AlrecenkWhatever is causing the crash on close in #Narball doesn't happen if the debugger is open, is not detectable by memory sanitization tools, is not detectable by Vulkan validation, and is not on any objects I have a destructor written for. I really hate this bug. #gamedev #debugging
Pushed an update to #Narball that fixes desyncs when running with Proton. Linux users should be able to play with Windows players now. Game still doesn't launch on Steamdeck though. This fix doesn't address crashes on start-up in Linux, only online desyncs for players who could already open the game.
Spotted 3 randoms in my #narball server and managed to get some friends in to play 3v3 with them. It was awesome. We mostly lost. How are they so good already?
I'm getting people popping in to #Narball, but it's always one at a time. I've tried to make this game more accessible than my last one, but there's still one requirement to play: friends.
I made a #tiktok account to promote #Narball. I find the format of an infinite scroll of random short videos very unpleasant, but supposedly that's where I have the best chance of being seen. https://www.tiktok.com/@worldfabric5/video/7637212604280098062
I started a FAQ for #Narball . It's releasing on #Steam in just two days! https://steamcommunity.com/app/4404880/discussions/1/837249543665991444/
Frequently Asked Questions :: Narball General Discussion
Do I need a controller to play Narball? No, you can play with WASD and the arrow keys on the keyboard. It's an inferior experience though. A controller is strongly recommended. How do I join a private hosted server? Private servers can be joined by right clicking on a player in the Steam friends list and selecting join game. Anyone in the game can also send an invite through Steam. Why am I moving slower and bouncing less than other players?
Now that #Narball has an official #Steam release date approaching I'm getting hella #phishing emails. Would I like free help getting the word out? Absolutely. Do I trust anything that comes through any of the official contact info available on Steam? Nope. I can tell the links don't go where they say they go. Not sure who thought it was a good idea to put subdomains at the front. If any of these emails are real, I'll never know because this state of things is too depressing for me to check them all.
Two weeks until the release of #Narball. I thought about doing some pre-release influencer marketing, but I don't think I will. They'd just be playing with each other if they could find games at all. Exclusivity is kind of against the ethos of #WorldFabric anyway. I think I'm just gonna stealth drop it and see what happens. I can do streamer outreach after its out, and then they'd be able to play with their fans. I designed a whole new asynchronous event architecture to make sure weak PCs on crappy connections would get the same quality experience as the best hardware, prioritizing elites for release would be incongruous. #indieDev
There's like 6 different ways to join a game through Steam. I've got most of them working for #Narball, but joining a dedicated server through a rich presence link off of a friend while the game is closed always fails even though the connect command appears to be the exact same as the one I generate when joining from a server list request API call, which almost always works. It works sometimes if the game is already open. It's the same command! #Steamworks