Devblogs

DevBlog #34 Summary: Syrenthia, Interview(s), and Current Progress

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Interview with Eric

• Q&A stream addressing questions about WalkScape's future during Wave 2.
• Insightful interview by Eric, known for his WalkScape-related videos.
• Also, an interview with maxchill, the artist of WalkScape.
• Interview with Eric
• Maxchill's Interview

Improving Work-Life Balance

• Concerns raised by the community about the developer's work-life balance.
• Rented a small office room named "Not a Cult" to improve work environment.
• Office overlooks the historic Arabia ceramics factory.
• Offers unlimited coffee and includes an ice cube machine.
• Image of Not a Cult's Office

Syrenthia Update

• Planned release in two months.
• Upcoming updates to address pedometer issues and balancing.
• New underwater realm with multiple locations, activities, recipes, and items.
• Addition of two new service types: barber and wardrobe.
• Introduction of a new bank, achievements, consumables, realm reputation.
• Friends system and job boards are being considered.
• Focus on enhancing progression options and opportunities for players.

Post-Syrenthia Plans

• Immediate focus on Friends system and Job boards if not included in the Syrenthia update.
• Next update to implement Quality of Life (QoL) improvements, including WalkPedia.
• WalkPedia designed to aid both new and veteran players with information, statistics, and a collection log system.

Hiring Process

• Interviewing four candidates for the additional developer role.
• Onboarding a new developer expected to accelerate the development of new features.
• Anticipation of scaling up the game development with the support from Patreon and Buy Me a Coffee contributors.

Current Progress

• Achievements system nearly complete with a few items left to finalize the reward track.
• Work initiated on the pedometer fix, testing to begin internally this week.
• Around 40 unique achievements added, some offering special rewards.
• Introduction of a new leaderboard for achievement points.
• Collectibles also provide achievement points, encouraging players to find them all.

Closing Remarks

• Excitement about the progress and scaling of things behind the scenes.
• Emphasis on improving work-life balance for long-term sustainability.
• Hope for an amazing week and see the community in two weeks.
• Encouragement to stay hydrated and keep walking.

DevBlog #33: Hiring, WalkScape map tool, Android pedometer and upcoming features

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WalkScape Map Tool

• Developed by falarikae from the community.
• A world map tool to plan walks: WalkScape Map
• Includes filters for different in-game services and activities.
• Open source and hosted by the developer.

Android Pedometer

• New step-counting method deployed for Android devices.
• Challenges:
  • Need for unrestricted battery permission on Android 12 devices.
  • Increased battery consumption on Google Pixels.
• Goals:
  • Compatibility with A10 and possibly A9 devices.
  • Independent functioning without Google Fit.
  • Low battery usage when the game is closed.
  • Minimal setup and permissions.
  • Removal of foreground process and sticky notification.
• Ongoing improvements and testing, main focus on adding new game features.

New Features

• Achievements feature nearing completion.
• Working on consumables and new content.
• Future plans include adding Friends, Parties, and trading to the game.
• Trading will undergo extensive internal testing.

Hiring

• Looking to hire a second full-time developer.
• Required skills:
  • Two years of experience with Dart & Flutter.
  • One year of experience with React.js.
  • Good communication skills.
  • Game development experience (preferably professional).
• Plus traits:
  • Located in a similar timezone (UTC+2).
  • Passionate about the game.
• Apply via email: contact@walkscape.app or LinkedIn.

Closing Remarks

• Development focus on expanding the game due to player feedback.
• Some Quality of Life (QoL) improvements and bug fixes will be added in each update.
• Next DevBlog in two weeks.

DevBlog #32: Wave two launches, patch incoming and answering some feedback

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Wave Two Launch:

• Wave two of the game started last week with a significant increase in player count.
• The launch has been successful in testing the game's infrastructure under increased load.

Statistics Since Wave Two Launch:

• Total steps, actions, and resources gained by players.
• Specific achievements and milestones reached by players since the launch.

Upcoming Patch:

• A fix for a bug causing players to load their entire step history.
• Rework of the Android pedometer to prevent step loss on updates or phone restarts.
• Plans to optimize long wait times during game launch and implement other fixes.

Feedback:

• Acknowledgment of feedback received and plans to address two primary concerns:
  • Early game requiring too much attention.
  • Active gameplay components being underdeveloped.

Quality of Life Improvements:

• Plans to offer two tutorial options to cater to different player preferences.
• Introducing a travel+1 queue and optional notifications to improve gameplay experience.

Active Gameplay Components:

• Overview of planned features including friends system, world events, guilds, trading, quests, farming, combat, and more.
• Challenges faced due to limited development resources and plans to scale up with community support.

Poll:

• Seeking community opinion on prioritizing Quality of Life improvements versus new features.
• Assurance that new content updates are being worked on regardless of poll outcome.

Closing Remarks:

• Gratitude towards the community for support, testing, and feedback.
• Encouragement for players to continue participating in wave two.
• Reminder of the game's availability until March 31st and options for access.