Ahoy, maties!

It’s been quite a while since I wrote the last post (longer since the last Monthly Sync). The last few months have been busy for me, resulting into not having enough time to work on the game. It didn’t help that I’d have to overhaul the server I used to have the game’s documentation (since it broke during migration). So, here’s what I’ve been working so far, and share some of the next steps for the game.

Server Overhaul

For a long time, I had an Azure Web App that hosted the game’s documentation. The original setup was powered on a Windows Server, and relied on two PHP sites: one was the (now defunct) bug tracker and a wiki software (Dokuwiki). With the release of PHP 8, there was no support on Windows Server (on MS Azure. You can use PHP on Windows). While it worked, PHP 7.4 was on a limited support. So, I had to migrate it to a Linux powered server. After creating the new one, I downloaded the files via FTP and moved them over to the new one. Simple, right? Well… It broke. Dokuwiki used the file storage to save the pages (no need for a database), so it wasn’t it (kind of). First roadblock was that PHP 8 used a different server software to host (Nginx, Win Server has the IIS), so I had to do some configuration. But then, I keep seeing 404 errors. I couldn’t understand what went wrong. After spinning up XAMMP locally, I see the issue: the wiki software broke. It seems like a combination of broken cache and breaking changes in code. This would require a ton of work to get it back up and running. The problem here is: I don’t know how to code in PHP and it was a large codebase. So, I decided to rebuild it. This time, I’d use .NET and Blazor. Not only this would make it substantially smaller and faster, I could easily integrate features in a language that I know to program. Plus, I get to use my new web design skills (and polish them). And since Dokuwiki didn’t rely on a database for storage, I was able to recover most of the pages.

With the new Dragohouse Help Center, the original site has been overhauled. Thanks to Blazor Server, it’s rendered better, loads faster and it’s more friendly to mobile devices. I’ve also done some work on the presentation, being nicer to navigate as well. The manuals are now structured in a more traditional manner (more like a book than a wiki page).

Another improvement is the new Bug Report page. Utilising GitHub, it makes it far more streamlined to file in bugs. There is more work to be done (streamlining the login process is on my list), but it opens up tools for me. One of the features that I can use is reporting the status of reported issues in the Trello board, so you can see what’s going on with it.

The last thing is that the site is fully managed via a repo. I can easily update the site when needed, send it to my build server and then upload it to the web server. This makes it easy for me to maintain it and update documentation (with an easy way to roll back, in case it breaks). It also means that I can iterate on new features faster, too. Maybe have the server host hotfixes for the game? That would be cool (especially since the game has a package manager built-in). I am seeing this as a long-term project. Something that could be used for future stuff as well.

The future

So… What’s next for Immortal Sins? This is one of the questions that I can’t answer yet. The last few months have been a bit grueling for me. Training for a future job, losing a close relative and having occasional burn-out periods have drained me. Coupled with a recent wave of feedback and having to prioritize work (which would pay me), I had to shelve the game for a while and once the IRL stuff was in order, I’d pick the game back up. At the moment, I have a lot of thoughts about the game. I’m not sure what to do next. Should I rebuild the game in a new engine? Shelve it for good? Start over in the same engine? I’m going to need some time to gather my thoughts and decide on what to do. I want to give the game a proper conclusion. But I need a bit of time. Until then, I’m going to put the game into maintenance mode for a bit. I’ll push out fixes when needed. But I need to make my mind up, before I push out more substantial updates. I am one developer working on the game. I have my own limits.

This is a post that isn’t easy for me to write. At the time of this writing, Immortal Sins is a project I love and hate at the same time. It’s been a source of frustration (mainly due to the engine) but I am thankful on working on it, as it allowed me to get creative and getting my curiosity in programming to the next level. What future holds, is something that I can’t answer. But, whenever it will be in the current state or being rebuilt, I want to get the game in a state I can be happy with.

That’s all for now. See you in the next post.