Google Summer of Code: 2009:OrgApplication - Revision history

Zehra: Zehra moved page Google Summer of Code/2009/OrgApplication to Google Summer of Code: 2009:OrgApplication: let's standardize the pages a bit with '''Google Summer of Code:''' as prefix

2025-12-07T01:13:18Z

Zehra moved page Google Summer of Code/2009/OrgApplication to Google Summer of Code: 2009:OrgApplication: let's standardize the pages a bit with '''Google Summer of Code:''' as prefix

← Older revision		Revision as of 01:13, 7 December 2025
(No difference)

Bullet Catcher: /* What steps will you take to encourage contributors to interact with your community */ Don't say "last year". Other wordsmithing.

2009-03-13T18:37:34Z

What steps will you take to encourage contributors to interact with your community: Don't say "last year". Other wordsmithing.

← Older revision		Revision as of 18:37, 13 March 2009
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	Being a game, i.e. an entertainment application, we have a somewhat unique benefit of actually being enjoyable before, during, and after the student's participation in the program and are even often "addictive". Most people enjoy playing BZFlag and often after they play the game for a little while, they can "get hooked" on the game. "Quick to learn, difficult to master" is our motto and this holds true both in the game and for development. Once new developers see the impact they're having on such a large user community, they quickly become addicted to the development aspects and making things more enjoyable for our players. We encourage our developers to play so that they understand the needs of the game and the needs of the existing player community in addition to becoming familiar with how various portions of the source code relate to behaviors in the game.		Being a game, i.e. an entertainment application, we have a somewhat unique benefit of actually being enjoyable before, during, and after the student's participation in the program and are even often "addictive". Most people enjoy playing BZFlag and often after they play the game for a little while, they can "get hooked" on the game. "Quick to learn, difficult to master" is our motto and this holds true both in the game and for development. Once new developers see the impact they're having on such a large user community, they quickly become addicted to the development aspects and making things more enjoyable for our players. We encourage our developers to play so that they understand the needs of the game and the needs of the existing player community in addition to becoming familiar with how various portions of the source code relate to behaviors in the game.

	~~Before the program,~~ we have a specific checklist of tasks ~~that we have prepared~~ to ~~give~~ them ~~definitive actions that they need~~ to ~~perform~~. These steps include introducing themselves to our IRC channel, having a ~~Sourceforge~~ account, becoming familiar with Subversion if they are not already, checking out the BZFlag sources, compiling their own version of BZFlag, playing the game with that version, registering with our global account services, becoming familiar with our websites and on-line services, and publishing their list of goals milestones for the community to see.		For student applicants we have a specific checklist of tasks to help them prepare to engage in routine development. These steps include introducing themselves to our IRC channel, having a SourceForge account, becoming familiar with Subversion if they are not already, checking out the BZFlag sources, compiling their own version of BZFlag, playing the game with that version, registering with our global account services, becoming familiar with our websites and on-line services, and publishing their list of goals milestones for the community to see.

	As our IRC infrastructure and developer operations are already well established, we can (and frequently do) readily point new developer interests to our documentation and engage them in discussion. We have lots of existing documentation, web infrastructure, and network resources available to get new developers familiar and interested in development directions ~~quickly~~. ~~Given~~ our involvement with GSoC ~~last year~~, we ~~now also~~ have an established mindset of successful interaction criteria that gets students quickly involved in our user community so that they feel like part of the family.		As our IRC infrastructure and developer operations are already well established, we can (and frequently do) readily point new developer interests to our documentation and engage them in discussion. We have lots of existing documentation, web infrastructure, and network resources available to quickly get new developers familiar and interested in development directions. Thanks to our previous involvement with GSoC, we have an established mindset of successful interaction criteria that gets students quickly involved in our user community so that they feel like part of the family.

	One of the interactions that worked very well ~~last year~~ was having the students directly interact with the users, letting them represent their efforts, and having their efforts be strongly supported and promoted by the other developers. We intend to take additional steps this year to continuously integrate the students' code throughout the program and work on introducing our player community to the features being developed even more early on. The goal will be to instill a sense of belonging and a sense of appreciation for the hard-work they ~~are putting~~ into their code.		One of the interactions that worked very well in 2007 was having the students directly interact with the users, letting them represent their efforts, and having their efforts be strongly supported and promoted by the other developers. We intend to take additional steps this year to continuously integrate the students' code throughout the program and work on introducing our player community to the features being developed even more early on. The goal will be to instill a sense of belonging and a sense of appreciation for the hard work they put into their code.

