[melopene]

Will-

In terms of managing player wants versus a balanced game, I think it just takes a firm hand and the ability to say 'I said no to this idea, and that's that'. I take that position on a number of things that are definitively off-limits. There are, after all, boundaries. And the F-word is always going to be thrown around, but I do pride myself on being fairly objective (after all, I'm in academia and have to be able to make value-neutral analyses).

Quality control - yes, that's an issue, and that's why I've got an absolutely awesome woman in charge of all things building, plus me as a backup reviewer. I don't mind reading and editing work as needed, because when you work with a builder and show them how they can improve, they become a better builder for it.

I've been working on it off and on since 2005ish, when my ex convinced me to help fix some crash bugs on this game he was playing. I ended up inheriting the code and stripped out a lot of 'features' that I despised, added a few of my own, etc etc.

I'm expecting to have the code, and hopefully enough wilderness area, to have the game playable through all the levels by sometime in September, unless something severely hijacks my time. You're welcome to provide some input on those same forums anytime.

Note - not really trying to use that as an advertising opportunity, but I'd be silly not to ask for his ideas