After some moderate improvement I was able to get a little more done this week, but it seems I suffered the inverse of the Friday curse. Attempting to fix a bug that Nadrew identified over the weekend resulted in a game of whack-a-mole that took three releases to get right. I still intend to nuke Redmond someday, and the Windows update that initiated all of this is just one more reason on the list.

All the bug chasing in 513 mostly precluded any serious work in 514, but that was okay because I'm still not quite at a point where I can spend a lot of time on new stuff. I'll get back there soon, I hope, but anyway it's important to keep the stable version stable, especially when stupid Microsoft makes a stupid change.

De-crufting has had me looking in a lot of places. I noticed there's some handling on the client for ID arrays, but the weird thing is I don't know that the client uses them anywhere anymore. There was a very old method of handling maps that used them, but that's been long retired. There's a whole setup for requesting these arrays from the server that probably isn't needed at all anymore. I wonder if there's a lot more stuff like that that can fall away; however that kind of untangling requires a lot of time as well. A project for another day, perhaps.

Returning to particles is really my top priority for 514 work going forward right now, since it's the most straightforward thing to work on. Considering there are many ways in which position and velocity might be related, I'm trying to think of ways where the user has more flexibility to handle calculations. But I kind of wonder if it would make my life easier or harder to simply build in some kind of "particle proc" functionality that would allow the client to handle a very, very limited subset of commands and do its own math.

If you're not a BYOND Member currently, all you have to do is rummage through the couch for loose change and you can do a lot to support BYOND development that way. But we also have Patreon and SubscribeStar options if you want to just set up a recurring monthly thing and forget about it. Your support keeps development going!

We're now two weeks away from Halloween! If you're working on a game for the holiday, it's time to start thinking about finishing touches. Or if you're the sort of masochist who likes a challenge, maybe it's time to start period. In the meantime, be on your guard against those bags of candy trying to throw themselves at you, and don't let Alton Brown talk you into making candy corn or cursed peppermint patties (unless you're wiling to share). If you have a friend or relative who's easy to scare, make the most of this season and please take video; and when you do, do it in landscape orientation like you're supposed to. I leave you now with one of my favorite horror short films: The Hauntening.