Silk Games' site

Developer Help Sticky In Poor Taste

Wed, 13 Jun 2012 00:58:53 +0000

http://www.byond.com/forum/?post=812415

This post is really bizarre. What it should be is a succinct and informative set of pointers to help new developers understand the Developer Help forum and how it is used. Instead it's a generic and bloviated diatribe about how new players should just Google stuff and old players shouldn't actually provide real answers.

A good rule of thumb for posts like that is that if the advice you're giving will be met with "no duh" by 95% of the readers, then don't waste your time writing it. Treating new developers like they're stupid and then instructing them that they shouldn't expect actual answers to their questions is downright weird. The inclusion of the term "Help Vampire" is incredibly off putting, and implies that anyone seeking answers to simple questions should just go jump off a cliff.

If you're looking to attract new developers and get them to stick around, crap like that is exactly the wrong way to go.

I was trying to think of ways to improve the post, but the reality is that it's so poorly suited for the job that it just needs to be axed and redone. It doesn't contain a single link to one of BYOND's many valuable resources, most notably the DM Guide or the Reference. You don't need to tell developers to Google stuff; instead you need a quick explanation that years worth of valuable archived help posts are searchable here on the BYOND boards.

The whole post needs to be about 20% the current length and written from the perspective of someone who isn't so jaded and burnt out. A post like that is not the place to say something like "don't provide people with simple answers". Your audience should be the people who are going to use the system to its fullest potential. Don't talk down to them.

When I was a new developer one of BYOND's most appealing assets was the friendly community ready to answer my initially stupid coding questions without acting like I was doing something wrong by not knowing everything right off the bat. If I had read a post like that on day one, I would have never come back.

The Silk Games Blog Has Moved

Fri, 05 Aug 2011 21:48:02 +0000

As part of my preparations for the next big NEStalgia push, I've redesigned the main Silk Games website and have transitioned the official NEStalgia development blog over there as well. The new site/blog can be found at Silk Games.com.

Check it out: Welcome to the New Silk Games Blog

This "old blog" will remain intact for archival purposes, although I don't plan to cross-post new entries here or to update it in any other way from this point forward. If you're a BYONDer who wants to keep up on Silk Games and NEStalgia news then be sure to bookmark the new blog or add it to your RSS feed.

The best thing about the new blog is that it uses existing Silk Games Forum accounts for comment posting, etc. Speaking of the forum, that will be receiving a bit of a makeover in the near future as well in order to better match the new site.

Today's first post is more than just a welcome message, it's the 10 year anniversary of the day that I released my first BYOND game!

NEStalgia v1.51 - Target Selection Hotkeys

Mon, 18 Jul 2011 21:02:29 +0000

v1.51 Update
v1.51 is now live on all servers. This is a small update bundled with a feature that will have a very big impact: you can now select your battle target (enemies or party members) using hotkeys. Last week's update brought mappable hotkeys for items and abilities, and with today's addition of targeting hotkeys players can now control entire battles without ever touching the mouse.

Furthermore, the ESC key will now close all open windows in battle and cancel your selected action during the strategy round when in a party. Version 1.51 is rounded out with bug fixes for a variety small issues introduced in last week's update.

Tournament Videos
Having essentially become our official tournament overseeer, NEStalgia moderator Caer Death has taken things one step further and started to record videos of the tournaments he runs:

Check out his most recent set of videos from the last Algol tournament in this forum post.

Calling all artists
Any artists out there looking for new ways to contribute to NEStalgia should check out my latest post on the contributions board. We're in need of battle spell animations for almost every ability in the game, and they're actually a lot of fun to make. If we get enough submissions then you could possibly see these animations pop up in the game within a week or two. Have at it!

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A Couple of Skill Tree Screenshots

Sun, 17 Jul 2011 19:24:02 +0000

Today I'd like to finally show off some of the first screenshots of the upcoming skill trees:

Shown here is one of the Ranger's three trees (not finalized), and as you can see a lot of points have already been invested. The green boxes indicate skills that have been learned, and as you progress through the tree the downward arrows open up additional branches.

Characters will still learn a base set of spells/abilities, but investing points in the skill trees will allow them to learn additional unique abilities as well. You'll earn one skill point for each level, and all in all you'll probably be able to fill up about 35% of the three trees. That means that there are a lot of decisions to make about how you'd like to customize and play your class.

These aren't mockups, these are screenshots of the system actually up and running in the game. There is still a lot of testing to be done, but this new system will hopefully be released on the live servers by the end of the month.

