The Way of Development?

So … even if I’m a German Developer with a English Website, BUT with a .de and a .com Domain … i try to keep this English. *Insert “But Why” Gif here*

Anyway … I wanna tell about the Way i’ve taken from the start of the NTL-App in January – til now. (Sidefact: First Commit was 09.01.2019 “Add Initial Work”)

So … The first thing you need to actually start a Project … is the Idea. The Idea came from a Friend of mine and also a Streamer Shurjoka.
She was one of the first, that had these NanoLeaf Lights. And with my Fable for interactive Stuff that actually does something in the Chat or is visible on Stream … out of nowhere we got the Idea. I don’t really remember how we got there or about what we where talking about.

(I think i was bored and scrolling random Twitch Channels. And there was this one Channel where you could donate Bits and Bitcoins to trigger a Sweets Dispenser to feed Chickens?)

So … i got this Idea now. Had a little bit Experience in C# from working on an GTA V Roleplay Server before and thought … “Fuck it … lets do this” and started.

At first … I worked on the Basic UI and the Connection to Twitch. I’ve done that before so that was not THAT big Deal. But then … on the NanoLeaf Part … there was a little Problem.
Because: At the Start … didn’t even HAD a Set of NanoLeafs to Test what i was writing Code for. With the Help of my lovely Friend Eric Bach a.k.a. Silverdark (Who also took part in the GTA Project) i used a Sort of Dummy API on Postman to Test the Basics of what i wanted the App to do. “Do Stuff when a !command gets detected in Chat”.

After a Month … the Basic App was done … the Commands and Keywords where working … even got Triggers for Subs and other Twitch Events into the App … I hit a Point where it was hard to continue without a own Set of NanoLeafs.

The Thing was: At this Point … the User had to look up the IP Adress of the NanoLeafs in the Router and copy it into the App to make the Connection happen. It worked fine … but … it was awkward and complicated. The Mobile App can do this without any IP Adress and finds the NanoLeaf in the Local Network.

Without any physical Set … i couldn’t continue. I had 2 or 3 Streamers already trying the App but … “Change a line of Code – compile – Send to Streamer and Test it – Change Line again …” Wasn’t really a good Way. So … i bought some. Well, they are expensive and a DIY would save 90% of the Originale Price but … yeah …

Anyway … After i got my Set of shiny blinky NanoLeafs we got the Auto-detect over Local Network working. (Yay \o/). I continued with API’s to other Chatbot Point Systems like the Phantombot and Streamlabs and added Stuff like Cooldowns, Queue, Autostart and more Stuff that i got suggested over the Time. Several Bugs, Mistakes in Design or Code where made, cried for help in Eric’s Whats-App several Times, and now  …  I’m here.

I mean … its not Perfect or even Pretty … but it works … does the Job and this little Project has become dear to my Heart. And I’m FUCKING Happy … that there are People who like and use my App!

At the Start … i thought implementing Feature A or thing B would be hard. But the REALLY hard Thing is to get it known.
To find Streamers who want to try a Piece of Software that somebody total unknown made. That’s like getting Candy from a Stranger in a creepy old Van.
I didn’t plan to do actual Advertising for the App.I made this Website, I posted on Reddit, I posted in the NanoLeaf Forums and spent Hours of scrolling in the Twitch Just Chatting Category and asked Streamers to try it out if, i saw a Set of NanoLeafs in the Thumbnail. (I even do this up to today)
Some of them use it till now (THANKS A LOT BY THE WAY) and provide me with important Feedback about Bugs and handling with the App.
Right now there are 27 NTL Users in the Discord. And ~35+ Streamers that use my App frequently.

At first … I don’t really know … what this Post should be about … but i think this is a great time to Thank every one that gave me and my App a Chance. Thanks for the Help of Eric and (our newest Dev Member) Chris for the Help! Thanks for the initial spark and the Idea goes out to https://www.twitch.tv/shurjoka !

This Project is a great Journey that will … hopefully … continue a looong Time!