Pardon the silence from my end the last few weeks.  I had a bit of an epiphany at GDC to the effect that I’m not very happy out here in Los Angeles (and moreover can’t afford the cost of living here without taking on oodles of contract work) and I’d rather be back in Ames, IA with the friends I left there.  Thus, I’m moving back in short order.  This, among other things (see: oodles of contract work) has had me a bit distracted since then.  I might not be getting much done on the Blank for a while.

Someday I’ll be able to give this project the time it deserves.  My choice to move is part of an effort to drag my accumulating “somedays” a bit closer to the present.

Regards,
Evan

I’ll be preoccupied for the next week with a trip to the Game Developers’ Conference in San Fransisco, though I might slip a small amount of Infinite Blank work in in the meantime.  I didn’t really consider this when I was projecting an update this weekend and for that I am very sorry.  :(  On the other hand I’m all done packing and don’t have anything else to do, so perhaps I’ll write some code tomorrow before I leave.

I made some last-minute business cards that will tie into Infinite Blank.  Maybe not as cool as last year’s, but should still be pretty neat:

Doesn't look much like a game, does it?

There’s a game I’ll be running with these:  when I give someone my business card, I offer them some crayons to make a drawing on it.  If they refuse they simply take the blank card.  If they accept, I will then offer them a trade after the drawing is complete.  They give me their card, and I’ll give them a mystery card with a drawing someone else has made.  Each card which is traded thusly will be numbered and, if the artist so chooses, signed.  I *might* try to snap photos of them.  I’ve already prepared number zero!

(As much as I would like to make a more direct interpretation of Infinite Blank in physical space, I don’t want to carry a bulletin board around with me, hence this simpler scheme.  If I ever run a booth for the game, however, expect exactly that!)

If anyone reading this happens to be at GDC, you can play a round if you manage to catch me.  I look roughly like this:

Note the plaid hat and misplaced enthusiasm.

Not much else to say.  I’ll try to work on an update but odds are I’m pretty much out of the picture until next Saturday.  That said, meeting old friends and making new ones has a way of recharging the batteries; I think the time pays itself back twofold in motivation and good vibes.

Gotta pack my accordion–
–Evan

I’m fiddling with the next version of the software part of Infinite Blank.  I’ve come to realize that on its own it’s not really worth calling a game.  Rather, it’s something a game is played with.  Like a tennis racket, only more electric.  In light of that my long-term goal should be to make it as elegant and versatile as possible with what time I can devote.
(And on that note I’ve added a donate button.)

0.3.2 is coming along, and the features and changes I’ve set my sights on break down more or less as follows:

• Lobby, displaying available servers (waiting on a friend’s help)
• New mapscreen
• shows general shape and size of entire world, but little detail
• used for teleporting
• highlights explored vs. unexplored, edit-in-progress, changed-since-last-visit, and open/shared password modes.
• Re-introduce exploration memory (ie, remember what player has visited)
• Multiple, admin-picked entry points to worlds — mapscreen appears when joining world
• Player status icons — idle/chatting/editing/mapmode/etc
• Tweaks to avatar size (they’re way too small)
• Improved admin functions on servers ???
• Creating new entry points
• Cell erasing
• Access mode / password overrides
• Save-with-same-password
• *possibly* start on permissions system
• Modes are visitor/subuser/user/moderator/admin
• Subusers can draw, users can save passwords, mods bypass passwords, admins do anything
• Default permission set on world-join; generally ‘user’ but admin can reconfigure
• “Elevate” command with password and (for mods/admins) command prompt via [~]

It’s my expectation that the alternate entry point system will have some interesting effects on the way Infinite Blank works.  It’s been a dearly needed feature for any world that has gotten beyond infancy.  Thus far my work has been focused on the new mapscreen and clearing up an issue with the server software.  0.3.2 will *probably* be a mandatory update both for clients and servers.

Remember this? Well, yeah, this. Maybe not so tiny with the squares though.

I’m going to try and be wary this time around of “list creep” in updates.  (That is to say I might not do everything in the above list.)  Weekly is more fun, and I should really stick to that when I can manage it.

