Progress Report

Hey everyone, I apologize about the lack of updates and posts this month (since Thanksgiving). A lot has been going on so I'll try my best to explain.

Also, I wont be able to post on the website www.txtams.com until I get back home on the 26th, the reason being is I'm not around any actual computers at the moment and am writing this from my phone so forgive any typos too!

New Computer: I dont know if you guys were aware of it (if you dont follow the Discord) but on my birthday around Thanksgiving, I got a brand new computer because my old one (which was about 11 years old) kept randomly shutting down or freezing (sometimes in the middle of work on the game) and it was just getting more and more annoying to deal with because I would have to restart it every hour or so. So for about a 3-4 days in early December I was transferring files over, downloading programs I needed and getting the new machine all set up for work.

Save System: I've been talking with the guy working on the new Quest Save System but he still hasn't made much head-way and keeps insisting its "a long way off". I interpret this as months, possibly a year away or more. Honestly, I'm just fed up waiting for it and I've officially dropped Quest as the engine AMS will be on. You guys deserve better ane so do I. With that thought in mind, I'm switching over to Unity and/or Inform 7.

For the past two weeks or so, I've been between wallowing in self-doubt and also trying to learn these two new engines, which are completly different from Quest in just about every aspect. Here is the long term plan.

Long Term Plan: I'm pushing forward with Unity and Inform 7. My goal is to build a couple of micro-games in each so that I can get familiar with the way the engines run. Once I know enough about these engines and their coding processes, I'll start transitioning Apocamorphosis over to them little by little.
For the time being I've almost completed a short first-person shooter on Unity called: "Metal Gun Mayhem" which will be available for $3+ patrons to test and play. It has 4 different weapons, a jetpack, tons of enemies, 1 mini-boss and 2 major bosses. The playtime for me is about 10 minutes because I know where everything is but I think the first couple of playthroughs for newbies will clock in around 20-30 minutes? Possibly. Maybe more.

Anyway, I have to fix a minor floor glitch and then the game should be ready for you guys to play. Yay! My next game in Unity will probably be a Micro side-scroller.

As for Inform 7, I'm still dilly-dallying with tutorials. But I've started the planning for an Adult Micro Super Hero Life Sim game (no title yet). It will feature a female protagonist, will be set in a Dystopian future, and you will get to create your character, pick your power and then go about balancing a normal life/family/relationships and a super hero life. I want to try to make it so that if you want to live a normal life without being a hero or villain, you can.....OR if you want to throw yourself into the fray every day and night, you'll have that option too. I think it'll be fun. It'll be a great way for me to get familiar with Inform.

Conclusion: There you have it! I'm not dead and neither is Adventure and Mischief Studios or Apocamorphosis itself. I really think transitioning to these new systems will help make the game a bit more stable and will allow for more reliable saving. In the meantime, I can create a couple of micro-games for you guys to play until I feel confident that I can switch the game over. Luckily all the major writing up to Chapter 2 is finished so it may not even take that long to transfer once the process gets started.

Anonynn