	= What will you do to ensure that your accepted contributors stick with the project after the program concludes? =		= What will you do to ensure that your accepted contributors stick with the project after the program concludes? =

Bullet Catcher: /* What is your plan for dealing with disappearing contributors? */ Don't say "last year". Other wordsmithing.

2009-03-13T18:25:35Z

What is your plan for dealing with disappearing contributors?: Don't say "last year". Other wordsmithing.

← Older revision		Revision as of 18:25, 13 March 2009
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	= What is your plan for dealing with disappearing contributors? =		= What is your plan for dealing with disappearing contributors? =

	If a student's interest or availability to participate in the summer project seems to be diverging or otherwise waning, efforts will be made to motivate the student through discussions and hands-on interactive development intended to stimulate their progress. Being a 3D graphics-oriented game, we have the benefit of most tasks actually resulting in something "fun" that rather easily captures and maintains interest. However, should the student's focus still remain diminished or should the student unexpectedly disappear ~~without notice~~, the administrator will relay this status ~~with~~ Google after repeated attempts to contact the student fail.		If a student's interest or availability to participate in the summer project seems to be diverging or otherwise waning, efforts will be made to motivate the student through discussions and hands-on interactive development intended to stimulate their progress. Being a 3D graphics-oriented game, we have the benefit of most tasks actually resulting in something "fun" that rather easily captures and maintains interest. However, should the student's focus still remain diminished or should the student unexpectedly disappear, the administrator will relay this status to Google after repeated attempts to contact the student fail.

	~~Also, as a learned measure from last year, the students~~ are ~~going~~ to ~~be required to make~~ very ~~frequent commits~~. If they're not committing, then they are not working~~. At~~ least ~~they won't be working~~ effectively. Having them commit frequently gives us a very good estimate of their activity level as well as where they are in the development process. We strongly adhere to "commit early, commit often".		Students are expected to commit changes very frequently. Our philosophy is that if they're not committing, then they are not working (at least not effectively). Having them commit frequently gives us a very good estimate of their activity level as well as where they are in the development process. We strongly adhere to "commit early, commit often."

	If the student is not around or is not working as much as ~~they need to be~~, we will have discussions with them, see what's going on, and do so proactively. We learned from one ~~of our students last year when they were~~ in serious danger of failing that a simple change in ~~their~~ accountability can have a massive impact on ~~their~~ motivation. We will strive to recognize our students' personalities quickly, so that we can impose as much or as little process overhead as it required for them to be effective developers. Additional process requirements (such as daily or weekly reports and commit quotas) may then be imposed for students that consistently fall behind schedule.		If the student is not around or is not working as much as needed, we will have discussions with them, see what's going on, and do so proactively. We learned from one student who was in serious danger of failing that a simple change in accountability can have a massive impact on motivation. We will strive to recognize our students' personalities quickly, so that we can impose as much or as little process overhead as it required for them to be effective developers. Additional process requirements (such as daily or weekly reports and commit quotas) may then be imposed for students that consistently fall behind schedule.

	Similarly, by interacting with the students on a daily basis and preferably by having them be joined to our IRC channel while they are working on BZFlag, it allows mentors to keep a careful eye on all student progress and readily discuss issues with them. As is done for any developer, having them be readily available for interactive discussion on IRC frequently helps avoid misunderstandings, disagreements, and frustrations and at worst makes any issues apparent as soon as possible. The IRC channel is the hub of our primary development activity providing source commit announcements, developer access, user insight, interactive discussions, and ~~near immediate response~~ to questions and comments.		Similarly, by interacting with the students on a daily basis and preferably by having them be joined to our IRC channel while they are working on BZFlag, it allows mentors to keep a careful eye on all student progress and readily discuss issues with them. As is done for any developer, having them be readily available for interactive discussion on IRC frequently helps avoid misunderstandings, disagreements, and frustrations and at worst makes any issues apparent as soon as possible. The IRC channel is the hub of our primary development activity providing source commit announcements, developer access, user insight, interactive discussions, and prompt responses to questions and comments.

