Announcements & News

[center][permalink][img]https://flightrising.com/dropbox/updates/devupdate.png[/img][/permalink][/center] We take another step forward in our ongoing efforts to refactor aging portions of [i]Flight Rising's[/i] codebase. As of this posting, the [b]Clan Profile[/b] has joined other features in being converted. [center][permalink][b]Click here to learn more about this update.[/b][/permalink][/center] [more] [b]-----------[/b] [size=5][b]Another Big Step[/b][/size] As of today's update, [b]the refactored version of the Clan Profile is now live[/b], including its child pages such as the [b]Friends List[/b], [b]Friend Requests[/b], and [b]Recent Activity[/b]. With this deployment, the light at the end of the refactor tunnel is very, very bright. While this does not signal the end of technical optimizations and improvements to [i]Flight Rising[/I]—we'll always strive to keep the website in prime shape with further tweaks, revamps, and fixes)—today's update is a significant milestone that allows us to place [b]more development emphasis on the future of the game[/b], rather than retreading ground we've already walked. [size=5][b]Refactored? Revamped? ...Refreshed![/b][/size] As we've mentioned a few times in the past year, [b]we flexed our engineering focus in 2022 to finish out as many of our pending refactor projects by developing direct ports[/b] ("one-to-one / 1:1") of the remaining features, rather than elongating the process by revamping them at the same time. That is still the direction we're taking. However, in the case of Clan Profile, we found that there was an opportunity to also [b]refresh the visuals[/b] without much extra effort. All of the same functionality exists—nothing new added, nothing removed except birthdates for privacy reasons—but we wanted to make sure that we were polishing the Clan Profile so that it was cohesive with our current site style guide (buttons, text formatting, etc). So that means you may notice a few things [b]look[/b] a bit different: [LIST] [*][b]We have vertically expanded the clan info container[/b]. Many of you have put a lot of effort into this area, so we thought it would be nice for you to show more of that off before scrolling is necessary. [*][b]Your current forum vista now displays around your avatar.[/b] Forum vistas are cool and represent a lot about your clan's personality, so we decided to put it on the profile as well. [*][b]Recent Activity has been moved to the right column.[/b] We felt that it made a bit more sense for your clan's activity feed to exist in the same column as your recent forum posts. This enabled us to vertically expand the clan info panel, but it also lent itself to seeing a few more of your friends' comments before the page starts scrolling. [*][b]New/empty profiles do a better job of introducing players to various features of the page. [/b]We're always looking for more ways to help new players interact with everything Flight Rising offers, so if you visit your own (or another player's) profile and there is no clan info, an image and text blurb indicate that it can be edited. If there are no friends, comments, forum posts, or activity, subtle placeholder shapes indicate how those portions of the page would look with information in them. [/LIST] [center][img]https://www1.flightrising.com/static/cms/media/new-friend.png[/img] [I][size=2][Image Caption: Screenshot of a blank clan info page displaying default content. 'Recent Comments' is the sole section in the left column of the screenshot and right column has three sections arranged vertically: 'Recent Forum Posts', 'Kaepora's Friends', and 'Recent Activity'.][/size][/I][/center] We still have plans to [i]revamp[/i] the Clan Profile (continued visual improvements, additional features and quality of life improvements, brand new activities and options), but didn't want to pass up the chance to level-up the visuals of the feature, especially because it didn't require us to make any real major changes or shifts to how it works. [size=5][b]What's Next?[/b][/size] As of this moment, our team is making its first steps into refactoring [b]nests and dragon breeding[/b]. As you may have already guessed, the breeding system is the backbone of [i]Flight Rising[/i], so we held off on its refactor until we were nearer to the end and after we had cleared a lot of other hurdles first. Tackling a refactor of breeding is going to be extremely challenging because the systems involved are very complex and there's a lot of risk involved with converting it to the new code standards. Aside from the breeding system, there are a smattering of smaller, less visible pieces and loose ends to tie up, but we are [i]almost[/i] there. Rest assured: we will make sure we take utmost care and work closely together to pull this final big chunk over the finish line! [br] ----- [br] [I][size=2]Edit Log Corrected an oversight in the post: [I]All of the same functionality exists (nothing new, nothing removed), but we wanted to make sure that we were polishing the Clan Profile so that it was cohesive with our current site style guide (buttons, text formatting, etc).[/I] is now [I]All of the same functionality exists—nothing new added, nothing removed except birthdates for privacy reasons—but we wanted to make sure that we were polishing the Clan Profile so that it was cohesive with our current site style guide (buttons, text formatting, etc).[/I][/size][/I]