#ios 10 dev | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

a-z0-9-i-n-gram-completionist · 1 year ago

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1: 0 1 2 3 5 6 7 8 9 a b c d e f g h i k l m n o p r s t u v w x y z 33/36 (24/26) (9/10)

2: 09 15 19 26 58 62 93 95 97 98 99 aa ad ag ai ak al an ap ar as at av az be bl bu ca ce ch ck cl co cr ct da de dy ea ed ee eh ei em en eo er es et ev ex ey fi fr fy ga gc ge gi go gs gt gu ha he hi ho hr ic id ie if ik il im in io ir is it ke ki la le li ll lo lp lr ls ly ma mb me mi mm mo mp mu na nd ne ng no ns nt nu oe of og ok om on oo or os ot ou ov pe ph po pr ra rc re ri rn ro rs rt ry se si sk so ss st sy ta tc te tg th ti tl to tr ts tt tu uc ue um un ur us ut uy ve vi vo we wh wi xi ye yi yl yo zd 171/1296 (160/676) (11/100)

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4: 1993 1997 ains alle alre antl apeo asse atch aver azda beyo blog cars cent chro clos comp coun crea ctag dent devo eady eate ehen embl enes enom ensi enta enti eoge erag erce eroe etim ette evot exis eyon fied frea fyin gall gene geno gimm heir hens here hero hrom iden ifie ifyi illa ills imes immi impo kill lain lery lett like llai ller logs look lose lphi lrea matc mazd mber mblr mbly meti mick mmic more moso mpor mpre much nape nome nsio ntag ntif ntin ntly numb ogen ogue omet omos ompr orta oses osom osts otes ount over peog perc phis port post preh rage rcen read reak reat rehe ring roes rogu romo rtan semb sest sion skil some ssem stri sylp tage tant that thei they tifi tify time ting trin tter tumb turn umbe umbl unti urns used vera vill vote will xist ying ylph yond your 158/1679616 (156/456976) (2/10000)

5: aller alrea antly apeog assem avera beyon blogs centa chrom close compr count creat denti devot ehens embly enome ensio entag entif eogen erage ercen eroes etime etter evote exist eyond freak fying galle genes genom gimmi hensi heroe hromo ident ified ifyin illai immic impor kills lains lette llain llery loses lphis lread match mazda metim mmick mosom mport mpreh napeo nsion ntage ntifi ntify nting numbe ogene ometi omoso ompre ortan osest osome ounti peoge perce porta posts prehe rcent ready reate rehen rogue romos rtant sembl skill somet ssemb strin sylph tantl their tifie tifyi times tring tumbl turns umber umblr untin verag villa votes ylphi 109/60466176 (109/11881376)

6: allery alread apeoge assemb averag beyond centag chromo closes compre counti create dentif devote ehensi ension entage entifi entify eogene ercent etimes evotes galler genome gimmic hensio heroes hromos identi ifying illain immick import letter llains losest lready metime mosome mporta mprehe napeog ntifie ntifyi number ogenes ometim omosom ompreh ortant ountin peogen percen portan prehen rcenta rehens romoso rtantl sembly skills someti ssembl string sylphi tantly tified tifyin tumblr unting verage villai ylphis 74/2176782336 (74/308915776)

7: already apeogen assembl average centage chromos closest compreh countin dentifi dentify devotes ehensio entifie entifyi eogenes ercenta gallery gimmick hension hromoso identif illains importa metimes mportan mprehen napeoge ntified ntifyin ometime omosome omprehe ortantl ounting peogene percent portant prehens rcentag rehensi romosom rtantly sometim ssembly sylphis tifying villain 48/78364164096 (48/8031810176)

8: apeogene assembly chromoso comprehe counting dentifie dentifyi ehension entified entifyin ercentag hromosom identifi identify importan mportant mprehens napeogen ntifying ometimes omprehen ortantly peogenes percenta portantl prehensi rcentage rehensio romosome sometime villains 31/2821109907456 (31/208827064576)

9: apeogenes chromosom comprehen dentified dentifyin entifying ercentage hromosome identifie identifyi important mportantl mprehensi napeogene omprehens percentag portantly prehensio rehension sometimes 20/101559956668416 (20/5429503678976)

