The Hidsporb driver: A third-party unsupported SpaceOrb 360 driver for Windows 2000 and Windows XP | ||
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All in all, I have had an exceptional life, which am, overall, extremely pleased with. On the other hand, a bit of background on myself is always amusing, and may point out shortcomings that could use contributions.
I am not, in fact, a computer programmer.
Well, I overstep myself there, actually. I love software dearly, and have since my first encounter with the mighty Radio Shack TRS-80 and Commodore PET computers that I met waay back in 4th grade. During the Apple Era I learned the arcane (?) Applesoft Basic and some rudimentary assembler, usually for nefarious purposes ("Call -151... b942:18 60..." and other favorites. It is remarkable what cracking copy protection by hand can teach you about error checking, input/output systems, and general disk IO, really). UCSD pascal was followed quickly by conversion to the more "icky" IBM XT series, with flirtations from there on into the Amiga, Linux, C, C++, and more exotic (but more fun!) languages like Eiffel, Python, Ruby, Ocaml, Haskell, and the like.
Being largely self-educated put a peculiar spin on everything, as did my family; I sort of devalued my computing abilities, and as far as my father (a bomber pilot) was concerned, computer programming was something that nerds did and was not an honorable profession. Even so, I was almost as surprised as anyone else to find myself not going into computers at all, but in fact graduating from the US Air Force Academy with a pilot-training slot. You never know what's going to happen, I guess.
In the intervening years, I still kept fairly active in computers, producing a games installer for a distribution company, a chaos demonstrator for the Academy's physics department, a graphics library for 2-d sprite-based games (yakIcons), a game using that library (Flynn Sprint), an issue-tracking database (yaktrack.sourceforge.net), a haskell-python-eiffel interoperability experiment (epolyglot.sourceforge.net), a lightweight C++ unit testing framework (yaktest.sourceforge.net), an Eiffel suite for developing palm pilot applications (epalm.sourceforge.net), and a ton of other crap which no one has much of a use for (grin). I also managed to grab a masters' degree in Software Development and Management from Rochester' Institute of Technology's flexible distance learning program.
So the truth is that I am not, in fact, a professional computer programmer, although that is my goal. I'm really just a grumpy UH-1N instructor pilot with delusions of grandeur (yes, I realize it sounds a touch odd saying that I want to leave military aviation because I find software development more exciting and rewarding... there's no accounting for taste, I guess. It seemed a lot more interesting before I had to do it for several years).
So! You are using a driver written by someone with little education in programming, who has limited time to contribute to the project, and who, before starting the hidsporb project, had never even looked at driver code before. Ouch!
Despite the strangeness of the setup, I think the project is doing pretty well technically--after all, it works, and the latest release seems quite solid. In addition, I don't have a way to make this a truly open-source project since much of the hidsporb source is adapted from Microsoft sample code, which is copyrighted.
Having said that, I will release the source to anyone who has agreed to Microsoft's DDK EULA. I welcome code inspections (the more rigorous the better) as well as constructive criticism.
I also could always use suggestions for better or cleaner features, updated requirements, ideas on future improvements, etc. Keep 'em coming. I may not have time to act on all of them, but I will certainly consider them.
Finally, third-party software to assist in configuration of the orb is generally welcome. Currently, Ken Yee is working hard on a graphical configuration program for the driver, so you may want to coordinate with him to prevent any duplication of effort.
I don't play enough games! In fact, it is somewhat amusing that I have devoted this much time to the SpaceOrb driver, because about the only game I play with it nowadays is Half-Life. As a result, pretty much all game configuration files for the hidsporb driver will have to come from you, the devoted gamers of the world. Send me your configuration files along with minor documentation! I would love to include them in future releases.
Strange as it may sound, one of the greatest rewards of this process is simply the satisfaction of knowing that I have solved someone's problem, even if that problem is as "insignificant" as getting a game to work (which sometimes seems pretty darn significant!). Email works well, but there is something magical about seeing a postcard or actual letter from someone who appreciates a product. I certainly do not require this, not by a long shot! But if you are so inclined, the following mailbox should be valid for at least the first half of 2002:
VictorPutz
11024 Montgomery Ave #172
Albuquerque
NM87111
In my, oh, 20+ years of computer experience, I have had exactly two projects (the installer, which I wrote for $400, and Flynn Sprint, which garnered me a remarkable $4700) which have paid me any monetary value. So my earnings from the computer industry have totaled about $5100 and a lot of pizzas from my roommates at the Academy.
With that in mind, your letters of appreciation and encouragement are, um... swell (grin).
Actually, the letters of appreciation and encouragement are outstanding, and are basically the only reason the driver has made it this far. I cannot stress enough the importance of a supportive and enthusiastic user community; you make the difference even if all you ever do is say "hey, it's great that you're doing this."
Having said that, I have received a number of emails from folks who desired to contribute monetarily (via Paypal, usually).
I feel a little strange about this, because I never expected it. In fact, it took a great deal of discussion with my wife before I could even come to grips with the idea that it might not be unethical to accept monetary donations.
I stress again: this is an unsupported driver with no warranty at all. You do not owe me anything for this driver. It is provided because I saw a need, not because I expected anything in return. Only contribute money if you truly want to.
If, after all that waffling, you think this should be my third-ever paid computing venture and would like to send me a donation, then click on the Paypal link below:
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Configuring games for use with Hidsporb | Acknowledgements |