Release date: January 21st, 2011 (anniversary)

January 10th 2011 update: Closing news

The game is going to be available in eleven days.

That's right. In eleven days it will be exactly a year after I was hit by that arrow of inspiration and sat down in front of my computer and got to work. The game isn't finished completely, but there's little left to be done. I don't have much time, especially since I have to study for my exams, but I should be able to finish the job.

This will be the last update, as I'll be making a new post regarding the release, and I will be updating that instead. I'm also running out of characters to type in this post, so I'm trying to be as laconic as possible.

I have 12 pages left to read in Stephen King's "It". I started it in July, and what has been the longest novel (1116 pages) I've ever read is about to come to an end. This feels just like that.

I think it's safe to kiss this post goodbye now. It's been quite a ride.

December 21st update: Progress report 7

I think it is safe to say that this is my last progress report, if not the one before the last.

The production has been going great. The gallery is finished, the flawed but usable save system is finished, the medals are almost finished and the retouches are nearing their conclusions. I'll also get to work on a custom preloader in a few days, maybe today but most likely tomorrow.

I'm guessing I'll be releasing the game on the anniversary, exactly a year after I started the game on January 21st 2010, meaning that there are 30 days left. It's hard to believe that you will all be playing the game in a month; it's like my entire life passed with this game. I can remember waking up one day and going to the kitchen for breakfast, and when I grab some cookies BAM-- I have the idea.

I really don't believe that this game will get tons of shiny awards, but it certainly is going to be my big break. But most importantly, I will finally have shared what I've been putting through hell and high water for precisely a year. Last but not the least, I will finally have submitted something in 3 years. The rest of it, I don't really care.

In conclusion, the official release date is January 21, 2011 now. If I get lucky somehow, maybe even earlier, but that's unlikely. I'll also upload a new screenshot from the menu, as the last one is 10 months old.

December 10th update: The gallery is done!

I can't believe I finally cleared up that huge obstacle! What remains now is preparing the medals and tidying up a few loose ends. It shouldn't take long, as the finishing of the gallery has motivated me greatly. Nothing can stop me now.

Expect the game soon.

November 28th update: Progress report 6

I don't have much to say in this update, just felt like keeping the post up to date. I have some good news, one being that the gallery is nearing its conclusion. Yes, only 6 left to make from now. My tests are coming up starting tomorrow, but I should still be able to finish it in a week. It's hard to believe that this long gallery is finally coming to a conclusion... Seems like aeons passed.

The other news is that I'm preparing medals. Most of them are simple, but fun to go hunting for. Their main purpose is to increase the replay value; I don't want a game with so much effort to die as soon as the player beats the game once. I'm working on other possibilities for the replayability, too, but I'd rather not reveal them for now, as they are far from certain.

It's hard to believe how much a single idea can change... If I didn't make that major change about the gallery a few months back, I'd still be preparing only the paintings now. There would be another two months for doing all the research for each one... Just the thought of it gives me the creeps.

When the gallery is done, I KNOW I will be eager to release the game right away, but I won't. The game still has some sloppy characteristics in its current state, so I'll be doing retouches. It's safe to say that it will take a month, no more or less.

As I mentioned before, I don't think I'll really mind if the score turns out to be below my expectations. I learned a lot in the making progress of this game: using variables for unlockable stuff, medals, a scoreboard... It's not just programming that I learned; with the release of this game, I will have proven myself that will and tenacity is all that is needed for good work.

The next update will probably be when the gallery is over, about a week later.

November 19th update: Progress report 5

Nice banner, huh? I re-sized it as a forum signature as well, with a link to this post.

There are some news about the gallery. I managed to reach up to 38 during the holiday. Been working on it non-stop. Since there are 56, there are only 18 left to make.

The amount of progress I made over the last few weeks surprises me, and serves as a nice motivation. I'm not quite sure about the gallery schedule from now on. Future is always blurred for me. I can make one every day and take 18 days to finish. I can manage to take 9 days by making two daily. Six days? I don't think so. I can barely get any time off school during weekdays, especially since my exams are coming up now. I think I'll just make one daily, safe and sound.

