autoprereq plugin for dist-zilla gets smarter

i just released dist::zilla::plugin::autoprereq 0.2.0 which now extracts prereqs from moose roles declared with the with keyword ^[0]. also new in this release is the support for skip list, allowing to trim unwanted prereqs.


[0] why, yes, i got some failures for games::pandemic 0.5.0 due to a missing prereq... defined in a role, you guessed it. :-)

parrot 1.4.0 landed on mandriva

latest stable parrot version (1.4.0) is now available on mandriva - enjoy.

pandemic turns implemented

so games::pandemic 0.5.0 is now released^[0].

the basic game play is now done: besides the player actions, the cards are now dealt and infections propagated. card limit is also implemented, so player can discard them if needed. add to that a bit of ui polishing, and we now have a solid basis on which to build upon...

next releases will see (in no special order):

• the special cards (including the epidemics)
• end of game conditions (both game-over and win cases)
• more ui polishing (i think the players cards will have their own toplevel)
• easier game play (drag-n-drop on the canvas)
• missing player features (dispatcher, medic)
• missing rule implementation (disease eradication, ...)
• start game dialog
• etc.

yup, that's still a lot to do, so expect other 0.x versions! ;-)

[0] and without any more warnings, since i spotted a bug in moosex::semiaffordanceaccessor which has been swiftly fixed!

prettyfying tk apps

one of the main griefs people have against tk is the fact that it looks ugly. however, it's possible to tremendously enhance tk with only one line. indeed, tk by default uses a 2 pixels wide border, which does look fugly.

here's a snapshot of config::model (used as an example):


now, try to insert the following line in your code:

$mw->optionAdd('*BorderWidth' => 1);

here's the result, still using config-model as guinea pig:


look at how the buttons are crisper... now that's better, uh? :-)

thanks to ala qumsieh who first reported this tip on perltk.org - but the site seems to be down nowadays.

note: i'm told that tk 8.5 can be themed and looks native. but i'm still using perl/tk which is build against tk 8.4

perl helps save world pandemic

ok, maybe the title was a bit too much dramatic - especially in those days. :-)

i like playing board games, and my wife and i discovered recently pandemic, from z-man games. it is a tremendous cooperative game, where players allies to eradicate 4 diseases. but the infections spread out, and if you aren't fast enough, you end up with a global pandemic - and loose...

it is really addictive, so i decided to write a perl module games::pandemic implementing a clone of this board game, with all its rules. it was also a good occasion to learn moose, dist::zilla and other modern perl stuff. at least, this goal is already fulfilled! :-)

i'm also using poe and tk (i know, i know). i just published the first public release, version 0.4.0. it already implements all the player actions, and here's a snapshot of a game:

of course it isn't finished, but i'm pretty happy of the result (even if the gui might change in the future). i aim for a v1.0.0 playable alone, and then allow networked game...

the code is available on github if you want to help - even "only" translating strings is welcome!

so, expect to hear more about pandemic on this blog. and while waiting for this perl version to be complete, i recommend you to buy a pandemic board game: you won't regret it...