Release 0.0.3 is imminent and it's not what I promised!

A few weeks ago when the last preview build was released, I mentioned how important the changes in that release were - especially the new live event simulator.

The match engine isn't fleshed out yet and you couldn't book your own shows so despite all the work that went into the release, I understood there wasn't much to do in the game yet and promised I'd address that in the next release.

Immediately after that release I had to wrap up some of my work issues that have stalled development for the last few months. That involved a flight to Cambodia and unfortunately I picked up a little bug on my return.

Since I was low on energy, I started playing about with the idea of creating a database editor on the way back home. Naively I thought on my return to Thailand on the 5th that I could probably have it done in a few days time!

There was two obvious advantages to completing the database editor now:

• The current 1996 scenario we have right now only appeals to a small subset of fans. I was hoping by giving people the chance to modify the database, someone would create a more appealing default starting database for us.
• At some point, I'd have to create the editor so why not get it out the way now especially if it galvanizes the community?

Sadly, I underestimated how much work was involved and the travelling, bug and aftermath of my work related stress meant I wasn't able to work at full capacity.

But I've managed to grind it out and wanted to use this update to give you a sneak preview of the changes in the next release.

The crux of this release is you can now manage your game databases - in previous releases you were limited to replacing the game.db file that shipped with the release.

Now you can switch databases on the fly:

But that's not all! I've also added a screen that allows you to explore other user submitted databases and download them to your game!

This is a huge change! There's no complex process involved, you just find a "mod" or "scenario" you want to play, click "Install" and the game will automatically add it to your local database collection.

Content creators are hopefully going to love this system - with a couple of clicks you can publish your database to the entire Ring Executive Pro player base and not worry about hosting it:

You can also push updates to your scenario and the game will let players know, allowing them to get the latest copy of your mod:

Of course, there also needs to be a way of allowing you to modify the database without being clunky. I've painstakingly created what I hope is pleasant way for people to bring all those amazing databases to Ring Executive Pro.

It's not perfect by any means and I'm open to improvements I can make to make it easier for you guys - but you'll see from the screenshots below that it's very functional:

I hope the "import" flow in particular saves a lot of time:

You can begin to see from the screenshots above why this took so much time. In order for people to be able to publish and browse databases, we need them to have accounts, which means creating web services for authenticating them, dealing with login details etc.

You might remember that in the last release, it asked you to provide a "Download ID" when starting the game?

I've expanded on that slightly - now when you insert the Download ID - the game will create a pair of cryptographic keys which authenticates you into the account associated with the Download ID.

The best part is that this happens automatically and you don't need to worry about it. There's no need to sign up, remember passwords or give any of your data to the game.

Of course there's always going to be bad eggs looking to spoil a good thing but I've also got some moderation tools in place so we can curate the "Browse Databases" screen and only approve quality/safe mods. "Asaemon" has volunteered to help manage this:

As the game grows, the cost of hosting databases, avatars and running the servers might become a problem but my goal was to create make a game that treated you with respect, which means no friction and definitely no nasty surprises!

Oh.... also..

Some of you might also by now have realized that what I've created here also sets the foundation for multiplayer ;)

What's next

I have a few things to finish in the database editor, some Discord members are already trying out the editor and finding bugs for me to fix before a proper release.

That should be completed in the next few days and 0.0.3 will be officially released.

Immediately after that happens, I've got to create a strategy that gets a complete game finished in the next month or two. I have a little breathing room before I start looking for a new job so it's now or never as far as getting the game completed:

• The biggest impact for you guys would be if I got the "feud design" and "show booking" screens complete so you can book your own shows.
• Improving the "booking" and "match" engines would make the game more real.
• However the finance and business stuff (merchandising, contract negotiations etc) is a big unknown to me. The other two screens fit into the code I've already written so even though they are complex, I can estimate and plan the work involved more easily.

My gut feeling is to go with the last option. So hopefully in the Release 0.0.4 you'll be able to do a better job than the WWE did with their John Cena heel run! ;)

Thanks for reading, I will announce the release of 0.0.3 in the Discord in the next few days. If you wish to keep informed on the progress and haven't already, please join our Discord community: https://discord.ringexecutivepro.com