##CityGenerator is looking for Contributors!##
Do you like playing Role Playing Games but hate prepping a campaign? CityGenerator is an app that dynamically generates random campaign settings for roleplaying games, and it needs your help.
I like RPGs, but none of my friends want to DM because there's so much prepwork needed to create a campaign. Can CityGenerator help with that me?
Yes, it can! CityGenerator uses a seed ID to randomly select data from lists. Once these words and phrases are chosen, a madlib-like description of a city is created. The goal of CityGenerator is to provide a DwarfFortress-level of absurd detail to your campaign setting out of the box. Details currently range from number of suns and moons to endangered catnip fields to the number of people in the large upscale tavern named the "Broken Giant Saloon" to "Mickic VanBerson, a human who is known in that part of town as being a decent priest. He appears healthy."
This sounds like a great idea that is totally relevant to my interests. How much does it cost?
Good news! It's free and opensource. I don't want money, I just want help. (Although I'd gladly accept absurdly large donations.)
I don't know how to program, can I still help?
CityGenerator has several areas that can use help (depending on your skillset). Let's start with the easiest and work our way down.
Do you know English? - Do you speak English? Perfect! The point of CityGenerator is to create a madlib-like description of a City, region, world or person- and English is our language of choice. We need to to vet the phrasing and make sure we can't speak no gooder words. If synonyms or related adjective groups are your thing, we have wordsets that need to be refined/expanded by someone with a decent grasp of the language.
Make pretty Web thingies? - Our templates are currently pretty minimal. Part of that is intentional, but it's also due to a lack of skill. The only real requirement is valid HTML 5, CSS 3, and it has to look good in modern browsers (for whatever that means). I'd like to stick with the "old timey" motif, but I'm open to other suggestions.
Javascript guru - Aside from the obvious UI usage, we use Javascript and HTML 5 canvas to generate our maps. These are due for an overhaul. A mathmagician mentality is also helpful since we use Voronoi Diagrams and Simplex noise to generate landmasses.
Obsessive Compulsive Formatter - The backend XML files are somewhat pretty, but they could be more consistent in their formatting. As long as it's valid XML and is easy to read, go nuts.
Perl Developer - Yes, CityGenerator is written in perl. Why? Many reasons, none of them truly compelling. That said, there's too much done to rewrite it now, and a second pair of hands to help write code would be welcome.
Rich Benefactor - Can't code? Don't have time? Have more money than talent? Paypal some appreciation to morgajel@gmail.com
Content Provider - Sometimes you just need a good idea. Post it in the Issues section on github and we'll see if we can implement it.
Yeah I might be able to do some of that, but I just don't care that much. Why should I bother?
Because right now it's just one person and I'm getting burned out. If you want any chance of seeing this completed, please help!
Since this is a useful tool, I'm willing to help. How do I get started?
The quick way is to fork the project on github and make some pull requests. The less-quick way is to contact morgajel and ask how you can help with your skillset.
I'm a computer science major who spends my weekends playing D&D with my friends. Besides, the obvious benefits listed, why else should I help?
Because contributing to an open source project looks great on a resume and you have way more freetime than I do. Stop slacking and get to work!
I have lots of items in the backburner to get to, so fire up your editor and lets do this!
Repository: https://github.com/CityGenerator/CityGenerator
Demo Site: http://citygenerator.morgajel.net/