STEP 3.0 Development Progess

[TechAngel85]

Greetings everyone!

 

I wanted to give the community an informal update on what is happening behind the scenes. I remember being a community member myself just how "silent" things can get on the project and progress. I also mentioned I would try to keep everyone better informed during this process.

 

Please feel free to use this topic for Q&A and discussion. We will be updating periodically with progress updates so, if you care to be "in-the-know" with the latest updates, please follow the topic.

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See the following post for the latest updates.

[TechAngel85]

News and Updates

This post will be used to post periodic updates about the development. It will often be updated after meetings and when milestones are reached. Latest news is at the top for those who do not wish to read all the old updates.

 

 

April 11th, 2018

It's about time for another update on the development progress for STEP 3.0. Currently, Mator has the bones and much of the functionality of the CMS built and working. We are about to move into more of the design and content stages. This means fleshing out the navigation, pages, and content for those pages. There will likely be some tweaking along the way as Z and I start working with the CMS in the way we'll be using it. Once this is fleshed out a bit, we'll be moving onto a live environment on the new server for further development and testing. We're hoping for a time frame between 2 to 4 weeks before we're actually on the new server.

 

On the Guide side of development, I have made it into the gameplay grouping of mods for the Extended Guide (aka STEP Pack). This means I have worked through two of the most time-consuming and difficult sections; textures/meshes and sounds. I did a complete compare and analysis of these two sections as they desperately needed them. I'm quite happy with how the Pack is turning out under the Mod Picker categories. I feel users will have an even easier and smoother experience as more of the information for the Guide will be more integrated. Once this is complete, I will move on to creating the Core Guide within Mod Picker, which will be very quick and easy to do thanks to Mod Picker. Going forward, this "Core" Guide will be what users can clone to create their own Packs using the Mod Picker platform. These Packs are planned to be displayed within the CMS, once approved by staff. This means the Packs based off the STEP Core Guide will be viewable to all the STEP community straight from our new website.

 

There hasn't been much discussion regarding the forums and wiki. These platforms will require very little work, in comparison. They will mainly need to be updated and themed. Therefore, these two platforms will be among the last to get completed before the re-launch. Keep in mind, the current site will remain on the current server during all development. Users will get to experience the new server when we are ready for the re-launch to go live.

 

We'd like to thank all of the community for making this possible and for sticking with us through the development process!

 

 

 

January 19th, 2018
After holiday update...
As you might imagine, the holidays was a slowdown for development in favor of spending extra time with family and friends. Therefore, there isn't much to report. The development of the web application has started and Mator has given the Admin a general overview of the workings of the development environment. The updated version of the forum software has also been purchased and will be used during development. Users will not see the new software until release. Finally, the STEP Guide continues to be reworked under the Mod Picker categories. The first phase of the Guide's conversion, which is a complete graphical analysis and review, is currently underway.

 

The reveal discussed in the last update will be released within the next week or two. We're just finalizing the announcement.

 

Dec 6th, 2017

Another quick update...

This week we are in the process of finalizing some real-life stuff to do with the project as a whole. We will likely reveal what this is after the first of the year and prior to 3.0 release since it's a pretty large change and is actually already in effect now. As for dev work, Mator has started putting some stuff together, however, the majority of this work will start up within the next few weeks. During this time we'll be purchasing all the software and other things needed to complete the work. Stay tuned! Things will start getting exciting very soon!

 

Nov 12th, 2017

Just a quick update after our Hangout today...

Tonight's meeting was mainly catching up with where everyone was sitting with the planning, getting into some details about Mod Picker, discussing future avenues, and getting our project management environment started. We're getting closer to starting development. I would say we're within the final stages of the planning now. Once the planning is complete, the pace will likely quicken since we've laid a good, solid foundation by digging into details early on. There is still some prep work to do, but I can say that progress is being made.

[TechAngel85]

News post updated.

[TechAngel85]

New post updated.

