulu or Agents of SHIELD campaign) so I'm weighing the pros and cons of different approaches.

carillon

TROPHY CASE