By the way, if you think that I'm spending all my programming time on the gallery, think again. Aside from the gallery, I've also been working on the medals and changing some riddles that I thought to be too easy.

There are news on the release date, too. No, it's still not certain. However, I found out yesterday that I began making this game on January 21st, 2010. If the production finishes on around the end of January, I think I'll release it on the anniversary--precisely 2 months from now. The gallery will definitely take a good two weeks, and there will be a one-month finalizing process (and medals, if they still aren't done by then) after that, but I don't expect it to take any longer than 2 months.

I can't stop thinking about this game. I feel like I'm taking it a bit too seriously, but hey, it's called discipline. The game won't even see the light of the day without it, right?

November 5th update: Progress report 4

No kidding now, making this game is like going to a gym. I can feel "Eye of the Tiger" playing while I make the game. By no means do I mean this in a bad way; while the real fun part of the game developing process begins after the submission of the game, the production is always amusing. It's tiring, but just as tiring as it's meant to be.

I made a minor change in the plan: on days that I have free time, such as Friday and the weekends, I would make five of those riddles instead of one. Give or take. I initially decided on ten, but it occurred to me when I tried it that talk was cheap. Very cheap.

So far today I managed to make five. I might add a few more after I finish the update. I think it is now safe to assume that the gallery process is going to be done in about 40 days (which is, I think, December 16th); even less if I REALLY stick to the plan.

Here's the current status of the countdowns on my iPhone:
117 days until the initially estimated release (March 3rd 2011)
40 days until the estimated finishing date of the gallery (December 16th 2010)
70 days until the subsequently estimated release date (January 5th 2011)

The 30 days after the gallery, as mentioned before, is the "finishing touches" process. As 30 days is a very rough estimation, I wouldn't count on it too much. I might just make all the retouches in 3 days and decide that the game is good to go. However, there is also the medals issue. Unless it somehow takes me long to get the hang of the medals and make them, the current release date should be accurate.

Until next time.

October 25th update: Good news

I recently found a way (and began applying it) to speed up the production significantly. I told Archawn and cybermaniac555 about it, the only two people who seem to care, about this. However, if there is still someone out there tracking this post down, I want to write it down just in case. Besides, I won't have tucked it in.

Previously, the gallery required a ton of work. The paintings would be divided into frames (approximately four in each) as buttons, and you would have to click on them to enlarge them. Thus, it would take me at least 60 days to prepare each button THEN 60 days to make the frames of the enlarged versions. I thought hard about it and made a fascinating decision.

Why not just have them all enlarged when you enter the gallery? One in each frame. This isn't only to speed up the production either; this way the players can conveniently find what they are looking for, with the aid of an input box that you can enter a number into, which will take you to the corresponding painting.

Consequently, the release will probably be much earlier than March 3rd, as I'll be saving nearly 60 days. Which means that, if I really stick to the plan, I might just be able to submit this in the beginning of 2011. There is no way to know for sure when I will be able to release this, but if the plan goes exactly as planned, the countdown would be 83 days. There is one thing for sure: this won't be released any later than March 3rd. I already lost too much time.

I'm so excited with all this talk, now. At this rate, it really looks like I'll actually finish this... No matter what score it will get, I don't think I'll care much, because I will have proven myself how tenacious and committed I can be if I stick to a certain plan. Believe me, this will be a fantasy come true. It's going to be a triumph, a glory, a victory... Anyway, let's not get too excited now. I shouldn't be, until this is done.

Oh, and one more thing. When the game is submitted, I won't just put a stop to it and shift my focus to something else. The submission will only fulfill the purpose of the game being playable. The work will go on. I'll be reading the reviews and considering the players' tips, and I'll improve the game in accordance. If it gets a good score, like at least 3.80, I might even add medals, which I'd really like to.

Well, back to work.

October 17th update: Plan and estimated release date

This has gone far enough. The production has almost stopped now. I can't keep going like this, otherwise I'll submit the game while graduating the university... Consequently, I decided to set up some strict rules in order to get the game done.

