Tom Chapman posts
Posts: 126
Files: 159
Precipice of Destiny
It's been 330 versions since we last spoke (since I posted a blog). I would argue that I was letting my work speak for itself–and it does so eloquently–but it was actually just a matter of executive dysfunction.So, let's touch on some highlights from the past few months...General UI improvementsBraytech is praised for being a unified, polished, app-like experience, which exemplifies th...
Subscriptions
This post is just for Patreon!Recall this old post. I recently spent some time fleshing out Braytech's Subscriptions view (seen above).I wanted to properly exemplify the perks of supporting Braytech in a way more native to Braytech itself.Patreon supporters are granted the very same perks, hence why I'm posting this.That's all :3
Origins
All good things start somewhere. So much of what I know, I owe to Destiny's API. It allowed me to escape when I needed it, to create and learn new things, and it rewarded my persistence. Look, the API isn't dead–I'm just saying it's great and that we're lucky to have it and that it has afforded me many opportunities. Everyone should learn to code.Now, let's take a browse ...
Finesse
Spit and PolishBraytech is known for its attention to detail through its interface and expression of function. This month, I was able to get the "Mac Catalyst" version of the app running, enabling the iOS app to act as a desktop app for Mac users.Websites have come a long way. They can enable indistinguishable experiences. Braytech runs the same code everywhere, albeit aided by native APIs...
Manifesting Rewards and Fashion
I forgot how to write blog posts. Actually, I was just going through a whole thing. I'm still going through a whole thing, but I've found the power to write, and that's good because I have a lot to show off.Let's get started.ManifestFirst and foremost, this is a developer feature. Destiny's API comes in two parts: the API proper and the manifest and its definitions therein. The...
Green Witch
I have a real clunker of a thought that I often struggle to express with finesse. Braytech used to be 3 pages–checklists and some triumph titles. It was easy for me to envision, in my mind, its value and the effort I had so far invested into it. I'm a "do everything in my head" kind of guy (as opposed to writing things down and using other physical aids) and I often run into a metaph...
Revenant
Lost Sector RewardsWith the arrival of The Final Shape, lost sector rewards changed. No longer do lost sector award engrams which decrypt to specific armour pieces. Instead, they award exotic engrams which can be focus by Master Rahool to acquire specific items.As such, the various displays of lost sectors and rotations throughout Braytech have been updated to reflect this non-specificity. This in...
Untitled
Hi friends!Long time no chat... Let's get into it. So, I've realised retroactively that I've had some bad burnout (and a healthy dose of depression) from my insistence of delivering at least 2 major Braytech features a month.I've been informed that's unsustainable and that I should lower my expectations of myself. However, as I've mentioned previously, I worry that I don...
Get Equipped
It's ya boy, Dare, aka Tommy Chappo heeeeree, back-at-it-again-with-another-post-about-a-Braytech-featurreeeeeeeeFireteam EquipmentFor your convenience, you may now view your fireteam's equipment. This includes each player's unique rolls, highlighting breaker types (anti-champion perks) active on their equipped weapons. An overview of my experience building this feature:Braytech is cha...
Coordinated Geography
Hello. I'm Tom Chapman, and you may remember me from previous blog posts, or that time I was repeatedly referred to by my full name on Twitter over some debacle with icons from and based on Bungie's Destiny video game.MapsYou may have read previously that I had been waiting for something to happen before I could start updating Braytech's Maps with new content. That something has happen...
The Final Shape
Important Patreon noticeI want to remind everyone that I've been focusing my efforts on minimising waste. One of the methods I've been employing is by offering an integrated alternative to Patreon. You can read more about itin the post I made 6 months ago. It's of paramount importance to me that I ensure no one who gives me their hard-earned dollars feels disappointed or regretful that...
Bounty Hunters
It was time to pay the Quests view some attention. I wanted to update and add new features for bounty collectors. Naturally, I ended up rewriting, restructuring the entire Quests view first. Makes sense, I guess. It felt good to clean that mess up. Once I'd finished with that, I sought feedback to complement my own ideas on how to improve bounty-related features.PreviousThe original bounties v...
Custom Usernames
Custom usernames! I've wanted to add custom usernames for a time but there's a lot of moving parts that I needed to have full into place first.Braytech is made up of many parts:An NGINX server answers requests for static files like HTML, CSS, and JavaScriptsThis is the primary entry point for Braytech's visitorsNode.js Express server 1 answers requests for custom API requestsThis handl...
I Tried Using Ads
This week in Braytech, we'll touch on what's been happening with Braytech and its developer for the past few weeks:report on AdSense testbills and moneydepression and executive dysfunctionnew featuresAdSense testA situation so dire, I gave in to trying ads. Here are some points summarising what I've learnt from this sucky experience:75% of Braytech users employ some sort of ad blocking...
