Towel Progress Update

Well not really a progress update, but I just wanted to post the latest setup. ( I really don’t want this to rot on my hdd like that ).

I haven’t worked on this one for a while now. Kinda lost interest. Especially after not being able to find a decent flash developer to make a simple player for me…. I hate flash.

First of all; You can DOWNLOAD towel here.

-OK so what is this exactly?

It’s a modular news&event&stream aggregator created mainly for Starcraft2 community. But since it’s modular, it’s rather easy to make it support any game/community out there. It’s not only modular, it’s also totally customizable…. and supports localization with just a bunch of text files…. gah it has too many features to just die like that.

-Why would anyone need it?

Basically it pops up notifications for streams and events ( tournaments etc ). It uses TeamLiquid Calendar and Stream data for that but you can add your own favorite stuff too.

With Towel, you can just mark a stream as favorite and then you’ll get a notification whenever that stream goes online again. Better than refreshing TL every 5 minutes isn’t it? Same goes for events too. Haven’t you ever missed a tournament while playing something and totally forget about the time?

All in all, I can say at this stage ( with just 2 base modules, streams and events ) it’s TL on desktop with increased usability.

-What does it looks like? Is it customizable?

Oh well, visuals aren’t really done but in general;

Menu – Calendar – Streams

 

Is it customizable you say? Hell yes it is! It’s totally customizable, style files are NOT compiled, they are just basic xaml files which you can open with notepad and edit. You can change simple stuff like colors, font etc OR redo the most of the layout. All you need is notepad…

-Does it also have a player? Why?

Yes Towel has a stand alone player, just like any media player out there, to play the streams. Why? Because watching streams in a browser window kinda blocks whatever else you’re doing. This is pretty much the whole point of Towel Player;

You really shouldn’t have to switch tabs to post something on forums while watching a stream. ( that player is pinned so it’ll be always on top of whatever else you’re doing ) Or to watch 2+ streams…

 

-How many modules are there?

There are just Streams and Events module for now. Obviously I was planning for much much more before I lost my appetite.

-Lost your appetite? After like months of work? Why?

Because flash is a pain in the ass. I need a somewhat decent flash developer for a simple basic flash player but naah, couldn’t find anyone. And without flash player, it’s really hard to support quality changes in player ( pretty much doesn’t work at this stage )

-And if you find a flash developer?

I’ would probably go back to this. I would like to add a few more modules and improve current ones. Trust me I don’t like trashing 6 months hard work just like that.

-Why do you need flash anyway?

Because Twitch developers refuses to fix their broken Javascript player and/or document it. I know it’s not all roses and daisies over there but how hard can it be to fix a resolution bug… If they don’t have a Html5 player up and working until this fall, I’m pretty much done with twitch & sc2 fan stuff.

-Do you need help in any other way?

Well of course. It’s hard to be a single developer you know, pretty much like a single mother. When there is no interest or anyone gagging you for bug and stuff, you lost interest in it. That’s pretty much why&how I kept ScCalendar alive for almost a year

-There are lots of bugs!

Well of course, it’s not a full release after all. It’s pretty much beta, almost alpha version. Basic functionality should be OK though.

Oh just beware, “Run on Windows Startup” doesn’t work.

-So that’s it?

Yep, pretty much. Don’t hesitate to contact me for whatever, questions, comments…