DEVELOPMENT DATE LOG
ULTIMATE SPECIFICATION ROADMAP & DEVELOPMENT LOG
The Development of the Ultimate Project took 1 year and 7 months. The Ultimate Small Passenger has been Dasai's biggest development to date. Below is the OFFICIAL LOG of the development process. Showing the community the history of the Ultimate Small Passenger and how it came to be the concept it is today!
DEVELOPMENT DATE LOG
CONCEPT IGNITED - MARCH 2021
The Idea of the Ultimate SP ignited and I started working on concepts and how to develop the new concept.
APRIL 2021
The idea of buttons and track changing came into play. How do I create the tech behind that?
MAY 2021
First concepts were created of the box and I decided to go with touch buttons instead of physical buttons.
JUNE 2021
The first complete build sample was designed and I had to try and find a manufacturing team to help me bring this idea to life. At this point I was looking at an LED dithered panel that lights up with touch pads to change tracks. Bringing lights into the small passenger is a cool addition so people can show off the box instead of hiding it away in their glove box.
JULY 2021
The first sample was 3d printed and honestly it was pretty gross. The light panel wasnt working well and the insides werent strong enough plus the sound quality wasn’t where I wanted it. The box was also way too thin and I wanted it to have a little bit of chunk to it instead of just being a credit card looking thing.
AUGUST 2021
The shape of the box was changed, I made it a bit thicker and added track indicator lights so people can actually tell which sound is playing and not just trying to google translate in their brains. It looked very different to how it does now though. Simple LED pockets to show which sort of sounds but I wanted to revamp the design to show every single track but I had to figure out how to show 30+ tracks on one little side.
SEPTEMBER 2021
I had 3 samples developed at this point and I just wasn't happy with the overall feel, quality and look of the box. I decided to change up the graphics, improve the speaker quality and the main function + microchips of the ultimate and create a sturdier build.
OCTOBER 2021
Brand new graphics were made up and the light panel was revamped to be an even dithered LED panel - before I was using individual LED’s and for those that don’t know working with white LED’s is PAINFUL because it's really hard to have them all be pure white. Using a dithered panel created an even light coming from the light panel and made the graphic and the unit look SO MUCH BETTER.
NOVEMBER 2021
At this point I was happy with the front graphic and the touchpads and the track indicator bar so all of the aesthetics of the box were pretty much done. Here comes the struggle of dealing with software and function.
DECEMBER 2021
Took a break from the Ultimate Specification in December because I was just drained from almost a year of developing the same item with minimal progress… To be honest I almost gave up on the project because dealing with the software function and the communication between lights and audio was INSANELY DIFFICULT.
JANUARY 2022
New year, New Dasai. I picked the Ultimate project back up and started nailing down on all of the kinks that I didn’t like about the aesthetic and got the form perfect. Now to finalise the function and get it released for everyone!
FEBRUARY 2022
Fourth sample was developed and the entire project was looking much cleaner. I had my Dasai voice actress work on 80+ voice lines and different versions of each saying, she worked super hard to make the sound of each clip PERFECT.
MARCH 2022
Function was still painful at this point. The general function of ~ Plug the box in, play a sound~ was easy to get down at first but when it comes to memory it gets a bit trickier. User picks a chime they like, now everytime the ultimate starts up, only play that chime until they change it.
APRIL 2022
That basic function was done! The Ultimate Specification officially worked. But I haven’t done the chassis specific chimes yet… I thought that would be easy just put it where the other chimes are and do the same thing! Not easy. While this was going on I started working on the packaging and inserts for the Ultimate Project and how i wanted that to look.
MAY 2022
Remember when I said doing the memory function for the one group of chimes was difficult? Adding that again with a whole other group of audio files was even harder… I needed the Ultimate Specification to remember which audio file you last used from each “group” and which one needs to play the next time you start your car. So if someone wants the chassis chime it plays that one but if they want original chimes it plays them. This may sound super complicated and thats because it was.
JUNE 2022
DONE. All of the function was done, I got the final samples developed AND the packaging was almost perfect and ready to go!
JULY 2022
Of course some more hiccups. The Ultimate Project was technically release-able during July/August but the packaging wasn’t perfect and there was no way I am going to release it not A grade after spending 18 months developing it.
AUGUST 2022
The entire product is now done. All of the packaging is done! The speaker quality is amazing yet also gives off that 90’s vibe soundThe build is actually insanely clean and perfectly developedThe voicelines all sound amazingThe chimes are all completely optimised and sound perfectThe packaging all looks amazing and every detail is A gradeAugust was when everything was done and ready to share with the Dasai community. Release date being OCTOBER 2022.
The Ultimate Project was a 19 MONTH development. I enjoyed every single stressful issue along the way from aesthetic imperfections to buggy software. Developing this brand new item was an insane journey for me and a massive learning experience. I am so grateful to be able to share this new item with the Dasai Community and be able to show you all the newest concept from Dasai. The Ultimate Specification Small Passenger.