There are more screenshots and tidbits of information to come. Soldiers and Merchants in particular have some surprises on the way, so I'll be sure to elaborate on those soon ;)

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v1.50 Brings Hotkeys and Improved Graphics

Sun, 10 Jul 2011 21:50:42 +0000

Last night our largest update since the Sanctum patch went live, bringing with it some pretty major changes and improvements. The v1.50 update notes:

The width of the game window has been expanded by one tile on each side, making the new view width 19x15 tiles.
Most menus in the game have been slightly repositioned or in some cases redesigned to accommodate the new game window width.
The Battle HUD has been completely redesigned, and now allows players to map abilities and items to hotkeys (1 through 0).
Graphical indicators for most status effects on both foes and party members are now displayed during the strategy round in battle.
The HUD Icons for most abilities and many items have been changed. The number of unique HUD Icons has been more than tripled.
The Quest Log now has an auto-sort button.
Bug Fix: The tip of the mouse pointer wasn't centered correctly.
Bug Fix: In certain circumstances players could walk upwards into the upper sections of large castle doorways.
Bug Fix: The +Phys stat was also applying its bonus to magical attacks.
Bug Fix: It was sometimes possible to open menus and trigger abilities right as a party started the sleep sequence at Inns.

I did the mockups, but Spiff is responsible for most of the implementation of the new menus, etc. Last night players were showering praises on the new hotkey system, and if you see Spiff in the game he's the man to thank :)

The next small patch will likely be adding hotkeys for monster/party selection in battle, allowing players to control the entire battle with their keyboards once they have their hotkeys set. We're also still working on a true "Gamepad Mode" for release later this summer.

v1.50 is a major step forward towards completing this summer's planned updates, and has laid the groundwork for the next round of major changes. Next up is the new skill tree system, followed closely thereafter by the monster companion system. The goal is to make all of these updates happen sooner rather than later this summer so that we can finally get on with promoting the game and cranking out the long-awaited new content. Stay tuned!

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NEStalgia 4th of July Holiday Event

Sat, 02 Jul 2011 19:38:45 +0000

The NEStalgia 4th of July holiday event is on through Tuesday. Come take part in Balzackian Dependence Day!

There a couple new daily quests and many exclusive novelty items to collect. You can light off fireworks, duel other players for Colosseum Emblems, and try your hand at taking down the elusive firecracker "monsters" scattered all over the world.

The larger menu and battle hotkey updates will be landing sometime next week. Happy 4th of July everyone!

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Big NEStalgia Updates Incoming (and other news)

Wed, 29 Jun 2011 23:09:18 +0000

I've been out of town this week, so there won't be a podcast today. Instead I'd just like to provide a news update and share some of the things that we've been working on lately.

Summer Updates - Phase 2
If you listen to the podcasts then you know that we're rolling out this summer's updates in different phases. The next phase involves making the game window slightly larger and adjusting/improving many of the game's onscreen menus.

The first Phase 2 update will be v1.48, and the most significant changes that you're going to see are related to the battle system. Status indicators for things like Poison, Renew, Simmer etc. are finally here, but I'm guessing that the most popular change will be the new Hotkey setup:

You can map any ability or item to a hotkey and instantly recall it with a press of a button or a click from the main battle menu. Spiff did an amazing job implementing this system, and you'll be surprised by how much of a difference it makes. Battles flow much faster, and making your next move selection while in a party feels like much less of a race against the clock.

The earliest you could see this update might be this weekend. Speaking of which...

4th of July Holiday Event
I'm trying my best to get this weekend's planned holiday event ready in time. Like the Easter holiday event from last April, there will be several new daily quests and monsters to fight, along with lots of special loot exclusive to the event.

I'm a bit busier than I expected this week, so I'm cramming to get everything finished for the event. There is an outside chance that I'm not going to be able to complete things in time, but with any luck this should be ready to go by Saturday.

Flash NEStalgia
Last night the development team tried out the first working demo of the flash NEStalgia client. The game loaded right into a Firefox window and played really well. Being able to load up NEStalgia in a browser with no manual installation was just freaking cool.

The big impact that this will have on NEStalgia is that it will increase our exposure exponentially by being able to embed the game on sites like Kongregate and Facebook. The flash client will also finally allow Mac users to play the game from within OS X.

Tom and Lummox JR of BYOND are responsible for the development of the flash client, and as we move forward both Silk Games and BYOND will be working together closely to improve NEStalgia and to expand our potential audience. This partnership has already yielded some very tangible results: thanks to recent improvements in the efficiency of BYOND icon procedures NEStalgia no longer requires the separate character creation servers and we were finally able to implement dye and mask previews. Pretty cool stuff!

