2025-05-30: Where Have You Been: Mid-2025 edition
2025's been a bit of a wild trip so far. Writing, game stuff, and streaming have all taken a somewhat smaller back seat to more outward facing impactful work. I haven't had much to show for it but now I do.
Restream Space
I've been working on a project for about 18 months now to create a solution to allow people to self-host a Discord screenshare like experience. Part of this was trying to provide a solution for people wanting to leave Discord, but leaving Discord brings with it losing their arguably pretty alright voice and screenshare options. You've got Mumble and Ventrilo and those old school options for voice, but streaming? Not much.
I initially started writing OvenEmprex for this purpose. OE sits in front of a video streaming server called OvenMediaEngine and turns it into a Discord-like experience, somewhat. It's a simple web page that watches the streaming server and pops up video players as people start and stop streams, just like Discord does. You still need a streaming software package to push to it, because actually capturing windows/games and pushing streams is really hecking hard, but it's an option.
Well here's the thing... turns out I wrote something much better suited for running events than copying Discord. So I pivoted. OE is still there and is more or less "done" for its purpose, but I moved on to something bigger: Restream Space.
Restream Space uses what I started with OE and builds it out to a full event management framework. You can use it as you would OE to capture individual streams, but I've done something much, much grander on top of it. I've build a NodeCG-like event management system where you can capture a single webpage, and allow your event staff to control it remotely.
So let's say you're running an event where you want to give 8 people a turn on the stage: each one connects to the streaming server, pushes their showcase, then disconnects and lets the next person go; typical marathon fashion. You have someone capture the special Restream Space webpage, which creates your overlay graphics and captures streams, then use the control panel to say "Okay right now it's Jim's turn"; the webpage captures Jim's stream. After him you say "Now it's Sue's turn", the webpage's overlay texts update, the stream changes, Sue's stream gets captured. So on.
Currently I have three events signed up to use Restream Space: Licenseathon 2025, Big Bad Game-a-thon 2025, and Kusogrande. So it's getting some legs. I offer it for free to any small, niche event; especially ones that are charity, queer-focused, POC-focused, or disability community focused.
BBG 2025
Speaking of BBG, we're planning it out. We're going to open submissions all through July and the actual event is the weekend of September 19. This will be the first one using my tech stack instead of the one we contracted out almost 10 years ago now, and this has brought about this low level terror that literally everything in the stack now but the runner's PC/stream and Twitch is my code, my infrastructure, and my responsibility.
We'll have backups, I'll be sure of it. This stuff is solid too, I've been using it in friend groups for 2 years now, and there'll be an event using it before BBG. But it's how my brain works; I have to obsess over every little failure point.
It's going to be a blast though. Aside from the tech concerns, we're in a position to deliver the best event we've ever had. We have 9 years of BBGs in experience that I used to build Restream Space; it's custom fit for what we do with our events. It's going to be cool.
I don't know what I'm running for it. I always run something. I need to find some game to throw in, but maybe this is the year I disappear behind the curtain entirely like Feasel did like 7 years ago.
Gamebadges
OvenEmprex/Restream Space has been taking up my brain space for almost 2 years now. It's mostly in a state where it's done and in bugfix/maintenance mode now, and I'm quite relieved to say the least.
As a result of all that, I've had almost no time for energy for just screwing around. Just screwing around is an important part of staying in love with tech/code, in my opinion. Or at least it is for me. I haven't updated much on this site in that entire time either. So I decided to screw around.
I wired up a simple gamebadge museum concept. This is a copycat of a concept someone else ran with, but I loved it so much I wanted to do my own. I'll be updating that slowly as time passes. I want to do one or two of those a week for awhile. Nothing heavy, just an excuse to write something down that isn't Fediverse Posting.
Game Dev?
I told myself "After Restream Space, no more big public projects for 2025". I think with all that time I want to dabble with screwing around in game dev. I learned Love2D last year. Finished about 75% of a Meritous clone in it. I think I can finish that now. On top of that, I have two major ideas I want to pursue: an Ultima-like game and a weird point and click adventure. The latter was inspired by an absolutely unhinged dream I had, the former inspired by Moonring.
I'm unsure which I want to focus on. They're all good options. I've reached the point where more and more I can think about engineering these things and the steps make sense. It's given me a boost of confidence that soon I might actually finish a dang game project.
But we'll see. I haven't yet... and not for lack of trying.