With the release of today's hotfix, that somewhat throws my plans (or the perception of them at least) out of order. I am super-grateful to everyone that's played the mod and given feedback thus far. My aim is to clear the air and lay out more detailed plans.
All future updates will contain any necessary shoring up of code that presents itself. The same goes for any tweaks I feel are in order, whether my own ideas or those gathered from all of you kind folks. This will consist primarily of minor updates for quite some time.
New additions are out of the question at this point, barring monsters to be added to Annihilation Nation. I still have several map-specific monsters to make, as well as all five bosses. Basically, no new weapons, gadgets, gameplay elements, items, powerups, or random monsters. There is one exception. I have had numerous suggestions to incorporate Ratchet's "Comet Strike" wrench-throwing ability. I want to do this too, believe me! Should the sprites become available to me, I will add this to the mod posthaste.
My main focus from this point forward will be the maps. I will release maps as individual WAD files to gather feedback. This will be primarily to test for structure, aesthetics, and pacing than for challenge, as I can't gauge that until all the maps have been collected into the main PK3 file. You'll be able to add these WADs to your load order after rc.pk3, and they will replace the placeholder maps already in effect. Once every map is done, I will collect them into the main file, and make the necessary adjustments for the release of v1.2.
What are these adjustments? First and foremost, those elevators in NATION00 (the lobby) need to be locked, as they are supposed to require all of an area's crystals to open. The second depends on people's thoughts on the subject. Should I make the elevators two way, or leave them as points of no return?
I am going to try my absolute hardest not to touch the ACS until the next major update, as I am aware that any updating of the scripts breaks all existing saves. I make no promises other than that I will give my best effort.
That's all for now. When mapping gets underway, I will post articles containing preview screenshots and videos for your viewing pleasure.
Thanks for reading!
