Everybody Edits || Status of development

Satanya · 2022-03-20 16:20:23

Hey, everyone,

First off, I would like to say that I wish the best for our friends in Europe-- the situation there right now is very tough, and I worry for all your safety. I have family and friends there, and I honestly wish you all the best. The effects of the war are felt everywhere-- and, unfortunately, in our development team.

One of our artists has quit in the last week, due to recent sanctions against Russia and the blocking of PayPal. One of our lead devs is Ukrainian (and has had to flee the country). We have two other devs in Ukraine as well. There isn't a way to sugarcoat it-- development is taking a hit. And there is nothing we can really do about that but stay patient and hope for the safety of our team!

I am writing this post to ask you, the EE community, to show support and patience in these trying times. Within the context of this community, I cannot deny the effects of previous false promises that have, understandably, shaken the community’s confidence in the game’s dev teams. Not only are we picking up after the aftermath of Flash's EOL, but we are also dealing with a now unstable dev team due to the current events, and recovering from a hit from COVID -- which affected one of our developers and our finances. There are trials, one after another, that constantly challenge our development. And we aren't going to give up on this project anytime soon. So, I'd like to thank you all for remaining patient while we're dealing with all that. We are doing our very, very best to bring you an amazing game, but it will take a while, and, unfortunately, a bit longer thanks to these events.

Many of you will be asking, "why haven't you shown us anything yet? Why is this game taking so long?" And there is a very simple answer to both. Scope. Many people are expecting this game to be of the same scope as Everybody Edits Universe and the original Flash version-- and the simple, nonspoilery way of addressing that is by saying that EE!'s scope exceeds that of those previous two games. It's bigger, in many ways. The block packs are MASSIVE this time around-- so far, some of our block packs have 60+ blocks, with autotiling variations and without. We also are introducing parallax backgrounds as an optional feature. Beyond that, we have a planned customisation system, a fleshed out Zones system similar to what EEU had tried to achieve, new action blocks, and even some things like a Hub World in the lobby, a particle system, unique death animations, vision zones, liquid zones, secret zones, weather zones, different methods and tools to edit your world with (for instance, symmetrical worlds!) and another way to play entirely that I don't want to spoil still. Point is, this game is trying to achieve far more than EEU and EE had tried to, and, of course, that will take a while. And, on top of that, we are building everything not on an existing engine, but rather our own engine-- an engine we created specifically for this game, to specifically achieve what we want, in the context of multiplayer play, security, and the like. That is why the game is taking a while. We don't want to pump out an unfinished Beta and sell it like a final product. We want to deliver a bombastic first impression when the game launches.

And this strive for perfection is why any proper visual of the game (i.e. gameplay footage) is taking so long-- for one, we are still working out our renderer. And for another, we don't want to show a rough gameplay clip that will make everyone go "...ew..." We aren't going to show any gameplay footage unless it looks as close as possible to the final product or as polished as possible. This strive for perfection is also why the game has faced some delays-- notably in mid to late 2021. We had issues with our renderer system, thanks to a dev we have had let go of, knocking our milestones one down, requiring us to recode a huge chunk of code and search for new devs atop that. And now, with this other looming crisis, it is going to take a while.

So, once again: please have patience and show support. There is a lot that is resting on us, and on top of that, we are all worried about our friends and family. We ask that you stay patient, if there are any delays, and we promise that, at our own pace, we will do our best to surprise you not only with EE!, but also a super secret (and as of yet unannounced) project we have been working on.

Please stay safe, everyone, and thank you,
Anna.

mutantdevle, Foxy_Grandpa, Zoey2070, Grilyon2, 32OrtonEdge32dh, Atikyne, Andymakeer, Supah (Snow), Kirby, Tomahawk, Rivelka, ByteArray, GravityDonut, 2b55b5g, Norwee, AllenCaspe9510, Minimania, Quitinx4, Abiqi, Edilights, MartenM, Onjit, skullz17, BuzzerBee, John, N1KF, Victoria, Different55, St1ckS4m(EE), Beastmode, Kikikan, octodecillion, Vinyl Melody, HydraK90, Raven, Higuys153, Simpesta

LukeM · 2022-03-20 18:57:27

This really sucks for everyone affected, I wish them all the best and hope they and their families are safe.

