- Final 40% of spell effects
- Buy spells from mages guild
- Magic items & potions (and related crafting UIs)
- Custom character creator & history questions
- Vampire/werebeast gameplay
- Daedra summoning
To help stay focused over the next several months, I'm setting myself a few ground rules to follow. I may add to these at any time. If I feel something or someone is dragging my focus away from the task at hand, then I'll refer either myself or the other person back to this post. If you guys see me going off on a tangent, I want you to refer me back to this post.
Here goes:
Core Features Come First
This means the roadmap (including quest system and spell effects) will have priority over everything else. I want to spend as much time as possible actually cranking out core gameplay from this point forwards. The mod framework can continue to build out as this is largely independent of the core now.
Bug Fixes Must Be Bug Fixes
By this, I mean fixing something in the Bug Reports forum, not just moving code around or "improving stuff" that's already working in the game. I don't have the time to test major changes to code that has already been battle-tested and running for years now. Every fix must be focused, purposeful, and crystal clear.
Minimal Distractions
I always try to help end users, modders, library hackers, quest authors, and other generally-interested people by supporting them with new changes and additional support in the base game. That is about to dry up for a while. I love everything you folk are doing, but I only have so many hours in the day. If there's something you want to see in the base game, you might have to wait for a bit before it can happen.
Limited Touch To Core
Unless it's supporting a core feature or fixing a very clear bug (see above), I want to see as few changes to the core as possible. I want to establish a baseline of quality and stability in the game from this point moving forwards. This doesn't mean the core is off limits, but it does mean that I'm going to be a lot more protective of changes to base code.
Quality, Quality, Quantity
I will be much stricter on myself and others from this point that code is of a reasonable standard. There's no point getting the job done if it's a hot mess at the end. We're actually pretty great at fixing stuff around here and things usually don't stay broken very long. I'd like this to continue this so the game keeps getting better day over day. I want our alpha to be more stable than most games' betas.
New Contributors, Please Look Into Mod System
I definitely don't want to exclude new developers from coming into the project. But as far the base game is concerned, that ship has already sailed. My feeling is this late into the project, we've already found every core contributor that's likely to be a part of the base game anyway. I will start directing new contributors towards the mod system as a way of learning about the project and experimenting in a way that doesn't involve changing the core.
This Is Only Temporary
Our community spirit is a big part of what makes this project special. Our open acceptance of newcomers and hacker mindset is much too valuable to lose. The name Daggerfall Unity doesn't just refer to the engine, it's a battle cry for what I want the project to achieve for the Daggerfall community as a whole. So all of the above is only temporary. Once the base game is done, I'm going to take a few steps back to see what the community can do with it. I want the game to belong to everyone. But for now, I can't spare the time to chase a constantly moving target. I need to stake the end-game and just get this thing done.
Thank you everyone for your continued encouragement and kind words around the project. This is a free game made from love in my spare time with the help of others also working out of love in their spare time. Sometimes that encouragement is the only thing keeping us going.
Cheers!