Ahoy everyone!
It’s time for another dev update, but this one is a social one because I am thrilled to announce that today, July 31st, marks Compass’ 5th anniversary! The very first release launched on this day in 2020 with 8,451 assets… and it’s been growing ever since, beyond anything I even considered when starting out.
Over the last 18 months, I have been developing a few applications that completely redefined how I manage this project. These tools nearly handle every service Compass offers, from the website’s content, collecting in-game assets with cleaning and processing, categorizing sounds and images found in-game, collecting web content outside of the game, and more.
Recently, my time has been spent less working to expand the database and more to greatly enrich what Compass is behind the scenes. The work started in 2024 and has carried me to now. I am excited to announce that Compass v3.0.0 will be releasing soon!
While I had originally planned to relaunch the site earlier, not everything is quite ready for a full release. However, I’ll be starting a closed beta before the end of summer for those interested in trying out the brand-new Admin Dashboard. This tool will give you a hands-on way to collaborate—uploading assets, suggesting edits, and helping shape the database through a dedicated platform.
An open beta will follow later, closer to the official release, primarily to gather feedback and fine-tune the platform for a wider audience. There’s still a lot of work to do to ensure it’s ship-shape.
That said, you won’t have to wait long to experience the new and improved web interface. The site is on new architecture, allowing me to offer more features and a better user experience. Browsing, downloading, and sharing assets is easier than ever—no more Google Drive! This update is a major step forward and sets the stage for this project moving forward, especially after some exciting announcements as of late…
What about the other applications? The new dashboard and web changes are the biggest things I can announce and share with you all. Behind the scenes, there are closed-source projects that allow me to collect web content, some machine learning stuff to clean and mix audio, and AthenaD (for storing and categorizing, eventually, all the audio and images available). These are passion projects, and while there are no immediate plans to release them publicly, I’m always happy to chat if you’re a developer who’s curious—my DMs are open!
Lastly, but certainly not least—and in fact probably the most exciting news that could be announced for a project like Compass—Custom Servers. It’s something I and many others have been requesting for years, and I was overjoyed to hear it’s finally happening, as announced in the Community Showcase earlier this month.
The possibilities for collecting assets and just content creation in general are endless! A lot of what I do became easier with Safer Seas, but even then, getting the right timing, lighting, and other prep work is time consuming. While we still don’t know of all the tools to come with Custom Servers or other caveats there may be, I am eagerly awaiting their release in early 2026.
Custom Servers will be invaluable for all new asset releases. In light of that, I’ve paused in-game non-essential asset releases for now. You can still expect the regular imagery drops once the new web services go live, but as I am only one person working on this enormous project, my priorities right now are on making cool applications like what I’ve announced here. The completion of these projects concludes phase 9 development, then in January, it is my hope that all of these will be done and I can focus on new releases once Custom Servers arrives.
Thank you, as always, for reading and supporting Compass. Here’s to five years—and an even more exciting future ahead.