Hey all,
It's been a while. The work for 4UC integration continues, and it's taken significantly longer than originally projected.
That's not surprising given the magnitude of the work involved, our limited resources, and a few other features we've been working on, such as the remapper and better error handling. However, the end is near enough that I'm happy to announce I can provide a feasible timeline. We may even stick to it this time!
Because VP Congress Session #9 will be a massive session, as it covers proposals that couldn't be submitted in Session #8 and the skipped October and January sessions (making it essentially 3-4 sessions in one) I am going to extend the timeline to allow for more time to make, sponsor, and process proposals.
Additionally, @L. Vern has agreed, once the 4UC release is stable, to do another run of AI test games to gather performance data on all the civilizations, which should help in proposing and counterproposing civ changes.
However, I don't want to open up proposals immediately after the release, as this will result in a lot of kneejerk reaction proposals, or ones that don't take into account the largest balance overhaul we've done in the history of Vox Populi. Ideally, I would like at least 2 weeks of time for players to experience the 4UC release before opening proposals, and at least 2 weeks of more time to make proposals after both a full month of playtesting and the release of the AI test game data.
Based on the remaining work to do, we're looking at a minimum of 6 more weeks of development time. This timeline is leaning on the optimistic side; 7 or 8 weeks of development time is possible, in which case this timeline will need to be revised.
Projected Timeline
January 14 - February 28: Finish 4UC integration. This includes:
March 1 - 14: 4UC is released for public playtesting on March 1. For these first two weeks, no proposals are allowed, bugs will be reported and hotfixes will be released. Once the game is stable, AI test games will begin being run. Additionally, I will begin an effort to reduce the GitHub issue backlog to 0, and work on the community roadmap will begin.
March 15 - 31: Proposals open for VP Congress Session #9. Playtesting, bugfixing, AI test games, and community roadmapping continue.
April 1: Ideal latest release date for AI test game data.
April 12 - 14: Session #9 Counterproposal Phase (3 days long). The Proposal Phase ends after running for 28 days (a 2 week extension; including the Counterproposal Phase, this gives 31 total days to make a proposal, 14 of them after one month of playtesting + the release of AI test game data).
April 15 - 19: Session #9 Sponsorship Phase (extended by 2 days, to 5 days long).
April 20 - 23: Session #9 Processing Phase (extended by 1 day, to 4 days long).
April 24 - 30: Session #9 Voting Phase (shortened by 1 day, to 7 days long; we've never needed more than 7 days to vote on proposals before, even in Session #8).
April 30: Ideal completion date for community roadmap and reduction of GitHub issue backlog to 0, which will continue throughout April.
May 1: Ideal launch date for community roadmap.
I will keep the community posted if this timeline looks likely to change. Take care, and thank you for your patience.
It's been a while. The work for 4UC integration continues, and it's taken significantly longer than originally projected.
That's not surprising given the magnitude of the work involved, our limited resources, and a few other features we've been working on, such as the remapper and better error handling. However, the end is near enough that I'm happy to announce I can provide a feasible timeline. We may even stick to it this time!
Because VP Congress Session #9 will be a massive session, as it covers proposals that couldn't be submitted in Session #8 and the skipped October and January sessions (making it essentially 3-4 sessions in one) I am going to extend the timeline to allow for more time to make, sponsor, and process proposals.
Additionally, @L. Vern has agreed, once the 4UC release is stable, to do another run of AI test games to gather performance data on all the civilizations, which should help in proposing and counterproposing civ changes.
However, I don't want to open up proposals immediately after the release, as this will result in a lot of kneejerk reaction proposals, or ones that don't take into account the largest balance overhaul we've done in the history of Vox Populi. Ideally, I would like at least 2 weeks of time for players to experience the 4UC release before opening proposals, and at least 2 weeks of more time to make proposals after both a full month of playtesting and the release of the AI test game data.
Based on the remaining work to do, we're looking at a minimum of 6 more weeks of development time. This timeline is leaning on the optimistic side; 7 or 8 weeks of development time is possible, in which case this timeline will need to be revised.
Projected Timeline
January 14 - February 28: Finish 4UC integration. This includes:
- Integrating new Leader Traits;
- Integrating new Project abilities;
- Integrating new Building abilities;
- Integrating new Unit abilities;
- Integrating new Promotion abilities;
- Finalizing the database work for all 43 civs;
- UI work, including adding text for all new components;
- Basic testing, although there is no way in hell that the 4UC release won't be a beta - expect bugs that will need to be reported and fixed.
March 1 - 14: 4UC is released for public playtesting on March 1. For these first two weeks, no proposals are allowed, bugs will be reported and hotfixes will be released. Once the game is stable, AI test games will begin being run. Additionally, I will begin an effort to reduce the GitHub issue backlog to 0, and work on the community roadmap will begin.
March 15 - 31: Proposals open for VP Congress Session #9. Playtesting, bugfixing, AI test games, and community roadmapping continue.
April 1: Ideal latest release date for AI test game data.
April 12 - 14: Session #9 Counterproposal Phase (3 days long). The Proposal Phase ends after running for 28 days (a 2 week extension; including the Counterproposal Phase, this gives 31 total days to make a proposal, 14 of them after one month of playtesting + the release of AI test game data).
April 15 - 19: Session #9 Sponsorship Phase (extended by 2 days, to 5 days long).
April 20 - 23: Session #9 Processing Phase (extended by 1 day, to 4 days long).
April 24 - 30: Session #9 Voting Phase (shortened by 1 day, to 7 days long; we've never needed more than 7 days to vote on proposals before, even in Session #8).
April 30: Ideal completion date for community roadmap and reduction of GitHub issue backlog to 0, which will continue throughout April.
May 1: Ideal launch date for community roadmap.
I will keep the community posted if this timeline looks likely to change. Take care, and thank you for your patience.
