Developer Diary, Part 5 (19/03/2009 01:05)

Once again, it's time to reveal a little tidbit of what we are working on in the coming update for ManagerLeague.
This is the fifth chapter in the Developer Diary, and you can find the previous chapters here, here, here and here.
If you have not read them yet, do so now.

We are making decent progress in our development, but this new and improved ManagerLeague certainly requires more development than we first thought.
I keep getting messages asking WHEN WHEN WHEN, and I always respond with the words "It's done when it's done!".
Today however, I am going to share a date with you.
Our current situation is that we are 1 month away from beginning the testing.
This still means I can not give you an exact date for when the improvements will be live in the game, as it depends upon the results from the tests we will perform, but we have reason to believe that the period of testing will not be extremely long.
First of all, most of the changes only need to be "verified" as "working", and not analysed to death.
Second of all, our development-cycle involves a certain amount of testing while we develop, to avoid problems with specific browsers and operating systems.
And you will not believe how outright UGLY the "old" ManagerLeague looks to us now, as we have become accustomed to the new design.

Before I decide to reveal a tidbit or two when it comes to design or features, there are some words that need saying.
There is a group of people who have a bigger role in making these improvement happen than you probably think.
I would like to say a big THANK YOU to Abalardo, A2, LORD-NIKO, Monkey D Luffy, Shy^, Gizmo, Selleri, Airshot, MissSpoons, Tyroka, sebas, Stambros, jijikent, Stronghold, Hallaj, kekuatan, turças, tommy1911, fameless, Nocte and E m r e.
Without your help in support, in the forums, in the chat, or in discussions with me, the new improvements to ManagerLeague would be a lot fewer and nowhere near as good as they are.
You guys (and girls!) give us so much of your own spare time, for nothing in return, except the knowledge that you are making ManagerLeague better for everyone.
You clean up the forums, you handle complaints from people who have been spammed, you pick up reported messages, you handle angry cheaters in support who are outright nasty towards you, and you still stick with it.
You hunt for cheaters, you gather evidence, and you close down those who violate the rules. And every time one of these things are done, it saves me precious time which I use for programming and feature-design.
I hope one day I can give back a fraction of what you have given, and that you keep giving.
Thank you.

Now then, I guess I should show you another little screen-shot. This time, it's the Finances-screen.
If you click on the image, you will see it full-size.


As you can see, the Finances-screen has now merged with the Season Summary-screen.
Coach Mac blames me for the coffee-stain though, after I sprayed him down in the office due to some uncontrolled laughing. Yes, some times, we have fun at work!
This is also the first screen-shot you have seen with everything in place, the header, the menu and the content itself.
Yes, it looks a whole lot better than the black-and-white text and lines we have today!

And since I am in such a good mood, I am going to give you a second screen-shot too, which shows you how we have tidied up the Cups-screen. Also, "Custom Cups" have now been renamed to the slightly more user-friendly "Players Cups".
Again, click on it for a larger version.


As you can see, it is now a lot easier to find the cups you are looking for. This should avoid the horrible long list of cups you have to deal with today, and allow you to create a cup without scrolling your fingers off on the mouse-wheel.
And if you look carefully at the choice you have when creating a cup, you might spot something new...

Today, in about 8 hours, I will be busy performing the Season-change as usual, while you get a well deserved break from all of this crazy ManagerLeague-stuff.
As usual, the game will be down from just after 09:00 until some time in the afternoon, probably around 16:00.

In about 10 days, I will be back with more news and more screen-shots. Who knows, maybe I will let you in on some secrets about some new stadium-upgrades?
Until then! (-:

- Spinner