	Other than that, the formula for dealing with disappearing students really just boils down to communication. It's a very organic process and we don't believe that there is one answer for all students. The measures described above help us focus on having the most effective communication that works with our development team but will necessarily be tailored to each student individually. Issues that we cannot resolve will be brought forward to Google for guidance~~, as was done last year~~.		Other than that, the formula for dealing with disappearing students really just boils down to communication. It is a very organic process and we don't believe that there is one answer for all students.

			The measures described above help us focus on having the most effective communication that works with our development team but will necessarily be tailored to each student individually. Issues that we cannot resolve will be brought forward to Google for guidance.

	= What is your plan for dealing with disappearing members? =		= What is your plan for dealing with disappearing members? =

Bullet Catcher: /* Why is your group applying to participate? */ Use absolute time references. Be more concise.

2009-03-13T18:08:50Z

Why is your group applying to participate?: Use absolute time references. Be more concise.

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	= Why is your group applying to participate? What do you hope to gain by participating =		= Why is your group applying to participate? What do you hope to gain by participating =

	Our primary intention for participating in GSoC 2009 is to ~~hopefully~~ attract new developers. We already have visibility, popularity, familiarity, and a very active community. The strongest factor in our long-term development initiatives, however, is the number of active developers that we have at any given time.		Our primary intention for participating in GSoC 2009 is to attract new developers. We already have visibility, popularity, familiarity, and a very active community. The strongest factor in our long-term development initiatives, however, is the number of active developers that we have at any given time.

	GSoC has shown to provide an exceptional opportunity for us to entice new developers to our community and keep them working with us over the long term. It's been a great program for attracting new talent, inspiring new development initiatives, and even for getting our existing developers more organized and collaborating more effectively.		GSoC has shown to provide an exceptional opportunity for us to entice new developers to our community and keep them working with us over the long term. It's been a great program for attracting new talent, inspiring new development initiatives, and even for getting our existing developers more organized and collaborating more effectively.

	We've enjoyed collaborating on experimental efforts that have had strong academic and research goals, while helping promote and improve BZFlag in the process. BZFlag is used by several universities (e.g., Brigham-Young University) as an artificial intelligence framework and has also been the subject of several academic research projects related to network communications (ACM-published research papers). ~~Just this past year,~~ Indiana University worked with our staff to use BZFlag as a platform for conducting a social network analysis. We'd particularly like to improve these facilities to help encourage even wider use of BZFlag for academic and research purposes.		We've enjoyed collaborating on experimental efforts that have had strong academic and research goals, while helping promote and improve BZFlag in the process. BZFlag is used by several universities (e.g., Brigham-Young University) as an artificial intelligence framework and has also been the subject of several academic research projects related to network communications (ACM-published research papers). Indiana University researchers worked with our staff in 2007 to use BZFlag as a platform for conducting a social network analysis. We'd particularly like to improve these facilities to help encourage even wider use of BZFlag for academic and research purposes.

	Task-wise, we hope to work with these new developers to implement several enhancements to BZFlag that we know will have a big impact on those that play the game. ~~We discovered last year that participating~~ in GSoC ~~stimulates~~ our project development activities and ~~forces~~ us to become more organized, collaborative, and deliberate in our focus. Our community ~~is simply filled with~~ great ideas ~~on how to improve~~ the game ~~in wide impacting ways~~ and we would like to encourage these developments. GSoC provides a mutually beneficial means to that end, particularly for students that we can attract to our project as new developers that stay with the project.		Task-wise, we hope to work with these new developers to implement several enhancements to BZFlag that we know will have a big impact on those that play the game. Past participation in GSoC has stimulated our project development activities and forced us to become more organized, collaborative, and deliberate in our focus. Our community members have great ideas for improving the game and we would like to encourage these developments. GSoC provides a mutually beneficial means to that end, particularly for students that we can attract to our project as new developers that stay with the project.

