I've always been tinkering around with Gitlab, GOGS, and other various services like Github, Bitbucket, etc. to try and store my code in some place that's not as fallible as the personal servers and storage I keep around. I've recently stumbled across Visual Studio Team Services (VSTS) which seems to be an outstanding offering from Microsoft (I already use their free Visual Studio Code editor, which does a stunning job as my editor of choice)

It's pretty cool so far, and I've started moving across some of my GOGS hosted repos to it, so that I have less reliance on my own paid services; it's cost-saving for me, and VSTS actually has a really nice deployment/testing Pipeline creation tool. It's nearly entirely drag and drop, and save for a few little bugs, it works perfectly for my personal needs.

Just for my future reference, when running SSH CLI commands, I need to disable fail on STDERR as git will write to the STDERR for any git results, meaning it'd make the build fail; which we don't want!

...save for a few little bugs, it works perfectly for my personal needs.

Secondly, I think I've also settled on using VIsual Studio Code as my pseudo-IDE of choice. It has quite an expansive toolset that I can bolt onto it that really lets me control and do actions for nearly everything. For it to qualify as a full-blown IDE would mean the integration of a browser window so I never have to leave it.

I've been using Visual Studio Code as my editor of preference for the past 6 months or so at my current workplace; and I've grown accustomed to it, even if some people consider it a bit slower than other editors, or slightly less functional than an IDE. So far, it has met my everyday needs, and I think I'm fairly comfortable in saying that it is my tool of choice for development.

The combination of these tools, now means that I've got a development process available to me which does away with the extra resource usage of hosting my own code repositories; and allows me to build smooth, integrated pipelines that'll deploy my projects as needed.

Hello! It's been a little while, although regulars who visit might've started to notice some small, design-based updates to the site!

So, without further ado:

• Page load order is being slowly optimised, Main Menu shouldn't have weird spacing beneath it from page to page
• The Main Menu has gotten a little design change! Things are more shiny and glowy
• Blog Post titles now are larger and clearer
• Social Icons and right-hand-side bar are now tucked under the menu nicely
• Fixed a typo on the About Page in the quote from Kingsman
• Cleared out the old biometrics links due to privacy concerns

I've got some things planned in the upcoming months, including allowing account creation, forums and gaming related server information. Should be good!

I'm thrilled to announce that I'm going to be launching a Conan Exiles server personally for friends and family to play on. As a fan of the survival game genre - Conan Exiles offers a pretty unique blend of resource gathering, adventuring, and exploring a wilderness filled with monsters, animals and gods.

Just for my own reference - the server settings (in their unedited form) are below. An explanation of the settings is available here:

MaxNudity=0
ServerCommunity=0
ConfigVersion=9
BlueprintConfigVersion=19
PurgeNPCBuildingDamageMultiplier=(5.000000,5.000000,10.000000,15.000000,20.000000,25.000000)
PlayerKnockbackMultiplier=1.000000
NPCKnockbackMultiplier=1.000000
StructureDamageMultiplier=1.000000
StructureHealthMultiplier=1.000000
NPCRespawnMultiplier=1.000000
NPCHealthMultiplier=1.000000
CraftingCostMultiplier=1.000000
PlayerDamageMultiplier=1.000000
PlayerDamageTakenMultiplier=1.000000
MinionDamageMultiplier=1.000000
MinionDamageTakenMultiplier=1.000000
NPCDamageMultiplier=1.000000
NPCDamageTakenMultiplier=1.000000
PlayerEncumbranceMultiplier=1.000000
PlayerEncumbrancePenaltyMultiplier=1.000000
PlayerMovementSpeedScale=1.000000
PlayerStaminaCostSprintMultiplier=1.000000
PlayerSprintSpeedScale=1.000000
PlayerStaminaCostMultiplier=1.000000
PlayerHealthRegenSpeedScale=1.000000
PlayerXPRateMultiplier=1.000000
PlayerXPKillMultiplier=1.000000
PlayerXPHarvestMultiplier=1.000000
PlayerXPCraftMultiplier=1.000000
PlayerXPTimeMultiplier=1.000000
DogsOfTheDesertSpawnWithDogs=False
CrossDesertOnce=True
ThrallExclusionRadius=500.000000
MaxAggroRange=9000.000000
FriendlyFireDamageMultiplier=0.250000
CampsIgnoreLandclaim=True
AvatarDomeDurationMultiplier=1.000000
AvatarDomeDamageMultiplier=1.000000
NPCMaxSpawnCapMultiplier=1.000000
serverRegion=0
RestrictPVPTime=False
PVPTimeWeekdayStart=0
PVPTimeWeekdayEnd=0
PVPTimeWeekendStart=0
PVPTimeWeekendEnd=0
RestrictPVPBuildingDamageTime=False
PVPBuildingDamageTimeWeekdayStart=0
PVPBuildingDamageTimeWeekdayEnd=0
PVPBuildingDamageTimeWeekendStart=0
PVPBuildingDamageTimeWeekendEnd=0
CombatModeModifier=0
ContainersIgnoreOwnership=True
LandClaimRadiusMultiplier=1.000000
BuildingPreloadRadius=80.000000
ServerPassword=
ServerMessageOfTheDay=
KickAFKPercentage=80
KickAFKTime=2700
OfflinePlayersUnconsciousBodiesHours=168
CorpsesPerPlayer=3
ItemConvertionMultiplier=1.000000
ThrallConversionMultiplier=1.000000
FuelBurnTimeMultiplier=1.000000
StaminaRegenerationTime=3.000000
StaminaExhaustionTime=3.000000
StaminaStaticRegenRateMultiplier=1.000000
StaminaMovingRegenRateMultiplier=1.000000
PlayerStaminaRegenSpeedScale=1.000000
StaminaOnConsumeRegenPause=1.500000

I'm a bit of a purist and don't want to detract too much from a vanilla experience. Likewise, I may also work towards doing a server reset on a fairly long schedule (unsure yet, but I'm thinking every 90 days).