Basic README

README.md

@@ -1,2 +1,40 @@
-korman
-======
+Korman
+======
+
+An open source, GPLv3 Blender addon for creating ages for Cyan Worlds' proprietary Plasma engine
+and its open source variant, CyanWorlds.com Engine. For more information, visit https://guildofwriters.org
+
+Dependencies
+------------
+- [Blender](http://blender3d.org) - 3d modelling problem
+- [libHSPlasma](https://github.com/H-uru/libhsplasma) - Universal Plasma library used for manipulating data
+- [PhysX 2.6 SDK](http://www.nvidia.com/object/physx_archives.html) - optional, required only for exporting
+ages to the Myst Online: URU Live format with libHSPlasma.
+
+Building
+--------
+Korman is written primarily in Python and therefore requires little in the way of compiling. However, Korman
+depends on the libHSPlasma Python bindings called "PyHSPlasma". Therefore, you will need to compile libHSPlasma
+with python bindings for the platform of your choice. You will need to be certain that you use the same version
+of Python that ships with your Blender install. Once you have done this, copy the HSPlasma library and PyHSPlasma
+python library into Blender's `python/lib/site-packages`.
+
+See the installer directory for NSIS scripts. You can make a Windows installer by using `makensis
+-DPYTHON_DLL=[pythonDllName] Installer.nsi`. Be sure to provide the Visual C++ redistributable and
+libHSPlasma libraries. Prebuilt installers will be provided on the Guild of Writers website.
+
+Installing
+----------
+Copy the `korman` directory into Blender's `addons` directory. You must enable the addon in Blender's User
+Preferences window. Korman is listed as a **System** addon. Switch the render engine to Korman and enjoy!
+
+Zen of Korman
+-------------
+- Korman should be intuitive and discoverable.
+- Mapping Korman features to Plasma features 1:1 is not desirable.
+- Hide annoying details and make age building fun!
+- Any Python traceback seen by the user is a bug.
+- Korman is written in Python, not C. The code should reflect that fact.
+- Avoid "it's better to ask for forgiveness" `try... except` blocks.
+- Spaces over tabs.
+- Break lines around 100 columns (it's OK if your log message exceeds that however).