	= What criteria do you use to select the members of your group? Please be as specific as possible. =		= What criteria do you use to select the members of your group? Please be as specific as possible. =

RatOmeter: wc

2009-03-13T18:06:47Z

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	It is our responsibility to not neglect or abandon the students. We have to give them the time and attention that they deserve, and we need to share with the students the respect and appreciation we have of their efforts so that they remain interested and involved. BZFlag is fortunate to have not had any significant issues with attrition; many of our developers tend to remain involved with the project for a long time. There is natural turn-over as interests shift and general fluctuations from year to year, but we sustain a relatively stable development rate and that is in no small part due to our interactive and friendly development environment.		It is our responsibility to not neglect or abandon the students. We have to give them the time and attention that they deserve, and we need to share with the students the respect and appreciation we have of their efforts so that they remain interested and involved. BZFlag is fortunate to have not had any significant issues with attrition; many of our developers tend to remain involved with the project for a long time. There is natural turn-over as interests shift and general fluctuations from year to year, but we sustain a relatively stable development rate and that is in no small part due to our interactive and friendly development environment.

	New developers are often enticed to stick around and contribute simply because we actively promote their changes to the user community when releases are made, and the user community responds vocally to just about every single modification that gets made to the game no matter how small. For the topics that we are soliciting ideas, the efforts of the student have the ability to make a major impact on the game that will be exceedingly visible, and will encourage continued development not only by the student ~~and~~ other developers as well. We will necessarily encourage students to remain involved with the project by welcoming them to our development team, integrating them as quickly as possible, giving them development responsibilities, and showing them the rewards and impact of their efforts.		New developers are often enticed to stick around and contribute simply because we actively promote their changes to the user community when releases are made, and the user community responds vocally to just about every single modification that gets made to the game no matter how small. For the topics that we are soliciting ideas, the efforts of the student have the ability to make a major impact on the game that will be exceedingly visible, and will encourage continued development not only by the student but other developers as well. We will necessarily encourage students to remain involved with the project by welcoming them to our development team, integrating them as quickly as possible, giving them development responsibilities, and showing them the rewards and impact of their efforts.

	It's our job to encourage their passion for BZFlag development long after GSoC concludes.		It's our job to encourage their passion for BZFlag development long after GSoC concludes.

RatOmeter: wc

2009-03-13T18:01:14Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 18:01, 13 March 2009
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	The students will be encouraged to interact on the IRC channel at all times to provide a continued on-going dialog with the other BZFlag developers as well so that everyone is informed of progress and development directions. If a given mentor is not responding to the student, whether intentional or incapable, or if a mentor is unreachable for more than a couple days, one of several backup mentors are available to step in.		The students will be encouraged to interact on the IRC channel at all times to provide a continued on-going dialog with the other BZFlag developers as well so that everyone is informed of progress and development directions. If a given mentor is not responding to the student, whether intentional or incapable, or if a mentor is unreachable for more than a couple days, one of several backup mentors are available to step in.

	Should some situation arise that ~~incapacitates~~ a mentor from being able to participate, several backup mentors are available that can be assigned to the student on the spot and immediately pick up where other mentors leave off. Several of our mentors and administrators also know each other in person and have physical access to one another, so we can go smack them if they're not participating effectively or should they try to disappear online. That said, all mentors selected based on their activity this year to help minimize any issues.		Should some situation arise that prevents a mentor from being able to participate, several backup mentors are available that can be assigned to the student on the spot and immediately pick up where other mentors leave off. Several of our mentors and administrators also know each other in person and have physical access to one another, so we can go smack them if they're not participating effectively or should they try to disappear online. That said, all mentors are selected based on their activity this year to help minimize any issues.

	This year, we have also set up a mentor's blog to help our mentors make announcements more effectively and to provide suggestions for other GSoC projects. This blog has already shown to be rather effective in making GSoC-specific announcements and for coordinating information amongst the mentors. Once the students get started with their projects, we also plan to use the blog as a centralized information resource for developers to see the latest commits from the students and the status of their project progress.		This year, we have also set up a mentor's blog to help our mentors make announcements more effectively and to provide suggestions for other GSoC projects. This blog has already shown to be rather effective in making GSoC-specific announcements and for coordinating information amongst the mentors. Once the students get started with their projects, we also plan to use the blog as a centralized information resource for developers to see the latest commits from the students and the status of their project progress.

