For any who are interested in following the journey of Cavalry Studios as we tirelessly work to expand, I offer the following:

Some of you may recall that there was mention of a website in production. This is no longer necessarily true; at least, the plan is no longer for a website.

Instead we are migrating in the direction of an application/program. It would be simpler to design and more powerful for its intended users. A good example of what this might be like would be the Steam client, which I am sure most of you have heard of, even if you don't use it. The client itself runs off the user's PC, but most of the relevant data is still pulled from servers and left online.

This program is called 'Spearhead', a play on words because of our cavalier logo, and our desire to reach the forefront of the community.

To make a long story short, the program will not diminish the functionality or usefulness of a web database, and so there is no worry about struggling to host, maintain, or reach content from user to user.

I have already begun coding the program and designing its graphical user interface (GUI for short).

There are a few drawbacks to the program approach, the most notable being the fact that initially it would only cater to Windows users. With as many artists as the community has, I don't doubt that some of the Mac-using bronies will feel left out, unless they run the program through some windows emulator.

The premise is simple enough; you download the program, install, register, and log in for access to the Spearhead network. The application's a slick looking piece of work that will put all of brony-kind's greatest stories, movies, artwork and more at your fingertips, all without pesky page refreshes.

Instead I offer you graphically pleasing dynamic data acquisition. Simply put, instead of waiting for an entire page to load, panels with pretty little loading lights will handle all the server queries for you and post the data back without you ever seeing a blip or hiccup.

Another important thing to cover is the ever-obnoxious 502/504 errors. No more of those. The application will handle server errors discretely; after a timeout, instead of simply failing to load and spitting you a blank page, it will leave all of the items in the program unchanged and stop updating them. It will then ask the user to retry a connection test before continuing. If this fails, it will try and move the user into an 'offline mode', a wonderful advantage that no website will ever have.

In offline mode, writers can continue to work on stories, other users can continue filling out submission forms, sending messages. Stories that have been saved locally can still be read and edited, even when no connection is present. Once the connection is restored, the client will automatically begin synchronizing: sending messages produced offline, committing story updates, submitting filed forms, and more.

Not a speck of your precious work will be lost nor your time wasted, regardless of thunderstorms, server hiccups, or other various bullshit that breaks our beloved internet.

And of course, there's the social aspect. Inter-client forums will be easily accessible to everyone, live chat systems will run smoothly regardless of what content you are trying to view, and private messaging will be just as easy as it ever was. There will be no lack of ways to reach out and group up. Imagine; even while viewing a story, you could communicate live with other people reading it. You could livestream a new video post with a friend, and much, much more, all in real-time.

"Big talk, slow walk," some of you might say. True enough, it will take time. But I will complete this task. Every cavalry unit needs its armaments, and I intend to forge the Spearhead we desire.

If any of you have questions about Spearhead's possibilities, or features you badly want to see produced, message me or comment here. With the opportunity we have to do something this powerful, no idea should be wasted.

Thanks for reading! Check this page for programming updates, additional features, and more as we move forward.

Your diligent programmer,
Razorbeam.

This has to be one of the most ambitious and amazing projects to ever be undertaken, since the creation of EqD and Fimfiction.net. I think I speak for everypony here, when I say that we are behind you throughout the entire journey, and the numbers can only grow. Congratulations Razorbeam, you have just given the community a wonderful gift.

371183
I haven't given anything yet; but soon my friend. Soon, I will share this vision with the rest of the community. And oh, the community we will be!

371184 Ah, thats not really true, you have produced an idea, and from an idea, a project can be undertaken, and from a project, comes a beautiful creation, and that creation, is the end product of Cavalry Studios. An excerpt from the Bible "If you have faith but the size of a mustard seed, you can move mountains." That mustard seed, is this idea. The mountains, are any difficulties on the way, lack of stories, coders, code backfiring, etc. etc. Where there is a will, there is a way

371190
Well, hopefully the coding won't be too difficult for me. I do program design as a living, more or less, and so I have quite a bit of experience where that is concerned. I fear the hardest part will be making the program known; delivering it to others. I might have the skill to create it, but I doubt I have the voice to distribute it beyond a few hundred people at best.

371197 Fibonacci sequence: 1-1-2-4-etc. etc. From the mouths of others, this will spread! I just noticed, I sound like I'm distributing propaganda! Well, seriously though, that's were the rest of us come in, I suppose

EXCITED. VERY. Just....sad that Spearhead's only for Windows ah well

371204
I suppose indeed. You never know how many people you can tell or how much of the world you can change until you try. Strength in numbers, they often say, and for a cavalier this is undoubtedly true!

