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[Deboche]

Sorry if this has been posted before but this thread might actually save a lot of people from repeating themselves in the future.

I think it'd be useful to have a sticky in this section with all the planned development stuff -a sort of collection of all that we know about Toady's notes.

The Development section of the website is very brief and incomplete so we could make a gigantic list(with lots of collapsable spoiler thingies for each part) of all the little bits and pieces that we know will be in the final game. It'd probably need to be updated with each FoF reply but I'd certainly drool over the list from time to time.

[Trickman]

So many thumbs up for this. You have my axe.

[Footkerchief]

Much of the old dev_single is still relevant.  DF Talk is also a great resource (and there's a combined transcript that you can Ctrl+F).  Organizing all that information under a single umbrella would be a serious challenge.

[Deboche]

I was hoping to start with the broader concepts and have users help me by posting details they remember. I might have time later today to get started on this mammoth of a task if there's interest

[sirdave79]

It's a good idea I think. Probably lots of work. A lot of info is already there of course just scattered all over. I've read all the info I can find so I feel like I have an idea where we are with regards to development but there's always some comment that today makes somewhere that I've not read.

I would say that the framework for such a collection of info should be the devlog headings from the development page with develop entries relating to that heading as well as future of the the fortress replies, again with the comments/answers under the relevant headings.

[Manveru Taurënér]

Don't forget Threetoe's stories, that's probably the most easily overlooked source of development info. I only realized a few months ago there are development notes at the end of each story, much of which isn't detailed in the dev plans or DFtalks :>

[Trickman]

This could be a couple day's work, at most. I myself would do it if I weren't doing my end-of-degree project. I have little free time and I'd probably take weeks on and off to do so.

In any case, it would be wise to wait until DF2014 is out.

[sirdave79]

Development notes/comments on threetoe stories ?

See you learn something new every day.

I knew I should have read some of those!

[misko27]

I really support this idea, and I think it would be awesome. Footkerchief having doubts about getting all the info worries me though.

Development notes/comments on threetoe stories ?

See you learn something new every day.

I knew I should have read some of those!

I only found out a month or two ago myself.

[Footkerchief]

Footkerchief having doubts about getting all the info worries me though.

To expand, I see two big challenges.

The first is how to organize a giant network of ideas.  There are a couple approaches here.  The current dev page is a hierarchy/outline.  It gets the job done, but despite only including short-term goals, it's already too big to navigate, and it doesn't adequately express concepts that cut across the hierarchy.  dev_single is a giant montrosity that tries to express interconnectedness via pseudo-links -- doesn't work.  I think a wiki (e.g. a 'Dev' namespace on the DF wiki) is the way to go.

The second challenge is maintenance.  There's a constant flow of new information -- devlog, DF Talk, FotF, Twitter, even the occasional release.  You either keep capturing information, or become obsolete.  And what if someone is curious how the goals have changed over time?  A wiki helps with some aspects of this (collaboration, article history), but it still means major ongoing work.

That said, if it worked, it would be awesome.