Last update someone asked me to make an estimation based on the current pace and progress. I've always been wrong about these estimations. It's easy to be optimistic and to make plans that don't pan out. There's always the gut feeling that if we work hard then we can get something out soon. This feeling is strongest when the year starts, because initially the year feels like a long time, and wonderful things can always happen. But more often than not, bad things end up happening and you repeat past mistakes. Instead, I went over past and current data. How much did we do each year? How much work are we doing now? Exactly what is left?
Long story short, at our current pace, we're looking at a late
2019 release. Yes, that's right, 2 more years for a project that's already 3 years late. It was a bit of a surprise for me as well, because I want to believe that we can do better. The two main reasons it's taking forever are (1) it's big, detailed and ambitious, and (2) we have a small team working part time. I'd rather not give up on (1) even if it means taking more time, but at the moment I can't do much about (2). Hopefully that can change in the future, but for this estimation let's assume we'll continue with the same pace. Instead of wasting your time with apologies and excuses, let's be pragmatic and come up with a workable plan.
2014 was by far our most productive year. There are several reasons for that, but the main one is actually focusing on getting the
demo out. It took us a lot of time and energy, but it was also a deliverable and specific goal. For 2018, I want to have specific deliverable milestones as well. I considered cutting the project in half, but people (rightfully) didn't like the idea. That's why you're going to get not one, not two, but
three demos in 2018! The demos will have different audiences and goals, but ultimately we want to speed up our development while also getting feedback and communicating more with you. Here's how it'll work out: