Get an e-mail on new posts
Get the latest posts via RSSThe new engine has been updated with content ported over from the Flash engine:
All active subscribers (playing on PC) can check out the new build in the Researcher Intranet.
If you’d like to be notified of when new builds are available (and other posts on this blog), there is now a system set up to do exactly that!
For easiest access, just login to the Researcher Intranet, and accept the prompt at the top (which will prepopulate your existing e-mail, so you don’t even have to type it in again). Or, you can also access the system directly here, including if you don’t otherwise have an account.
Tip: It is recommended to also add no-reply@updates.skycorp.global to any safe sender list or set up a gmail filter to allow messages from it, to ensure messages aren’t accidentally routed to your spam folder. Here is a page with instructions on how to do this for various platforms.
The new (non-Flash) engine discussed in the last post is now released to all active game subscribers!
With this new engine, you don’t need to download Flash. The game is now playable inside a desktop web browser with no additional dependencies. See the last post for details on what content is available in the new engine so far. Please do report bugs affecting Ch 1~6 content, as that’s all expected to work now.
After much re-coding, the new engine is finally in a playable state!
This version is completely Flash-less, and will run right in your desktop web browser (tested in Firefox & Chrome). Support for mobile browsers & a mobile progressive web app will be added in future.
Currently chapters 1~6 should be playable in the new engine, though these haven’t been thoroughly tested so there will likely be some bugs yet. (Speaking of, if the minimap looks really weird, try refreshing the page to fix it.)
For now, this build is only available to WIP subscribers via the usual Researcher Intranet, though it will be rolled out to all active subscribers soon.
Cookies / Log-out
This is about seven years overdue, but the researcher intranet now supports cookies so you don’t have to manually log in every time. You can also log out, too.
Automated Builds
In the Researcher Intranet, you will now see a new WIP build labeled “autobuild.” This is currently available to all WIP subscribers and reflects the absolute latest content in source control. Just like all WIP builds, these aren’t recommended for typical gameplay as they haven’t yet been tested. However, it may be fun to take a look at the absolute latest changes to see what’s coming.
Similarly, there’s a new #builds discord channel, which gives a sneak peek into what’s being committed into source control as our trusty BuildBold tries to build each new commit and make it playable.
Currently, the #builds channel is viewable to everyone in Discord, though this may change to all subscribers, WIP, or no-one at all depending on if I’m working on something I want to surprise people with. (Similarly, autobuild may sometimes be unavailable).
Artist Info Page
There’s now a specific page for people to find out about contributing art for the game. Sign-ups for that are open on an ongoing basis, and we already have one super awesome TF sequence complete. I won’t be revealing it until the accompanying game content for it is ready, but the artist did an amazing job and I can’t wait to share it with you!
Backend / CDN
Lots of changes and upgrades to various server stuff on the backend, including: new OS, improved caching on the blog, in process moving a lot of static blog assets to a CDN, etc.
Flash Version Still Playable
First, an important reminder that even though you can’t play the game in most browsers due to Flash’s death, you can still play the game outside of browsers. Either download the standalone Flash Player Projector or install the APK on Android. Instructions are on the download page.
Call for Artists
As we get closer to getting actual new content again, I’d like to prepare by meeting more artists interested in contributing chapter cover art. If you enjoy drawing furry art, and want to do some for this game, please click here.
Non-Flash Port Progress
Work on porting the engine off of Flash is going well, with much of the recent work focused on getting the game to be playable with only a web browser (no install needed). There is still more work to do here, but the basics are functional now. It’s been a bit slow going as, among other challenges, I’ve had to learn a whole suite of new technologies. However, I’ve been making progress and hope to have an early beta to backers before too long. Again, thank you to everyone for your patience and support!
If you’d like to see some occasional work-in-progress screenshots, I typically post them to #research-lab on Discord. (Although they’re probably not super exciting to look at yet :P)
Also — in case you were wondering about the previous DLC/mod vote, I do still have plans to get to it. But once Flash stopped working in browsers, that bumped up the priority a lot for getting the port done as fast as I can manage it. New TF content will be the thing I work on next, right after the new engine.
Today’s research blog art is by the very talented AnthroMage; I am definitely imagining this as a transformation sequence 😉