For some more details on the current state of proposals:
As expected we've had solid interest in the
new/expanded gameplay template "generic" idea, just about covering all the basic suggestions (
Light & Shadow, Master of Oreon, the brand new
GooKeeper, GooeysQuests, Lost, and even a tower defense setup.
Metal Renegades hasn't been spoken for yet as far as I know, but would be a pretty easy item to
pivot to from any other such item as there is a bit of overlap here and there with multiple interested students in some places.
Those items are the more approachable ones for both students and mentors, as their scope tend to be pretty open. Go for an initial minimal viable product then iterate iterate iterate. There are usually more possible extensions than it is doable to do in one project but you can pretty much pick and choose, even swap out mid-project if problems are encountered. For the same reason it tends to be pretty easy to help out on mentoring these items, providing code review and play testing. We could use more such mentors, even right away to help with proposal review. If you have an interest and have made a good impression on the community so far you're up for consideration, just let us know here or on chat sometime. If shy you can PM me or somebody else who looks like they know what they're doing to ask, either on chat or here in the forum
More technically challenging ideas approached so far include
cubic planets, multiworld, shaderland, improved automated testing, dest sol entity system integration, Android admin app, and a few more well less defined topics (along with anything I've missed). Those tend to be harder to mentor for and can sometimes be more difficult to scope right up front.
One such example is cubic planets which has two prospective students who might want to really consider the following: this idea may be too large to readily approach for this coming GSOC as-written. I'm surprised that multi-world is appearing simpler, I thought it was going to be the other way around. The main problem seems to be how multi-disciplinary the idea is turning out to be:
- World shape including how the current chunk size is 32x64x32 with the greater dimension being "up" in part to take sunlight propagation into consideration (which gets tricky when "up" isn't always the same direction anymore)
- Facets for world gen when suddenly everything doesn't start out flat, forever. There are existing suggestions for how to improve the facet system already, and that doesn't even begin to deal with being directionally challenged (what way is up again, and can sea level be the perimeter of a cube?)
- Physics - gravity is no longer a universal constant in the same direction everywhere? Uh oh, how will we ever walk around the edges and so. And physics is also going through potential changes.
- Light calculations (may get into rendering some) from a sun going around the planet, meaning the direction of light changes
In this case I'd feel bad if we end up leading students astray into a doomed project, which almost happened in our first GSOC when we had underscoped the idea
@tdgunes started on, which as a result had to be shrunk over the summer. So I'd suggest for that idea (and maybe similar ones) to consider whether a subset would be a better option. In this case for instance how about improving physics with a focus on gravity manipulation where you could place a large cube (or a floating island) in an existing world but give it its own gravity so the player can walk about it fully? That way you suddenly avoid any concerns about world shape, world gen, and light calcs, but there'll probably still be enough for a GSOC project plus the other approaches could still be stretched for if time allows.
In closing:
If you're a prospective
student it is now or never (until next year!) if you want to participate, but don't be afraid to change an item while talking with somebody related to the item. It is still possible to submit a great proposal if you've already made past efforts to show your skill and interact with the community (harder to do all that from scratch with a week left)
If you're a prospective
mentor please let us know right away so we can get your feedback on the pending proposals, and can get a better feel for how many may be interested in helping mentor the different items. This will heavily affect how many projects we can support over the summer
And to all: may the odds be ever in your favor! No, seriously, you don't have to murder the other students, you could also pivot