371209 Totally! It's times like these, in which friends come in handy, especially brony/pegasister friends!

I can't wait to see the end results. Sure, it may take awhile, but If I know you, it will be worth the wait. Good luck, and God-speed!

Soon, we will be an overflowing community; And like a spiral, we will continue on and on and on.

And having looked at Eqd, I have to say I'm a bit disappointed. One shouldn't stifle creativity, that's a quick way to get people to hate you. One should be open to everything.

If anyone ever tells you that you can't do it, you let them know that you have a cavalry behind you and we'll help you anyway we can.

Spiral out Razorbeam, Know that you'll have my support from now on.

371204
wrong the Fibonacci sequence is as follows 0-1-1-2-3-5-8-13-21-34-55-89-144-233-377-610-i don't memorize past 610
You were thinking of an exponential growth of factor 2

371263 Seriously? Darn, I thought I got it right. Bah, nevermind, thanks for telling me that

371263
Pfft, that's just rude. He was trying to be creative, not right.

371271
Eh, you have a point

371269
Sorry for sounding possibly arrogant/rude, the Fib sequence is the only one I really like...

371274 Nah, it's alright, comparing your statement to my classmate's statements is like an ice cube to an iceberg, they are way worse, apology accepted, even though no offense was really taken

371279, 371274
I just like calling Doorknobs on things, Raydner; it's ironic because I'm fairly certain I'm one of the more blunt/rude people he knows.

371282 "Sic him Doorknobs!" Hilarity ensues as a verbal battle ensues

Didn't know you were a coder Razor. What language are you primarily using? And what about some linux love?

371290
I'm writing in C#, and using Visual Studio. The data server will probably be Windows-hosted as well, though I know there's a massive argument going on that Linux is better for programming and server hosting. Even so, I find windows to be a more manageable platform myself, and so it's what I code from/to.

I'll have to invest time in client-conversion later, making Mac and Linux versions at some point.

Ah. Well, windows is much easier for people to use, so it makes sense. Linux is a personal choice of mine really. Anyhow, c# huh? That might make client-conversion harder down the long run, especially in Visual Studio. But, it is possible. I am currently studying computer science on my own, and will be heading to college soon for further study. Seeing as I'm a linux native, I suppose that I could help at some point when you want to transfer. Though I don't think I could do it now, so just focus on getting it done for Windows.

371302
Can do. I realize that Java would be the friendlier multi-platform option, but it's simply not as powerful. For an initial product, it's much more efficient to stick with C# for now. I've no doubt that when the time comes I will be able to migrate it one way or another, but for now it's going to be a one-system-wonder.

371304
Yea, I'm not that big a fan of Java. Actually, there is Mono. It's an open-source cross-platform .NET framework made for C#. Works in windows, linux, and mac. From what I can tell, it would do the job. Though, more research is definitely needed. But we are getting ahead of ourselves.

Das Bo Schitt!

371324
Is not.

371258
Excellent use of music by Tool. I strongly approve of this.

371282 371279
Not one of,
Thee.
Raydar, to put in prospective of how I met Razorbeam, I waked into a class after switching sections in our school (We have two separate groups that switch class and interning on and off, I started class in July, he started in October). And I KNEW NO ONE. So I sat by him coincidentally. Oh god, was he a douche, a funny, funny, knee slapping funny douche (our teacher sucked hard). Eventually I found out that Razorbeam IRL is generally a douche for the first hour or so with meeting new people. And if said person he's a douche to can stand him for that time, generally he is much more apt to being friendly with them.

I'm just too sheepish to really stand up to him on most fronts.

371331 You know something? That reminds me of my class. They are all arseholes, but once you get to know them, they are...nice arseholes.

371331>>371334

Reminds me of me and my friends at school. We insult each other like no tomorrow, But we generally cherish each others friendship. It's like an 'ed, edd & eddy' relationship.

371334, 371331
Well, in fairness I wasn't being a douche to Doorknobs, for the most part. I was just venting because class sucked that day, and Doorknobs seemed to have a vested interest in my ranting. However, I do sort of use it as a social deterrent from time to time. I can sort of sense the people I don't like, at which point I stop being the funny kind of jerk and start being the real kind.