What these rules have in common is that I'll be spending my time on the production every day until it's done. In order, here is the current plan I'll be following:
1- Program one painting every day. Abso-friggin-lutely no excuses.
Daily time: 10 minutes
Total time: 48 days

2- Briefly research every painting and put them in the game.
Daily time: 15 minutes
Total time: 60 days

3- Make some finishing touches.
Daily time: 10 minutes
Total time: 30 days, give or take

There will be approximately 138 days in the making. Which makes the estimated release date March 3rd, 2010. Remember that despite how determined I might sound by making all these plans, nothing can change the fact that school is the main priority in my life. I'll work on the game as much as school permits, as always. So, although I will do my very best to submit the game on the estimated release date, I might be unable to, which is likely.

In conclusion, the game will be released sooner or later. But it IS going to be released.

October 2nd update

It's been a week. I thought I would update this.

The production is going well, though a bit slow. It's because my tests are about to start soon. I'll be really busy. What my gut feeling tells me is that I should have just finished this in summer, when I had nothing to keep me busy. But then the game would end prematurely, and that's far from what I want. I have the regret of not using my summer time well, though.

The good news is that the scoreboard is done. Unless some fixed problems insist on showing themselves, it should work just fine. The board only shows the scores and not the ranks, currently, but Mike told me that such a feature was on their to-do list. I'm also thinking of including medals in the game.

The bad news is that the gallery is going to take a long, long time. There are 60 paintings in total and so far I've only done like 12, and I haven't even programmed them to be enlarged when the player clicks on them. However, I'm not hopeless. I mean, there were countless times during the making process that I felt distressed because of all the work to do, and if it weren't for my tenacity, I would never have gone this far. No matter how many problems clogged the future of this game, I managed to get through them every time. This should be no problem. All I have to do is to stick to the game without forgetting about school. It won't be easy, but do I have a choice? I can't afford to wait for the next summer. That ain't happening.

For the release date, I can't say anything certain, as always. I'll be very busy with school during the week, and the university preparation classes during the weekends. Subtract homework and all the studying for tests from my free time. Then take off the time I spend for sleeping, eating, watching TV, playing video games and reading books. You would then know how little time I have to make this game.

I can say however that I'm planning the release for the beginning of 2011. That can be anywhere from January to April. It seems to be the nearest time I can get this done. I can also say for sure that it won't wait until the end of the school year (June)...

I have the fear that I will wake up one day only to see a "Riddles of Renaissance" game submitted to the portal by someone else... I would be surprised though if anyone else than Archawn is reading this. Looks like there are some benefits of being unpopular, after all.

September 12th update: School tomorrow

How come whenever it's the last day of summer, there is always either depressing rain or simply no sun? Anyway, as the title says, school starts tomorrow. No matter how positively I try to look at it, I just can't make school seem like a good thing in my mind.

As for the production, it's going great. I'm working on the gallery and so far the production is fast and entertaining. As soon as I'm done with the gallery I'll get to work on some music, then I'll do a few finishing touches. Perhaps plenty. There is also the scoreboard. I'm encountering problems with the NG API. I e-mailed both Tom and Mike, and so far I'm still in the dark. I know they probably have more e-mails than you can shake a stick at, but if someone gives you his e-mail address, he might as well spend a little time to check the e-mails when his inbox fills up.

Probably not many people will read this except Archawn, and I need to go to bed, so I'll cut it short. I'm planning to release the game in a few months, and I will not let school slow down the production too much. The game is going to be a masterpiece, I can predict and promise that. So far I'm happy with the game and I like where it's going.

September 7th update: Riddles all done

Yee-haw! I thought this was never going to be finished. Well, the game isn't; but the riddles are. Still, it's a big step, as I can now get to work on the gallery, and after that, the score board. Possibly a sponsor too, with Archawn's help.

I'll take my time, as I've been working on this game for so much and I would be truly disappointed if this game ended up with a score of 2.30 or something. I'm aiming for at least 3.60, but I'm trying not to get carried away with dreams.

There isn't much left to make. With the riddles done and unnecessary stuff removed, production should be quick from now on. However, with the time spent for testing added to the work, I still wouldn't except this to be finished in under a month. As always, I'll try my best.

September 5th update: Stuff to scrap&add

I've been thinking over this game quite a lot lately, and I've made some decisions. They aren't fully decided ones yet, I'm just thinking.