Take all the time you need. Even without half your staff needing to flee from a global superpower declaring an unlawful war, things like this always take longer than people expect. EE took roughly a decade to get to where it was when it shut down, and even after all that it was a mess, performing terribly with half of the features barely working.

I’d personally prefer more open development so we can all come along for the ride, but I can see how often this just attracts a lot of non-constructive criticism, so how you develop the game is up to you, the way you’re doing things is fairly standard for the games industry.

So stay safe, take all the time you need to make sure your staff are safe, then even after the war comes to a (hopefully swift) end, take all the time you need to get things right.

32OrtonEdge32dh, Supah (Snow), ByteArray, 2b55b5g, mutantdevle, AllenCaspe9510, Kirby, John, soniiiety, St1ckS4m(EE), GravityDonut

Supah (Snow) · 2022-03-20 20:21:13

I had no idea that so many of the devs were from Ukraine, I hope they’re safe.

I don’t mind waiting a little longer. Just as long as the game comes out eventually I’ll be happy.

As for the game itself, I’m still super exited! From what I’ve seen of so far, EE! seems like EE if it were to live up to its fullest potential and more. I can’t wait to see what all of these new features are about and what can be done with them.

GravityDonut

Zumza · 2022-03-20 21:08:09

Indeed we go through some difficult times, and what is happening in Ukraine affects more or less everyone wherever they are. From what I know male citizens are still not even allowed to exit the country regardless if they wish to.

I don't know whether GGRiD bought Zendroforce, but if that is the case, considering that GGRiD discarded EEU, and wants to build a new game from scratch, the asset that was bought, in fact, was the EE's community (which is a good stepping stone for launching a new game).

Like many other senior players I believe, as I don't follow any of the community's discord servers, I feel terrible out of the loop to what happens to this game.
Without announcements like this, from time to time, on other platforms, I could as well forget about this game completely.

It almost feels like an experiment, started 8 years ago, and continued by each owner after Mr. Shoe, to see how much smaller this community can become before it disappears completely.
An experiment that also consists in promising things that are never completed, and providing showcases to betas that never get to be played by anyone but the staff (RIP EE Unity Edition).
Currently, the experiment seems to be continuing, but without that showcase ingredient.

In my belief, the only thing that you've inherited from EE is a community, and I consider that it should be saved from diminishing even further.
I feel saddened that you don't strive to entertain us with some displays of the future game, and more announcements of what progress is concretely done.

Joeyjoey65, drunkbnu, Minimania, Dencc, Edilights, soniiiety, AllenCaspe9510

AllenCaspe9510 · 2022-03-20 23:36:58

I feel really sad for everyone whose been affected in the war. Please stay safe! I appreciate the news for the progress of the game but please take your time in making EE! ! I definitely know that it's worth the wait.

Tomahawk · 2022-03-21 11:29:26

Oof. I hope things work out for those devs.

I think people accept development takes a while. They're not thrilled about the near-total radio silence. There's ways to give tidbits and teasers and updates without sharing non-finalised content.

Supah (Snow) · 2022-03-22 00:42:34

Tomahawk wrote:

I think people accept development takes a while. They're not thrilled about the near-total radio silence.

I agree, I don’t mind waiting, but the lack of updates made me worried that the project was no longer being worked on.

Tomahawk wrote:

There's ways to give tidbits and teasers and updates without sharing non-finalised content.

What exactly would those be?

AllenCaspe9510 · 2022-03-22 02:17:13

Supah (Snow) wrote:

Tomahawk wrote:
There's ways to give tidbits and teasers and updates without sharing non-finalised content.
What exactly would those be?

I assumed those could be like, updates without context. That's one way how I guess.

Staff sharing concepts drawn on paper or something could work too and it'll also be engaging to the community tbh.

NoNK · 2022-03-22 03:55:16

edits

Tomahawk · 2022-03-22 12:46:26

Supah (Snow) wrote:

Tomahawk wrote:
There's ways to give tidbits and teasers and updates without sharing non-finalised content.
What exactly would those be?

