Dozerfleet Labs

Dozerfleet Labs is a division of Dozerfleet Productions, and manages hardware and software development as well as downloads. It is the "shop class" end of Dozerfleet operations, in charge of all the equipment that the other divisions rely on to both produce and promote content. Having been declared an official division in December of 2011, it is also the youngest division.

Pre-Dozerfleet
Dozerfleet Labs can trace its origins all the way back to the Albums Master, which was an attempt in 2003-2004 to come up with a set of customizable icons that would allow Cormorant projects to have the best overall content management that could be mustered. Several flavors of icons were experimented with and briefly offered for download to the world at large; but the Albums Master never officially caught on.

The division's pre-Dozerfleet days picked up in late December of 2004 and early January of 2005, as the Dozerfleet founder began experimenting with modding IFF files to create the cast of 90 Has No Secant in The Sims Deluxe. After joining Mod The Sims, the Dozerfleet founder began producing the first Sims 2 creations in what would become the Dozerfleet Sims Downloads Collection; which would later operate though the imprint Utterly Sims.

Experiments with software began in 2003, when the Dozerfleet founder had to take an intro class to the world of programming. Upon retaking the class, it got a lot easier. However, the next class up from that was a severe learning curve. By the end of the spring semester of 2005, the founder knew enough about HTML 4.01 Transitional to begin work on the DSHW format and a Cormorant official website. Lab work would continue to be a small, behind-the-scenes part of things even after the re-branding in 2006 to Dozerfleet Productions. Most Labs-type work was Utterly Sims downloads, and fell under a banner related to that imprint.

Outside of DSHW, one of the earliest adventures in developing full-fledged websites was Kurse of the Kryptonite, a tutorial site to teach 8th graders HTML 4.

Pre-designation
During the Ferris Years of 2006-2010, Dozerfleet Labs operated as a more-or-less sideline of The Dozerfleet Forum and DozerfleetWiki. It operated as a mere feature of the Comics division in 2007, developing an improved version of DSHW 1.0-M for Ciem. In 2009, this was followed up by developing DSHW 2.0 for use in creating Ciem 2. There was some desire to pursue a DSHW 3 at this time, and implement it for Ciem 3. Alas, that involved intense JavaScript code and was shelved. The current standard is DSHW 2.6 as a result.

Most activity in this period not directly involving comics could best be described as being the development of the framework for Utterly Sims. By 2011, the Question Prompting Assistant was first developed. This device made reference to a Dozerfleet Labs division, though no such division officially existed at the time. It was soon decided that the Dozerfleet Web Network was a franchise of Dozerfleet Labs, and that an official designation was not far off. Building a photo paper stand for miniature photography was the next logical step. By December of 2011, Dozerfleet Labs was declared an official division.

Utterly Sims was discontinued in July of 2012, in protest of EA's then-CEO's attacks on traditional marriage. It was partially revived in 2013 for tech support, and later fully restored on January 5th of 2014.

Post-designation
Post-designation, Dozerfleet Labs began to work on organizing its contents. It also developed the Niles-n'-Plebian Kranny, as a rough draft for a private sector friendly edition of the Question Prompting Assistant.

Equipment
Main article: Dozerfleet Labs equipment specs

In Ride of the Three Bulldozers, Ivan's quest is to reclaim the village of Veskinsya from tyrannical oligarchs by starting a public revolt. He does this after he'd been exiled to live in the forests outside of town. He and his revolutionaries raided a construction equipment yard, and made off with several vehicles to use in the place of the tanks which the oligarchs did not yet have.

Therefore, every major operating station of Dozerfleet Productions is also part of the equipment of Dozerfleet Labs, and is considered another "vehicle" in the "fleet" that makes up the Dozerfleet.

More hardware and equipment is considered part of Dozerfleet Labs than just the PCs, but the PCs and other items with an operating system are the "bulldozers."

Since the fall of 2010, there have been two bulldozers that primarily comprised the "fleet." A cell phone, active from 2009-2012, was considered the unofficial "third" bulldozer.

DSHW
Main article: DVD-Storybook Hybrid Webcomic format

Initiated in 2005 as a way to create Sims stories without having to go through the official Sims 2 website, the DSHW format eventually evolved into something more. DSHW 1.0-M was popular as a format, but has since been replaced. The current version is 2.6, with A,S, and M flavors available. Due to how time-consuming it is to structure a story (or anything) in this format, the project is expected to be particularly large and deserving. Apart from its DVD menu mimicry for its menus, DSHW is essentially a glorified slideshow. Therefore, smaller projects would possibly benefit from using PowerPoint to make slideshows instead. DSHW-using projects are also very sensitive to the specific needs of their production firms. Larger firms with an animation budget and resources would benefit from making videos instead.

Kranny
The Niles-n'-Plebian Kranny is a free download which is available through MediaFire. It can be altered in a number of different ways to serve as a site navigation box for personal websites. It resembles the Amazon Kindle and Barnes-n'-Noble Nook in appearance. A MediaWiki-friendly version is used sometimes on this site.

Question Prompting Assistant
Main article: Question Prompting Assistant

The "QPA" is an HTML page with an interface designed to assist call center workers with handling the specific needs of their calls. It has a proven track record of assisting call center workers in improving the quality of their call scores. It was originally designed for public sector use, and for companies that receive government grants. But due to the hiring practices and contracts those places operate under, it proved economically inefficient to undermine their systems. It became more difficult for them to invent cockamamie excuses to fire someone just so they could hire someone else and collect more grants. In order to defame the QPA because of this, the man in charge of security clearances at one company went so far as to accuse the Public Sector QPA of being "a threat to national security," without a single explanation given as to how.

Because of this, the Public Sector Edition has been put on a shelf until such a time that government officials learn to develop a more positive attitude. In the mean time, Dozerfleet Labs is slowly working on the development of a Private Sector Edition, to aid businesses with call centers that don't receive federal funding. Business owners who are interested should contact the Dozerfleet founder directly to ask about freelance project development. Work is slow, since the government ordered destroyed all production notes for the Public Sector Edition upon which the guidelines were built for purposes of reverse-engineering into the Private Sector Edition.

Albums Master
Main article: Albums Master

The Albums Master was an icon library and file organization scheme, employed by the Dozerfleet founder during the Cormorant era. It is considered a project in the history of Dozerfleet Labs. It was used from 2003-2006, and was later replaced by the Dozerfleet divisions and Windows Libraries. Features new to Windows 7 rendered the Albums Master effectively obsolete, so all work on it was discontinued.

Utterly Sims
Main article: Utterly Sims

Beginning in 2005, this branch lasted until 2012. It was the most active division of Dozerfleet Labs right up to its cancellation in protest of EA Games' support of gay marriage. Through this line, many Dozerfleet Comics properties (and a few non-Dozerfleet ones as well) were adapted for both Sims 2 and Sims 3. While downloads were distributed primarily through Mod The Sims from 2005-2008, the later years saw them hosted primarily on MediaFire and linked to from either The Dozerfleet Forum or DozerfleetWiki.

Since its cancellation, the only new creations of Dozerfleet characters are creations done merely for Dozerfleet's own promotional purposes. No downloadable characters are distributed online anymore. Also, Dozerfleet decided to being pursuit of new avenues for character creation, to reduce dependence on EA-owned software.