Website updates
Added 2022-11-28 14:42:02 +0000 UTCIt's seem like ages since I last posted a progress update.
But when I go a little quiet on here it's because I'm fully focussed on production.
To recap, I stated in a previous post that after the release of Chapter Six at the start of November, we were going to spend some time working on the website platform and fixing some of the issues that accumulate as a result of what's known as 'technical debt'.
As the website has grown and evolved, a few technical flaws have emerged as well as a few opportunities to improve the user interface and the way things work.
Game saves
An issue that has become apparent is one that most profoundly affects those of you with multiple saved games.
At present, each saved game adds a data string with several lines of code assets to your account on the database.
A Chapter One save has about 60 lines of code, Chapter Two adds about another 160 lines, and then Chapter Three adds another 100 or so.
By the time you are saving Chapter Six the accumulation of code is reaching nearly 1000 lines.
The problem with this is that each time you try to load or save a game, all of the database entries in your user account are read through and accessed during the save/load process.
If your account has multiple saved games then this can potentially be thousands of lines of superfluous code to process through unecessarily.
What we have been doing is creating a new process which strips out all but the necessary code required which will dramatically reduce how much data is passed to the database.
The good news is that it will also clean up existing saves too.
So any older bloated saves will be pared down to the minimum required.
We are nearly done with this part of the website updates and intend to implement it within the next couple of weeks.
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Modal updates
There has been a bit of inconsistency with the appearance and function of the pop out modals that you see when you save a game or access a bonus scene. The wording on some of these has been a bit confusing.
The examples above show what we are doing at the moment is working through all the modals to give a consistent appearance and clarity.
The save game modals will also be updated.
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New features
Some of the more noticeable features that we will be introducing are as follows.
A REFRESH button will be added to every page of each chapter.
It will be located in the bottom left corner of each page.
The button will allow you to reload the page if you encounter a slow page load or if you just want to appreciate my beautifully crafted animated sequences again and again.
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This is the new HELP ME button. Natalia mentions it during the Introduction episode but we haven't implemented it yet.
The button will appear next to the reload button at various strategic points in the game.
Clicking the HELP ME button will open a modal and here are a few examples of what to expect.
The simplest and most frequently used HELP ME modal is the GET HINT version.
Clicking YES will give you some text based instructions on how to optimize your choices depending on what outcomes you are pursueing.
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Sometimes you will get the option to CHEAT.
Cheating will alter game variables to allow access to some of the stuff you might otherwise missed.
Bridgette's score isn't high enough? No problem! There's a cheat for that.
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Occasionally you will be given a SHORTCUT.
A SHORTCUT is simply a way of speeding your pathway through a chapter.
It may mean that you miss out on other achievements or scenes, but it will get you to the good stuff if you are impatient.
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This is the REPLAY option...
If you have spent time finding the bonus scenes or some of the non bonus scenes then it makes sense that you might want to replay them again right?
Currently you would have to restart the chapter and remember all of the choices you made to get there.
The REPLAY button is a way to maximise the fun you can have and really explore all the options I build into my scenes.
You may also want to replay a scene to overcome a negative outcome like getting fired. The replay button returns you to a point in the scene where you can mke a different choice.
This could also be interchangeable with a CHEAT option.
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You will of course notice that the various HINT, CHEAT, SHORTCUT and REPLAY options will have credit prices assigned to them.
Obviously I have my considered reasons for doing this but I'd be interested to get some feedback too.
What do you think?
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NOTE: Chapter Seven update and release window coming soon...
Comments
Thanks for the reply and comprehensive update dsp3000, I guess perhaps I probably hadn't properly appreciated how much has to go into the remakes especially when you're adding so many more images on top of the original content along with the website issues, which I guess when we compare the schedule that's eventuated compared to how long the originals came took to come out, it all does make more sense. Maybe the quicker release of chapter 1-3 which were ready as you're saying tempered my expectations, and I guess each subsequent part got bigger and more complex. Looking forward to what you've added to Thursday. Hopefully you are still taking care of yourself and don't get burned out on this project. I will be more patient.
kevin
2022-12-04 02:55:45 +0000 UTCThanks for the comments kevin. I’m working on this project 7 days a week most weeks and countless hours. It’s past 1am right now and I’m typing this while my computer is spending another hour rendering out another batch of 75 or so new images for Ch8. The problem with my game is that it’s so big and incredibly labour intensive. When I set up the website back in March, I already had Chapters 1-3 completely remade and ready to release. Since then I’ve been working through the other chapters, creating loads of new stuff, and managing a website and developer. The release schedule is gradually catching up with me. Ch7 is finished and has been massively expanded. In another couple of weeks Ch8 will be finished and ready to go along with another big chunk of additional material. The lead up to Ch8 is exponentially more complex due to the narrative build up. It's a bit of a hump in terms of production. I have already done much of the groundwork on Ch9, 10, 12 and 13. Technically they are much less complex, bit still absolutely huge content wise. I think I mentioned previously that these DwB parts won't be getting the full reworking until later. I'm keen to get the story onto Friday... Since the Ch6 release in early November, I have largely been continuing the creative part of the process, while my developer has been working on fixing the technical issues with the website. I had announced my intention to fix everything before Ch7 is released and I’m sticking to that. Untangled technical debt is a nightmare. I have a six year long project with over 165,000 files to keep me occupied. My developer has to put up with me and my 165,000 files of tangled technical debt. The implementation of the back end updates is something that needed doing because it has been killing the site performance on some user accounts due to a somewhat inexplicable phenomenon where tens of thousands of lines of random code is added to some game saves. I could go into more detail but I might pass out with the boredom it invariably induces. The consequence of these corrupted saves is that it times out the database connection with absolutely horrible results. There is no way I could let that continue. It wasn’t something that was anticipated and resolving it has eaten into time which I’d rather have spent on continuing creating the new content. The addition of new features won’t have a significant effect on my production and release schedule, but it will enhance what’s on offer. It’ll be a phased addition. I really appreciate everyones support at whatever level and I respect everyones opinions and decisions whatever they may be. I'm also very grateful for the opportunity to actually work on a project which means so much to me. Anyway… Rendering has finished now so I’m going to carry on until about 2:30am and then get some sleep. Saturday nights are so rock and roll. :)
dsp3000
2022-12-04 01:45:53 +0000 UTC
