mrimer
Level: Legendary Smitemaster

Rank Points: 5141
Registered: 02-04-2003
IP: Logged

Thanks! Yep, we all were busy with other things this month, and we also started working on fleshing out the final missing parts of the hold narrative. There's yet a bit of work to do in this area, but I'm confident we're still on track to hit a spring 2014 release date. The final eighth will go slower than the core phase of development. It does roughly represent an eighth of the work by volume, so we haven't mis-estimated the workload, but much of the remaining effort is now on the critical path, so team efforts will be bottlenecked more often by a series of dependencies (mostly story finalization). I'm feeling really good about how everything is coming together!

____________________________
Gandalf? Yes... That's what they used to call me.
Gandalf the Grey. That was my name.
I am Gandalf the White.
And I come back to you now at the turn of the tide.

---

[Last edited by mrimer at 11-26-2013 06:02 PM]

hyperme
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 1173
Registered: 06-23-2006
IP: Logged

88.1%

Tiny progress is still progress!

____________________________
[Insert witty comment here]
Qzvlkx?

The spitemaster
Level: Smiter
Rank Points: 354
Registered: 06-09-2005
IP: Logged

Mrimer, you have like a life away from us right? It's ok to tell us that your wife just had triplets and you are kinda busy.

I'm just saying, you could tell us if something is going on. Not just the line that we are making the game a little bit more awesome than it already is. THERE IS ONLY SO MUCH AWESOMENESS THAT WE CAN TAKE!

But, I'm looking forward to it as well.

____________________________
Last night upon a stair
I met a man that wasn't there
He wasn't there again today
I wish that man would stay away

WyattSmee
Level: Goblin
Rank Points: 19
Registered: 11-14-2006
IP: Logged

88.4%

Two updates in one day? Glory Be(ethro)

mrimer
Level: Legendary Smitemaster

Rank Points: 5141
Registered: 02-04-2003
IP: Logged

Sure, I'm fine with sharing more details about what we're working on.

This week, I'm working on updating the game's help docs. Jacob is also helping on this. I expect this task will take up to 10 hours in all. It accounts for 1% of the bar's total progress.

Very few of the changes we are making right now are to the game engine itself. Almost all are in the TSS hold, and sharing just about anything being done there in specific would be a story spoiler. I am still planning on sharing info about the new tar type in the spoilers thread as soon as I can get to it.

Edit: Oh, and you're *going* to take all of this awesomeness. And you're going to like it.

____________________________
Gandalf? Yes... That's what they used to call me.
Gandalf the Grey. That was my name.
I am Gandalf the White.
And I come back to you now at the turn of the tide.

---

[Last edited by mrimer at 11-27-2013 07:51 PM]

navithmastero
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 621
Registered: 01-03-2012
IP: Logged

88.6%

-nm

____________________________
Member of the Snake Appreciation Society

One of your local HAs.

My stuff:

blorx1
Level: Smitemaster
Rank Points: 920
Registered: 07-18-2009
IP: Logged

88.8%

____________________________
If you need to think outside of the box, then you didn't build a good enough box.

navithmastero
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 621
Registered: 01-03-2012
IP: Logged

88.88%

-nm

____________________________
Member of the Snake Appreciation Society

One of your local HAs.

My stuff:

mrimer
Level: Legendary Smitemaster

Rank Points: 5141
Registered: 02-04-2003
IP: Logged

I'm excited. This is the last time we'll see a pattern like this before release!

____________________________
Gandalf? Yes... That's what they used to call me.
Gandalf the Grey. That was my name.
I am Gandalf the White.
And I come back to you now at the turn of the tide.

stigant
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 1182
Registered: 08-19-2004
IP: Logged

You're not going to goose us in the last two weeks with 99, 99.9, 99.99, 99.999 to make sure that you hit April 1st?

____________________________
Progress Quest Progress

Tim
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 1979
Registered: 08-07-2004
IP: Logged

stigant wrote:
You're not going to goose us in the last two weeks with 99, 99.9, 99.99, 99.999 to make sure that you hit April 1st?

That's what they call beta testing.

Usually the pattern is like: 99, 80, 99.9, 20, 99.99, -42, 99.999, though. (We haven't even gone negative for this game yet (unlike all the previous ones), am I correct?)

____________________________
The best way to lose customers is to let little kids running loose on a forum with too many mod points.

---

[Last edited by Tim at 12-05-2013 05:36 PM]

mrimer
Level: Legendary Smitemaster

Rank Points: 5141
Registered: 02-04-2003
IP: Logged

We did actually go quite negative for TSS for a while. It actually meant something too, through impossibly opaque.

____________________________
Gandalf? Yes... That's what they used to call me.
Gandalf the Grey. That was my name.
I am Gandalf the White.
And I come back to you now at the turn of the tide.

Pinnacle
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 1135
Registered: 06-10-2004
IP: Logged

89%

____________________________
Once (adv.): Enough.
Twice (adv.): Once too often.
~Ambrose Bierce, The Devil's Dictionary

rman
Level: Smiter

Rank Points: 371
Registered: 09-24-2007
IP: Logged

Method 1: 491 days (August 3, 2012 to December 7, 2013) ÷ 75.5% (13.5% to 89%) = 6.503 days/% (previously 6.443)
⇒ end in 72 days, i. e. on February 17, 2014 (previously February 11, 2014).

Method 2: 591 days (April 25, 2012 to December 7, 2013) ÷ 89% (0% to 89%) = 6.640 days/% (previously 6.591)
⇒ end in 73 days, i. e. on February 18, 2014 (previously February 13, 2014).

Method 3: 382 days (November 20, 2012 to December 7, 2013) ÷ 73% (16% to 89%) = 5.233 days/% (previously 5.153)
⇒ end in 58 days, i. e. on February 3, 2014 (previously January 27, 2014).

