We've been really productive, and the next update should be a big one (we hoped it would be tonight, but, so such luck). The mission interface has been changed around a bit, and we have an all-new tutorial system which should be completed by next week. I have the first mission done of what's now a tutorial "mission tree", along with an short initial client-side tutorial that will hopefully answer some of the basic newbie questions and make the initial game experience a little more friendly.

The mission editor framework is going great. Andy and Ray have added a new markup system for creating buttons and things, and I'm getting a lot of use out of the new features. We hope to expose the editor to the userbase in the near future, and 95% of that framework is done too. So, things are coming along.

Michael is doing a lot with his deliverator missions and the hive. He and Mark and Wayne, our programming interns, have created a fantastic administrative visualization tool which will be a huge help when we roll out the hive in production. This way we can see how it's expanding and how things are working on a high level, and tweak settings accordingly. Visualization will also be a big part of implementing the new economy and so on.. we need to have the tools to make sure we can tell what's wrong if things go awry (especially important with a fully dynamic economy).

So anyway, just a quick recap to say what's going on. Look for a big update next week. Have a good weekend, all.