Hello everyone,

Just a short post to inform everyone about recent updates. All in all, this
project is coming together quite well (at least that's what it seems from
my end). So here is the news...

I have completely reworked the introductory document, and it is now posted
on the homepage. Have a read of it and let me (and the group) know what you
think of it. Unfortunately, the conversion to rtf format has killed the
nice flowchart I had put in the document. It is exactly the same as the
flowchart which is up on the homepage, so it shouldn't present any great
problems. If you want the original document (it is in MS Word 8 format, ie.
Office 97, and weighs in at 166KB) mail me at slg@nw.com.au and I'll send
it along to you. Just a word of warning - the document is set up to be
printed on A4 paper, so if you use something else you may have problems
with the formatting.

I have still had little feedback on the submission structure which I posted
to the homepage. It is far from complete, and needs some definite
refinement. The major problem, as I see it, is getting external ideas
(ideas which people who are NOT working on a certain project may have about
that project) to the correct design group in some orderly manner. The
biggest hurdle is the 'email barrier',ie. attempting to cut down the
cross-traffic.

One idea I have had is that before a design group is due to begin a new
project (say a week before), they announce that they will accept external
ideas until date X. Until this time, they work the project (ie. throw ideas
around) internally. Once all the external ideas are submitted, then the
group goes ahead and prepares their preliminary submission. This goes to
the SC, after which submissions are again called for from other members.
From here the process goes as the original. What does everyone think?

I have had (am having) some quite detailed discussions with a couple of
people about issues regarding the project structure, and I have some very
good ideas. If anyone else wishes to comment on this, please do so.

One of the things that has come out of this is that the SC members are
going to have to set up some kind of structure within their design groups.
At the very least this will involve delegating some duties (like a contact
point for liaison with other groups, someone to collect and collate all the
external ideas at the various stages, editor(s), maybe someone to convert
final submissions into html format, etc.) to other members of the design
group. What does everybody think if this?

Speaking of teams, nobody has really commented on splitting up the design
group into two teams - the structure design team (NPC's & their equipment,
organisation structure, responsibilities/jobs, etc) and the assets design
team (businesses owned, buildings, any assets). Does silence on this issue
mean that everyone likes this idea?

I am still waiting on any submissions of some introductory
story/poem/description/...anything you can think of, for the hompage. So if
you have been thinking about doing this, it doesn't have to be much (200
words or so - a couple of paragraphs). Remember, this is *your* project, so
please contribute.

I also want to express my personal thanks to all those people who have
given offers of help to me (you know who you are). At the moment the best
help I can get is your opinions on both what I am doing/proposing, and
whether I am doing a good job or not.

lastly, and I am probably going to regret saying this, my mailbox has kinda
dryed up lately, so feel free to contact me with questions or comments
about anything at all.

Again, feel free to send posts to this mailing list if you wish to start
any discussions on OCP topics, especially comments on the structure ideas I
have been proposing. See you all next time,

Simon