This week the web team is focusing on clearing out the last of the shopping cart bugs and smoothing out any lingering rough spots. We’ve got most of the latest bugs fixed now, and are making sure the physical items we have ready, shirts and posters, are displayed correctly. The shopping cart will accept game packages now too, so those of you so inclined can help support the game, and get some cool stuff both in the game, and in real life.
We still need to integrate our virtual currency, Kula, and make sure that players can use it to purchase certain items. Jared is working to make sure that things that need an actual shipping address get handled correctly, so merch gets shipped out in a reasonable time. We’ll be hooking up players cash wallets soon as well, so you’ll be able to spend the money you get from our referral system (read more about how that works by clicking on the “Tributes, Affiliates, & Invitation System” link in the FAQ).
The cart is now working well enough that we turned it over to Chris for testing in the worst possible scenario, a 15 hour flight coming back from Australia. If his order and checkout experience goes well: using the airline’s wifi, while a bored child kicks the back of his seat, and the person next to him talks about how their life has been completely changed after visiting McKinlay, to see the real life Walkabout Creek Hotel featured in “Crocodile Dundee”, it will work anywhere, in any situation.
There was a lot of work done on player screens this week as well. Jesse made new wireframes for: Inventory, crafting, and talent screens. Our old color scheme got a new color after we decided that we needed one more class of items. We talked through some of the layout of the existing crafting screen, and discussed different color/display options. There was some discussion about whether or not we want some sort of visual cue for quality on different recipes, so you can easily see that one pattern is for the mother-of-all tactical masks and another is more mundane. We’re also cleaning up the crafting queue to make it less confusing.
We looked at a settings page mockup to adjust graphics, audio, and keybindings, as well as character status icons. Now you can easily see when you are poisoned, starving, hypothermic, or suffering from a bad case of rat lungworm disease. We’re still working on making sure that specific parts of the body can be treated, like an infection in your right leg. The Early Access disclaimer will be added soon too. We want to make sure that people understand that there’s a lot of fun things to do, but the game is still a work in progress.
Lastly, the art team continued work on the Thorcon plant and various small props and items. As you can see, the infamous boar tusk broom is ready just in time to help players keep the Thorcon locker room clean and orderly.
We’ll be back with more game updates, and possibly more movie references next week.