[WhiteRabbit]

I am in the middle of the creation of the step extended ver 2... do you think is better to wait 3.0?

[TechAngel85]

I am in the middle of the creation of the step extended ver 2... do you think is better to wait 3.0?

It's still going to be several months before v3.0 release.

 

What we have currently is in the very early stages. Though, I dare say that the work should progress smoothly without much interruption going forward. We basically have all that we need to complete the work, for the moment. Now we have to simply get it done. Mator is working on the web application, which will be our custom CMS. Z is providing support where and when needed. I'm currently working on reworking the Guide under the Mod Picker categories. In that, I'm working on a complete graphical review of all conflicting textures. I'm currently about 75% done with the models and textures section (largest part of the graphical review). Once that section is complete, the work will go much quicker on my end.

[WhiteRabbit]

What I did not understand is if version 3 will be even simpler in the installation or if it is a revision of the 2

[TechAngel85]

What I did not understand is if version 3 will be even simpler in the installation or if it is a revision of the 2

v3.0 of the guide is a complete revision of the current 2.10.0 Guide on top of a new framework that uses Mod Picker and Mod Pickers API. It will have a new layout with new instructions for installation of the various mods. This is due to converting the Guide to use the Mod Picker categories rather than continuing to our own. There will be mods dropped and new mods added, as usual with every release. I wouldn't say the installation is simpler, just different.

[SATakeshi]

I'm pretty sure this question has been asked around by people, but guess it eludes me while searching the forum. Will this be also done for Skyrim SE or are there plans to do official STEP version for SSE like ever? 

[TechAngel85]

I'm pretty sure this question has been asked around by people, but guess it eludes me while searching the forum. Will this be also done for Skyrim SE or are there plans to do official STEP version for SSE like ever? 

We're keeping most of the details of the next release "classified" until later in the development. Until then, we will continue to trickle news and updates down in a generic form as we have been. This is because the nature of development is that things could change any time and we'd like to manage expectations throughout this process.

 

So in a generic form... yes, there will likely be a STEP:SE Guide eventually. Though, there is no time frame on that. STEP has always stated that our goal is to provide Guides for more games. SSE would simply be the most logical and easiest game for STEP to support next.

[Luisangre]

I am surprised SSE has not taken priority for STEP over Oldrim.

With the recent breakthroughs of SKSE, more mods being ported over, and more tutorials on how to port mods over, it seems like continuing on the old unstable 32bit engine is a bit mundane.

The only reason some folks (not all) even play Oldrim anymore is because giant overhauls that are not yet available to SSE like Requiem etc which is being ported over as we speak anyway.

I say push for development on the fresh 64 bit engine that is rock steady and leave Oldrim in the past @_______@!!!

Just my 2 cents :]

 

I am saying this but as soon as STEP 3.0 comes out for Oldrim, I will def install it and test around a bit just because of tradition.

Been installing STEP since the PDF versions in the old days and of course thank you STEP Team for all you guys do as 95% of everything I know from modding Beth games came from STEP.

[Kattmandu]

I'm pretty sure this question has been asked around by people, but guess it eludes me while searching the forum. Will this be also done for Skyrim SE or are there plans to do official STEP version for SSE like ever? 

https://wiki.step-project.com/User:TechAngel85/SSE_Guide/v2

[baronaatista]

Just to be clear - while a fantastic guide, Tech's guide is not an official STEP guide, it's just his personal guide.

 

That being said I'd imagine at least most of what he does there will be echoed by the official guide.

[headhunter3222]

Man is it strange that i like following these guide to the letter make the game working perfect and then loose intrest in the game, for some reason i like just modding the game it self with out playing the game. but i will try tech guide to see it make me finaly maby play the game.

 

Keep up the good work ad step guys.

[WiteXDan]

So what exactly will be changed in 3.0? I'm hoping for a program that auto-download and install mods from nexus, since it can take a few days to install it manually.