Long Overdue Update
Hello everyone, it's been a very long time since my last update, and I have several important things to share.
First off, I want to give a shoutout to BlueShepherd for assisting me with transcribing my work to a PDF format. Major thanks man, your assistance is greatly appreciated!!
Second, let's talk release date. I know I'm gonna catch a blaster bolt for this, and I do greatly apologize, however the starter kit and full release will be delayed a few more months (more on the reason why in a moment). Just to provide a status update, I'm still finalizing the player classes and writing up the actual starter kit (which will be in PDF format). My problem is that A.) I'm a perfectionist and try to do everything perfectly, and B.) I keep worrying too much about "game balance" and "trying to stay true to Star Wars". I've spent lots of time researching forum after forum regarding what people love & hate about SW: Saga, SW: Revised Core, and even WEG SW D6 (which I have to say, I've fallen in love with D6 Star Wars after having read the 2nd ed revised & expanded rulebook). I also am striving to keep my work as in-tune with 5th edition and also Star Wars at the same time. The result, is a nightmare in trying to perfectly emulate each class (especially Jedi!) according to source material, while at the same time trying to stay true to D&D 5th edition rules while simultaneously capturing the fast-paced, heroic, dramatic feel of Star Wars. It can't be done. Unless I were to custom design my own game engine (which I'm not), it's difficult to do all those things at the same time. I've pretty much had to step back and say "Okay, my goal is for it to be played as comfortable and elegantly as D&D 5th ed. while still FEELING like Star Wars, but above all I want people to have FUN while playing." So, my point is that I've had to (once again) rethink my design choices and redo a few things (player classes being one of them). In terms of release date (for starter kit or full release), I don't have an exact date, only a (vague) future release.
Now, on to the reason WHY it's taking me a bit longer. So, I recently had an opportunity to attend a coding bootcamp at a local university and I could not pass up the chance. I'd been planning on going back to school to study computer science and hopefully get a bachelor's in software engineering, however I found it difficult to balance full time class with work also 4 years of costs etc etc. Then this opportunity came up and I was able to balance work with evening classes and I just had to jump on it. My daily schedule now consists of working a full time job with evening classes along with weekly coding assignments. My fellow web developers out there know what it's like to learn HTML/CSS/Javascript/jQuery/Ruby/PHP/MySQL. Before anyone panics, I want to reassure you that I AM *NOT* GIVING UP OR CALLING IT QUITS ON MY PROJECT. In fact, I am still actively working on it when I'm able to. Unfortunately, my free time outside of work has been stretched thin because I'm now studying. On the upside, class only lasts UNTIL THE BEGINNING OF DECEMBER, at which point I will have graduated and moved into a nicer job as an entry-level full stack web developer. Sometimes life happens, and you get an opportunity that you can't pass up.
At any rate, progress might slow down for the next few months but it will not stop. I remain just as dedicated now as I was when I first started. Thanks everyone for the support, you all are incredible! May the Force be with you!
Sincerely,
Famouswolfe