Updated schedule information:

 

OK, here it goes.

 

We're calling the new RPG core "the Ursine Core," since the URSA scripting language is really the heart and soul of it (even if the tile-based board-drawing stuff is the meat of it).

 

The Ursine Core needs some game data to get a playable demo together, so we're forking the data projects.

 

The CiE game design and development is proceeding with Mayday; that schedule is unknown but will definitely miss the October deadline by a good margin. Real life happens.

 

A second game, as-yet untitled, is being developed to use Ursine Core. There's no working title so for the Hell of it I'm calling it the Little Dipper.

 

I've tentatively contacted some folks about taking over the design and scripting for Little Dipper. Assuming that I get a confirmation shortly, I'll attempt to "re-rail" Little Dipper development to something approximating the original schedule.

 

My hope is that a new designer and/or design team will be in place by 20 July. In the 10 days remaining in July, then, we should have some loose outline stuff for a few test levels and that should enable testing the compiler code and getting a visual test demo cartridge up. With some slippage time for padding let's call that mid-August.

 

Working rapido, then, we should have an alpha test tape ready in mid-September and go to beta in mid-October :-/ missing the original deadlines rather severely.

 

I'm forking all the project-planning materials right now so the web site and Bugzilla are offline. Bringing them back online prolly this weekend with the project more cleanly divided out.