Devblogs
From The Walkscape Walkthrough
DevBlog #34 Summary: Syrenthia, Interview(s), and Current Progress
View the full post on the Portal!
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
View the full post on the Portal!
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
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.