Writer, filmmaker, game designer
I may have found the source of the bug, though I’m not entirely certain. It has something to do with the temporary files that the game uses to track where you’ve been and what you’ve picked up. I have to get some sleep now, but I might be able to figure this out tomorrow morning.
If you think you’re getting frustrated, try being me… I’m incredibly desperate to get this game off my shoulders. I need it to be done. I may make jokes about it, but this situation is really driving me nuts.
I’ve managed to find another bug. Trying to figure it out right now. Still very badly hoping to release the game tonight. This one seems more like a previously unnoticed mistake on my part, though I’m really confused by it.
I have gotten approximately 6.5 hours of sleep in the last three days.
Oddly enough, this is not due to working on the game; but it doesn’t make it easier. So you’ll hopefully excuse me for going to sleep now, and uploading the game tomorrow. Uploading means waiting – and, given that the game is nearly 300MB, it’s going to take a while. Especially since I want to upload it to multiple places.
So when I wake up tomorrow – which might be a little later than usual, because I’m really fricking tired – I’ll start the agonizing process that will finally allow you to play Phenomenon 32.
P.S. Unless Sky Cat changes its mind. We must always remember to acknowledge that possibility.
You: So, when’s Phenomenon 32 going to be released? Tomorrow? Next week? Next year? Never?
Jonas: Well, I was hoping tomorrow.
Sky Cat: Don’t be too sure about that.
Jonas: Why? It’s done, and I’ve decided that this crashing thing can’t be fixed. It doesn’t happen all the time, anyway. And when it does happen, it doesn’t affect your save files, so it’s not the end of the world. Most commercial games have a lot more bugs.
You: See? He can release the game tomorrow!
Sky Cat: Maybe.
You & Jonas: Maybe?
Sky Cat: I might come up with a new problem. I’m good at that.
Jonas: Look, you’ve been doing that for two weeks, don’t you think enough is enough?
Sky Cat: LOL
Jonas: Please don’t do that.
Sky Cat: Why not? Can i haz crashing gaem?
Jonas: Argh!
Sky Cat: skycat maek gaem crashz lol
Jonas: *explodes*
You: Run away! Run away!
And that is the truth.
Avatar is now officially the most successful movie of all time.
Now I just need to finish Phenomenon 32 so that I can write that long article that explains why this is a good thing, and why all the people who scream “racist!” the moment they see the film are pretty much racists themselves.
Once again, I spent many hours today trying to figure out and destroy bugs. For a time I was certain I’d managed to get them all, then I despaired when everything started going to hell, then I apparently managed to get to the point where there is only one random crash – the same one this whole story began with. It doesn’t happen every time I run the game, and frankly there is no pattern; neither have all my attempts at fixing it done anything. Sometimes it crashes, sometimes it doesn’t. (There’s one more approach I just came up with, but I doubt it will do anything. But I’ll try it.)
Right now I’m going to stop working for a few hours and go hang out with some good friends of ours. We did the same yesterday evening, and I was reminded just how good it is to spend time with people you really like. It just makes the universe seem brighter, somehow. And I need that.
Anyway, it looks like all that’s left is to try a couple of approaches to this one bug, and then go through one final check-up.
But I can’t make any promises. I’m the Trickster’s toy right now, and anything is possible.
Every time I think I’m done, another bug pops up. Or two. The current ones look like they might be fixable. The only one where I’ve given up is the occasional tinny sound – I was certain it was my sound card, but right now I just have no idea. It seemed to be fine for a while, now it sometimes reappears – but only on my computer, so maybe it’s just me after all.
If I can’t fix it, I’ll say it’s intentional. It fits with the overall mood of the game anyway. Consider it a sound anomaly.
And yes, the rest of the damn game is finished.
Yesterday was a bit of a disaster. First I was totally overwhelmed by tiredness in the afternoon, and then Verena started feeling really sick. Taking care of my wife kind of took priority over game design at that point.
She’s fine now, though, if a little exhausted.
Problems again. Nothing to do with the game, though. Real life is getting in the way. No time to write more right now. This is more important.
I may release the game tomorrow. I’m phrasing it this way because I don’t want to provoke the Cat that runs the universe. It’s already had too much fun with me.
Right now, though, I need to relax. I have spent the last week or so working more than 10 hours a day, fixing bugs and trying to rebuild stuff, and I am physically exhausted to the point where I can fall asleep just by closing my eyes. I suspect this is not healthy.
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