Zoe has now been transferred to the main site as a free game for all to play.
Next week, I will be announcing more details about the next new game I’m working on.
Only a brief post today to announce the upcoming events on vdategames.
The next game will be a free game release, and as many have correctly predicted, it will be Zoe. It will be available to play for all on Monday, December 2nd.
Since it was surprisingly popular last year, I will also be doing the advent calendar this year, starting on December 1st.
I also have a new version of the members section nearly ready to upload, so members will see a change during the next few weeks. No new content will be added, but it should look much nicer and more appealing.
Final thing to say is that I am also working on the next game (or is it games? :)) for the members section.They will most likely be available in the new year.
It looks like things are finally back to normal.
The website has been added to the same package I use for the main site and epoch have finished everything they need to do to give members access.
If you signed up previously, you should be able to log in now. If you are still having issues, please contact epoch via epoch.com. They will have your purchase registered in their databases and will be able to give you access.
I have also switched the pages back so new members can sign up now if they wish.
Again, my sincerest apologies for this issue, but know that it was beyond my control. I have now severed every connection I have to hosgator and they will never darken my towels again.
So here’s a newsflash – hostgator are a terrible company. There was a time when they were good, when I would have happily endorsed them. That time is not now.
A few months ago they announced to me that they would be changing the way my hosting package with them worked. This wouldn’t be so bad if they moved me to an equivalent sized service, but instead they downgraded me and said that to ‘upgrade’ to what I had would be $140 dollars a month extra.
They also appear to have fired a massive amount of their staff as it took 7 hours for them to email be back and I had to wait 25 minutes to IM tech support (used to be 30 minutes for a reply and a 3 minute wait to IM).
Many of you may remember similar issues with the main site a couple of months ago.
So here’s what’s happening right now :
– Hostgator is choking the amount of people who can access the members section at any one time.
– I am angry
– I am upgrading to their $140 a month plan for 1 month, then cancelling my account. I shall integrate everything with my dreamhost account as soon as I can, which currently hosts the main free site.
– The upgrade could take 24 to 72 hours.
NOTE : if you keep refreshing the members area, you should get through eventually! Keep trying and you may have some luck.
UPDATE : If I upgrade through hostgator, I also have to install all my own server software. What the hell?!!
I am also talking with epoch right now about the possibility of transferring the members area to the main one, rather than having it on vdg-offsite.com
My deepest apologies for any issues members are having, but know that I am just as frustrated and angry as you are right now.
Jennifer has now been released.
Because this game is a little different, I’m calling what I uploaded today a beta. I’ve thoroughly checked the game, so I know there’s no dead links or similar major problems, but it is possible that a few of the sound files may be incorrect.
I will upload a slightly refined version on Monday, which will also give an option to display images instead of videos if anyone is having problems with that aspect.
A free demo is available in the games section for those of you who want to try it out.
EDIT : Hostgator have sent me an email saying that the members area is getting too many requests (because they changed the way the account works. Without asking me.) I’m looking into a temporary upgrade, but in the long term I’m guessing I’ll move the hosting over to the main site’s package.
For now, just keep refreshing as it should eventually load.
Jennifer will official be released on Friday the 13th of September.
Full trailer : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4D_tOfPD5SI
Final set of preview images :
I was planning on a full trailer this week featuring some of the animated segments of the Jennifer game, but my computer has been a bit of an ass ever since Thursday.
As a result, there’s no trailer this week, but here’s a small sample from one of the animated scenes : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HpaPYISUNXY
The official release date will be announced next week, along with a full trailer and a final set of preview pics. Expect the release date to be around September the 11th and Friday the 13th (wow. Those are two bad sounding dates. The game should be good though and released then).