With sprint 15 wrapping up, we’re pushing hard to squeeze as much as we can into these last few days. The web team has done a ton of work getting our ecommerce … more…up and running. Our shipping system is providing/collecting all the necessary information including product details, dimensions, and item weight. There’s a little polish and debugging work to do yet, but the basic system is done.
One of the first things to clean up became apparent during the meeting, when we saw the daunting list of shipping options Jared had included. Right now we have everything from the big 3 carriers to smaller local services, pony express, dog sleds, and just some guy named Ed. Of course, we made sure that all purchases would be integrated into our invitation and affiliate program, so you can get rewarded when someone you’ve invited to play makes a purchase. You can read the specifics in the FAQ by clicking on the Tributes, Affiliates, & Invitation System section.
All these shipping options and a working country/region widget, got us talking about shipping merchandise to other countries. For those of you unaware, shipping things overseas can be quite an involved process. Every country has it’s own shipping regulations with different restrictions, licensing, and import provisions. Most of the time it’s just a little more paperwork, but that’s not always the case. Shipping shirts and stickers is pretty easy, but it can get more complicated when you’re shipping beverages or coins.
Jesse continued work on our ingame company branding and logos, so we can make real world versions for the store and players who’ve bought packages. We’re working on Manimal logos, SSHAM branding, and coin designs. We hope to have real life kula and rai soon.
With San and the team working on a tactical map to allow you to see where your House members are located and get alerts when they need help, we started to look into creating a custom visual map of the game area. Jesse found some really interesting tools for making custom 3D maps. He’s working on a simple version now, which shows off the terrain of the Lahaina area, and will one day include the important points of interest from the game.
The art team continued adding details to houses and various buildings. As you can see below, a skilled tile layer would have no problem finding work after the fracture.
They showed off a few smaller designs for basic structures and furniture that could be used as staging props throughout the game, and a model for Auntie Oki’s exclusive line of boar-tusk brooms. With the addition of the small props this week, there was some concern about taking time away from our larger projects. While, it is equally suited for cleaning a room of dirt and opponents, the broom is not going to be for everyone. The Thorcon power plant, Veil station, and communication tower are all huge buildings that will be used by everyone. We discussed the delicate balance of continuing detail work on these main structures while still producing new small props. The detail work is almost done inside the communication tower. The interior is beautiful and would provide a window washer with a lifetime of work. Now that it’s reached peak pretty, we plan on adding the effects of a worldwide cataclysm and 60 years of neglect.
We’ll be back with another update next week, as well as a look at what we have planned in sprint 16.