Expect the update by next weekend.
–Evan

This is a client-side update, so servers don’t need to be updated, strictly speaking.  It’s optional for clients too.

Major changes are, avatars are back, (!) chat is less terrible, (!?) and favorite warp-points are fixed.  (!!!)  This smooths out a few of the most glaring issues with the game at present.  (Besides the crashes, which don’t seem to happen on my computer.  Terribly sorry about those.)

Supplementary stuff: you can hit L to keep the chatlog onscreen while playing, and you can use the mouse to zoom in.  (The latter mostly so you can get a nice close look at other players’ avatars.)

I'm making a cat! Use multiple colors so you're visible against various backgrounds.

Please refrain from making any catty remarks. ZIIINNGGGG

Me placing a favorite point in a little cave.

I fiddled with the ‘help’ dialog a little bit, so you may want to reread it.  I also made several small changes and fixes:

Hopefully fixed the "glErrors" crash on window resize.
Made antialiasing ON by default.  (pg.ini)
Fixed a spelling error and wording in one of the connection errors.
Changed music key to TAB (Due to a mistake, P is still the un-pause command on Mac!)
Added preview for avatar size in avatar selector
Added preview for avatar in world select
Fixed brush tool cursor
Changed avatar color key to a dark gray.
The 'cancel' button in chat no longer shows a confirmation screen.

You can download the new version here:

0.3.1 for Windows

0.3.1 for OS X 10.6+

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While those upload I’ll brain-dump a bit.  Things I’m thinking about doing soon:  (disclaimer: no guarantees I will)

• A favorite servers list — since the next update will have the lobby system, this will probably only apply to private servers
• A way to check if a server is online before connecting — a “knock” feature, essentially.
• addressing the horrific awkwardness of jumpthrough (red) platforms, possibly retconning all existing ones into some kind of ladder-substance.
• Creating a ‘mask’ function for the painter that will allow things to be drawn inside selected areas.
• Adding some more wall-class materials (water?) and making all the tools (rectangle, fill, etc) usable for walling.
• Possibly allowing characters to be of differing sizes.
• Administration tools
• Commands for erasing, and possibly rolling back cells
• Configurable limits for delay between new cells, minimum work time on new cells
• Configurable default permissions for new users, ways to elevate permissions from visitor -> normal -> moderator -> admin
• Tying said elevations into the free-teleport feature, or possibly enabling it for all users (ruins the fun of exploration!)
• Placement of new entry points, which will be presented when the user connects (ties into the new map system)
• Tools to deal with disk usage on both the server and client, like clearing the cache.

And a million more things.  But so it goes.

Have fun, citizens of the Blank.  Build some worlds.
–Cellulose

My attention is drawn now to the biggest among the many issues with the program, especially those relating to how players interact with one another.

• A lobby that shows all running non-private servers and their statistics.  This will be coming next update or the one after, hopefully.
  -
• No custom avatars, makes other players much less interesting than they should be.
• Advanced:  If you want to hack around this early, press ~, type in ‘figedit’, hit ENTER, hit control-L or the folder button, and load “../blank/menu/avatar.fig”.  This editor tool takes some figuring out and lets you select, layer and shift things.  Hit Control-S twice to quickly save over the file.
  -
• The ‘chat’ window covers most of the screen, possibly blocking what other players are saying.  This is a huge problem.
  
  

  Use number 73 for the banter tool: making grumpy faces at the banter tool.

• There’s no interaction with players who are drawing something, and really ought to be.  A spectator-mode would be great, though that’s hard to implement.
  -
• Some issues and bugs in the draw tool.
• A non-randomized palette and some smarter color selection tools.
• Fill acts strangely around the outside edges of a cell.
• There needs to be some kind of feature to aid in drawing things “behind” or “inside” other things.  (Layering and/or masking)
• Some features, like right-click erasing walls and zoom, aren’t very well explained.
• Some kind of vertex-count warning (*possibly* a limit the admin can set) so users know when their cells will start to get laggy.
• A way of testing the cell without having to upload and re-edit it, or at least having an indicator of characters’ jump height / length.
  -
• Better admin features.
• Re-blanking cells.  (used to be in, removed when I made passwords more secure)
• Editing without altering the password.
• In the long run, setting default permissions and appointing moderators, probably with a password elevation system.