Some examples:

Fixel had plenty to say in his technical Q&A. Hypotheticals, opinions, very generalised information...
Presumably some stuff is finalised and can be mentioned in as little detail as desired.
Anna leaked some graphics previously. Sounds like there's plenty more, and it's a cheap way to generate interest and discussion.
Comments like "milestone X reached" don't convey any info but give the impression of progress.

But it's not just leaks. Anything from staff that isn't silence is appreciated.

More frequent updates from Anna. They don't need to say much.
Vice-T is doing the lord's work over on Twitter; I just don't think many people look there. Perhaps he could post in the Discord as well.
Events like contests, polls, Q&As, discussions, suggestion boxes and etc. create community involvement and a bit of interaction with staff. We don't need promises or prizes.

Obviously Anna and co. are dealing with much bigger things atm, and nobody expects garden vlogs from her when there's a war going on. There's still a PR team tho.

Onjit, AllenCaspe9510, John, N1KF

XxAtillaxX · 2022-03-23 05:39:16

Satanya wrote:

war

LukeM wrote:

war

AllenCaspe9510 wrote:

war

Tomahawk wrote:

war

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AllenCaspe9510, Minimania

Norwee · 2022-03-23 11:11:48

There is only one way left for Putin, and that is way to hell.

Slava Ukraini

Minimania

soniiiety · 2022-03-30 05:56:35

I have a few questions about game development, if we have multiplayer how will it be done????
Will it be hosted on steam? Through unity n browser? Html?

It might be safe to copy Garry's mod online multiplayer for connecting. I think it's safe atleast, unless yall have a better idea?

Victoria · 2022-03-30 14:02:06

soniiiety wrote:

I have a few questions about game development, if we have multiplayer how will it be done????
Will it be hosted on steam? Through unity n browser? Html?
It might be safe to copy Garry's mod online multiplayer for connecting. I think it's safe atleast, unless yall have a better idea?

Idk.. I've heard it- but hosted on Steam or .exe

soniiiety · 2022-03-30 18:06:55

Koya556 wrote:

soniiiety wrote:
I have a few questions about game development, if we have multiplayer how will it be done????
Will it be hosted on steam? Through unity n browser? Html?
It might be safe to copy Garry's mod online multiplayer for connecting. I think it's safe atleast, unless yall have a better idea?
Idk.. I've heard it- but hosted on Steam or .exe

if hosted on steam then that is a very bad idea I think, you can get hacked easily that way.

Snowester · 2022-03-30 18:38:40

soniiiety wrote:

if hosted on steam then that is a very bad idea I think, you can get hacked easily that way.

Well if you're very pathetic and gullible enough to be falling for those "hey so um i accidentally reported you to steam support and now they're going to delete your account! woe is me" phishing attempts, then yes it is bad.
Otherwise, there is actually no problem with account security, heck it's even more secure than EE in those 2 data breaches.

soniiiety · 2022-03-30 18:40:57

Snowester wrote:

soniiiety wrote:
if hosted on steam then that is a very bad idea I think, you can get hacked easily that way.
Well if you're very pathetic and gullible enough to be falling for those "hey so um i accidentally reported you to steam support and now they're going to delete your account! woe is me" phishing attempts, then yes it is bad.
Otherwise, there is actually no problem with account security, heck it's even more secure than EE in those 2 data breaches.

well I got hacked without anyone talking to me. Idk how.

N1KF · 2022-03-30 21:28:16

I really hope the game is playable through web browsers. That's a classic part of the EE experience, and makes the game easier to play and share.

mutantdevle · 2022-03-31 16:24:31

The game WILL be playable by a web browser. A steam release is something we would like to happen also (though not necessarily at launch), but the game will always be accessible via a browser regardless of wherever else it also gets released (unless plans change).

N1KF, Victoria

Victoria · 2022-04-01 03:11:41

soniiiety wrote:

Koya556 wrote:
soniiiety wrote:
I have a few questions about game development, if we have multiplayer how will it be done????
Will it be hosted on steam? Through unity n browser? Html?
It might be safe to copy Garry's mod online multiplayer for connecting. I think it's safe atleast, unless yall have a better idea?
Idk.. I've heard it- but hosted on Steam or .exe
if hosted on steam then that is a very bad idea I think, you can get hacked easily that way.