____________________________

Best quote ever (TSS ending spoiler):

Shendy
Level: Master Delver
Rank Points: 132
Registered: 07-01-2010
IP: Logged

89.1%

Nuntar
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 4756
Registered: 02-20-2007
IP: Logged

89.15% I bet you did another tiny increase just so I could have a rank point for my birthday!

____________________________
50th Skywatcher

larrymurk
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 1917
Registered: 12-09-2004
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Nuntar wrote:
89.15% I bet you did another tiny increase just so I could have a rank point for my birthday!

Make it 2!

Happy Birthday!!

robin
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 845
Registered: 09-01-2004
IP: Logged

larrymurk wrote:

Nuntar wrote:
89.15% I bet you did another tiny increase just so I could have a rank point for my birthday!

Make it 2!

Happy Birthday!!

I couldn't resist, have 3

____________________________

mrimer
Level: Legendary Smitemaster

Rank Points: 5141
Registered: 02-04-2003
IP: Logged

Happy birthday!

For this increase, I worked on screenshots for the sell screen (etc).

Here, have a little present from me (another TSS "spoiler", if you've been following those).

____________________________
Gandalf? Yes... That's what they used to call me.
Gandalf the Grey. That was my name.
I am Gandalf the White.
And I come back to you now at the turn of the tide.

---

[Last edited by mrimer at 12-09-2013 05:04 PM]

Nuntar
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 4756
Registered: 02-20-2007
IP: Logged

89.25% You are too kind

____________________________
50th Skywatcher

mrimer
Level: Legendary Smitemaster

Rank Points: 5141
Registered: 02-04-2003
IP: Logged

Congrats! Three for three!

I've finished work on the sell screen screenshots and integrated them into the game. They're all nice, but the sell screen itself is (hopefully) something you will want to come back to again and again.

____________________________
Gandalf? Yes... That's what they used to call me.
Gandalf the Grey. That was my name.
I am Gandalf the White.
And I come back to you now at the turn of the tide.

---

[Last edited by mrimer at 12-09-2013 11:37 PM]

BlueFlower
Level: Master Delver
Rank Points: 160
Registered: 10-27-2013
IP: Logged

34.000 Bar clicks!

We're getting somewhere... In clicks.

____________________________
?????

12th Archivist
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 789
Registered: 12-07-2008
IP: Logged

89.35%.

So. Much. Progress.

____________________________
It was going well until it exploded.
~Scott Manley

Check out the DROD Wikia project here!

The spitemaster
Level: Smiter
Rank Points: 354
Registered: 06-09-2005
IP: Logged

89.45%

Anyone excited about the Hobbit coming out?


____________________________
Last night upon a stair
I met a man that wasn't there
He wasn't there again today
I wish that man would stay away

mrimer
Level: Legendary Smitemaster

Rank Points: 5141
Registered: 02-04-2003
IP: Logged

We can't think about things like that or progress slows.

____________________________
Gandalf? Yes... That's what they used to call me.
Gandalf the Grey. That was my name.
I am Gandalf the White.
And I come back to you now at the turn of the tide.

Pinnacle
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 1135
Registered: 06-10-2004
IP: Logged

89.5%

Progress is progress.

____________________________
Once (adv.): Enough.
Twice (adv.): Once too often.
~Ambrose Bierce, The Devil's Dictionary

mrimer
Level: Legendary Smitemaster

Rank Points: 5141
Registered: 02-04-2003
IP: Logged

We've been working on gluing everything together in the hold. I've been saying that for a while, but TSS is huge, so that's a lot of glue. Jacob has been doing excellent steady work on this front. It requires great attention to detail and continuity. He deserves a cake.

We see a light at the end of the tunnel. We now have a punch list of exactly what's left to do for these final percentage points. We'll be knocking items off, one at a time, until we're done:

* Final CNet code [0.5]
* Other remaining code changes [0.4]
* Final level entrance texts [0.15]
* Final story/puzzle levels [0.45]
* Hold integrations [0.4]
* Hold finalization [0.25]
* Script finalization [0.25]
* Voice recording [2.0]
* Voice editing [1.0]
* Voice import [0.5]
* Installer [0.5]
* Beta testing + bug fixes [2.0]
* OS X port + linux installer [0.5]
* Credits text [0.1]
* CG web pages [0.15]
* Demo version [0.2]
* CD cover art [0.25]
* Trailer [0.65]
* Press releases and Illuminations [0.25]

This list doesn't look that bad, but there's a hydra of details lurking beneath. I expect we'll be spending the next three months or more wrapping these up.

____________________________
Gandalf? Yes... That's what they used to call me.
Gandalf the Grey. That was my name.
I am Gandalf the White.
And I come back to you now at the turn of the tide.

---

[Last edited by mrimer at 12-13-2013 12:25 AM]

Nuntar
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 4756
Registered: 02-20-2007
IP: Logged

Wow This is so exciting!

Also... just got this message, which I don't think has been posted here yet....

59 people have discovered all of the secrets the bar holds!

____________________________
50th Skywatcher

robin
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 845
Registered: 09-01-2004
IP: Logged

89,6% whoohoo

Looking at mike's shedual, this means the end credits are done ;-)

____________________________

---

[Last edited by robin at 12-15-2013 10:36 PM]

mrimer
Level: Legendary Smitemaster

Rank Points: 5141
Registered: 02-04-2003
IP: Logged

Nah...that one will have to wait till we actually get to the end. I started putting together material for the release trailer.

____________________________
Gandalf? Yes... That's what they used to call me.
Gandalf the Grey. That was my name.
I am Gandalf the White.
And I come back to you now at the turn of the tide.