March in a Nut Shell
Collectible item design Improved support for medium-size display users Improved core components for Collections and Triumphs to enable more features and a better user experience Improved item details dialog for display of items with old screenshots Improved triumph details dialog Added more curated collections to Collections Added all missing season data for emblems to Collections Added damage ty...
I'll Never Use Ads
This month, I’m trying something I said I never would.Braytech is lucky to have millions of users but less than 0.01% support its development through subscriptions or donations.It’s been more than 5 years without a page ads but with the cyclical decline in interest, I’m under more financial pressure than ever. This pressure needs to be offset in one way or another and one of the ways I’ve ...
ICYMI Polls
Reminder that polls moved away from Patreon to Discord and it's turned out to be very effective and productive! If you haven't seen them, consider checking out the Discord server!
Sets
This new feature allows you to quickly see all of the items you can obtain from specific activities in one convenient place. Each activity is divided up by encounter for your viewing pleasure and includes references to related items such as patterns and the activity's featured exotic weapon.This is an excellent starting point for sharing data between features, enabling intuitive highlighting o...
Be Mine
SITREP I fractured at least one of my ribs cleaning a car bonnet. This incident, occurring late last week, has delayed my rise to greatness ever so slightly. Out of naivety and over confidence, I threw my body to try to reach, and on the third attempt I heard some interesting sounds, and then I briefly lost the ability to breathe.Despite this debuff, I've been making some improvements around h...
Voluspa
These past days, I've been making a lot of improvements to Voluspa, Braytech's server side counterpart. Addressed technical debt in a responsible manner Secured user endpoints- Privacy was built in from the start but data could be overwritten if a user had been socially-engineered aka this was a non-issue but I've closed it anyway Increased Discord abilities- New slash and app commands...
Blogging
With subscribers in mind, I've been working on improving specific features to maintain accountability and trust.I've been spending a lot of time improving how the Discord server functions both for me and for users, but not everyone uses Discord.For everyone else, there's the improved blog, and polls and their states are relayed above.Until next time ☀️
Loadouts!
This week, I worked on adding loadouts to Braytech. At long last!I wanted to make sure I got it right, so it took me a minute/a few months.Working with items and the Destiny API is like trying to massage playdough into something beautiful (but still inedible).This is the basic implementation which covers all of the bases–I have plans to extend it. I still want to add more intuitive features to t...
Tech Debt? Nah
Just a note of admiration for myself. 😎I took the plunge and gave Microsoft 5 bucks so I could see my Git commit history for Braytech.I've drawn the following conclusions: Something cataclysmic occurred in September 2020 never to be explained further My most consistent year for improving Braytech is 2023 My most productive year for improving Braytech is 2023Best way to start the new year? C...
Details
The Inspect view. It's been with us for years now, through various incarnations. Rest in ham and pineapple pizza.Say hello to the all-new Details view, pictured here alongside the Details dialog from the Character view. They're almost indistinguishable (by design).For a time now, I've wanted to unify my new details dialog design from the Character view with the Inspect view, now approp...
Hive Anatomy and T-Shirts
Have you ever stopped to think about Hive anatomy? Their experience of the world must differ greatly from our own... Is their flesh and bone anything like ours... Are they carbon-based... So many questions...With that thought shared, I write to inform you of a great success: I have personally verified the quality and satisfaction components of Braytech's merch, specifically, t-shirts (as pictu...
Discord Roles
If you're a Discord user and you're missing the role for your tier, you can use the new command /register_discord_with_voluspa 👀I've just mirrored the blog posts to the Braytech homepage and I want to get both blog posts and the app change log inside the Discord server but that's going to take me a few minutes to work out
Situational Report
Sah dudeI've been a busy bumble bee 🐝SubscriptionsThe new Subscriptions page is now fully operational. You can read more about it here. That said, I'm continuing to work on and improve it.ThemingIn a surprising move, I overhauled how colours are composed in order to support better theming and then I attempt to make a real light theme with black text on white. Turns out, it's really ...
Small win on a hot day
Just eradicated my bug backlog. That's all. Just wanted to brag about it. 🦗🫡
Eliminating Waste
Hi!Somewhat important post for all of my patrons today... Patreon take 8% of my earnings, of your money, and they can't keep getting away with this!As I'm a budding web developer with a can-do attitude, I've decided to invest some time into integrating a payment handler, Stripe, directly into the app.It's a frustratingly large task but it will literally save money from being wasted...
Lore overlay and emblem support added to item dialog
Hello I've added the lore overlay feature to item dialogs and it looks and works just like it does in-game. I've also added emblem support I intend to somewhat replace the collections item view with the character item dialog. As in, when you go to collections and select an item, the whole page changes - I'm going to move away from that soon in favour of this. I'm almost ready to ad...