10: chromosome comprehens dentifying identified identifyin importantl mportantly mprehensio napeogenes omprehensi percentage prehension 12/3656158440062976 (12/141167095653376)

11: comprehensi identifying importantly mprehension omprehensio 5/131621703842267136 (5/3670344486987776)

12: comprehensio omprehension 2/4738381338321616896 (2/95428956661682176)

13: comprehension 1/170581728179578208256 (1/2481152873203736576)

the gimmick blogs are like tumblr’s rogue gallery. yes we’ve got some heroes, yes we’ve got some villains, but more importantly if you look over here you will see some freak who devotes all their time to counting the number of “t’s” in a post

#max: 13

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monpetitrobot · 12 days ago

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#FashionTech #InvestmentOpportunity #ProductIdeas #RedRobotIdeas #RetailInnovation

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16naughts · 24 days ago

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Dev Log May 30 - It's baaaaack (the WebKit issues, that is)

Last week we released the Sweet Bee update for Crescent Roll, which had some substantial changes both in terms of content and some of the inner organization. It was supposed to be a little bit bigger than it ended up being, but we decided to split up the changes into a couple of chunks to give it more polish and not have to re-do things for the public API release. (Which the PM in me wants to apologize to somebody for the delay, but I was the only one who set the time table anyway, so we'll have to work on breaking that "everything has to be done Yesterday" mentality.) As a quick recap - Crescent Roll is written in Javascript, which means it runs in a web browser. For Windows, Android, iOS, and practically every other platform, you can write your program to hook in to the OS native one and not have to install anything. For Linux (which Steam OS is a fork of), there is no native browser. Valve technically _did_ include Chromium as their front-end for their store, but they embedded it directly into their application and as such nobody else can reach it. Which is bad news, as if you want to embed it yourself, that's an extra 1GB of space. Which is bad for our 30MB game. So, in order to keep install size lower, we ended up opting for using WebKit instead. WebKit is what Safari is based on, just like how Chrome and Edge are based on Chromium. Fortunately, it's a lot smaller at around 200MB, which is technically still more than 5x bigger than the application, but it's better than the 30x. This, however, is proving to be a rather bad move. The Steam Deck uses a container system that runs self-contained little mini operating system runtimes that can just be stuck on pretty much any flavor of Linux with minimal compatibility issues. The unfortunate part for us is that it is Debian 11-based. Which is only 4 years old at the time of writing, but gcc and clang (C compilers) already dropped support for it, and thus WebKit also dropped support for _right_ before they did a major overhaul to a lot of important internal systems that fixed a lot of performance problems. When testing the newest update, apparently some of the libraries that were being provided by the OS received updates that have severely interfered with the game's performance. The startup now takes about 5-10 seconds on a black screen before anything shows up. Shutdown will keep playing the music and also requires you to press B to close for some unknown reason. The Main Menu had also dropped to 45FPS out of nowhere, and something with the audio playback got completely screwed over where it suddenly decides to stop playing music, and then every single sound that was attempted in rapid succession at faster speeds a few seconds later (In what world is that ever the expected behavior?! Just don't play it if it can't. This one is just stupid.) Fortunately, none of the issues actually affect gameplay all that much. Most levels still ran at 60FPS, and even when they dipped, we built the system specifically to support variable framerates, so the game speed is still exactly the same with no lag. The update was still published, as the issue was apparently caused by the OS changes and not our changes, so even old versions are still affected. As a result though, much of this week's work went in to optimizing the graphics system even more and attempting to play around whatever the heck is going on with that audio playback. We were able to hit 60FPS again, but at the time of writing, are still having the audio thing happen occasionally. So, what now? I think I've officially given up on WebKit. We're squeezing blood of out a stone at this point in terms of optimizations I can make to the game itself. It seems kind of silly that Windows is able to pull off 4k at 120Hz on 15-year old hardware, but the trimmed-down Linux port can't even handle sub-1080p at 60Hz. I've had an idea to try and use the Windows version of CEF specifically for the Steam Deck, which will keep it around 300MB and maybe solve some of our issues. It's going to take a bit, so fingers crossed.

