I was going to post an update tonight. I really was. But there's a little more to do left before it's ready. I'd rather post the complete thing tomorrow, than leave you for a week with a bestiary disproportionately full of insects and blobs, but lacking in everything else. My resolution this year? Lose some weight. Write something. Make Adventurer popular enough to get Google to pay me something for the ad space. And I know I've just jinxed all three.
So it's 2011. Okay, only half a year of Adventurer. But it's a big milestone. So what have we accomplished so far? Well, Adventurer has gone from a small hobby project using the restrictive but simple XNA, to what is becoming a truly playable or even enjoyable roguelike using more sophisticated, easier to run techniques such as SDL. When I started, I had no idea what a List was. Now, I know how to do A* pathfinding with binary search.
I've learned a lot through the process, and I'm still learning more. Looking back, I can almost kick myself on some of the ways I stumbled through the process. But I was learning, I gave it my best, and darn it if I didn't just power through all the problems and turn out a working roguelike. Now that I know better, I'm going back and upgrading some of my old code. As well as developing more.
What am I doing for tomorrow's update? Well, a good deal of what I've done is fan-found fixes (fanciful alliteration there) and suggestions. Don't groan: it's part of establishing Dev Team Thinks Of Everything. More appropriately Anonymous Thinks of Everything and Dev Guy Makes it Happen. This week's major contributor towards making bug fixes happen was the forum-goer known as Archenon, who broke the game in ways I didn't even know were possible. I'm also adding a lot of creatures, so that next week I can focus on making them unique with status effects and such. You know, spiders that can web things up, wizards that can confuse you, gels that can hold you in place, poisons, etc. Also I'll be working on potions and possibly scrolls to do the same things. I'm afraid tripwires are going to be broken still until I next week add an effect to stun/paralyze you for a short duration.
The blog stats: December - 803 views +40% All time - 2292
The main page stats: December - 862 views +29% All time - 2462
Ads/Donations: December - $1.69; $0 All time - $6.32, $0
What does this tell me? Well, there's a linear growth rate of 30-40% on views, it's always seemed to be that way. Which still means the absolute increase in views is exponential. Notice that though Adventurer has been going for seven months, December had a third of the views. Exactly. Ad revenue has also been on the rise. Maybe if it keeps increasing, I'll be able to get some actual web hosting. If you think that is a good use of the money. Really, what do you think I should do with it? Also, it makes me a sad Kala that no one out of 2000+ people has donated anything. I thought I would get a rate more like 1%. Or 0.1%.
Some other interesting stats are from the scary amount of data Google Analytics offers. For example, I know most of you are browsing this blog with Firefox on a Windows operating system running in 24/32-bit color at 1280x1024 screen resolution, and you live in the United States in either Washington, California, Tennessee, Texas, or New York. Whoever that is near Bellavue, Washington: I'm on to you and your 48 visits. Admit it, you're obsessed. >:D Also, ha ha, I get it Finland: one of your towns is named Kalasen. Although I don't get YOU, Russia at third place. China still remains sadly unaware Adventurer exists.
So happy new year everybody. And remember: Both I and Google know what you did. Yes you.
A roguelike game inspired by the complexity of Dwarf Fortress, Adventurer seeks to provide a deep level of detail to an Adventurer in a setting more like Nethack. Realistic combat, an item crafting system, and a general attitude of improvising what you can out of what you have in order to overcome the challenges of the dungeon; that's what I'm trying to do with this. You can find the project at: http://code.google.com/p/adventurerroguelike
Thank you for honor. I did my best to break it ;)
ReplyDeleteI believe people will consider making donations when adventurer becomes a little more ready. You keep doing as good work as you've done and I think proving Adventurer is something special is more likely matter of few months than another half a year.
Happy new year! I hope it's good year for you and Adventurer :)
No-one can access your blog in China, because blogspot is blocked by the Great Firewall of China :-) Anyone accessing it from there, is probably doing so through Google Reader or some other non-China located aggregator - if not through VPN.
ReplyDeleteI figured as much. Even Wikipedia got banned in China a few times. The hit map on Analytics was mostly how you would expect, with exceptions. USA was in the #1 spot, by far. The English-speaking countries were on the top ten. Though Finland was second. As I mentioned above, they have a city named Kalasen. But then third is Russia. I have no clue why they like me so much. In Russia, roguelike plays you? But thanks I guess, if they can translate this. Otherwise, it pretty much followed the level of civilization. North America and Europe had a bunch. South America was pretty average, Africa was low, decent through Asia. And then... big utter blank spot where China is, equivalent to the poorest African countries. I recommend proxies for those poor folks in China who aren't allowed to look at some of the greatest hubs of knowledge. Then again, that may be how I got the 48 views out of Bellavue.
ReplyDeleteI'm almost certain that over 50% of Washington's views are from me, but I've yet to try your program. Only reading with interest, to see if it'll evolve into something to my taste.
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