Hi all - well, the few of you who are still paying attention to this topic
I do like reading your comments, because they remind me of some of the really good moments we've had
. It's quite satisfying to know how my (mis)adventures have inspired people, and even affected the base game a bit. And while you apologize for abandoning the mod, you
are still here talking with me about it.
--
Honestly, I can't blame you, or reasonably expect much enthusiasm for version 3, especially after what I've put you through. A year gone dark, uncooperative GitHub, and ground-wrenching reconstructions would probably see me quit as well if I wasn't so possessed with (by? of? linguistics
) this project. And that's okay. Hard to believe I put out such a giant (and UNTESTED) mod thinking it was anywhere near playable
. And once I realized this, maybe I didn't emphasize enough my feeling that one should not sink too much time into it. Over my handful of test worlds through the entire XM development, I think I haven't put more than about 12 hours into any single one, and not more than 50 in totality.
--
Although the balancing in previous versions was
atrocious, something must have changed in me this past year, because the material I'm writing now feels totally different in-game. My latest test world has run about 11 hours, after which I'm up to middle green science and a first short railway. This world has just about topped out with the XM content so far; I'll post the save once the new version is actually out.
--
I plan to publish my current progress soon, as 3.1.0, but again it's only working up to middle green science, so I would recommend waiting a while before playing a real world. A suggestion: do what I do when I evaluate a big mod. Load up a brand new world in the map editor (which is much better now than it was a couple years ago), and page through the items, tech tree, recipes, etc. In the past my go-to for evaluating a mod would be the zip file directly, but the map editor is now way more efficient. I think the zip itself is now better for looking at code, structures, and similar under-the-hood details.
--
Graphics, and even some gameplay content, are generally similar to previous major versions, at least at the high level. You won't find any visuals on the caliber of Industrial Revolution, but they're passable by my standards. Probably the look and feel says as much about me as vice-versa. I've (
LONG overdue ) added a bit in the main post describing some of my mental concepts behind the mod - the superposition, and how it works into my understanding of model accuracy in building a mod for a computer game.
--
I do plan to upload the 3.0 and 3.1 releases to GitHub, but with the efficaciousness of my new workflow, and need for everything to be just so, I'm uncertain of the worth in close collaboration for the next little while. I remember how generously help was offered me for previous versions, and that you're looking up industry on your own brings me a smile
, but I think I need some time to work things out myself.