These are the things I’m currently going to pick and choose from as priorities in coming updates.  I’m curious what YOU guys think is important, though, so let me hear what you think I should dedicate my (rather limited) time to first.

Over and out–
Cellulose

FOR SHE HAS SEEN FIT, WITH HER MANY EYES, TO GRANT US A NEW VERSION OF THE BLANK!

I’m sorry, I get this way when I stay up late.  (ie, when I wrote most of this)

Anywho, admidst much late-night debugging I’ve managed to get the code to what appears to be a functional state.  What you see above is the extent of my testing.  That is to say, I haven’t tested extensively, so there may be some bugs, but I wanted to get this out tonight soon as promised.  I’m dubbing this version 0.3.0 — it’s not a spectacular change from the last, it’s not sporting tons of new features and fixed bugs, but it does represent a different direction for the project.  I’m interested to see what comes of this and what sorts of worlds arise.  I’m happy that some other folks will get to experience the strange brew of emotions as little worlds grow in the dusty old desktops they appoint as server-boxes.

If you missed the last post, this version of Infinite Blank is hosted by YOU GUYS, so some folks will need to set up servers and announce them online before anyone can play.  I’ve set up a new board in the forums for that, with instructions on putting a server together.

>> Infinite Blank forums :: Servers <<

Downloads:

0.3.0 for Windows
0.3.0 for Mac OS X 10.6+ (intel)  –  This *might* work on Leopard too.
Linux/Unix users, try WINE for now; I hear IB emulates well.

As with 0.2.9, teleporting and avatars are broken.  Expect fixes for those in 0.3.1.  (there’s a workaround for teleports, but if you use it they’ll end up shared between all the servers.)  Also in 0.3.1, or perhaps 0.3.2, will be a lobby system that servers can register themselves with, which will make finding and connecting to servers much more straightforward.  I’m getting some help from my friend Adam Reineke with the back end of that.

0.3.1 release tentatively scheduled for next weekend.

Report any other bugs you find in the forums.

Have fun.  I’m excited to see what you guys create.
–Cellulose

I’ve made a decision.  Upon the next release of Infinite Blank, the server software will be distributed and the game will launch without a central server.  The reasons for this:

• I’m having a lot of trouble finding a way to host a central server right now.
• I can’t commit the time to moderate worlds with my current obligations.
• It will allow players to experiment with the game in some new ways.
• It’s in the spirit of the game, I’ve realized.  Anyone can host.

The central server will return in the future, but it may be a while.  I apologize to those who have been promised private/public hosted worlds in this version, but at this point Infinite Blank needs to avert complete failure.  (On the upside, I finally have the tech to make renderings for the prints!)

I’ll need to make some changes to the client and a small database interface to allow players to find servers.  If I can swing it, I’d like to get avatars working again, too.  Because I’m working on a team project and contract work right now, I can’t say how long this will take.

For now, I’ll tell you about an interesting trick.  You’ll need a wifi network, two or more machines that can play the game, and an equivalent number of humans.

1. Download the latest version of Infinite Blank onto the computers.
   -
2. Choose one to be the server.  (Anything more powerful than a netbook, with some free hard drive space, should do.)
   Open a copy of the game on that machine, and press control -0 at the menu.  Now it’s a server!  (Yes, you could do this all along.)
   -
3. On the SAME machine, open the game again.  (You can use the same copy.)  Press control-1 at the menu and it will connect to itself.
   -
4. This part’s a little buggy.  You’ll fall through empty space if I recall right.  When you fall across the border, choose NOT to edit.  You’ll bounce back and be asked again whether you want to edit.  This time, accept.
   -
5. Draw the first cell!  Players spawn at the center.  If you’re really mean, you could box it in, but don’t expect it to go over well.
   -
6. After you save, have your friends boot up their copies of the game, pressing control-3 at the menu screen.
   (if this fails, have them make sure they’re on the same LAN)
   For bonus points, stare interestedly at the console output of the server program as they do so.
   -
7. Proceed to have an Infinite Blank party.  Consider sharing your results in the forums!
   All your stuff will be saved in the “blank/server” folder tree.  A complete backlog of world history is saved.
   -

I’ll document admin functions and release a tiny patch to allow connecting to remote servers soon.  I might do this faster with some encouragement.

