It's been a long trek folks. So many stories to tell. So little time to tell them. This one is for the books. If any of you are on the Discord then you're familiar with my struggle with the leaderboard system for a while now. Things like "this service lacks this feature," or "this one is not available on this platform." The list goes on and on, but I can finally say this one is here to stay. Unity wouldn't abandon an in-built system of their own now would they? :D
Well. The time is finally here. I've done some extensive testing and have the leaderboards working as they once were including the in-game leaderboards. This feature was only working for a small bit of time. It was up and running about a month or two before I had to remove the Gamesparks implementation that sent me down this dark road to begin with. There's also a neat little feature in UGS's leaderboards that allows me to categorize scores and it's only natural because..I already had these categories. They just weren't really displayed anywhere other than in real-time as you entered that score category in game play. While it's still not an extremely important or prominent part of the leaderboards it's a "nice to have." It really only shows up on the Top Disrupthers view that shows up when you start a mission. You'll see it in the left side panel.
In addition, UGS finally added Metadata not too long ago, which allowed me to add the "in game time" again. So the leaderboard should once again reflect how long someone took in a run.
There is a known issue though. Thanks to the Metadata feature I can track how much Destruction and Material the player has on Extraction. Why is that an issue you ask? Well, you'll now be able to see what side some of the top players focus on the most. If you see someone with a high Destruction score but lower Material score, you'll know they lean heavier on the Assault side and vice versa. The known issue is that this calculation may show "incorrectly" if the player Extracted with an Investment, or with an Insurance Policy, because I'm not tracking those. So if you see some wonky math where Destruction and Material don't match the multiplication odds are they have an extra bonus. Wreck some shit with math and you'll see the difference.
The reason for this is fairly simple it would add a bit more work to a project I'm ready to close the door on, however I'm more than happy to revisit this issue at a later date if I get enough feedback about it's necessity.
I want to thank all of you guys from the absolute depths of my heart for supporting this game throughout it's lifespan and beyond. I hope to keep earning that support through the next project which is already in the works. I can't wait to show you all that progress, very, very, very soon.
In the meantime I'm tying up some loose ends and hoping to get this out of Early Access real soon. I'll announce when that's going to happen as soon as I can. I hope to be back out on the road sooner rather than later. #RiskEmUp
<3 Jaycee
This is it folks...it's been rad....what's next...
It's about time I come to grips with this. Man have I been struggling hard with this decision. I'm officially putting the Xbox and PlayStation versions of ADHD on indefinite hiatus. Even as I type this I can’t quite say it’s DEFINITE, just….not now or in the foreseeable future. It has not been for lack of trying that’s for damn sure. It just seems like every time I get to “finishing up” those versions there’s a new update, or something breaks to the point where it takes me back a couple hundred steps. I keep telling myself “Hey you fucking released the game on a console that didn’t even exist when you started this endeavor.” Hell this was originally supposed to release on the PlayStation Vita. Be proud of something. It’s an accomplishment for damn sure. It’s been a crazy fucking ride folks. Some behind the scenes stuff that has crushed me to no end, but I can only hope she’d be proud of my moving forward.
There is, and always will be a light at the end of this tunnel. Always. Positive. Glass half full.
At the very least now that I got leaderboards working (still need to finalize them) I can commit to pushing the update for Switch, and leaving Early Access on Steam. Steam, for the most part, has been fully functional for a while now. Achievements and all. Albeit on a private branch.
I hope y’all understand. If there’s one thing to take from this the new project I’d been teasing for awhile now will have my full attention. You don’t make your first game without learning a few things. You don’t walk into the woods without making a few friends and lighting some fires. You don’t make friends like legolamaniac, and NOT thank him for every second he’s spent teaching you things.
To everybody who’s stuck around this long…I hope to not let you down and I thank you, sincerely from the pits of my heart for sticking around. If you thought my energy was high during ADHD’s lifespan. Well, you haven’t seen anything yet. It’s extremely difficult letting something go…extremely...difficult, but when you are given signs in multiple ways…it’s time.
Never lose sight of your mission. Never give up, but know when to own up and call it.
Risk ‘Em Up!!!!
<3 Jaycee #arcadeIsNotDeadAndNeitherAmI
Out with the old. In with the...
Hey everyone. So I mentioned this on the Discord (Discord.gg/askanenemystudios), but I think it’s about time I post an update to Steam. For the uninitiated, Amazon decided to close down Gamesparks (https://docs.gamesparks.com/transition-faq/). It’s the service that I currently use to run the leaderboard system. While a “new” Gamesparks is coming it’s not coming at anywhere near the speed at which I need it to release the Playstation and Xbox version of ADHD and in turn finally move out of Early Access and on to the next project. While the service itself won’t actually close down until September of 2022 it makes absolutely no sense to implement the code for Xbox and Playstation. For the time being I had to remove all that code while I find a replacement. Surprisingly Amazon did something amazing. They provided me with some “hours” with a company called CodeWizards to help find alternatives and see what best fits and makes a transition as easy and cleanly as possible. This won’t guarantee I’ll find a solution, but at least that option is there.
