Wifight Roadmap

I'm just gonna try to update this as I go. Click an item to expand and view notes about it.

Alpha Test

The focus here is stability and usability. The client is not posted to the front page in case bugs still lurk. (See Test With 5 Users.)

Some of the features that were implemented during this phase were:

• Email notification of turns
  Registered players can choose to receive email alerts when they have turns to make in any of their wifight games. This feature also supports SMS!
• Players logins on the website
  The only way to sign up for Wifight is through the game client, but once you have an account you can login here website and modify it. Enabling SMS alerts, changing your password, and viewing your stats and turns RSS feed are some of the things you can do here with your wifight account.
• More games...
  Chess, Checkers, Dots & Boxes, and Reversi have been added since the initial release of Wifight.

Alpha

The current stage! The client is posted to to the front page. Anybody can download it and make a login, and play as many games as they like.

Features to be (possibly) implemented during this phase:

• Game variations
  Games on Wifight are capable of being cloned and extended, resulting in new ways to play. For example, you can play Chess with its normal rules, or you can play a version where you are forbidden from making the best move -- as determined by Super Wizard Robot. There is also play-to-lose Tic-Tac-Toe, with similar versions of Chess, Checkers, and Reversi possible in the future.
• Password recovery
  Way back in the Alpha Test days folk used to talk of passwords being lost forever; Wifight now protects against such things, providing password retrieval at a moment's notice via the website.
• Chat!
  Logging into Wifight for the first time? Push the Chat button and join us in the community lounge to introduce yourself!
• Game resignation
  Rather than simply quitting, now Wifight offers the chance to resign (and receive a Loss on your permanent record) from games. Like someone with manners.
• Draws
  Offer and accept or decline draws in games...it beats resigning.
• Game browser
  Spectate games on Wifight, from within the handheld client and via the website.
• Handling abandoned games

  We are still trying to figure out how to handle (or even what constitutes) abandoned games.

  Got ideas? Tell us in the Wifight forum.

• Even more games!
  You enter Wifight HQ. From this location, you see an RPG of some sort and it is sitting at a dinner table. The RPG is staring intently into the eyes of a physics-based battle game, whose rockets and grenades are exploding at the thought of the RPG's randomly-generated dungeons. You Go North into the kitchen and find more classic board games sipping Diet Orange soda and eating leftoever 'za. Good things are coming, the pizza tells you. Be patient.
• Player profiles (on website)
  We're not yet exactly sure what we want player profiles to be, so please stay with us while we iterate :)
• Misère games (aka play-to-lose)
  The misère version of Tic-Tac-Toe is now available! Other play-to-lose games may be released in the future if they are a good fit for Wifight.
• Player profiles (in handheld client)
  From within the mobile client, users should be able to view the profiles of their fellow Wifight players.
• Better game starting -- matchups/invites/joining/open games
• Extend game engine to support other types of games
  Particularly of the single player variety.
• Improved alerting
  Some ideas we've had include a configurable time of day for alerts and/or a batch/digest option for grouping alerts together.
• Setup a bug tracker
• Game-specific chat channels / comments
  We think it would be neat if Wifight players could talk about and leave comments on individual games. Maybe there will even be private chat between users someday!
• Game statistics & rankings
• Memberships
  And all the special perks that go along with 'em.

Beta

At this point the full outline of wifight would basically be in place. This phase is like a dress rehearsal. It's kind of the last chance to make huge changes or do a server reset if absolutely needed. The business model should be ready to go as well.

Open for Business

By this point this station^H^H^H^H wifight should fully operational. Of course work will continue, especially on rolling out more games and improving the game engine and game experience.

Features to be (probably) implemented: (2.0 type stuff):

• Avatars!
  Maybe even all editable and stuff...
• Tournaments
• Anti-aliased graphics
  We cheated and started implementing this feature already. Can you blame us?
• Sounds effects