My First Open Source Project: PicoverseOnline

Hello Picotron Community!

I'm thrilled to share my very first open source project with you—PicoverseOnline. This project marks my first serious foray into software development on my own, and I couldn’t be more excited about what lies ahead.

What Is PicoverseOnline?

PicoverseOnline is the starting point of my dream to build an integrated, AOL‑like online environment right here on Picotron. At its core, the project is designed to bring together a suite of programs that work seamlessly together. The current backbone of the Picoverse is the NetWave Chat server, which I built to manage users and facilitate real‑time messaging. But this is just the beginning!

Key Components

NetWave Chat Server:

This server currently handles user creation, message sending, and retrieval. It’s a work in progress, but it already does basic chat functions you can get it on my github: https://github.com/RetroCodeRamen/NetWaveChat

Picotron Client (Coming Soon):

My next goal is to build a basic client—something reminiscent of the classic AIM—that will communicate with the NetWave Chat server. I plan to have a rudimentary version ready by the end of the month.

Future Features:

Enhanced Security:

Implement rotating tokens with public/private key encryption to ensure that connections remain secure (while still keeping user IDs safe from plain text transmission).

Personalization:

Soon you'll be able to set up bios and away messages for your profile.

Interactive Games:

Down the road, I’d love to incorporate multiplayer games like chess or checkers, adding a fun, social twist to the Picoverse.

What’s Next?

While the current focus is on the chat server—which, despite being a work in progress, already creates and manages users and handles messaging—the roadmap for PicoverseOnline is ambitious:

Picotron Client Development:

I’m working on a client that will serve as the gateway for users to interact with the chat server, much like classic instant messaging programs.

Feature Enhancements:

Security Upgrades:

Future versions will include rotating tokens with encryption.

Text Features:

Personalized bios and away messages will make your profile feel truly yours.

Multiplayer Gaming:

I hope to add simple games for users to play together.

Phase Two – Social Media Platform & PicoBrowser:

The next phase involves creating a social media platform inspired by old‑school Myspace, where you can customize your profile using PTML (Picotext Markup Language)—a lightweight variant of HTML designed for the Picotron.
I also plan to develop a PicoBrowser with its own PTML parser, enabling you to load pages from across the internet and host your own content on my server. Imagine registering a domain and having a unique pico.yourdomain.tron address!

A Personal Journey

This project is a passion project. It’s my first real step into the world of open source software development, and every line of code is a learning experience. I'm incredibly excited to share my progress with you and to see where this journey takes me.

Feel free to share your thoughts, questions, or suggestions in the forums or on GitHub.