The current version (v1.0.4b63) you are playing on Steam still has leaderboards implemented, but since then I’ve done plenty of optimizations, achievements, rich presence, small updates to the UI, keyboard and mouse controls (experimental) and under the hood changes that I’d like to push this new update out, however there would be no leaderboard system. So I’m thinking while Gamesparks is still up and running I’ll keep that version up and put this latest version 1.0.5+ in the “beta” branch. Should you care to give it a run :D
The biggest hurdle at the moment is trying to find a solution that supports all platforms without a super complicated login process. All this stuff should be as transparent to the user as possible and since my skills are extremely limited, even with the support of some of the smartest folks on the market I have to KISS :D
I’ll update you all as this process progresses, but also keep in mind the current leaderboards will be wiped. Also in case you missed it I had to cancel Ask An Enemy Studios’ presence at PAX West 2021. I’m not happy about it. Not in the least. You can read more about that here (https://www.askanenemystudios.com/gd-blog/2021/8/12/pax-west-2021mask-em-up)
As always thanks for all the continued support :D <3 Jaycee
Achievements are coming, Achievements are coming
Well hello there folks!! You may have suddenly noticed a list of Achievements for ADHD. Once a game is public you can't necessarily hide these so as they say the cat is outta the bag. They are definitely real and part of getting the game finally out of early access. It's been a long couple of years and there plenty of peeps to thank. Most importantly my buddy Legolamaniac who not only helped me code, but most importantly helped me understand how this stuff works.
I'll be testing this stuff over the weekend and the weeks to come since, other platforms. I've still got a couple of other things to do, but the light at the end of the tunnel is getting brighter. :D
<3 Jaycee
Indie MEGABOOTH Going Away (for now) Sale Livestream!!! - Part 2
The Indie MEGABOOTH folks have worked hand in hand with Valve to put a sale together that brings attention to 150 devs who have shown their creations at events IMB has put together. In addition they've also provided us all the opportunity to do a livestream with the chance of being featured directly on the IMB sale page. This is that opportunity.
Stop by and see what a ride this whole thing has been for me. Maybe you'll learn a thing or two. Hell, if you have a question just ask.
<3 Jaycee
Indie MEGABOOTH Going Away (for now) Sale Livestream!!!
The Indie MEGABOOTH folks have worked hand in hand with Valve to put a sale together that brings attention to 150 devs who have shown their creations at events IMB has put together. In addition they've also provided us all the opportunity to do a livestream with the chance of being featured directly on the IMB sale page. This is that opportunity.
Stop by and see what a ride this whole thing has been for me. Maybe you'll learn a thing or two. Hell, if you have a question just ask.
<3 Jaycee
Not quite out of Early Access just yet....
Now that the Nintendo Switch version is available, I can start to focus on exiting Early Access, and getting other platforms out as well. The Switch became the primary target quite a while back for a couple of reasons. The main one being that Nintendo does not have an achievement system which meant I could meet my Kinda Funny announcement deadline and still have time to design the achievement system for the rest of the platforms. There’s a story there to tell, but that will come at a later date.
I’m now working on some bugs, adding some new functionality, and hopefully see if I can pull them off for a future update there. As usual this EA version will be updated soon with those updates and future updates quicker, but obviously the goal is to keep them up to par as much as humanly possible. Keep in mind I still need to finish the Xbox One and PSVR version. So BRB.
Here’s the launch trailer :D
https://youtu.be/zOGwVsSFsbk
ANNOUNCEMENT INCOMING
Prepare yourselves. It's almost time for an announcement :D
v0.9.9b1402 now available on thequarry branch - New video protips FINALLY
This has been an update that has been needed for awhile now and it's finally been implemented. You can now watch the ProTip videos from the TitleScreen by going to Prologue, or in game in the pause menu. Also when you die the game over screen will reference a video based on what killed you, but you can also watch any video from that screen as well.
For those who are still trying to wrap their head around the mechanics these should definitely help you out. As always do not hesitate to hit up the Discord
Here are some patch notes on this particular build
ADDED:
- New Trailers and Prologue Transmissions
- Pause Menu and GameOver Screen now allow you to watch Transmissions
- Weapon/Defense icons to GamePad Layout
FIXED:
- audio not "muting" when Paused
- buttonIcon on Prologue Selection
- apparently the Windows 7 bug has been ironed out and the game should work again on that OS. I can't promise it, but that's what I've been told :D
CHANGED:
- removed Depth of Field on Recovery Camera
- Play button is now Top Action Button instead of Bottom
Earn the “Top Disrupther” label on Discord and claim your Achievement for it ;)
If you haven’t yet joined the Discord community I’m here to tell you it’s the absolute best. They wanted a competition and they are getting one. In keeping with my usual #heyThatSoundsRealDumbLetsDoIt I’m not only going to provide the winner with the “Top Disrupther” label on Discord, which you can and undeniably will be challenged for, I’m also naming an achievement after you for being the first to claim the position :D
So the latest build v0.9.9b1023 is finally out on all channels (thequarry and default) and this is the one you’ll need to use to submit your scores for qualification. You have until 4/12 to submit your score and use this form for submission. The top 8 scores will move on the the finals which I’ll be streaming live Friday 4/19 on all the Ask An Enemy Studios stream channels (YouTube, Facebook, Twitch, Periscope, etc).
Here’s the form and all the details:
https://forms.gle/25qV5XxHUcihumoG7