RatOmeter: rm extraneous word

2009-03-13T17:57:13Z

rm extraneous word

← Older revision		Revision as of 17:57, 13 March 2009
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	Also, as a learned measure from last year, the students are going to be required to make very frequent commits. If they're not committing, then they are not working. At least they won't be working effectively. Having them commit frequently gives us a very good estimate of their activity level as well as where they are in the development process. We strongly adhere to "commit early, commit often".		Also, as a learned measure from last year, the students are going to be required to make very frequent commits. If they're not committing, then they are not working. At least they won't be working effectively. Having them commit frequently gives us a very good estimate of their activity level as well as where they are in the development process. We strongly adhere to "commit early, commit often".

	If the student is not around or is not working as much as they need to be, we will have discussions with them, see what's going on, and do so proactively. We learned from one of our students last year when they were in serious danger of failing that a simple change in their accountability can have a massive impact on their motivation. We will strive to recognize our students' personalities quickly, so that we can impose as much or as little process overhead as it required for them to be effective developers. Additional process requirements (such as daily or weekly reports and commit quotas) may then be imposed for students that ~~slip~~ consistently fall behind schedule.		If the student is not around or is not working as much as they need to be, we will have discussions with them, see what's going on, and do so proactively. We learned from one of our students last year when they were in serious danger of failing that a simple change in their accountability can have a massive impact on their motivation. We will strive to recognize our students' personalities quickly, so that we can impose as much or as little process overhead as it required for them to be effective developers. Additional process requirements (such as daily or weekly reports and commit quotas) may then be imposed for students that consistently fall behind schedule.

	Similarly, by interacting with the students on a daily basis and preferably by having them be joined to our IRC channel while they are working on BZFlag, it allows mentors to keep a careful eye on all student progress and readily discuss issues with them. As is done for any developer, having them be readily available for interactive discussion on IRC frequently helps avoid misunderstandings, disagreements, and frustrations and at worst makes any issues apparent as soon as possible. The IRC channel is the hub of our primary development activity providing source commit announcements, developer access, user insight, interactive discussions, and near immediate response to questions and comments.		Similarly, by interacting with the students on a daily basis and preferably by having them be joined to our IRC channel while they are working on BZFlag, it allows mentors to keep a careful eye on all student progress and readily discuss issues with them. As is done for any developer, having them be readily available for interactive discussion on IRC frequently helps avoid misunderstandings, disagreements, and frustrations and at worst makes any issues apparent as soon as possible. The IRC channel is the hub of our primary development activity providing source commit announcements, developer access, user insight, interactive discussions, and near immediate response to questions and comments.

	Other than that, the formula for dealing with disappearing students really just boils down to communication. It's a very organic process and we don't believe that there is one answer for all students. The measures described above help us focus on having the most effective communication that works with our development team but will necessarily be tailored to each student individually. Issues that we cannot resolve will be brought forward to Google for guidance, as was done last year.		Other than that, the formula for dealing with disappearing students really just boils down to communication. It's a very organic process and we don't believe that there is one answer for all students. The measures described above help us focus on having the most effective communication that works with our development team but will necessarily be tailored to each student individually. Issues that we cannot resolve will be brought forward to Google for guidance, as was done last year.

	= What is your plan for dealing with disappearing members? =		= What is your plan for dealing with disappearing members? =

RatOmeter: sp and word choice

2009-03-13T17:48:31Z

sp and word choice

← Older revision		Revision as of 17:48, 13 March 2009
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	Our primary intention for participating in GSoC 2009 is to hopefully attract new developers. We already have visibility, popularity, familiarity, and a very active community. The strongest factor in our long-term development initiatives, however, is the number of active developers that we have at any given time.		Our primary intention for participating in GSoC 2009 is to hopefully attract new developers. We already have visibility, popularity, familiarity, and a very active community. The strongest factor in our long-term development initiatives, however, is the number of active developers that we have at any given time.

	GSoC has shown to provide an exceptional opportunity for us to entice new developers to our community and keep them working with us over the long term. It's been a great program for attracting new talent, inspiring new development initiatives, and even for getting our ~~own~~ developers more organized and collaborating more effectively.		GSoC has shown to provide an exceptional opportunity for us to entice new developers to our community and keep them working with us over the long term. It's been a great program for attracting new talent, inspiring new development initiatives, and even for getting our existing developers more organized and collaborating more effectively.

