Proposal #15: RubyGameDev.com

[andrewhavens]

RubyGameDev.com is a community-driven, information hub which helps others to build games in Ruby. It's a non-commercial, open-source, Rails 4 application built during Rails Rumble 2013. Hosting is sponsored by Rackspace.

The goal of RubyGameDev.com is to become a valuable, library-agnostic resource to the Ruby programming community. It's meant to help beginners get started with game programming and help advance the quality of Ruby-based game programming libraries through centralized discussion and collaboration.

There's a lot of work that could be done, which could provide an opportunity for you to choose an area which interests you. There's currently a list of issues/ideas in the GitHub repo: https://github.com/ruby-rcade/RubyGameDev.com/issues

I'll summarize a few here:

• Add ability to vote on links
• Add ability to categorize links
• Build out the libraries section to be more like ruby-toolbox.com
• Create a digest email of recent activity
• Integrate a StackOverflow feed
• Add ability for developers to showcase the games that they've built
• Add a more formal "guides" section for beginners (like Rails Guides)
• Add a GitHub issues feed so others can see where to contribute.
• Build a "pull request merge and deploy" tool
• Lots of other miscellaneous improvements, or add your own to the list!

I am based in Portland, Oregon and could provide occasional mentoring, but I'm not sure of the time commitment required to be an official mentor. Let me know if there is any more information I can provide.

[svenfuchs]

@andrewhavens this looks like a really cool proposal. thanks for sending it in! ❤️

[FloorD]

So sad I can't join RGSoC as an organizer AND a student

[andrewhavens]

@FloorD The door is always open. 😸

[doriczapari]

hi @andrewhavens , me and my pair @enidemi would love to know more about your project! can we get back to you for details in a couple of days when we have talked about it with our coaches?

[Akanksha08]

@andrewhavens , me and my pair would love to work on this. We have got coaches too and we have spoken to them about the idea. We would like you to mentor us. It would be alright if you could redirect us to someone who could mentor us if you are not free.

[andrewhavens]

@czdori @Akanksha08 I would welcome anyone who would like to work on this project. I think RGSoC is a great opportunity for someone to get up to speed with Ruby programming. I don't have any expectations of your skill level. I only expect that you will work hard to learn and grow.

My idea for your schedule would be as follows:

1. Learn how to use git
   • Make some updates to the project's README.md and learn how to submit a GitHub pull request
2. Learn basic Ruby syntax
3. Learn some basic features of Rails
   • Submit a pull request which implements a small feature or change
4. Learn how to write unit and integration tests
   • Submit a pull request which implements some tests for features that were never tested
5. Try test-driven-development
   • Write tests for the feature you want to implement
   • Implement the feature until your tests pass
   • Submit a pull request
6. Update the project's README.md with a review of the things you've learned in order to help someone else get started contributing to the project.
7. Continue to implement features as time allows

I think GitHub pull requests provide a good way to perform a code review and is relevant to all open source projects, not just Ruby/Rails projects. Peer code review is an important way to learn and grow. I can provide code review of your pull requests and can answer questions through email. I think it would be best to have a "coach" in your area that you can meet with face-to-face in case you run into issues that are too difficult to overcome through email. There may be a monthly meeting of Ruby developers in your area. It would be good to get involved with that group which would also be a good way to find coaches/partners.

If you have additional questions, feel free to contact me at email@andrewhavens.com.

[tamacodechi]

Hi! My partner, @InkCubes and I are extremely interested in this project. She has been teaching game design for 10-14 year olds for two years so this would be right up her alley, and personally, I am a game development enthusiast, so we would both be highly motivated to contribute in any way we can, to this project (also we like the schedule that you proposed and seems like it would match our skill-level).
We were wondering, if you would be taking on more than one pair, as it seems there's a lot of interest. Thank you!

[andrewhavens]

@Althaire Great to hear you're interested! I would be happy to work with multiple teams and help to coordinate the tasks to reduce any overlap.