#16naughts #devlog #game dev blog #game development #indie games #webkit

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pandesalmonster · 2 months ago

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my search for the perfect twitter bookmarks manager (aka i tried 4 twitter paid manager apps and i still can't choose bc they're all expensive as hell)

i want to leave twitter ASAP BUT

i don't know how to do it

i've been collecting and organizing my bookmarks with "twillot" a freemium twitter bookmark web organizer. it costs 581 php/month (368 php/month if you do annual billing But you will be charged 4416 php right away.)

I have 3 candidates for my twitter bookmarks organizer, the main drawback for each is that i have to depend on them? but the monthly fee is wayyy too expensive, that's like 2-3 days of meals for me, and it's already 3% of my salary, and i have to make space to buy kpop stuff.

so far, i paid for 1 month of twillot basic plan which yeeted out 581 pesos from my credit card. ouch

so it's either find a higher paying job (i plan to leave my job by October so start applying around August) so i can afford to lose 600 pesos per month (that's like 30 pesos per working day. ouch!)

so the options are:

1. TWEETSMASH

PRICING: - $49 - exports pass (one time payment) - can export and auto sync bookmarks, organize into "smart" folders - reader pass: $14 monthly or $84 yearly (6 months off or $7 monthly) - can turn into newsletters, no export to pdf option - yearly pass: $99 yearly ($8.25 monthly) - full experience PROS: woman made #womenintech, can open in tablet browser ✅, it looks similar to notion so somewhat cleaner looking than dewey CONS: no nested folders?, and it's selling AI too much?

2. DEWEY

PRICING: - $50 - 48 hour export pass - all features for 48 HOURS ONLY - pro monthly: $10 monthly = $120 yearly - no export, notion & gsheet integration) - pro yearly: $7.50 monthly or $90 yearly (3 months off) - all features - last black friday they offered 30% off, then christmas they offered 35% off, then on new year they offered 25% off, so i'm waiting this year for either black friday or christmas for at least a 25% off discount (i'm talking $63 yearly which is still a lot but hopefully i'm $63 richer by november LOL)

PROS: nested folder, can open in tablet browser ✅, almost same interface as tweetsmash, i think this was the one i tried exporting to pdf and it came out nice, has an option to save the whole thread, auto groups by year and month CONS: interface is too noisy (too many gradients), the export pass is limited for 48 hours why why why, also the limited features when you do monthly billing instead of yearly billing is so nasty, when i first did their AI auto categorization it just threw out 200 different folders and that sucked, they

3. TWILLOT

PRICING - basic - $10 monthly or $78 yearly (3.5 months off or $6.5 monthly) - export 50000 tweets, up to 50000 bookmarks - pro - $20 monthly or - unlimited bookmarks PROS: prettiest interface (it looks like an excel file but cleaner), easy to tag tweets into folders, promises local backup (better than export to csv imo) but i tried it and it doesn't work so. CONS: idk if i want my money to go to a chinese dev and indirectly to the ccp lol, no sorting by date, doesn't open in tablets because it's a google web extension. (sad) ❌ but also, it's newer than the first 2 apps so i will give it some slack, the export to pdf doesnt put the username for some reason? but it numbers the tweets, and the images come out really HD, so that's nice.

4. FAVOURITES IO

PROS: cheap CONS: limited features, only search and tags, no export

i really want to like twillot but it was too late for me to get the early bird discounted subscription, and it's a younger app.

so i'm thinking of unsubbing to twillot after the 1 month, then waiting for the black friday/ christmas/ new year discount and subscribe to a dewey yearly plan; or if there's no discount, getting the tweetsmash 1 time export pass and hopefully it doesn't have a time limit like dewey has.

so far i've organized 833 tweets into folders (2%) in twillot, so i've wasted some time, but it's part of the exploration.

i want to do like a youtube video on this so i can monetize it a bit LOL but maybe i should send feedback to the devs first).

