This post is a bit of history, a bit of product promotion, and a bit of diary.
I am pleased to announce that over on my main game development website, that I have released CreateOrConquer.com Version 1.5.
Now a Version 1.5 is not usually something to write an entire blog post about, but this time it is. Why? Because it took me a decade to get from Version 1.0 to 1.5 which is an absurdly long time to do so little. How did this happen?
I’m not a coder. I don’t have the time to take on coding as a sideline. I work full time in a health care career, have a family, and like to tinker around with lots of different things. I am not the kind of person with a singular laser focus. I typically will have five plus books on the go at one time, plus numerous projects. I spread myself around intellectually and interest wise. To be competent at coding there needs to be dedicated attention and I hope to one day apply myself at it, but currently it is not possible.
I acquired CreateOrConquer.com back in 2010. Though it was in development from 2006 to 2010 I consider the version I bought to be version 1.0 even though there were earlier versions of the web game.
I bought it from the developer because I loved what CreateOrConquer.com does. It is what I call ‘Player-Built-Play’ where a player creates a RPG World and invites other players to play in that world. Nowadays this is a common genre with MineCraft being the biggest example of it, but what CoC offered was an RPG take on the model.
CoC is labour of love but is not the most elegantly programmed website. When I bought it, there was a range of issues with the website that I slowly had the original developer, and then contract developers help me fix. So Version 1.5 is my design and I have decided that there is only so much lipstick you can put on this farm animal. It is time to get it over with and kiss the darn thing.
The website is not cutting edge being a PHP-MySQL based site. It has an old-school PBBG feel to it but I think it is pretty cool. The core game mechanics are unchanged and this means that it is not a very deep game and contains some pretty silly design decision. What it does possess is breadth and possibility and a theme that is unique and charming.
So why did it take so long to get to this point? Here is a brief timeline:
1) From 2010-2013 I had some work done on CoC but it was slow going. The original dev bailed on me and I struggled with finding somebody to work on the site. I went to coder-for-hire sites for a few years and found it it difficult to make much head-way.
2) In 2015 I found a local, new programmer who liked what CoC stood for and he convinced me to rebuild the site. Originally I thought of it as CoC 2.0 but after three years of development and money spent, a brand new webgame was created but is barely out of Alpha. I won’t mention the new website since it will bring this post off-topic, but it fixed allot of what CoC had wrong with it but created new problems as to be expected. I hope to return to the project and get it to an open Beta status.
3) This takes me to 2018. I returned to CoC and make a concerted effort to get it released. I found an excellent developer on Fiverr who has fixed most of the issues that I’ve identified between 2018 and 2020.
CoC is far from great and I’ve come to accept that. I am still proud of its unique charm and have learned allot about project management, game design, and business life.
So here we are in 2020, a full decade since I took over CoC, launching Version 1.5. The site/game is what it is, a cool piece of internet history with some UI and design upgrades.
I may have my fingers in lots of things but I typically finish what I start. Slow and steady, the game is finally ready.
Welcome to CreateOrConquer.com Version 1.5!
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