	We've enjoyed collaborating on experimental efforts that have had strong academic and research goals, while helping promote and improve BZFlag in the process. BZFlag is used by several universities (e.g., Brigham-Young University) as an artificial intelligence framework and has also been the subject of several academic research projects related to network communications (ACM-published research papers). Just this past year, Indiana University worked with our staff to use BZFlag as a platform for conducting a social network analysis. We'd particularly like to improve these facilities to help encourage even wider use of BZFlag for academic and research purposes.		We've enjoyed collaborating on experimental efforts that have had strong academic and research goals, while helping promote and improve BZFlag in the process. BZFlag is used by several universities (e.g., Brigham-Young University) as an artificial intelligence framework and has also been the subject of several academic research projects related to network communications (ACM-published research papers). Just this past year, Indiana University worked with our staff to use BZFlag as a platform for conducting a social network analysis. We'd particularly like to improve these facilities to help encourage even wider use of BZFlag for academic and research purposes.

	Task-wise, we hope to work with these new developers to implement several enhancements to BZFlag that we know will have a big impact on those that play the game. We ~~found out~~ last year that participating in GSoC ~~simulates~~ our project development activities and forces us to become more organized, collaborative, and deliberate in our focus. Our community is simply filled with great ideas on how to improve the game in wide impacting ways and we would like to encourage these developments. GSoC provides a mutually beneficial means to that end, particularly for students that we can attract to our project as new developers that stay with the project.		Task-wise, we hope to work with these new developers to implement several enhancements to BZFlag that we know will have a big impact on those that play the game. We discovered last year that participating in GSoC stimulates our project development activities and forces us to become more organized, collaborative, and deliberate in our focus. Our community is simply filled with great ideas on how to improve the game in wide impacting ways and we would like to encourage these developments. GSoC provides a mutually beneficial means to that end, particularly for students that we can attract to our project as new developers that stay with the project.

	= What criteria do you use to select the members of your group? Please be as specific as possible. =		= What criteria do you use to select the members of your group? Please be as specific as possible. =

Bullet Catcher: Use less precision for the number of registered players.

2009-03-13T17:44:39Z

Use less precision for the number of registered players.

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	= Description =		= Description =
	BZFlag is a free online multiplayer cross-platform open source 3D tank battle game that is maintained by an active community of individuals distributed all around the world.. It is one of the most successful and sustained cross-platform open source games ever with an active developer, administrative, and player community. There have been more than a million downloads in the last five years alone and our user base presently consists of more than 200 players online at any time of day or night. The project has actually become more popular over the years as we continue to improve and enhance the game. BZFlag has been under active development since 1992.		BZFlag is a free online multiplayer cross-platform open source 3D tank battle game that is maintained by an active community of individuals distributed all around the world. It is one of the most successful and sustained cross-platform open source games ever with an active developer, administrative, and player community. There have been more than a million downloads in the last five years alone and our user base presently consists of more than 200 players online at any time of day or night. The project has actually become more popular over the years as we continue to improve and enhance the game. BZFlag has been under active development since 1992.

	Our organization is presently comprised of a rather disparate group of individuals that work on BZFlag because they love the game and the community that surrounds it. There are presently 71 individuals entrusted with access to BZFlag core resources including 46 individuals that have committed source code modifications over the project's life span. Our developer base presently consists of 9 documented core developers that have made extensive contributions to the game and remained active over many years, along with about a dozen apprentice-level developers that are coming up in the ranks, and about two dozen peripheral/casual developers, extension developers, and web integration programmers. Additionally, there are several dozen trusted staffers, server operators, and graphic artists that assist in the day-to-day operations needed by the game for keeping servers up and running, providing server list services, designing artwork, providing network statistics, image hosting, web hosting, and much more.		Our organization is presently comprised of a rather disparate group of individuals that work on BZFlag because they love the game and the community that surrounds it. There are presently 71 individuals entrusted with access to BZFlag core resources including 46 individuals that have committed source code modifications over the project's life span. Our developer base presently consists of 9 documented core developers that have made extensive contributions to the game and remained active over many years, along with about a dozen apprentice-level developers that are coming up in the ranks, and about two dozen peripheral/casual developers, extension developers, and web integration programmers. Additionally, there are several dozen trusted staffers, server operators, and graphic artists that assist in the day-to-day operations needed by the game for keeping servers up and running, providing server list services, designing artwork, providing network statistics, image hosting, web hosting, and much more.