what's really cool is that both the tweetsmash and twillot devs are on twitter and reddit (they advertise their apps on there and seek advice and stuff). i think the dewey team are also on there. what i mean is you can see they built these apps because they were sick of seeing this problem and were like "fine, i'll do it myself!" which is inspiring as someone who once dreamed of building an app (for what? idk? like my own personal assistant on the phone lol). and they did it and these apps are running, albeit not perfectly, but they built it! and people pay for their apps! that's cool!

so my takeaway is maybe i want to shift my career to tech soon bc that's where the money is still at (pls don't flop soon)

#twitter refugees

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gregrambles · 2 months ago

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Moving Away From Spotify (Part 2)

The objective of this post has changed a bit since I posted Part 1 about 2 months ago. While I was originally concerned with the moral/ethical issues that plague Spotify, moving away from it has proven a more difficult task than anticipated.

Previously, I went over why Spotify has taken a turn for the worse, and how streaming/digital music royalties work. These posts were a part of a longer task of actually moving my roughly 6000 track library of saved music away from Spotify and to another platform that better aligned with practices that reward artists for their work and aim to connect them with listeners. This time, I want to talk a bit about what alternatives exist and what sets them apart.

Fair warning, this is going to feel a bit like reading that giant blurb about the baker's struggles with childhood trauma before you actually get to a recipe. But, I'm hoping that my experiences might help someone else make a decision as well.

First, I need to acknowledge that for all of Spotify's flaws, I cannot deny that they are still the best in the space for accessibility. You can publish on Spotify from anywhere, with almost no barrier to entry, and anyone can listen without paying a thing from any platform they choose. I think this strength, though eroding, is still present and the overall experience still makes for strong competition against others.

This has become especially apparent even when using services from members of the industry that have held a firm grasp on digital music sales/streaming for about as long as it's been possible. But, let's get on with the alternatives that exist and their general strengths.

This is a short-list. You can refer to Wikipedia if you want to get overwhelmed. I'm also focused on English-first services because that's what's relevant to me. These services may not be suitable for content published in countries outside of Canada/USA.

How to Choose

In order to qualify for consideration I had some basic criteria:

Pays artists a fair wage per thousand streams (I consider $10 USD the minimum for this)

Accessible between devices and platforms

Minimal use of AI (AI is not a replacement for curated recommendation algorithms)

Ease of migration (Provides a tool or third-party service to import Spotify library)

These requirements may not seem like much but the first two really narrow down the search. I also had some nice-to-haves such as:

Lossless/HQ Audio

Lyrics

Qualifying Options

That more or less left me with the following options:

Apple Music

Qobuz

Tidal

Oh...well that's not much is it. Hm. And what's a Qobuz?? We'll come back to that. Technically Amazon music also qualified for the list too, as it barely breaks the $/stream threshold but I have plenty of other moral qualms with Amazon to want to pay them for...anything really. Especially not a service I plan to use long-term.

Apple Music

Easily the biggest competitor, it feels natural that Apple would have a robust streaming platform with a massive library. They're responsible for the mass demand for MP3 players and in the wake of Napster's demise they capitalized on the demand for easy access to digital music through iTunes. So why in the hell does Apple Music suck so fucking bad?

On paper this service should be excellent. I'm actually using it right now, listening to Madde's "Non-Photo Blue" while I write this. It's got:

A massive library

Well received tools for transferring playlists

Integrates with existing iTunes media

Has similar discovery tools

Supports lossless playback

Synced lyrics

But right away I learned only iOS users get the privilege of easily migrating their music. An app called "Playlisty" is available for a one-time $4 purchase. To the app's credit, it does a great job and there were only about 300 songs that didn't make it over. Unfortunately this app isn't available for Android, nor as a web-based service. It almost certainly could be, but if the devs asked themselves "Who would bother if they're not already an Apple user?", they were probably right to do so.

The Android app is decent, but the web player is abysmal. The native app for Windows sucks, so you pretty much have to use iTunes, except be sure to uninstall Apple Music or Apple TV first otherwise you're not going to be able to use the music features of iTunes. Why? Because Apple says so. Even then, you need to make sure iTunes is set to "Direct Sound" for its output otherwise any kind of lossless playback skips like a DiscMan out for a jog.

