Status update

Hey guys!  Just a quick update to let you know where everything is at.

What was
This week we released two demos of the new low maintenance avatar.  Producing this was our main focus in August; implementing it will speed up general development because it's much easier to work with than the old avatar.  I'm really excited about it, and am especially grateful to Victoria for pouring lots of love and time into this project, and to Lara and Hyneman for making it work in the game engine.

What is
As explained in my 'Kok Blocked post, we next need to update (or cut) the existing scenes in the game so they use the new avatar.  We're currently focusing on the setup and early Lifepath sections of the story, and here's where we're at with those:

• We refactored the source code, so it's no longer one single text file with 138,000 lines of code, and is instead structured in a way that's easier for us to use.
• We invented and tested a new "storyboarding" technique, which will make it easier for team & community writers to contribute scenes to the story.  Yesterday esclavage wrote a test scene and said: "storyboarding is working out so much better...it's never been easier to write.  The biggest breakthrough to me is the Slide Headers -> now I reference them as an anchor point to talk to other writers and the coders."  (More detail on this new system soon.)
• We finalised details on some game mechanics that were vague and undefined in the last version of the game (and therefore caused general dev drag, because half-implemented mechanics can't easily be used).  Specifically we revised Attributes & Skills, and designed a new Quirks system that simplifies so much.
• Now we're working more like a team, internal documentation has become crucial, so we set up a detailed project plan on monday.com and also ditched the clunky, hardly-used STONEGHOST internal dev docs system and implemented a new, simple dev wiki.
• We put the new wiki on the game's long-neglected website, and added a few pages to the site.  It's mostly placeholder, but we did install a working FAQ to which you guys can contribute questions which won't get lost (like Patreon comments can).  Please visit and help us build the FAQ by sending us questions!
• Plus a bunch of other stuff but this post is already too long, sheesh is anybody still reading this

What will be
The next release will be a demo of character setup and early lifepath.  I'll keep you posted on progress and let you know when we have an idea of a release date.

I am gonna take the weekend off to recharge, so I can hit my taskings aggressively next week.  So that's it from me – have a great weekend, and I'll be back with an update on Monday.  See you then!