I’ve been getting this question on the Discord every day, so let’s clear this up as well as we can. The short version is: You can still download the SWF file in the tabs to the left from the MVOL Download page, and right under that link is a link to a standalone Flash Projector program from Adobe that still works 100% in my experience. Right under that link is a download for the Android version, which should continue working for some time. Also in the tabs to the left is the HTML5 version of MVOL, which should work on just about any browser, even mobile, for the foreseeable future. You can probably play most other Flash games using that projector I keep linked there. However, be careful where you download from! They shut Flash down because it lets people do sleazy things to your computer and they gave up finding ways to stop that happening. Various groups are working on replacements for Flash that will let us continue playing these games in the long term. A lot of people out there are passionate about these games and want them to be around forever, so if you’re worried too, go find them and support them or help out however you can.
I’m happy to report that I’ve finally gotten Project Wild One to the point where it’s ready to start getting tested by my proofers, meaning the main content is complete and playable. I still need to add a lot of side stuff like supporter rewards and options and graphics, but the core of the game is working and in a complete enough state I won’t be absolutely mortified to let other people play it.
Happy holidays! I hope the final month of this… whopper of a year has gone relatively well for you. I’m sorry to say it wasn’t the best for me. I had some pretty bleak stretches where I just didn’t feel like I had any control over my life, largely thanks to some… surreal family issues. It was really hard to get anything done, and it didn’t help that I was starting to feel burnt out on building all this code in one giant marathon. But things are looking better now!
Overall, I’d say things are going well right now! I do wish I was getting things done faster, but that’s always going to be true. The important thing is that I’ve kept working pretty steadily, and I’ve been getting better at minimizing downtime, making sure to take care of myself emotionally and not try to overwork myself. Development for the prototype of Project Wild One has been immensely challenging, but it’s mainly been challenges I expected, and most of it I’ve enjoyed, even when it brought things grinding to halt for a day or two.
The more I’ve been working on the math behind Project Wild One, and the harder it’s gotten to get things just right, the more I can’t help but imagine that if I tried to explain what I was working on to anyone else, they’d just ask, “why are you even bothering to go to all that trouble for that?” And… in a way, that’d be a fair question? But it’s also one that I think is pretty important to the whole “point” of this Project, so the more I thought about it, the more I felt like this would actually be a good time to explain some of that.
Supporters got a taste of this two weeks or even a month early, but my first prototype for a post-MVOL…
With the new release sequence, I’m not sure how best to handle announcing each new version I put out there. It used to be that I’d give high-level supporters a very bare bones explanation when they got the MMU two weeks ahead of the proper release, and I’d still be adding a lot of finishing touches up until the actual full release today. I felt kinda bad about giving them all this new content with so few specifics, takes some of the fun out of having early access I expect.
You know, it was a funny thing. I’ve been letting these journals slide over to the long side of “one to two weeks apart” between the public and supporter alternations, but after I updated everyone on the Patreon and SubStar last week, I actually felt like writing another one only two days later! I finally had what I felt like was some pretty good news and I wanted to share it. But I figured it’d be a little silly to just jump out with it on the spot, it’d be better to give it some time and let more things accrue so I’m pacing them out at least a bit.
Well, shoot. I’ve definitely let these journals space out more than I’d intended. I’ve put it on my to-do list to update with you guys maybe a dozen times now, but… well, it went the same way as a lot of things on my to-do list from day to day. Often I’d tell myself, “today’s the day I’ll get back into it properly, and once I have some good news, once things are back on track, I’ll post a dev journal about it!” And… instead of jumping back into it, I’ve kinda been crawling back into it.
Alright! I’ve pledged to keep more in touch with you guys to talk about how development is going, and the…