Q. When is the next release coming out?

A. This question is discussed on the freecol-developers mailing list.  Anyone who wants a detailed understanding of the current issues in FreeCol is more than welcome to subscribe (see /community.html). The list is low volume, and nicely illustrates that the real answer to this question is almost always `No one knows'.

Q. No, really, surely you have some sort of plan/roadmap/release schedule?

A. Not really. FreeCol is developed for fun, by a small group of volunteer contributors, at least some of which find the idea of a formal release schedule in a small volunteer project laughably impractical and/or not fun.

Q. Well, alright, can you at least tell us what will be in the next release?

• A1. Bug fixes.
• A2. Read the mailing list and you will know what we have been discussing.
• A3. Follow freecol-commits and you will know what we have actually done.
• A4. `Whatever catches the various developer's interest'
  

0.8.0 -----  Objective: Make the game easier to modify 

Release:   Released, January 14th 

 - Allow the game to be customized using XML-files.

 - Units now slide between tiles while moving.

 - New terrain graphics.

 - Menu music added.

 - Sound effects for dragoons, artillery capturing a colony, building complete, church and blacksmith.

 - New sound effects for artillery and buying/selling goods.

 - Short music clips for Aztecs and fountain of Youth.

 - Named regions and nicer placement of native settlements.

 - New nations added: Portuguese, Swedish, Danish and Russian 

 - Games with up to eight European players are now supported. More information:

• Feature requests implemented for this version

• Bugs fixed for this version

0.9.0 -----  Objective: Improve graphics and audio

 - New background images, borders and buttons.

 - Implement feature requests from our users.

 - Unit combat animations. 

 - Add more sound effects and music.

 - Opening movie.

0.10.0 ------  Objective: Improve the computer players  

 - Add personalities and better strategy to computer opponents. 

 - Add features for admin (kick player, restart game etc.)   

0.11.0 ------  Objective: Campaigns and scenarios 

 - Support triggers and events for scenario development. 

 - Extend the map editor to support scenarios. 

 - Backward compatibility for savegames will be assured after this release.

 - Create a few scenarios.   

0.12.0 ------  Objective: Improve gameplay  

 - Implement feature requests from our community. 

 - Balance the advantages of the different nations.

 - Create some campaigns. 

- Improve AI.  

0.13.0 ------  Objective: Easier customization of the game. 

 - Extend the map editor and create editors for units and terrain. 

 - Add other features simplifying modding.  

0.14.0 ------  Objective: Improve graphics and audio 

 - Add more sound effects. 

 - Add skins for the colony panel and the Europe panel.   

1.0.0 -----  Objective: The final polish :-)  

 - Add the remaining sfx and music.

 - Use more illustrations and background images.