Posted on Behalf of SOF Studios President, Tom
Hello H-Hour Community!
The Workshop tests have gone very well. It required a lot of dedicated hours from the team to get to this point where we could check off most of the boxes on the many changes introduced. Our test mappers had to convert their maps from 4.8.3 to 4.11.2 before they could begin working with the new Editor and Uploader files. To complicate things for the testers, our dev team surprised them with some unexpected new features that definitely increased the learning curve and added the need for additional test times, more Editor tweaks and many changes to our guide. We saw chats lighting up yesterday when the first workshop server went online so I know there is much interest out there in getting these maps back online. The team is working hard to get his done for everyone.
We are moving to phase II of workshop testing now but we thought we would share a video so you can see some of what will soon be made available for use in our new WorkshopEditorApp. Thanks goes to SelflessOne for creating a special test map and these videos!
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLb3O7XZXK3DZzzW026cf0Eh_WM7IpJ1EY
What’s Ahead?
- We are moving to phase II of testing, one of our Workshop Monitors, PoisonCobra2 has agreed to test out our guide and the current tools with a map he has already converted to 4.11.2. The team will be working closely with him as well as finalizing the remaining stress tests to be completed by our dev test mappers this week. This will allow us to button up all the details and make any last changes needed prior to release of the tools.
- As time permitted, the team has also been addressing a few minor non-game play tweaks/additions to be included with the workshop patch.
- We checked in with the studio who are assessing our animations, both existing and our future needs. They are still reviewing the mass of accumulated content they received along with checking our source animations, characters and rigging. Once they complete their assessment and provide details on the work involved, we will share what we can on the subject.
- On the investor front, due diligence is still underway and positive ground has been made. More meetings are planned in the coming weeks. I ask for your continued patience and support with the process and let’s hope things continue to head in the correct direction.
On another note, we have been watching the feedback in the forums to our weekly updates. Based on that it seems the reality of our development pace along with the lengthy discussions that need to happen with investors to get everything vetted and approved does not give us enough of the information you want to see. To improve the quality of our communications with you, we are looking on a trial basis to move our Quick Looks to a bi-weekly basis (next QL will be 22 August). We feel this way the content they contain will be fuller and more meaningful. At the same time, we will commit to making any special announcements of newsworthy events on the forums and/or social media so you are as up-to-date as possible. We will reassess this over time and make changes needed to ensure the H-Hour community gets timely and quality information on the game. Perhaps in future, it might be more appropriate to change to focusing on immediate announcements for newsworthy events with an even longer term outlook release so the community sees what is happening not only today but for the near future. I am very interested in hearing from the H-Hour community what would best meet your needs in our information releases in the future so please let us know your thoughts.
I want to thank everyone for another great week on H-Hour. Our volunteers and the H-Hour community is second to none. With so much dedication and commitment within our community, I feel more and more positive everyday about the bright future that awaits H-Hour. Thanks everyone for your patience and continued support!