First of all, I decided that the hacking should be scrapped entirely. Not only because there aren't so many riddles, but I want this to be a challenging game. Solving the riddles should be the only option, what good is all the thinking if you can just skip it using some common knowledge? None of the riddles require genius intellect; especially with the hints, you should be able to solve them if you use your mind. I know it's easy for me to say since I am the one who designs the riddles, but I try my best to make the riddles to be suitable for a person of average intelligence.

With the hacking system gone, the florins will also be scrapped, which were previously thought to be used for hacking. Besides, once you finish the game once, you drain all the replay value. What good is going back to the game to use your hard-earned florins for some hacking? You already know the answers to the riddles...

I might keep the streak points (the points you earn for successfully solving three riddles in a row, without mistakes or hints), but they will probably be useless, so I'll most likely scrap them as well.

I know some of you may be disappointed about these changes, but I feel that with these sacrifices, the game will be better overall. It will also buy me some time. By no means are these changes made because of laziness; it's for the game to be better.

As for additions, there aren't much, actually. Except for a social class system. By reaching a certain amount of points, you move up a social class. There are currently ten of them, ranging from beggar to pope. Gameplay-wise, they don't serve much of a purpose, but your class will appear near your score on the high score board. I also think that it will increase the replay value a bit; players who are dissatisfied with their rankings will try harder to get a better name on the score board.

That's all for now. Remember that I completely understand if any of you object to these changes; if you have a logical reason, feel free to let me know.

August 19th update: About the release

Hard to believe it's been so long. 7 months? I started the game back in February, hoping it will be a nice and simple break from other projects. What I ended up with is now probably my most serious project.

The release date is still a blur to me. I decided however, that I'm not going to insist on releasing this game on summer. I know from my past mistakes that a premature release will only engender disappointment. I will take my time and make it as good as possible before I release it.

I realized that adding new features to a game brings enthusiasm; the more I do it however, the longer the job gets. I supposed it's worth it, nonetheless.

Yesterday I've read in a book that the more slowly you read, the more reluctant you become to reading. In many ways, I think this also applies to game making. The more I try to take it easy, the more the game fades out in my mind. I also know however what hasting the game will bring.

I think I should try to find the midpoint of taking it easy and rushing. The release will take some time, but it won't be too long.

July 29th update: Back from holiday

After a nice holiday I'm back, ready to resume the production. Luckily I managed to think up riddles there. The bitter fact is that there is a lot to do even after the riddles are done. Well, time to get to work. I want this to be done before the summer holiday ends, meaning that I have approximately 50 days. This game might be my key to become well known, and I'll release it as soon as time permits.

July 24th update: Holiday report 2

Good news. A friend of my dad suggested that we leave the club and come over to them, and we gladly accepted. As far as I've seen, this place isn't any more 'active' than the club, but at least we have friends with us. Including a friend that I haven't seen for over a year.

Nevertheless, I AM looking forward to returning home. No matter where we stay, the entire idea of a vacation got kind of stale for me. I'll enjoy spending the rest of my holiday being a couch potato as usual, making the game and hopefully, releasing it.

Now for the most important part of the update I presume, I managed to think up approximately four riddles. I found pictures and typed the riddles under them in MS Word, just to ensure that the production will be faster when I return. I'm determined to release the game before the summer ends. However, I will not do so until I feel that the game is ready. I already know the punishment for hasting a game, and I had to learn it the hard way.

It's going to be a bang.

July 19th update: Holiday report 1

I'm having such a great time, so much that it hurts. Unfortunately, that sentence was sarcastic, except for the "it hurts" part.

The club I'm in, it's boring as hell. It didn't use to be like this. It used to be my home away from home, I had been looking forward to it every year because it was so much fun. Not anymore. This place keeps getting worse with every passing year. We no longer have music at the pool, pool games arranged by the staff, a cafe near the pool, nothing! The place has lost all the fun stuff it used to have. The once utopian place is now an armpit.

You know what's worse? We'll be staying here for two weeks. Yes, fourteen days, with every hour being a day in my (and my brother's) terms. What can get worse than that is probably the fact that my dad is enjoying himself, meaning that not everyone is sharing my opinion. I don't know what my mum thinks, but if she agrees with me and my brother, we might still have a chance to leave one week early.

