The plan for Truckingsim's future

[Bjornski]

I know you guys have been waiting a long time for any news on the future of Truckingsim. Good news is here!
After a few weeks of thinking, looking at source code, writing, planning and plotting, I can now tell you guys that we have a plan.

Truckingsim goes open-source
As you know, Jefffan24 has asked for help in developing this game many times. A few of you have contributed to Truckingsim in the past, for which we're very grateful.
We unanimously believe the only viable way to continue is to make the game an open-source, community effort. None of us has the time, nor the ambition to develop this game entirely on their own. However, I believe lots of people would want to put in a few hours to develop, design or moderate the game.
There is one snag though; Jefffan24 did a fantastic job developing the game, but he was also very inexperienced when he built most of the code. This means the code looks and feels like a plate of spaghetti; it tastes great, but it's all tangled up.

We don't see it as a viable option to continue on the current code-base. We do think we could develop a "version 2.0", from scratch, with a little more outside help.

So, we've decided to start an open-source project and we need your help!

I (or actually, my company Solutionsource) will manage this new open-source project. Jefffan24 will continue to be one of the core developers. I will step up as lead developer.

You will find our complete proposal here:
http://solutionsource.nl/truckingsim-proposal-v21.pdf
This is something Jefffan24, Norman, Conroy and I all agree on.

What can you do?

1. Stay involved and spread the word!
   We need more people who know about our new development and are willing to contribute. So, spread the word on facebook, twitter, your local footballclub, etc...
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2. Contribute to the website design
   Truckingsim will have a public website, with info about the game, a beginners guide, statistics, etc...
   
   In one or two weeks, we will issue a design contest. We want you to design the new Truckingsim website. Jefffan24 and I only decide on whether a design is feasible. You will get to choose the winning design in a vote.
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3. Contribute a design for the game
   The game itself will be separate from the public website. Although the look and feel should be similar to the website, we'd very much like you guys to design what the screens or pages in the game should look like. We will again issue a design contest, like with the website.
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4. Contribute and discuss new ideas for the game
   We will be open to ideas and suggestions and we will even give you guys a chance to up-vote ideas.
   

FAQ (will be updated as we move forward)

• Can I start designing now?
  Not yet. We will publish some simple specs for both design contests in the coming few weeks. Anyone who has basic Photoshop skills, should be able to create a viable design based on the specs.
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• Is Solutionsource buying out Jefffan24? Are you guys gonna get filthy rich off of this game?
  No and no. Solutionsource is taking over development, because Bjornski likes this game and has been supporting it for a long time. The game was, is and will be a hobby. I doubt it'll ever produce any kind of profit and we're certainly not planning on that. This will not be a second Trukz/Jolt kind of deal.
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• Will feature XYZ be included in the new game?
  That all depends on YOU! If your idea is feasible and if enough people want it, it will be included. We will give you guys a chance to up-vote ideas. Ideas with the highest number of votes, should be developed first.
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• When can we play the new version?
  When it's done. There will be a public beta test when it's almost done.
  Although, even when it's done, it won't be done as we plan on improving the game as long as there are ideas for improvement and people willing to implement them in the code. You will have a say in what should or should not be included in the first version.
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• Timeframe?
  Not sure yet. Hopefully roughly a year. This will be very much dependent on the quality and quantity of contributions done by you!
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• Will you keep the "choose your own color for your truck" function?
  Making those colored truck images is a lot of work. Unless we find someone who's willing to put a continued effort into this, we will not include this function in the new game.
  We'd rather include a whole bunch of new trucks each year, that cannot be colored. We're open to suggestions on how to personalize your driver in other, less labor intensive ways.
  Issues have been raised about the use of brand- and modelnames of real manufacturers. We might need to do something about that as well.
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• I use a screenreader / I am visually impaired. What will change?
  We know of quite a few people who play this game using a screen reader. We plan on making the new version accessible to people with disabilities.
  We hope visually impaired people will take up an active role during development, so we can make the game as enjoyable for them as it is for everybody else in the community.
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[Shakhtardfc1]

Sounds good. I myself can't help developing, but my support is behind the guys and girls who can

[Renegade411]

Sounds like a good plan I wish I had the skills and time to help with development all can do is give moral support and maybe help with ideas and voting and spreading the word

[Norman]

I think a lot of us are in the same boat. I hope those who do have the skills to help develop the game put their names into the hat as the more people working on it the less pressure there is on each individual.

[Will0996]

I'm not really good at developing yet but I have been dragging friends into the game little by little

[Greyfox]

How about letting each driver select his own images with a size limitation of that which is already in the game (133px X 100px) and allowing uploads of said images?

Shouldn't be near as difficult as redoing the color chooser code.

This should have been considered in the first place - My thought.

take a poll of drivers to get feedback on this issue.

Thanx,

Greyfox

[DustyBones]

Is the game still going to be rewritten? Are the website graphics still needed?

[Norman]

I don't know what is happening, but I think the lack of response from the community probably disheartened the devs quite a bit. If you have an idea for the graphical design of the game then it would still be a good idea to post it.

[DustyBones]

The devs shouldn't be bummed about the lack of response. I think people might of felt a little overwhelmed with the requirements of the contest. That is a bit of work doing several pages, plus in different sizes and not knowing if it would even get used. Plus we may just not have many people here that have the skills or the time to do it.

Perhaps it would of been better to have a contest where you submit just one page. Then the theme of the one selected could be used to build the complete site.

Usually devs create a team to handle the graphic interface of a game. You know what they say... two heads are better then one. I would be willing to be a part of a design team if there's any other interest from other members. Everyone that knows me here, knows that I like to do graphics. I've tried to think up a theme and to be honest, I've kind of hit a creative funk or maybe it's the early signs of senility. Either way I'm getting nothing.

[Cowboy Trucking Inc]

Why don't we go ahead and do the Prestiege System. I think Jeff said he had some pages done for it. I think that would be the way to go for now to get something different going.