Tsar Hoikas wrote:I'm not sure what exactly branan is smoking, but nearly all of the planned PRP changes we have will be backwards compatible. Uru will still be able to read the older PRPs, you just won't be able to produce the latest and greatest PRP files with it. Aside from that, it would be nice if those with older versions of max would be willing to help provide older versions of the plugin.
The main difficulty of making a new PyPRP is the fact that we have at most 5 programmers on a very good day (this never happens), 1 on an average day, and NONE most of the time. The universal hate and fire-throwing helps decrease that to even less. We're already spread extremely thin here with working on client stuff and max stuff. Let's not even talk about how we don't have an acceptable server solution yet.
Thanks,
The guy who has skipped lots of studying for doing Plasma work.
EDIT: Because I missed part of tach's post. libHSPlasma is pretty much "done" except for some PotS<->MOUL<->EoA conversion routines. What really needs attention is the PyPRP2 scripts, the GUIs (there should never be a need to edit an AlcScript file in PyPRP2), and the exporter itself.
+1 What Tach said (except I can't code)
With resources this thin, some strategic planning and communicating approximate timelines might be helpful. From what I've read, this is supposed to be a collaborative community, not a bunch of individuals building by themselves and for themselves. To collaborate, we need a stable central server. One of the critical ingredients to building quality ages is community feedback. Without a server, no community feedback, everyone is working in the dark. How long would it take to get a stable server up and running with the limited time/number of developers that we have if we left them alone and they made that their primary focus?
Assuming Deep Island is kept running so that the older ages are still available and people can still use that environment to continue to develop and improve their building skills, once the new server is up, then it would make sense to address a means of getting fan-content to the server. What to work on first?
Builders need a compatible, stable client that doesn't need a super dev to install. Again, if builders can't manage the client installation, they can't build (or at least I can't
). And if the builders can't manage the client installation, how can we expect the average fan to install it?
Once both of the above are available, I see one of two choices - either the devs choose to shut up the most people at once, which I
think would mean prioritizing getting PyPRP2 working with Blender to port ages to the new software or the devs focus on what they can get up and functional the fastest. Whatever they choose, not everyone will be happy.
If the devs choose to focus on the 3ds Max plug-in first, the 2010 Version can be purchased right now for $260. The 2009 Version is available for $125. Autodesk only provides updates for four years, so the price tag on the software drops like a rock as it ages. Since I don't see them getting any of this functional for several months at least, the price of 3ds Max 2010 will probably take another huge drop by the time it's needed. Building ages is a hobby for all of us. None of us are being paid for this. But I don't know too many hobbies that cost only $100-$200 every several years or so. We're still getting away dirt cheap.
In case anyone is taking a tally, I prefer free open source software that I can keep updated for free. Still, I won't complain if I need a to spend a couple hundred dollars to keep moving forward. It's worth it to me. $3,400
Not so much.
Whatever the developers do, can we all please remember that we already have perfectly functional and free software to do all of this. And from what I've seen, there are only a very select few builders (and, no, I' don't consider myself in that league) who couldn't use the interim time to improve our skills.
What I am certain will not work is the devs attempting to work on everything at once in a hopeless attempt to please the entire community. So, my question to Hoikas and the developers is - do you have a focused plan and anything remotely resembling a timeline for implementation? If so, could you share that? It would make it much easier for me to plan accordingly if I didn't feel so dang clueless about what to expect and when to expect it.