No way.. but I originally thought of a sequel that would be written in HTML5 and take it beyond Flash Apocalypse, but would try to improve it- Whether I think so hosted or not.

soniiiety

MartenM · 2022-04-01 20:03:21

mutantdevle wrote:

The game WILL be playable by a web browser. A steam release is something we would like to happen also (though not necessarily at launch), but the game will always be accessible via a browser regardless of wherever else it also gets released (unless plans change).

Steam workshop would be amazing.

Victoria, soniiiety

Zegger · 2022-04-06 13:37:39

Gosh, its terrible to hear you're all having problems at the moment.

I wish the best to everyone, both in health and finances! It might be weird to say that Everybody Edits was a part of my childhood, I played this game oh so much when I was little, and I remembered about it recently, and I had to search any info on it... Knowing a new project is on the works makes me really happy. If there are any ways I can help back this project early I'd like to, even like, sending a few bucks as a patreon or something!

I'm just glad to know this still exists and people are also looking forward to it. Hope the best for everyone, with love from Brazil

mutantdevle, Victoria, soniiiety, Foxy_Grandpa

Doram · 2022-05-19 19:34:00

I certainly can understand the situation in the Ukraine affecting the world almost as much as Covid did. I am continually amazed by how many companies had connections to workers out there that were suddenly fleeing their homes. I work for a little garden shop in America, and have surprisingly found myself personally impacted by political events on the other side of the world as well. I have always thought Putin was a bully and an idiot, and now he's finally committed some international war crimes that someone can hold him accountable for. Painful as it is, I'll call it progress. Major bonus points for Ukraine holding their own in all of this, too. You guys go ahead and keep showing Russia how dumb this was. Good job.

As for EE, I agree with the general sentiment that this is an important game to all of us fans, both as one of the few games that was as perfectly formulated as Tetris in its ease of pickup and depth of challenge, and also as one of the few multiplayer games that truly and thoroughly brought people together into a community. The community aspect was probably the most unique thing, in fact, as many games give some form of creative ability to the players for keeping the game interesting, but EE's idea of that creative interaction being in real-time was pure genius. The idea of building your level, as players explored it live and throughout the entirety of development, gave a sense of connection as a creator to their community, that is not available anywhere else. And it also gave opportunity for entirely new kinds of creative interactions that can only be done when everybody edits together.

I wish all of you devs well overall, and thank you for your dedication and hard work, especially when so much is going wrong in the world. And our hearts go out to everyone involved in the crisis in the Ukraine, as our cheers go out for every tidbit of news on Ukrainian rebellious victory. We fans complain loudest when it is something we love a lot, and I can only say that the fans of EE love it a LOT. I have been a player and a fan of EE for many years, and am more than happy to wait however long it takes for one of my most favorite games to come back to me. Good luck, gods bless, and keep up the good work. Know that as much as we complain, we are expressing that we love this game a lot too, and are rooting for you in our own way, knowing that you love it as well, and trusting you to shepherd something we both love into the future.

Joeyjoey65, N1KF, mutantdevle, AllenCaspe9510

Era · 2022-06-30 22:21:08

we are building everything not on an existing engine, but rather our own engine--

Great. Sounds like this game will never run on my computer .-.
Oh well, EE kind of dead when it was taken offline. Trying to redo the entire thing behind closed doors is also what killed netscape

Grilyon2

John · 2022-07-04 16:16:36

Era wrote:

we are building everything not on an existing engine, but rather our own engine--
Great. Sounds like this game will never run on my computer .-.

EEU was built on it's own engine and was pretty performant. Fixel is a pretty experienced developer so I'm sure it'll be able to perform on lower spec'd machines. It's also in their best interest to support low end computers because pretty much every school in the USA is 1:1 with Chromebooks so if they want the entire US child population to play then they'll make it efficient!

Satanya, Edilights, mutantdevle, Victoria, Snowester

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