There's nothing to do outside except swimming, either in the pool or in the sea, and each lose their potential recretional ability in about five minutes. When we're in the room, we either sleep or eat. And I can't eat because I have a huge mouth ulcer on one part of my mouth, and a toungue scar on the other, both of which I have no idea how they originated.

I can't believe that a disappointing holiday is disrupting my ability to make this game. The least I can do is to think up ideas, and my 'idea lamp' usually has a low capacity of power.

So, I can only hope that we can convince my dad to return early. I don't have much to do at home either, but at least I'll be able to resume work on the game, and it sure as heck beats being HERE. Gotta go now, I need to get dressed for an ultra-super-duper-dinner...

July 12th update: Break time

Tomorrow I'll be gone to a vacation for 3 weeks, which means that I won't be back until August 1st. It's a pity that the production of such a simple game is slow, although I'm the only one to blame for that. Something always gets in the way. This vacation isn't a bad one by any means, and in fact it will give me time to think the game through and come up with a plan.

I was supposed to announce the new release date once the school was over, but... I really can't come up with a date. However, I can say that I'm planning to release it before the summer holiday ends (which is September 20th). It's really obscure to me, it all depends on my timing and enthusiasm. If I can find the motivation it may be over towards the end of August. If I can't, maybe towards the end of September...

The bitter fact is that there is a lot to do even after all the riddles are done. There is also the score board issue. Maybe I'll submit the game first and add a board later, like I did in Hitman Quiz. However, I shouldn't forget that the better my game is when I submit, the higher the score will be. I'll think about it when the time is right.

With that, goodbye for now. Back in 3 weeks.

June 21st update: Progress report 3

I'm happy to announce that I resumed work on the game today. And I got to say that I made an excellent comeback by fixing a major glitch. It's a good thing to take a break from projects sometimes, it helps you come back refreshed and your motivation replenished.

Now with the glitch problem fixed, I now have two major issues. One is the lack of ideal paintings. Surprisingly enough, I can't find many suitable paintings on the internet. I have three art books, and unfortunately the Renaissance part isn't very detailed and resourceful in any of them. It's not a big problem, it's just that it slows the work down.

A bigger problem is the score board. I can't find a free score board system anywhere. I used to use ArmorBot for Hitman Quiz, until it was cancelled for many bizarre reasons. Yes I've heard of MochiAds, and I tried it on Hitman Quiz, but I couldn't understand shit. No matter how many times I contacted the developer, I couldn't get it to work... Nonetheless, that's not the top priority. I'll look into it when I'm done with the game.

School ends on Friday. However, I still don't have a release date in mind. Maybe August, but it's just a maybe. Stay tuned...

June 6th update: Progress report 2

I have a feeling that I can't really describe. Maybe it's disappointment, knowing that if school wasn't so tough and if I had the enthusiasm that I had before, you would all be playing the game in four days. Maybe it's regret, the regret of making a simple game so complicated; adding unlockables, loads of unnecessary features... Maybe most dangerously, it's boredom; boredom of the fact that loads of bugs are flooding the game, boredom of the lack of paintings to make riddles with despite my resources, maybe just boredom in general.

I'm sorry if the paragraph above worried any of you. I'm determined to release this game. It's only that whenever I find free time from all the studying, and when I decide to work on the game, all the glitches take over my mind and I'm like "Nah I'll do it later."

Frankly, I haven't worked on the game one bit since my last update. In light of that, it's for good reason. Only one week remains (meaning five weekdays) until my last exams are over. When they are over, I promise I'll resume the work, there's no way it's dying.

The truth is? Even while typing up this update, let alone while making the game, I'm wasting time. I need to study, and hope for the best for the maths exam tomorrow.

May 23rd update: Delay confirmed

It's pretty much clear now: I'm not going to make it until June 10th. It's not only because I got mostly bored of making it, time is also a factor. I have a lot of exams that I should be studying for for the week after the next, and since those are the last ones, they are my last chances that I can get my low grades up. It's going to be really rough, so I just wanted to delay the release while I still can.

I'll announce the new release date later. For now, I'm just too busy.

