SmallWorlds Blog
V2.0 - A Sneak Preview!
http://blog.smallworlds.com/2009/06/26/v20-a-sneak-preview/June 26th, 2009 - SmallWorlds Chronicle
Greetings SmallWorlds citizens. I’m very excited to bring you this ‘sneak preview’ report on the upcoming SmallWorlds release. The date for the V2.0 release is getting ever closer, and it’s packed full of new features!
In fact, V2.0 has so many exciting new features that despite working day and night for weeks, the SmallWorlds team have unfortunately found it necessary to delay the release date. But don’t panic, its just a small delay, moving the release date out just a few more short weeks out from the end-of-June date we had given you previously.
When you see all the great things coming up I’m sure that, like me, you’ll understand why the release date got pushed out a little. So come citizens, let’s take a look!
Autumn, Winter or perhaps Lava-Theme your Outdoor Spaces! Remember last winter when everything went white? Now you can choose to change the theme of your outdoor space, choosing between four different options – Autumn, Winter, Lava and Default/Normal.
This feature is available to all citizens, and you can change your theme as often as you like!
Changing a theme will change the overall ground and water appearance of a space; items like trees, plants and rocks will transform to fit in with the chosen theme. You’ll be able to access Themes using the Space Settings panel and Theme Settings will replace the Lighting tab (existing lighting functions will be incorporated into the Theme tab).
Create a Group!Ever wanted to form a members-only club here on SmallWorlds? Good news! The upcoming release includes a ‘groups’ function, enabling you create your own groups, from fan clubs, to special-interest groups… perhaps even a vampire nest!
You’ll be able to assign a specific space to your groups, as well as manage security and memberships.. You can choose to make groups private (e.g. “My Friends”) or open to anyone (e.g. “Fans of Star Trek”).
You’ll also be able to search in-world for groups, linking you with like-minded people… helping you to make even more friends here on SmallWorlds!
What about the Combobulator?Citizens, alongside all this exciting information, I have news of an unfortunate delay. Our developers have just made the discovery that the much anticipated Combobulator requires a code change to work – and this change can only be done as a part of the V2.0 release. You can probably guess what I’m going to say next – sadly the Combobulator cannot be released until V2.0.
The whole SmallWorlds team would like to offer their sincere apologies to all citizens who have been patiently waiting to combobulate their dragon eggs. I can assure you that your patience will be well rewarded!
Risking all, I stole once again down to the SmallWorlds Laboratory to see if I could discover more. I located the Combobulator, and spotted something in a locked room next to it. I moved quietly towards a peephole in the door, sure that I would finally discover the dragon egg combobulation prize. Then I heard some armed guards approaching. I was so frightened I didn’t even look through the peephole! I did manage to snap this one quick shot with my camera as I fled in terror.
The picture was not of good quality, but it sent shivers down my spine when I saw it. I know you are waiting with great anticipation to combobulate your eggs – but I feel must warn you that when the time comes, you do so with caution.
Challenges and Wagering
Enjoy a little wager here and there? Love throwing down that gaming gauntlet? In Version 2.0, you’ll be able to play games for either tokens or gold and really get your adrenaline pumping!
You’ll be able to challenge your friends to better your scores in all Player vs Player games (those requiring 2 or more players to play simultaneously - e.g. Chess, Chinese Checkers, Pool, etc.). Or you could send your friends a token wager using in-world email or through your social network page for single player Arcade games.
You’ll be able to play the game of your choice, get the highest score possible, and then challenge other people to beat it. Your opponent will have 3 attempts to beat your score. If you lose the wager; you can always go and practice some more, make another wager and win it back!
Not being a terribly competitive person myself, I’m not sure I’ll do much wagering (I really prefer a nice crossword) – but I am looking forward to Johnny Wilde’s reports on all the fun that citizens are bound to have with this great new feature!
Player Vs Player GamesThe new Player Vs Player gaming is going to be a lot of fun, citizens! Remember the new Game Arenas being created? Here’s another one you’ll be able to play in soon! If you’d like to create a team, you might like to do so first using the new groups function. Together, you can then enter a game arena, challenge another team, decide the bet and then may the best team win!
There’s no need to form a group to use the arenas – you can visit a Game Arena on your own and look for a team needing an extra player. As Johnny Wilde reported recently, your avatar attributes will come in extremely useful to you now – you’ll want to go for high health and speed attributes depending on what game you’re playing. If you’d like more details on PVP gaming, read Johnny’s recent blog post for full details.
SmallWorlds Orientation Space Want to know what else you can do in SmallWorlds? We’re launching a new Orientation Space for both new and existing players. It will serve a similar function to the current first-time-user screen, but as you can see, the space will be much easier to use as well as providing a friendlier introduction to SmallWorlds! Here you’ll find introductory videos, missions, as well as other help to get new citizens up and running in SmallWorlds in no time at all.
Even if you’re a SmallWorlds regular, you’ll find it a useful place to visit to get your bearings again.
A Bigger, Better SmallWorlds Chronicle!The SmallWorlds Chronicle is set to expand for V2.0.
Yes, your favorite online community newspaper is due to get much bigger and better! It’s a really useful thing to check in with when you first log in, and very soon you’ll be wanting to read it from cover to cover. Here is an image of one of the new sections. As you can see, Honesty and I, and our team of new colleagues, are going to be busy!
We’re adding some great new pages; here are a few new columns you can look forward to:
‘Interior Design Nirvana’ - Interior Design with Coco Jones
A comprehensive ‘Help’ section where all your questions will be answered
Style Virtualista - with Clothing & Style adviser Remy Montoya
Interviews with SmallWorlds citizens
Contributions from SmallWorlds citizens (Yes, that means you!) I’ll be bringing you more details about this very soon!
BathroomsHugely requested, and long awaited… all those citizens who have been ‘holding on’ for some months now will be able to indulge in a long hot soak or steaming hot shower. Ahhhhh!
Smallworlds - getting better all the time!I’m sure I’m not alone in feeling that with each and every release, SmallWorlds just gets better and better! And remember, this is simply a ‘sneak preview’ – that means there’s MORE to V2.0 than I’ve been able to share with you here! I’m looking forward to bringing you the full story on the 2.0 release soon.
In the meantime, keep building those Citizen Levels!
~Kent Kronkite
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Topic: 6/26/2009 V2.0 - A Sneak Preview! (Read 4703 times)