"Good news! After trying many things with the old code and not finding the proper fix for the bug that caused this delay, the SLaVE team decided to rewrite much of the engine code using new techniques. This will result in a better product, as some other minor issues and glitches that were not fixed in the previous code have been addressed and the game will run on the Dreamcast even better than originally planned!

We are pleased to report that the game is back to running on the Dreamcast, this time with no major show-stopping bugs.

Due to the nature of the rewrite, we still need to take a little time for additional bug testing but Jay Townsend's SLaVE is definitely closer to release!

We'll keep you updated as more developments occur!"

Jay Townsend schrieb:

Hey everyone!


Before I even start, I apologize for the length of this email update. If
you don't want to read it all, in short - Sorry for the slow update and
it appears we are barreling toward completion! If you want the full
story, please read on...


Again, first, a big apology from us at GOAT Store for not updating the
list sooner. Without going too far into this, some of you are aware that
we also run the yearly Midwest Gaming Classic trade show in Milwaukee,
Wisconsin. This year, the show moved to the largest convention space in
the state, and we had many behind the scenes things that kept us
extremely busy, and kept getting in the way of us making further updates
on the progress of the game. I have had it on my to do list to write
this email since May, and I am just now getting to it.


That's obviously not what Gary or I want, as we pride ourselves on
responsiveness and keeping up do day with things, but unfortunately it
is the reality of the situation. Neither the GOAT Store or the Midwest
Gaming Classic has been our full time jobs, and so trying to squeeze
everything that we want to in with our regular jobs as well as being the
fathers of young kids is sometime difficult to keep everything in
balance.


Additionally, as I hope that I have been very clear about since the
beginning, we did not expect these delays to happen with the game when
we announced it. As I've stated, the game was running in emulation just
fine, and we expected production of the game to be as easy as us doing
some simple bug tests, pressing the games and delivering them. If we had
any idea that it would have taken this long for the game to go through
"final bug test" we would not have started to take pre-orders when we
did.


This delay, combined with the growth of the Midwest Gaming Classic and
the increase in our personal schedules have led to updates that are more
difficult to send out.


Again, I apologize and it isn't how we want it to be. And with that, I
have a bit of a solution that I'm personally very excited about:


Starting next month, I will officially be a full-time GOAT Store
employee. This means that I will be able to keep people updated like we
want, as well as hopefully will allow us to catch up with many of the
other ideas and projects that we have! This will be the first time in
the history of the GOAT Store that we have been able to have one of us
be full time, and I hope that it will lead to us being able to pursue a
lot more projects in the future.


No matter what, thanks for sticking with us. It hasn't been the easiest
time, but we can really, REALLY see the light at the end of the tunnel!


First, while all the above is true, it's worth pointing out that Gary
and I are not the programmers for the game. We produce and help with
other functions like that, but we are not the ones combing through the
code looking for how to update it, so even though Gary and I have been
so incredibly busy, the game has been nearly consistently worked at
since my prior email.


I've explained in the past that we were looking for one final game
breaking bug, but the time to find it was extremely hard to nail down
due to the nature of bugs like it. It could have been something that the
next day we found and the game would have already been in your hands,
or in the worst case scenario it could have been something that was
never found.


On top of this, we did have a health scare with one of the main
programmers at the beginning of the year. While I won't get into
personal things, this obviously did cause a delay too.


The good news is the bug has been found, and we now have a stable
version of the game running without issue! This does NOT yet mean that
we have gone gold, as fixing the bug introduced a few other things that
needed to be looked into and revised. The good news is this revision
process, as well as with the knowledge gained, means that the game has
been improved some and has had a couple minor bugs we found that were
fixed and has significantly improved loading time.


While I will still not put an actual date on the release of the game
because it's hard to ever know exactly what will happen, the to do list
of things before the final tests to go gold has consistently gotten
shorter and shorter, and barring any unforeseen issues we expect to be
able to finish up everything as soon as possible.


I can't wait for everyone to see it!


Now for you, thank you for sticking with us! This has been by far the
most frustrating game release that we've done, but when it is in your
hands I think and hope you'll agree that all of the delays were worth
it.


If it's too much, please contact me back (this is my personal email
address!) and I am happy to issue refunds to anyone who would like them.


I am honestly completely amazed by how awesome and positive the vast
majority of people who have signed up for the game are. It is because of
awesome people like yourself that this game is still coming, and we
can't wait to get it into your hands soon!


And then hopefully, soon after that, we'll have some more projects -
that we will wait until they are GOLD to announce! - to announce for
you!


Thanks again for being a GOAT Store Productions supporter!


--
Dan Loosen

Sirius schrieb:

Hast du schon was erreicht?