With that out of the way, I still have my problem of Linux playback. I'm only able to use the web version of Apple Music here, and Apple hasn't put any time into making lossless audio work, so one of its strongest features falls off a cliff. The web app also lags like hell on first play, and none of the available applications support casting. As a bonus, there's no synced playback, so you're not going to be able to pause from your phone if you have something playing on a computer or TV that isn't a Mac or AirPlay enabled. Spotify put a lot of time into making things seamless in a way that feels like it should be Apple's bread and butter but instead they've taken the 8 years of development time Apple Music has had to improve and not thought to address this.

Did I mention the Apple Music app for my TV also isn't available in Canada but I had to go through the trouble of downloading it and signing in twice before it wanted to tell me that? What an absolute mess. AirPlay works fine though.

Okay, so maybe Apple Music isn't for me.

Qobuz

Pronounced "Ko-buzz", this is a French streaming app you probably haven't heard of. It's also a pretty massive music store offering DRM-free, lossless quality music through what feels like nearly every label under the sun. Their library might not be as big, but they're certainly a compelling option if it works even slightly better than Apple Music.

Qobuz has a few selling points:

Averages $18 per 1000 streams

Uses Soundiiz to facilitate the transfer of playlists for free

Lossless audio works in-browser

Easy to access "Buy" option next to every album/track

Request system for missing music

No lyrics

Immediately, there are some downsides. Soundiiz only caught about 4/5 of my music library. On the upside, they provide an export of the whole transfer and you can pretty easily figure out what didn't match. It also got a bit confused about some tracks and seems to have substituted in tracks I never had saved. This hasn't been a major issue though.

Qobuz playback is snappy, it sounds good and there's no reliance on an app to handle DRM. Similar to Apple Music though, there's no real way to cast to my TV without an iOS device to provide AirPlay options, as Roku doesn't support Google Cast. It also doesn't support synced playback between the web player and local devices, but it does seem to know when you're using it on another device so I have to think that's in the pipeline. For now though, unless you're casting, there's no way to pause from another device.

I will say that Qobuz at least feels like the people developing are people who love music, and want to share it with others. This platform doesn't have a free tier, it's entirely driven by subscriptions and as a result maybe there just isn't that same kind of monetization culture that relies on ads. It also features some more unique features like the ability to explore entire catalogues from labels, solving a long-standing issue I've had with Spotify and trying to listen to Monstercat releases.

Overall, this has been a pretty pleasant experience and has had the least friction. Things I can and can't do are clearly communicated, and the open ability to report music that isn't available is something I'll certainly exercise. There is a lack of discovery tools outside of basic "Here's songs for people who have never heard music before" type exploration playlists.

Tidal

Tidal's an odd one. It's been around for more than a decade, but has seen some pretty slow growth. Originally an "Audiophile" grade streaming service, it was a small library and far more expensive, facing scrutiny for some rocky decisions. Now, prices have come down and they seem to be leveraging label partnerships to market to DJs and pop-heads.

I actually had some help from a friend for this one. I had more or less already ruled this one out for myself since it couldn't capture even half of my music library, but Tidal's always generally had a greater focus on pop/r&b, which aren't my typical listening categories. The following is his experience.

Tidal's selling points:

HiRes/FLAC audio (Lossless)

Average $12 per 1000 streams

Partnered with TuneMyMusic for playlist transfer

And that's about it.

My friend's library is about 1200 songs, most fitting into the library of music Tidal offers, so there weren't many missed tracks. There was some fiddling about, because apparently TuneMyMusic does also like to add duplicates when it's unsure about song versions. It may also add entire albums if the song name matches an album name. A clean and re-import did seem to fix this though. Overall, it seems like a similar experience to Qobuz, with lossless available in app or browser.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

TL;DR: I think I've settled on Qobuz. While it missed a good chunk of my library, it'd be hard to match everything. A lot of it was also content self-published, or isn't available regionally anymore either. Sometimes it is Spotify exclusive, but it's usually available on Bandcamp too if I was interested in buying it. It has enough features and is broadly compatible enough with all the things I use. My TV is the only shortfall, but I was due to get a receiver for that anyways.

