2018-03-31 19:03:24

Oh my god this game had so much that i missed. Is there any campain repossetories and where can I find some podcasts about playing the game? I can only kill zombies and be killed at last lol

---
Co-founder of Sonorous Arts.
Check out Sonorous Arts on github: https://github.com/sonorous-arts/
my Discord: kianoosh.shakeri2#2988

2018-04-01 16:23:53

I was thinking of picking up my old characters again here on swamp too. But I wonder how much of a player base is there now? Maybe if Aprone can weigh in with some players per day type numbers, or how many active accounts are there? I guess I mean for my case I'd be more interested in English speaking players mostly.

Thanks, I'd really like to see where swamp is at these days.
smile

2018-04-01 16:27:52

Whenever I glance at the server, it seems there are roughly 20 players online.  Some days maybe 15, other days maybe 30, but if I had to guess on an average (based on the times I look) I would say 20.  I wouldn't be able to say how many of those are English speaking players though.

- Aprone
Please try out my games and programs:
Aprone's software

2018-04-01 23:18:13 (edited by defender 2018-04-01 23:19:27)

Frankly, the way I love to play Swamp is just to pick up anything I can and use it till it runs out, then fight melee till I can find more (which means that if I die it's not that big of a deal) though I do sometimes come back to the SZ with nice EQ for a few missions if I find a loot pile. and I don't play HC usually since I don't care about forts and I don't want to be slowed down by the need for food either.
So while the company to talk to is certainly nice and keeps me from getting board much longer, I don't have a big urge to teamplay anyway. It was fun when we had enough people around the same level to do that, but I'm cool with doing the simpler missions solo now.
I never really expect to get to a very high level, my goal is mainly to unlock new maps and raise important skills, and while HC weapons and lots of extra damage on my favorite gun would be really fun, I think it would take just for ever to get their and most of it would be grinding at high level missions, which I'm honestly not that great at anyway.
Basically what I'm trying to say is, you can have a ton of fun still just enjoying the great AI and cool maps.

2018-04-04 12:32:12

I agree with you defender, I have loved swamp since like version 1.5 maybe? or earlier. Back then it was only the one map but there were a lot of folks online, always a lot of good banter back and forth over the radio. lol

thanks for checking in with that info Aprone, its good to hear you're out there listening, so to speak..
smile

I don't think I ever ran a single CTF mission, but I enjoied the defender mission, and the various warehouse missions. I'll see if I can get the same four other friends I ran with back then to put up some cash to renew some good memories and fun times.
big_smile

Btw, did the quest points ever get fleshed out or completed? Because the quests even what they were, it was something different to do.
Thanks!

2018-04-04 14:58:13

hi kingdom crafter, yes the quest system is linked to the locker system, the more quest credits you have the more stuff you can store in your locker providing you have the space. to unlock extra slots in your locker, you need to title your char, the higher the title the more slots are available. hth

2018-04-05 02:19:56

hi,
anyone experiencing log in problem?
I am unable to sign in
Log-in Failed.  The Kaldobsky.com website does not seem to be responding at the moment.  Please wait a moment and try again.  If this problem persists, please bring it to Aprone's attention.

2018-04-05 03:41:23

Looks like a few people are picking up an account again just for a bit of fun. I might have to get some time at some point too.
@aprone:
Is there anything big in the works or at least planned for another online game like swamp? From what I understand you're pretty busy these days, and I think I remember you saying that Castaways 2 didn't really turn into the thing that you wanted it to. I think I'm just 1 of many that are itching for another big online game.

2018-04-05 04:33:15 (edited by defender 2018-04-05 04:38:25)

It's allot easier to just have you listen for your self, so download
this interview with Aprone from June of last year and use the time tags below to find the relevant sections.
Castaways 2 status: 16:21 to 19:48
New project: 48:26 to 55:47


That said though, I do wonder what the general current status is, but I understand that Aprone probably wants to keep his cards close to his chest with this, as to not lead people on a roller coaster ride of expectation or incur tons of questions he can't really answer.


I would really like to see more quests added to Swamp from the server side though, and I get that Swamp isn't going to be developed any more so the motivation is hard to find, but really it would be very much appreciated even if the mechanics are limited.

2018-04-05 06:24:58

Is anyone experiencing any trouble loging on? I keep on getting a message stating that the site is down or some thing like that.

2018-04-05 12:00:11

I just checked all of the server and internet settings, and it appears my ISP is doing some sort of work in the area.  My internet has been popping in and out, and sadly there is nothing much I can do until they finish.  The server itself is still running, so even though I'll be out of the house working all day, when they finally stop messing around with my internet everyone should be able to connect and play again like normal.

Sorry for the inconvenience.

cj89, I absolutely have more large multiplayer projects I want to make.  Time is just the issue lately.
defender, thanks for posting that interview with the time stamps.  That was probably one of the most helpful replies anyone could have given, since as you said, it lets them hear answers to those questions straight from the horse's mouth.  Haha!  big_smile

- Aprone
Please try out my games and programs:
Aprone's software

2018-04-05 14:47:08

Thanks for the update Aprone

2018-04-05 22:51:21

Thank you for keeping us informed, Aprone! big_smile

2018-04-05 22:54:10

Hello fellow players of the Swamp. Those who need help in the game, you can search for Cronos or Ceo there. He will help you.

