ErikH2000
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You can download "DROD: Architects' Edition", the absolute best we have to offer, at: http://prdownloads.sourceforge.net/drod/cdrod1_6setup.exe?download
Note that this is exactly the same as build 46 from beta-testing, so if you already have build 46, it's redundant to download the above file.

It's been 51 weeks since our last release of DROD. The lesson brutally and repeatedly stamped onto my brain is that even simple software projects take much longer than you think they will. And after you are perfectly aware of that fact, you can get all gruffly pessimistic, furrow your brow, double your estimates, and... damned if it doesn't take still longer than you thought.

I would like to say that every minute has been fun, but that wouldn't be true. At times it is just hard work, and I'd rather be doing something else. That said, I'm going to take a break from DROD for a few weeks. Don't let me sound like a sourpuss though--I'm quite pleased that we got this thing out the door. Somewhere in the back of my head, I'm fantastically excited about beginning work on DROD 1.7, a.k.a "Journey to Rooted Hold", but really... I just need a small break from it. I've been using every scrap of free time to work on DROD, and I would like to just screw around in a guilt-free, purposeless kind of way. Yeah, two weeks is not even a noticeable interval, so I won't say anything more about it.

And I should also point out that Mike Rimer put more time in on this than me, and you don't hear him complaining. So what's my problem? Ahhhhhh, I'm just a whiner. Okay, that's enough out of me.

Some people may have seen hints about a Linux release of DROD. Yes, that will be available shortly. For all I know, Gerry is uploading it to SourceForge while I'm typing this. Check back here for an announcement or check on SourceForge at http://www.sourceforge.net/projects/drod.

I think we are done moving stuff around for the new site and "http://www.drod.net " or "http://www.drod.net/forum " should work without problems. I'm tempted to explain exactly how much torment I went through with bureaucrats at iPowerWeb over the domain name change, but then I realize that it is all very boring. Long story short: I hate iPowerWeb technical support, but I'm still happy about how cheap drod.net webhosting is. I guess you get what you pay for.

Giving the mic back to Mr. Moorteo. Gads, I got blood, sweat, and tears all over it.

-Erik

[Edited by ErikH2000 on 10-20-2003 at 07:30 PM GMT]

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The Godkiller - Chapter 1 available now on Steam. It's a DROD-like puzzle adventure game.
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Oneiromancer
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First of all, congratulations, this is a great moment! You deserve your break...and of course Mike deserves one too, but we'll all understand if he doesn't want to take one.

Second, where are you going to advertise this release? Do you care if we advertise it in seemingly random places, or are you worried about "DROD Saturation?"

Anyway, try to have some fun, and I would say to try not to think about DROD, but if it's in your blood as much as I think it is that will probably be pretty hard. In fact, after your hiatus, I bet you'll have lots of awesome ideas. So a break will be a good thing (TM).

Game on,

____________________________
"He who is certain he knows the ending of things when he is only beginning them is either extremely wise or extremely foolish; no matter which is true, he is certainly an unhappy man, for he has put a knife in the heart of wonder." -- Tad Williams

ErikH2000
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Oneiromancer wrote:
First of all, congratulations, this is a great moment! You deserve your break...and of course Mike deserves one too, but we'll all understand if he doesn't want to take one.

Thanks, Neil.

Second, where are you going to advertise this release? Do you care if we advertise it in seemingly random places, or are you worried about "DROD Saturation?"

I am worried about the data loss bug reappearing. It is probably still in this release. For that reason, I've only announced the release at SourceForge.net and libsdl.org. The error reporting has been beefed up so that we can better troubleshoot from error log files collected from anyone who reports a problem. If the data-loss bug or some other severe bug doesn't get reported, we'll launch a wider release. Otherwise, we may write a patch to fix the bug, test that, and then do the wider release.

So I'd say, let's wait on any extra promotion.

Anyway, try to have some fun, and I would say to try not to think about DROD, but if it's in your blood as much as I think it is that will probably be pretty hard. In fact, after your hiatus, I bet you'll have lots of awesome ideas. So a break will be a good thing (TM).

Yeah, that's how I think it will work.

-Erik

____________________________
The Godkiller - Chapter 1 available now on Steam. It's a DROD-like puzzle adventure game.
dev journals | twitch stream | youtube archive (NSFW)

Mattcrampy
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Moorteo was having a nice snooze, as well. Now he has to get up and think so soon after sleeping and it hurts his tiny little brain.

Just a bit of maintenance - I'm going to try and get as much of what I've been tinkering up as possible. I've found some useful JavaScript for the buttons and I'm half-way through writing a short treatise on how the Eighth is set up. Later on tonight I'll show you what I've done to the downloads page. The table we've got just doesn't scream "scroll" to me.

But a bit of cleaning up, all round.

In case you missed, the secret page was... on the main page. I wondered how much I'd be able to get away with it, and I'm not sure I didn't.

In case anyone's curious: a choice quote from Erik's correspondence, regarding tech support:

Talking to iPowerWeb's support is like talking to
the Borg.

I'm not going to go around printing out confidential e-mails, but I'm sure the wider community would appreciate the trouble Erik's had with them. I'm not even going to try and talk to them, because I just know the first question will be "Do you have an account with us? I'm sorry, but we aren't authorised to help you", the second sentence sent slightly after the first, pre-empting my response.

Matt

[Edited by Mattcrampy on 10-20-2003 at 11:04 AM GMT: I just like the Borg comparison.]

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mrimer
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ErikH2000 wrote:
And I should also point out that Mike Rimer put more time in on this than me, and you don't hear him complaining.

Sure, I can complain for a bit. ...okay, that's done

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Gandalf? Yes... That's what they used to call me.
Gandalf the Grey. That was my name.
I am Gandalf the White.
And I come back to you now at the turn of the tide.

ErikH2000
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I just wanted to point out that people who already have build 46, have no reason to download the release version. It is the same thing.

-Erik

____________________________
The Godkiller - Chapter 1 available now on Steam. It's a DROD-like puzzle adventure game.
dev journals | twitch stream | youtube archive (NSFW)

trick
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For those who don't read the SF news..

The Linux version is up at SourceForge. Get it while it's steamin'.

- Gerry