edit: Feature Request categories have been disabled in Mantis now, please use the wiki to send in your ideas!

Contributors no longer need to ask for page-creation privileges to add new pages to the Code and Development Wiki. This should make contributing your ideas easier.

Note that when we moved our development resources to crawl.develz.org, the intention was to use the wiki for brainstorming and the tracker for ready proposals. We haven’t really enforced it so far, but would like to see this in action. FRs tend to turn into discussions and rot in the tracker, which limits the usefulness of tracker functionality. Discussion (and rotting) will happen in the wiki as well, but we think it is a better tool for that, as developers can summarize and reboot the pages more flexibly. We also hope that related issues get grouped better, so that contributors are more aware about related issues surrounding particular features.

Arguably, having categories called “Feature Request” in the tracker is pretty bad for the intended workflow. We are working on sorting this out. :-)

I’d like to add that the DCSS development mailing list is also a tool available for discussing ideas and issues with the development.

Below is the current tracker/wiki HOWTO for reference:

How to use the tracker and wiki

The Mantis tracker is used for reporting bugs and submitting patches, graphics and vaults. The wiki is used for requesting features, discussing ideas and providing feedback.

You need to create an account to be able to create and edit wiki pages, file issues and post your comments.

If you have a bug to report

  1. Make sure it hasn’t been reported yet:
    • Search the tracker if it was already reported.
    • You can also search through the list of changes to see if the bug you found has been fixed already.
  2. Either add your comments to the existing bug or report it as a new bug in the tracker: Choose “Bug Report” as the category. More instructions on the bug reporting page.

If you have an idea for a feature

The checklist is a little long, but don’t be discouraged – ideas and insights are very welcome! The work-flow is to iterate over the idea in the wiki. The developers will then post an implementable, approved proposal as an “Implementable” in the tracker. The aim is to have the tracker as a list of approved ideas, that anyone who is interested can pick up and make a patch for.

  1. Check the Philosphy section (N) in the manual to see if the idea fits in those principles.
  2. Check the brainstorming wiki pages if someone already has posted a similar idea there.
  3. Idea not discussed yet? Add to an existing appropriate brainstorm page or put up a new one as necessary in the correct namespace.
  4. It’s also possible to drop by ##crawl-dev on Freenode or mail to DCSS mailing list to discuss the idea.

Reaching the developer team for further questions

  • ##crawl-dev on Freenode
  • The DCSS mailing list

Do not use the tracker to ask questions or start discussions.

More discussion about Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup

  • ##crawl on Freenode
  • rec.games.roguelike.misc on Usenet
  • Your favourite gaming forums! Start a new thread if necessary. :-)