	All of our project developers almost exclusively collaborate on the #bzflag Freenode IRC channel, which is the central hub for most of our development discussions, decision planning meetings, game operations, and network infrastructure administration. We operate via a benevolent dictatorship combined with a meritocracy that strives for consensus between the core developers and other involved community members. Extensive discussions are held for any changes to BZFlag that affect the game's traditional "spirit", mood of gameplay, tone of the user environment, and types of interactions possible in the game. These discussions also include considerations whenever there are new features being added such as new flags, enhanced graphics, or changes to the gameplay. We also serve as a support arm to our user community assisting them with anything from how to get started playing to providing assistance with setting up their own server or even helping them write their own new extensions to the game.		All of our project developers almost exclusively collaborate on the #bzflag Freenode IRC channel, which is the central hub for most of our development discussions, decision planning meetings, game operations, and network infrastructure administration. We operate via a benevolent dictatorship combined with a meritocracy that strives for consensus between the core developers and other involved community members. Extensive discussions are held for any changes to BZFlag that affect the game's traditional spirit, mood of gameplay, tone of the user environment, and types of interactions possible in the game. These discussions also include considerations whenever there are new features being added such as new flags, enhanced graphics, or changes to the gameplay. We also serve as a support arm to our user community assisting them with anything from how to get started playing to providing assistance with setting up their own server or even helping them write their own new extensions to the game.

	From IRC, we administer network operations for ~~the approximate 18638~~ registered ~~player base~~ and for the tens of thousands of unregistered players that engage in more than 10000 daily player sessions across more than 250 public servers. As we are a globally distributed network-oriented game, we also maintain the public server listings, provide player tracking, network statistics, global authentication, user and group management, abuse and ban controls, player conflict resolution, competitive league management, and user community support.		From IRC, we administer network operations for more than 19000 registered players and for the tens of thousands of unregistered players that engage in more than 10000 daily player sessions across more than 250 public servers. As we are a globally distributed network-oriented game, we also maintain the public server listings, provide player tracking, network statistics, global authentication, user and group management, abuse and ban controls, player conflict resolution, competitive league management, and user community support.

	= Why is your group applying to participate? What do you hope to gain by participating =		= Why is your group applying to participate? What do you hope to gain by participating =

Wyk3d: /* What steps will you take to encourage contributors to interact with your community before, during, and after the program? */

2009-03-13T17:39:12Z

What steps will you take to encourage contributors to interact with your community before, during, and after the program?

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	As our IRC infrastructure and developer operations are already well established, we can (and frequently do) readily point new developer interests to our documentation and engage them in discussion. We have lots of existing documentation, web infrastructure, and network resources available to get new developers familiar and interested in development directions quickly. Given our involvement with GSoC last year, we now also have an established mindset of successful interaction criteria that gets students quickly involved in our user community so that they feel like part of the family.		As our IRC infrastructure and developer operations are already well established, we can (and frequently do) readily point new developer interests to our documentation and engage them in discussion. We have lots of existing documentation, web infrastructure, and network resources available to get new developers familiar and interested in development directions quickly. Given our involvement with GSoC last year, we now also have an established mindset of successful interaction criteria that gets students quickly involved in our user community so that they feel like part of the family.

	One of the interactions that worked very well last year was having the students directly interact with the users, letting them represent their efforts, and having their efforts be strongly supported and promoted by the other developers. We intend to take additional steps this year to continuously integrate the students code throughout the program and work on introducing our player community to the features being developed even more early on. The goal will be to instill a sense of belonging and ~~giving them~~ a sense of appreciation for the hard-work they are putting into their code.		One of the interactions that worked very well last year was having the students directly interact with the users, letting them represent their efforts, and having their efforts be strongly supported and promoted by the other developers. We intend to take additional steps this year to continuously integrate the students' code throughout the program and work on introducing our player community to the features being developed even more early on. The goal will be to instill a sense of belonging and a sense of appreciation for the hard-work they are putting into their code.

	= What will you do to ensure that your accepted contributors stick with the project after the program concludes? =		= What will you do to ensure that your accepted contributors stick with the project after the program concludes? =