Development

QSERF was conceived as a plan in April of 2019. The game was planned out and announced as a remaster of the legacy game QSML: Origins. QSERF's design intended on taking on the aesthetic of Aperture Science during the 1960s-1980s as seen in Valve's Portal 2 and associated mods. The game was originally designated as a showcase, although as the development schedule carried on, more resources started to get poured into the development of QSERF; many assets used in QSERF were pre-built by the time the project was initiated.

April 2019 - August 2019

As rhetoric surrounding QSERF's development grew louder and more common, the more ingrained the SST Developer Team became with the project, culminating in a full-force effort to develop a functional remaster of QSML: Origins. Subsequently, the declaration of QSERF as a flagship project would result in the delay, and eventual cancellation, of SST's Quantum Science Multipurpose Labs 3 Version 3. The game would see many of its QSML: Origins components be remastered, such as the Dark Matter Reactor Gen 01.

August 2019 - February 2020

QSERF was released on August 18th, 2019 at roughly 4:30PM Pacific Standard Time. Despite administrative and developer expectations, the game managed to accrue roughly 109 players on launch despite gamebreaking bugs being present in the initial launch version; while the cumulative player count was much lower, QS Administrative Personnel considered the launch to be a success. Work on QSERF from this point was dedicated to expanding to the game's feature list.

Not long after QSERF's launch, the first iteration of Quantum Science's Security Department, Quantum Security Task Force, launched under Commandant Dekimus. By the end of December, QSERF would implement refueling for the Dark Matter Reactor, introducing the first, of many, maintenance features the game would receive, as well as the Raider team. QSERF would also host its first group-wide event, the 2019 QSERF Christmas Event, which culminated in various endings, items, and badges being given to players.

February 2020 - July 2020

An internal administrative schism would lead to the splintering of the Quantum Structural Science Team, causing various games, including a stripped version of QSERF, to get uncopylocked. QSERF was temporarily uncopylocked, before being locked again. A summary of the event is told by QS Founder JustSimplyWild in a September 2020 Google Doc. The most immediate resulting effect was the discontinuation of Quantum Security Task Force's service in QSERF, leading to the founding of the Quantum Defense Firm under EramsorGR and Hurrah123456.

Not long after, QSERF would see the expansion of the Warhead, giving raiders the ability to hijack and arm the warhead, destroying the facility in the process; subsequently, security operatives were tasked with stopping the arming of the warhead, and cancelling the arming sequence.

July 2020 - September 2020

July would usher in the first major expansion of QSERF, adding in an economy as well as a Laboratory sector (that would later be removed for optimization reasons). Around this time, QSERF would also be placed onto the then-Learn and Explore sort, giving QSERF a major publicity platform that would lead to a virtual explosion in member growth.

November 2020

QSERF would face an internal attack from a former developer, this developer in question deleting a database that contained sensitive player data (i.e. points, achievements, items, etc.). This attack would force the closure of QSERF as there was no means for data collection or saving. The game would stay closed for weeks, before being reopened back to the public.

November 2020 - April 2021

QSERF would see minimal content updates during this time, this point in time is referred to as 'the dog days of SST' due to severe staffing issues.

The game would see the 2020 QSERF Christmas Event, which featured the boss Stonky Snowman.

April 2021 - December 2021

Around April 2021, Quantum Structural Science Team announced the creation of the Megaupdate, a 3-part update that sought to bring major changes to QSERF in an effort to revitalize the game. Phase 1 would release on September 26, 2021, featuring Version 2 of the SST Multi-Gun Kit System. Phase 2 would release on December 24th, ushering in the 2021 QSERF Christmas Event as well as numerous building and scripting changes.

December 2021 - June 2022

QSERF Development around this time would begin to severely ramp down, as SST would struggle through another wave of shortstaffing. A major security breach incident would afflict the Community side of the Quantum Science Inc. group, QSERF was not impacted. Furthermore, various issues within the lives of development staff would cause further delays and stagnation. Various features, while being started, would go unfinished.

July 2022

The summer season would see partial alleviation of SST's staffing issues, although it was decided that it was SST's best interest to hire more developers. These efforts would prove effective, as QSERF would see various major updates that would introduce effective means for optimization, as well as various needed bug fixes. New features would also start to be introduced.

Furthermore, a community vote with over a thousand participants, following internal discussion, would affirm the decision to no longer prioritize QSERF development, but to instead declare it a side-project to allow for a path to be carved out for QSERF's intended successor, Sitka National Laboratory.

August 7th 2023 (Kerman)

August 7th saw the launch of the Kerman Update, QSERF's largest update yet. Some major changes include the re-adding of the formerly removed Charlie-7 Laboratories, a completely renovated DMR Control Room (featuring spinny chairs), rebuilt DMR Reception, rebuilt hazmat changing room, redesigned and rebuilt Reacops cavern, new elevators, redesigned keycards, and new decals throughout the facility. This update also features new QSERF hard hats and new announcer voicelines.

???????? 2024 (Sublevel Update)

waiting for update