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Devblogs/Archive/21
DevBlog #21: Back from vacation! New Portal, a merch store, and preparing for the convention!
Posted: September 7, 2023
Welcome to yet another WalkScape development blog post! This time we have some pretty exciting news to cover. First of all, if you a reading this on Portal, you might have already noticed that a lot has changed!
New Portal
One of our followers, Hexalyse, contacted me on Discord about the Portal. He offered to rewrite it, as it was previously done with Flutter web and I didn't have enough time to develop it. During the past two weeks, he worked tirelessly to rewrite the whole thing. Now we have a brand new Portal which has been a huge help for us and is working great!
If you find any issues, or have ideas/feedback for the new Portal, please write to the Portal's Suggestions & Feedback category. You can also contact Hexalyse on WalkScape Discord server. Check out the new Portal on portal.walkscape.app. All previous data is still intact, so there is no need to register again. Only the frontend has been swapped to a new one (made with React + Next.js, like our main website).
Here are some of the new features:
- Completely rewritten frontend that supports all basic browser features, including searching and accessibility features.
- Avatar uploading. You can now upload a custom avatar or a PFP made with PFP tool to Portal!
- User profiles. You can now share your profile on Portal, although it currently only shows closed beta status.
- Improved website speed thanks to some optimizations made by Hexalyse.
- Improved security of the Portal since we've had more than one pair of eyes taking a look at the backend.
- Searching posts.
WalkScape Store
So, in the last development blog post, I mentioned that I needed to take some time off. Well, I'm happy to report that I did just that! I haven't really worked on the game for the past two weeks, but I've been keeping busy with some marketing, management, and other stuff. All in all, it's been great to just relax for a bit.
But get this: during my vacation, we actually started a merch store! It's something that a lot of folks who participated in the event were asking for, so we figured, why not? Check out the brand new WalkScape merch store right here:
Don't forget that buying items from our store also supports the development of our project. However, if you simply want to support us and our development efforts, we receive a larger cut of the proceeds when you support us through Patreon or Buy Me a Coffee.
If you have any specific product requests or ideas for designs, please leave them in the comments section, contact us via Discord, or email us at contact@walkscape.app.
Summer Walkdown Event is over!
The second big news is that the Summer Walkdown event has ended. It was an amazing event, and we counted a total of 102 million steps taken by the 500 participants during the past month. That means the average number of steps per day during the event was 7,325! That's incredible! We will also be distributing the final batch of closed beta keys on Discord soon, so stay tuned!
As mentioned in our previous blog post, we have decided to implement a similar event directly into the game. This event helped us realize that many players have formed a connection with certain realms in the Western Continent. As a result, we will be adding the option for you to choose your character's home region during character creation.
If you're interested in learning more about the in-game realms of WalkScape, check out some of the lore on our wiki:
Some funny metrics from the event:
Is that Bigfoot? Atrax walked 1920 steps per mile.
Could be a Halfling? Shue walked 2544 steps per mile.
Oh Captain, my Captain: CaptainAndy and Captainponch walked 1,264,119 steps.
Beware the g: 3,784,767 steps walked by usernames starting with g.
The Empress: 82,320,273 steps claimed by the Empire of Wallisia and the territory it controls.
Convention and switching our focus back to the game
I will be attending the Pocket Gamer Connects Helsinki convention from Monday to Wednesday of next week. I plan to share images and insights from the event with our supporters, who made it possible for us to attend.
Preparing for the convention has been time-consuming for both me and Maxchill this week. Maxchill has been busy designing banners, business cards, and other marketing materials for the convention, while I have been organizing and developing a short game demo for it.
We have also received meeting requests from interested investors, but don't worry, WalkScapers. We are not selling the game or the company to any kind of corporate overlords. My main priority at the convention is to learn how to run a booth, so we are better prepared for future consumer-oriented conventions. Our second goal is to spread the word and talk to journalists.
Our awesome banner we'll be using at the convention
Once the convention is over, we will return our focus entirely to game development. However, all of this has caused us a slight delay on the development. Preparing and running a booth at a convention is surprisingly a lot of work, especially when it's just me and maxchill doing it all.
Until next time
That's all for this development blog!
Once again, a huge thanks to our supporters at Patreon and Buy Me a Coffee. We couldn't have gone to the convention without your help, and the money we receive keeps things running smoothly in our business.
In the next development blog (to be released on 21.9.), we hope to have more interesting news about the game itself!
Keep walking, and stay safe everyone!