2018-04-06 00:07:29

Swamp still down as of 6 PM eastern time.

2018-04-06 00:45:38

I can't think of any reason why they should still be working on my internet after all this time... I'm doing what I can to get to the bottom of this.

- Aprone
Please try out my games and programs:
Aprone's software

2018-04-06 00:49:06

Againt thanks for the update aprone

2018-04-06 02:02:10

I agree with ZK. Thanks for the constant update, Aprone.

2018-04-06 11:48:43

Well I'm frustrated that I wake up this morning and the login issues still exist.  I have to leave and work all day, so I won't be able to call around to try and get this resolved until late this evening.  I was really hoping I would wake up to find they had finished whatever it is they're doing during the night.

- Aprone
Please try out my games and programs:
Aprone's software

2018-04-06 13:38:23

That kinda sucks, not that you have to work lol, but the fact that whatever they are doing hasn't been sorted yet

2018-04-07 03:39:53

Hello Aprone. Good night. Has any news for us?

2018-04-07 15:55:22

Well I've been complaining all morning, and finally got some answers.  It turns out they're changing over to a new system.  It would have been nice to get some sort of warning about this before they did it, but then again, I guess there isn't anything I could do about it even if they did.

- Aprone
Please try out my games and programs:
Aprone's software

2018-04-07 16:56:02

Oh how nice of them lol, well I think I'm gonna have to start a swamp support group for players going through withdrawal from not bing able to play for a few days lol

2018-04-07 17:34:59

Jiggers, I'm gonna have to join that support group heeheheheheheeehee! Seriously though, many thanks for the update. And again, thanks much for the event on Easter too. I didn't get to play much that day due to the dreaded family stuff, though that was fun, I should have taken my comkputer over there. Ah well. Grinning happily at the support group table in the safe zone.

2018-04-07 20:50:59

Now that I'm sitting down again I realize I was rather unclear about the situation in my last message.  As we all know, when it rains it pours... meaning when things do go wrong you tend to get a lot of things going wrong at the same time.  That's how my day has been since I woke up, haha!

The internet randomly going out has continued during the day (my wife is going crazy over that), but I've already moved on to the next problem that popped up.  My server host (Yahoo) decided to update their system to something that doesn't work quite the same as their old one.  That's the system update I was referring to above, though I didn't think to explain what I meant.

The new system changes are no longer compatible with how I coded a few things, which is why my website has not let anyone log in lately.  Once I found out that it was software changes on their end, it wasn't all that difficult to sit down and pound out new code to get the website running again.  Not fun, but also nothing that couldn't be done with some code changes.

I felt pretty good once I had the site running again, but that's when it dawned on me...  one of the major things that Yahoo server does for me is handle account security, including logins for Castaways 2 and Swamp.  A few minutes later I had confirmed what I was afraid of, their new system sent its responses in a slightly different format.  I changed 4 lines of code and had "my" copy of Castaways 2 up and running just fine.  It's a quick and simple fix, but it is a needed fix.  The problem I now have is that Swamp's current backup of source code was lost and the best I have had is a copy from a few versions ago.  It's the reason I officially stopped Swamp development after all.

The Swamp client everyone is using, expects information returned from the login server (Yahoo's) to be in a specific format, but now that is different.  Technically everything works behind the scenes, players log in, the server tells the game everything worked, but the unexpected format causes an error in the client and everything stops.  I do have a plan!

Many people know that I work on code as often as I can, and that 90% of those efforts never amount to anything that the community sees.  For some time I had tinkered with a complete rewrite of Swamp, and other time delved into a potential Swamp 2.  Neither of those went anywhere, but each did represent time spent and code written.  What I believe will save us here is that a portion of the time I spent working on a Swamp rewrite, I was working out the missing changes between the 3.5 testing 7 client (the best intact one I had), and the current 3.6b client.

The gap between my best surviving backup and the current version used to be so large that it seemed too daunting a task, but when I take a good honest look at where it is Now, it's not too bad!

What this means is that unless some magic spell causes the game to start working again, players everywhere are going to have to wait for me to post a client update that understands the new response format from the login server.  I will do everything I can do make this happen soon, but it's not something I can do in a day.  I may even race to get this functional albeit missing a few of the most recent version's features, just so people can get back to playing.

I'm brainstorming ways to make this up to everyone who will be terribly inconvenienced during this down-time.  One possibility is to manually add 1 month to everyone's accounts, but it's probably more important for me to focus on the repair before I worry about how to make all the angry players happy again, ROFL!  When this mess is finally sorted out, one huge benefit is that I'll once again have up to date source code for Swamp's client, meaning I can (if I need/choose to) post updates again.  I don't want people thinking Swamp is back under official development again, but for the immediate future it sort of us.

So that's my frustrated rant for the day, haha.

- Aprone
Please try out my games and programs:
Aprone's software