May 9th update: Progress report & potential delay

At the moment of writing, 32 days remain until the release date. I'm sorry to say however, that it's a pretty high possibility that I won't be able to make it in time. Realize that I'm doing my best to keep my word; I use all the time I can borrow from school and my other hobbies, and I bought 2 art books which would help me out. With one of them I already have, the 3 art books that I own should speed up the work significantly.

There are only 10 riddles left to make, but I will only get CLOSE to the end by finishing them. There's a lot of work to do even after that. I need to apply the hacking and unlocking systems for each riddle, find short info about each painting, design the gallery, figure out a way how to add a high score table... That's a mountain full of work, which probably can't be done in a month. Not by me, anyway.

During all my NG 'career', rushing has literally been my worst enemy. So, I decided to try my best to finish it on time, but take my time while at it. I have a right to delay the release date, and I'll do it if I realize that it's the right thing. It's either "sooner but worse", or "later but good". And I pick the second one.

April 11th update: Estimates

Right now I have the release date estimated as June 10th, 2010, 2 months from now. I think that'll be enough for me to finish up everything, because there are a lot to do.

Realize that this is only an estimation. I'm trying my best to keep my promise, but if I can't it's only because I'm busy with other stuff like school. Who knows, maybe if I can find the motivation and breathing room, I may even be able to release it in a month. Or less...

As for the number of riddles, right now it's 20 (and I'm done with making 12 of them). When I'm done with 20, I'll be aiming for 30. It probably won't be more than 30, because I know how some of you are lazy enough to close the window halfway through and blame the game for being "too long". However, I'm also worried that some of you might blame it for the opposite: "too short".

The countdown can be seen above. Don't count on it too much, as I might not be able to update it every day, and it's only an estimate anyway.

April 8th 2010 update: Hacking

Originally, you could skip the riddles with the cost of 5 or 10 points. I decided against that. Because then the game would be so easy and the fun would be killed, the player would simply skip past questions and reach the end. "Then make it so that the user can't skip when they don't have enough points." you could say. No. I have a much better idea.

Introducing, the hacking system. A little more simple than hacking Obama's Twitter account, you can use a florin to hack a riddle. You earn the florins by answering 3 riddles correctly (without hints or false clicks) in a row. Anyway, the hacking consists of at least 2 security questions (the number increases progressively) to be answered correctly. There are 2 kinds:

Observation: Depends on how well you remember the painting.
Example: How many bananas are there on the tree? Enter your answer in the text field.

Knowledge: Tests your general knowledge of Renaissance.
Example: What's the birthplace of Italian Renaissance? Florence, Vatican or Tuscany?

In the earlier stages, observation questions will be more common, with less knowledge questions. In the later riddles however, it will be vice versa.

The questions will be timed to at most 20 seconds, just to prevent smart-ass cheaters (I almost typed "teachers" by accident!) who look the answers up on Google.

If you succeed, you'll skip the riddle. But now to think of it, skipping alone isn't much of a satisfying reward. Maybe more unlockable stuff? Not quite sure yet.

A single wrong answer will abort the hack instantly, and the hacking option will disappear. Note that once you attempt a hack, you can't get your coin back, even if you succeed.

As a side note, some of you might go "WTF man hacking during the Renaissance era? Seriously?" Hacking is a part of the game mechanic, it has nothing to do with Renaissance itself.

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This post is about my upcoming game, Riddles of Renaissance. I'm not much paranoid of idea theft anymore (people stealing my ideas), but I'll still keep most of my ideas to myself, and will only give a brief overview.

It's a game of logic and popular culture. You will be given various Renaissance paintings, and riddles about them. If you've ever played Batman: Arkham Asylum, you'll know what I mean by "riddles". They ask you to find and click a specific object in the painting. You need to think carefully because every false click on the painting will take off a point. Although solving the riddles earn you a handful of points, there are some other rewards...

There is a gallery where you can view the riddle paintings. Every riddle you solve unlocks it's painting. It's not only that, however. There are more and more paintings, sculptures and fictional diaries that can be unlocked in various ways. I prefer keeping that obscure for now.

Here's a screenshot. I'll update this post when the time -and my paranoia- permits.