It's good to have the web server back after all that happened, and of the four or five options we had, this was by far the best.
Development was not slowed, however. Aside from git being down, which just prevented any big work from being shared to everyone, most of our tools and data are stored locally or elsewhere (for me, Google sheets). And on that note, infocard and system work has begun for 4.89 Initial. Some of the planning phase is still underway, but we're staying ahead and it won't be too long before most of the work is completed.
I have some great assistants helping me out as well, who provide not only additional insight, ideas, and discussion, but have also taken up some projects to work on in their free time. One is outlining a mega list of news stories for us to run (which I'll take the blame for that there hasn't been much of, lately), another is running around to find and fix some of the most broken infocards, and there's a few more smaller things they're all helping on.
I'm also considering opening up infocard writing applications to a more passive submission status. A forum somewhere with a pinned questionnaire thread and hidden response posts. But that depends on how much work is needed for 4.89 and the broken infocards, compared to our existing writers.
4.89 Initial was due to be released this weekend, but some technical issues (now resolved) and the prospect of more gameplay content being done (if granted a few more days), saw the update pushed to Friday the 14th of April. Spoilers. We're aware that it has been quite some time since 4.88 Final was released, but the amount of fun new things in this patch should be well worth your while.
Now is also a good time for faction leaders to begin approaching me if they have ideas for story progression regarding themselves or their region, for 4.89 Final. As always, I cannot guarantee all suggestions will be implemented, but the input is valuable regardless. The sooner we have those plans ironed out, the sooner that work can begin on the next update.
The release went smoothly, though there are a decent number of bugs to iron out. The planning phase for 4.89 Final is partially underway ... I'll probably be able to get more of that rolling along this weekend, and the weekend after that I will have extended with a few days off, so a lot will get done.
I'm also pleased to announce that @Tachyon and @LunaticOnTheGrass have both recently returned from extended absences, plus @Alex. is our new FLHook Developer. We also have a small group of programmers helping him out in a collaboration chat, to provide additional insight through reviewing code and brainstorming ideas.
If people create factions for Bretonia Privateers, Synth Foods, and Cryer Pharmaceuticals - and they become official - I will do an AMA in a separate thread. I feel that these three factions have an astounding amount of potential for roleplay as well as lore progression, yet they have never received the love they deserve.
(04-28-2017, 09:36 PM)Teerin Wrote: Good progress is underway on 4.89 Final planning.
If people create factions for Bretonia Privateers, Synth Foods, and Cryer Pharmaceuticals - and they become official - I will do an AMA in a separate thread. I feel that these three factions have an astounding amount of potential for roleplay as well as lore progression, yet they have never received the love they deserve.
Community contribution forum is out, yay, but to little fanfare ... it's alright though.
Good news is that I just sifted through a bunch of threads from Mod Development Requests, and put them in the Developers Forum for discussion, approval, and implementation. There have been some robust submissions there lately, which is always nice to see. As I posted about last Thursday, planning for 4.89 Final is still going along well.
Also, I'd like to extend a major kudos to @Xalrok adn @Alex. for their work on the bug reports threads, new and old.
Tuesday just ended for me a few minutes ago, but close enough.
This weekend I worked a bit on 4.89 Final, as well as some guidelines for a comprehensive mining update and continued coordination efforts for an FLHook update. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to finalize the storyline update (4.89 Final) plans over the weekend as I had wanted to, and I still have a TON of Skype chats to read then reply to.
I'll have much more time tomorrow to look things over, so if you're waiting to hear back from me, I'll try to respond then. Good things are coming though, and time permitting, I may post some sneak peeks.