We don't have a solid timeline on the flash version of NEStalgia, but I'll keep you updated (and perhaps post some screenshots soon) as development continues.

NEStalgiaSecrets.com
Nathaniel (NomadNate) recently released an unofficial treasure trove of spoilers and secrets for NEStalgia at NEStalgiaSecrets.com. It's a really good looking and easy to navigate site, and it contains maps for every single area in the game.

I personally don't like using strategy guides for everything, but if you're stuck on a puzzle or can't find the last couple treasure chests then that site is the place to go. Check it out!

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New Podcast Plus a v1.46 Recap and v1.47 Preview

Wed, 08 Jun 2011 23:49:42 +0000

Today's Podcast
First up is today's podcast, in which we talk about this summer's development schedule, details on the re-balance, and more. You can check out the podcast on YouTube:

Or download/listen to the mp3 version here: http://www.silkgames.com/nestalgia/podcasts/ NEStalgiaPodcastEp5.mp3

v1.46 and v1.47 Updates
In other big news, the v1.46 update (notes) was released this past weekend. This was a fairly large update that changed the entire game's color palette, as well as added replacement sprites or artwork improvements for almost every monster in the game. Another big change - dye and mask previews!

Before and after the palette changes in v1.46

Mask and Dye previews are already in v1.46, and the new inventory setup shown here is coming in v1.47

There's even more good news: within a couple days the next update (v1.47) will go live, and will bring some major changes to the way the inventory system works. Equipped gear and quest items will be moved to separate inventory panes, freeing up much more space for battle loot and consumables. This change has been one of our most requested features, and thanks to Spiff's efforts it's finally arrived!

All of these changes are only the tip of the iceberg. Keep checking in this summer for news on the next phase of updates, including new details on skill trees and lots of info about the big content expansion.

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NEStalgia Podcast Episode 4

Wed, 01 Jun 2011 21:46:39 +0000

It's Wednesday, and because we've resumed our weekly NEStalgia Podcast, that means it's time for a new episode. This week Jared and I talk about our participation in last Sunday's PvP tournament on Sosaria as well as the upcoming v1.46 patch. You can listen to the podcast on YouTube:

Or download/listen to the mp3 version here: http://www.silkgames.com/nestalgia/podcasts/ NEStalgiaPodcastEp4.mp3

Now that we have a handful of episodes under our belts I'm going to see about getting this podcast published on iTunes, AudioPress, etc. so that people with smart phones can get it delivered automatically every week. Many people have been asking if we're going to do longer episodes, but right now I think that fifteen minutes is a pretty good length for these things. If and when the situation calls for it we can always do an extended podcast - perhaps closer to the release of the next big content patch.

If you have any ideas or request for topics that we should cover on a future episode, please let us know. Thanks for listening!

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v1.45 Update, New Podcast, Other News

Fri, 27 May 2011 22:21:08 +0000

Version 1.45 Update
Earlier this week NEStalgia was updated to version 1.45 (notes). Along with the update we experimented with upgrading to the latest BYOND beta, which addressed one of the game's biggest concerns by mitigating much of the slow down caused by icon processing. In short, that means faster servers and no more need for separate character creation servers!

Zenithia and Cornelia have been downgraded back to BYOND 482 for the time being so that first time players don't get confused about having to install a beta release. Word on the street is that the official release will be out sometime next week though ;)

The Podcast Returns!
We recorded this episode almost a month ago, but I've been too busy to edit and post it. This is a great episode - Jared and I sat down with NEStalgia's co-developer Spiff and talked about his involvement in the project, and some ideas for future releases. You can listen to the podcast on YouTube:

Or download/listen to the mp3 version here: http://www.silkgames.com/nestalgia/podcasts/ NEStalgiaPodcastEp3.mp3

Hopefully I'll find the time to get back to doing regular weekly podcasts now. I've also been sitting on yet another podcast for over a month that we recorded with special guests Louli and Robin of the Balzackian guild. Parts of that discussion are still relevant, so I'll try to work it in to next week's podcast.

Recent Happenings
Progress on the game has been steady. Spiff and I are both hard at work on the big updates that I wrote about recently, and you'll likely be seeing some of the new features and improvements starting to creep into the game in the next couple weeks. As soon as I have more to show on the skill trees I'll be putting up a blog post with lots of details and screenshots on those as well.

We have been receiving some amazing artwork submissions from users on the new Artwork & Music Contributions board. All in all I've approved over 20 new monster sprites so far, many of which you'll start to see popping up in the game in the near future. Keep the submissions coming (and I'll try to keep up with the replies!).

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