News and Updates
This post will be used to post periodic updates about the development. It will often be updated after meetings and when milestones are reached. Latest news is at the top for those who do not wish to read all the old updates.
April 11th, 2018
It's about time for another update on the development progress for STEP 3.0. Currently, Mator has the bones and much of the functionality of the CMS built and working. We are about to move into more of the design and content stages. This means fleshing out the navigation, pages, and content for those pages. There will likely be some tweaking along the way as Z and I start working with the CMS in the way we'll be using it. Once this is fleshed out a bit, we'll be moving onto a live environment on the new server for further development and testing. We're hoping for a time frame between 2 to 4 weeks before we're actually on the new server.
On the Guide side of development, I have made it into the gameplay grouping of mods for the Extended Guide (aka STEP Pack). This means I have worked through two of the most time-consuming and difficult sections; textures/meshes and sounds. I did a complete compare and analysis of these two sections as they desperately needed them. I'm quite happy with how the Pack is turning out under the Mod Picker categories. I feel users will have an even easier and smoother experience as more of the information for the Guide will be more integrated. Once this is complete, I will move on to creating the Core Guide within Mod Picker, which will be very quick and easy to do thanks to Mod Picker. Going forward, this "Core" Guide will be what users can clone to create their own Packs using the Mod Picker platform. These Packs are planned to be displayed within the CMS, once approved by staff. This means the Packs based off the STEP Core Guide will be viewable to all the STEP community straight from our new website.
There hasn't been much discussion regarding the forums and wiki. These platforms will require very little work, in comparison. They will mainly need to be updated and themed. Therefore, these two platforms will be among the last to get completed before the re-launch. Keep in mind, the current site will remain on the current server during all development. Users will get to experience the new server when we are ready for the re-launch to go live.
We'd like to thank all of the community for making this possible and for sticking with us through the development process!
January 19th, 2018
After holiday update...
As you might imagine, the holidays was a slowdown for development in favor of spending extra time with family and friends. Therefore, there isn't much to report. The development of the web application has started and Mator has given the Admin a general overview of the workings of the development environment. The updated version of the forum software has also been purchased and will be used during development. Users will not see the new software until release. Finally, the STEP Guide continues to be reworked under the Mod Picker categories. The first phase of the Guide's conversion, which is a complete graphical analysis and review, is currently underway.
The reveal discussed in the last update will be released within the next week or two. We're just finalizing the announcement.
Dec 6th, 2017
Another quick update...
This week we are in the process of finalizing some real-life stuff to do with the project as a whole. We will likely reveal what this is after the first of the year and prior to 3.0 release since it's a pretty large change and is actually already in effect now. As for dev work, Mator has started putting some stuff together, however, the majority of this work will start up within the next few weeks. During this time we'll be purchasing all the software and other things needed to complete the work. Stay tuned! Things will start getting exciting very soon!
Nov 12th, 2017
Just a quick update after our Hangout today...
Tonight's meeting was mainly catching up with where everyone was sitting with the planning, getting into some details about Mod Picker, discussing future avenues, and getting our project management environment started. We're getting closer to starting development. I would say we're within the final stages of the planning now. Once the planning is complete, the pace will likely quicken since we've laid a good, solid foundation by digging into details early on. There is still some prep work to do, but I can say that progress is being made.