But seriously, in general I'm a very nice guy, but I get easily agitated over various things. Not to mention I have a very 'irritated' tone, if you don't know me well enough to realize that's unfortunately just how I sound. People close to me are the people I tend to rant to, Doorknobs can vouch for that. Lucky for him, my ranting is usually well-guided and interesting, unless I am mistaken. For the most part though, I try to be a gentleman and be courteous. If I'm in a bad or joking mood though, all bets are off. You have to be able to take some bashing and laugh at yourself to be friends with me.

EDIT: Why is this not a part of my Introduction post?

371339
" Why is this not a part of my Introduction pos" Because you failed, durh
And your rantings: either has to do with the chapter you wrote (usually enough info for me to not actually need to read it [and I miss that luxury]) or religisophal rants.
both are decent things to rant about around friends open to them

371353
Or LoL, or EVE, or Tolo, or FIJI in general, or any number of other wondrous ranting subjects you've strategically left out.

371359
....

TOLO (notice all of the angst and aggression in my voice)

Lol!

371263 We're supposed to memorize that thing? I just do it in my head every time I start it up. I love that sequence.

371406
No... I'm pretty sure we're not... I just have.
Oh, I doodle it alot, and I have once in binary made a fib tree in a jpeg file all the way down to the 300th iteration...
Tooooooooooo much time on my hand in highschool webpage design class

Project Update:

While establishing the notification system's database structure, I had an idea.

FimFiction doesn't allow you to specify what you do and don't want notifications about. What good is that?

Let's say you want to watch an author for his stories, but you don't want to hear about his blog posts. Or that you want to favorite a video [which is a one-time post, and shouldn't send other notifications by default], but you want notifications when the producer comments on it.

A better example for you story readers out there is this; let's say you want to be notified every time a new Sparity fiction comes out. Or maybe you don't want to know about it right away, maybe you want to wait until it reaches a certain rating before you hear about it.

All of this will be possible. You can specify custom notification types based on tags, content ratings [the 'how good is this _____' number every piece of content will receive], and more.

You can modify default notifications types too, like the 'tracking' one, which by default will notify you about every piece of content and blog post a producer makes [not comments].

To make a long story short, you don't have to hunt for what you want out of Spearhead. You tell us what you want to find, and we'll make sure you find it.

Making your brony future brighter and life easier,
Razorbeam.

372276
Yay!
So, how far / how much have you gotten with video / audio / image hosting / linking?

It's all just mapping at this point. I'm currently working out table structures and relationships...

Mother of god, I even do shipping when I code. FUUUUUUUUUCK!

Anyways, until I have a database that works and I have all of the ideas accounted for, there's no sense making very much of the front-end. A few things are consistent throughout though; I'll need a login page, registration form, authentication process. That kind of stuff is static, so I can code that into the front-end at any time, and in fact have already created the login splash page.

But as far as content and dynamic data such as the above mentioned, there's a bit more intricacy; enough so that I can't catch myself adding new items and features willy-nilly. Even if future ideas pop up, I need to account for that possibility and design a data structure that would allow for new things to be added with ease.

*Reads above comments*

Wow... All of the sudden I'm glad I'm not a techie...

372407
It's hard work, but someone has to code these ideas. Might as well be the guy having them; saves processing time and sticky notes.

372468

Don't get me wrong, I'm glad you're doing this. But sweet jesus it sounds complicated for my 16 year old mind!

372472
It's complicated to my 21 year old one as well. Five years doesn't make enough of a difference.

372474

... Wait hold on.
Your a programer as well as an author?

374259
Yessir I am.

Wish I could help, but I take basic programming with Java this year, so can't really do much... Other than offer moral support, that is.

374668
That's plenty fine with me; I don't doubt I'll need it as this project progresses.

374621

i may not be a computer technitian but i am far better with my hands than with a bunch of coding data

E.G have a car that needs fixing, i can help with that, need someone to carry a heavy weight, ill help with that

im mostly a hands on person, but i think some pretty damn good ideas sometimes,

if you need any ideas, or someone to vent steam onto then ill be here to take it on full force (i got use to it after a while so now it doesn't affect me)

also if you need consolation on any other ideas, i wouldn't mind to give pointers, here and there

(take in mind that i am merely a punching bag, and that i can give ideas and just generally be usefull... or i'll just be a plain old punching bag.... your call)

EDIT: on a side not i also offer moral support

374621
... And your awesomeness has just gone up