In this post I'll discuss what Unreal Software did last year and what my plans for 2018 look like.
2017 Summary
I mainly committed to CS2D development in 2017 (with the help of some awesome people!)
Successful Steam Greenlight campaign (29th of April, greenlit on 8th of June)
Amazing CS2D Steam launch (15th of November)
Some (minor) Stranded III progress, mainly 3D models though
2018 Plans
Many people are waiting for Stranded III several years already. The slow development and the long breaks in between are not a good thing.
I set the wrong focus and worked too much on 3D models and UI. The biggest problem is that I do not have a playable prototype with enough features which makes it hard to keep myself motivated.
I'm also not very happy with several things in the current code base. E.g. the Unity terrain which is simply not good enough for what I want to achieve.
Therefore I will focus on the following things regarding Stranded III:
Making a minimalist Unity multiplayer prototype (proof of concept, separate project)
Working on an alternative terrain / map structure
Merge all this with the Stranded III code base and assets
Of course I also want to keep working on CS2D. I do not set huge goals here because I want to focus more on Stranded III:
Increase stability and fix bugs
Improve Steam integration
More is possible but there are no definite plans
Last but not least there is a third thing which cries for my attention: UnrealSoftware.de
The current layout and implementation is from April 2010 which means it's nearly 8 years old.
The web however changes rapidly and smart phones became much more important in the last few years. Therefore I really would like to work on it:
Rework the UnrealSoftware.de with a responsive webdesign (mobile friendly)
Use new technology (PHP 7, latest jQuery)
Improve usability with more JavaScript magic
Move everything to another vServer package (still Strato as provider)
I would rewrite most parts of the page but I want to keep all data (accounts, posts, files, etc) so nothing gets lost.
So far my - possibly too ambitious* - plans for 2018.
*) please note that these are really just plans and thoughts. I can't and do not guarantee that I'll manage to finish all this in 2018.