CCS 1.0.5 Update - 2012 Annual Plan
Posted by Suzanna Soyinka on January 28 2012 03:54:01
Just to ensure everyone is aware of the status of development of the Community Combat System I figured I'd do a quick news update to give people an idea of our intended road map for the system over the next year.
First of all we've been working on CCS 1.0.5 and there are beta units in testing and play out in the general network as of this time. The testers are providing us with plenty of feedback in regards to potential faults or bugs in the deployment candidate and we're doing our best to ensure this next meter update is completely solid and bug free, providing Linden Labs doesn't break another LSL operator somewhere in the next 12 months.
The are a few reasons for the long delay on this update, the first being that we want to solidify and finalize all the features of CCS as it is now in the CCS 1.0.5 meter release so the game experience continues to be as efficient and fun to play as possible for all our users. There has also been a few recent additions to the LSL scripting language that we're currently adapting the 1.0.5 version of the meter around to ensure better efficiency and security. And also we are taking our time with this release so we can pretty much freeze CCS 1.0.5 as the final version of the Community Combat System as it is currently designed.
Our development road map for after CCS 1.0.5 is fairly in-depth. We intend to immediately address the situation with the CCS 3rd Party API Development market by finalizing API 3.0 as our next major step in the development process, and it will become our next development priority after the CCS 1.0.5 release.
It is my intention, once we have finalized CCS 1.0.5 and API 3.0 as completely sanded off and as bug free as possible, to declare the Community Combat System as it is currently as a final product. This means that other than addressing exploits or faults in the game balance, we will do no further development of the Community Combat System beyond the 1.0.5 meter release and the API 3.0 update.
This does not mean that we are going to call it a day and sit around doing nothing though.
In 2009 I roughed out a very rough development document that revolved around the idea of an RPG that would succeed CCS as the next chapter of Second Life game development for this design team. With the upcoming release of the Linden Lab Game Development Kit, it is my intent to focus fully on making that system I saw a reality.
I realize that many people do not understand why development takes as long as it does. And why CCS2 was not already completed, but the demands of the gigantic network of players and sims under CCS as it currently is has constantly required my attention since the end of 2009 when I roughed out the plan for CCS2, and with our small development team, it simply has not been feasible to work the CCS2 project while attempting to cater to the current CCS project as responsibly as possible.
So effectively, once we've released CCS 1.0.5, be on the look out for API 3.0 not too long after that. And after both are released and shown to be working as intended, you may not hear much from the CCS Development Team until the CCS2 beta starts.
CCS is a great system, with a great player base, but it is well past time to advance the concept. And to continue maintaining CCS development at the rate we've maintained it over the last five years would simply keep CCS2 from happening at all. And it is my belief that CCS2 will address the inequities and imbalances of the CCS system, which was never designed with the level of success its had in mind, and allow role play development of characters in a more free form manner where levels no longer matter and its the skill of character design and understanding how your design works that truly makes the difference in who your character is "in" CCS2, and how that character plays.
So thats basically the plan. I'm not abandoning CCS at all, so please do not get that impression, but theres a time when you have to step back and declare something as done as it can possibly be, and the only way to improve on it will be to rebuild it entirely from the ground up.
CoLA residents and players can expect something of the same in regards to a redesign and recommitting of time and resources to refining the CoLA community experience as well, with not only a new mesh build, but many improvements in regards to how the city is structured and refocus on our story and lore as the basis for our communities foundation.
So thats pretty much my intentions. With the time that myself, Melanie and Maldoror have, my intention is to move forward, rather than continue to spin our wheels in the same place, as we have for several years now.
As per my statements when I first revealed my plans for CCS2, CCS will always stay available for communities that prefer to use it, and CCS records will not be reset in any way. All players will retain everything they have gained over the time they have played.
So in final, CCS 1.0.5 and API 3.0 is for you, our players and sim owners. CCS2 is for us, so we can once again push out the envelope of what Second Life can do, and perhaps you all will like it too, once we've got it finished, and you've gotten to see the vision I had two years ago.
Thanks all, appreciate your patience and your support!