My thanks to those who have prodded with comments and the odd forum post over these last months.

So Infinite Blank’s on ice again, for the longest time yet in its short history.  I still see evidence that people come to check on the game now and again, so I ought to explain the status.

A month and a half ago, I moved away from my birthplace in Iowa to Los Angeles, California, to go into business with a friend and collaborator of many years, Beau Blyth.  Together we’re working on a nifty little multiplayer game for handheld devices.  Around a month or two ago, the server (Blankcube) powered off and, distracted as I am, I didn’t take notice for a while.  As it turns out, its spot back at my university wasn’t available any more.  So I’ve had a friend pick it up and I’ll be thinking about how I can get it back on a half-decent connection.

In the meantime I’ve had an increasing itch to get back to work on Infinite Blank despite my somewhat busy schedule.  One plus is it shares a codebase with Plaid Notion’s project, so there could be some technical crossover.  Still, I’m doing contract work to feed myself, and juggling three projects might not be a great idea.  MMOs don’t make good side projects.

Yet I’ve had so many ideas bumping around in my head for the Blank.  An important (and painfully complicated) algorithm that might fix the brokenness of the painting tool is in a state of semi-completion, and other technical features I’ve added to my engine promise to speed future development.  I’m having ideas for solving the “loneliness” of playing and making the community aspect of the game exist IN the game, and not just in disused forums.

…

This project is special to me.  Not because it’s my most “successful” in terms of the number of people who have tried it and the recognition received, nor because I’m happy with its progress — it has a long way to go and frankly I don’t think it’s ever been very good to play.

See, I remembered recently the reason I started work on it.  The first month of a lazy summer had gone by, and I hadn’t worked on much of anything for a while.  I started a few little projects, including snatches of music, art and writing, but quit each out of dissatisfaction.  It’s frustrating having a creative mind when so much technical skill (and time!) is needed to make something that can be shared.  It’s frustrating to have an idea bumping around in your head and not have the skills you need to get it out.  (See “why?” for some thoughts on how the internet makes life hard for novice artists)

Then I remembered an old idea for a collaborative drawing game, and it gradually dawned on me that it could be an answer to that.  Infinite Blank wouldn’t rate creations based on technical skill.  It would encourage people to take those vivid ideas filling their heads, and represent them with whatever ability they have.  It would help people to represent their ideas well even if they weren’t great artists.  And it would help them learn.

Other games I work on because they’re the sorts of things I want to play.  Infinite Blank is a game I’m making because I want it to exist, as a remedy to the depression I felt that summer — wanting to share an idea but failing to make it into something sharable.

The very same creative frustration has held the project back more than once.  This lull is not over, and will probably not be the last.  But I hope to have the resolve to see this vision through, one way or another.  It needs to exist.

My sincere thanks go to those whose encouragement has kept me going so far.  That includes you, for reading.

Over and out–
–Evan

Today happens to be another anniversary for Infinite Blank:  the first release was one year ago.  Fancy that.

Anyway, I’ve battled off the hordes of evil robots infecting the forums.  No longer will we be subjected to ads for hair removal, easy bake ovens, and yet more sinister things!  (Actually, there are a few sleepers still, but they’ll be taken care of as they appear.)  There’s a chance I might have deleted a legitimate account or two, but I was careful and do not believe that to be the case.

In celebration of our victory over the cyborg army, and in keeping with its purpose, I’m opening a topic in the forums for anyone who wants to throw ideas around for a cleanup system inside Infinite Blank itself, and the sorts of challenges it would face.  I wrote a rundown of systems that have been proposed so far and some new ones.  The ideology and guidelines behind the system are also up for discussion.

>> To the forums, if you dare… <<

To the casual reader:  don’t expect the forums to be too active until I can get off my butt and release a good, solid update.  Regarding development, I’m going to try to find a way to allocate a small but regular allowance of time to Blank development amidst the contract work and super-secret commercial project I’ll be working on this summer.

Thanks for reading–
–Cellulose