Let there be graphs

- Posted in Computer by

Some years ago I tried to monitor and display some domestic metrics, with my aquariums temperature as a main goal.
I thus bought a profilux monitor, which was expensive. It was also a close system (at least at the time, no API for external access, I quickly gave up trying to hack it), and... mine is now out of order...
So instead of fixing it, I decided to take the Home Assistant road, and, wow, what a trip :)
And guess what, temperature captors are available, easy to use and some of them are waterproof. See me coming?
Within a few hours, I had my long awaited water temperatures in a nice graph: enter image description here

Another proof, if needed, that happiness definitively lies in simple things.

ps: Yes, the Profilux can also monitor pH values, and I've yet to find a Zigbee device that can do that, other than some huge pool stuff. But unlike my temperatures, my pH is stable, so as long as I have to choose, I'd rather have my sexy temperature curves than ... nothing at all :)
And who knows, maybe tomorrow Amazon will offer me the Zigbee pH sensor I've been waiting for.
Peace out.

Dungeon generator

- Posted in D&D by

I recently stumbled upon this awesome free online Dungeon Map Generator, which gives you really nice ready to use maps like this:
enter image description here

While trying to build such a generator from scratch, I quickly came to the conclusion that this one is in fact much more complete and complex that it appears at first sight (and you realize that once you've tried to build your own):

  • Maps are not just orthogonal, they're nicely rotated
  • Walls are sexy
  • Rooms can be round
  • Rooms have notes

So yes, I'm trying to build my own map generator (got the idea while playing the solo Dungeon Crawler 2D6 Dungeon, which is by the way as cheap as excellent) and after a few hours of Lua, right now my generated maps look like this (beware, it's all but as sexy as above): enter image description here

There's a French proverb that says “when I look at myself I feel sorry, when I compare myself I feel comforted”.
Well, right now I'm much more sorry than comforted :)
So now I've got some work, first debug (the doors are badly placed, the corridors too numerous), rooms should be numbered in a clever way, and then make the output a little prettier (as far as the look is concerned there's definitively room for improvement).
And then generate levels interconnected by stairs :)

Why spend hours trying to do this when very nice free tools already exist?
Because “Its the not the destination, it's the journey.”
Peace out.