#part 2/2 #apple music #spotify #tidal #qobuz #music streaming #music royalties #fair pay

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maximuswolf · 3 months ago

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International regulations for F2P/P2W games

International regulations for F2P/P2W games I've seen news every now and then about regulations for chance-based mechanics, like lootboxes or gambling mechanics, but tbh i have no idea how these end up (like, there news about voting for a regulation, but no followup on the result), where these apply and, most importantly, how these are actually enforced.I'm in the EU, i also don't know if devs MUST comply with any regulations from here if i'm using US-based Android or iOS, the dev coming from Asia and me beeing in Europe. Coming on top both Google and Apple also have their own ToS for using their infrastructure. So, as an example, a game from a typical Chinese/Korean P2W mobile dev has a lucky wheel with 10 prices.Maybe it sends me a free spin to get a fix and i can pay for more, is it allowed to have rigged chances to get me to spend money to chase the dragon i never get? Or, if it appears to me as a fair game, would i have a 10% chance for every price? More important: If there is any kind of regulation regarding this, how would these be enforced? I recall something about listing chances for lootboxes, does someone actually audit that code to check if the listed chances are actually true?I'm writing all of this and i somewhat already expect the answer to be "It's wild west everywhere", lol. Submitted March 19, 2025 at 06:47AM by Octa_vian https://ift.tt/1oTNzHI via /r/gaming

#reddit

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zzz-updates · 5 months ago

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Version 1.5 "Astra-nomical Moment" Update Details

Dear Proxies,

Below is the updated content and compensation for Version 1.5 "Astra-nomical Moment."

>> Official Hoyolab post <<

[Update Start Time]

2025/01/22 06:00:00 (UTC+8)

It will take about five hours to complete.

[Compensation Details]

● Server Update Compensation

Compensation: Polychrome ×300

Requirements: Reach Inter-Knot Lv. 4 before 2025/01/22 06:00 (UTC+8).

※ Valid to claim until the end of Version 1.5.

※ Please note that Version 1.5 will run for 7 weeks, ending on 2025/03/12 06:00 (UTC+8).

● Issue Fix Compensation

Compensation: Polychrome ×300

Requirements: Reach Inter-Knot Lv. 4 before 2025/01/22 06:00 (UTC+8).

Please log in to the game and claim the compensation before 2025/02/21 23:59 (UTC+8).

The dev team will issue the compensation via in-game mail after the update has been completed. The mail will expire after 30 days, so don't forget to claim the attachments.

[How to Update]

● PC

Exit the game, restart, then select update.

● Android

After entering the game, follow the in-game pop-up instructions to complete the update.

● iOS

Go to the App Store and select update.

● PS5™ or PS5™ Pro

Open the PS5 home screen > Highlight Zenless Zone Zero > Hold down the Options button on your controller > Check for updates.

[New Content]

1. New Characters

● S-Rank Agent Astra Yao (Support - Ether)

Astra Yao is a powerful support agent who can provide a variety of damage bonuses to teammates and restore their HP. Make good use of her skills to enable your team to trigger more frequent Quick Assists and Chain Attacks, and deal massive damage to enemies.

● S-Rank Agent: Evelyn (Attack - Fire)

Evelyn is an Agent who can trigger Chain Attacks with Basic Attacks and pull one enemy in for focused strikes. She can chain multiple hits or Special Attacks to her main target and enter a Binding Seal with it, where she accumulates Burning Embers and Burning Tether Points when dealing damage with skills. The accumulated points can be spent to unleash various skills, dealing heavy Fire damage to enemies.

2. New W-Engines

● Limited S-Rank W-Engine: Elegant Vanity (Support)

*The limited S-Rank W-Engine Elegant Vanity (Support) can be obtained through the Dissonant Sonata Signal Search.

● Limited S-Rank W-Engine: Heartstring Nocturne (Attack)

*The limited S-Rank W-Engine Heartstring Nocturne (Attack) can be obtained through the subsequent Signal Search.

3. New Bangboo

● S-Rank Bangboo: Snap

Can be obtained through An Outstanding Partner Signal Search.

4. New Story

● Special Episode: Astra-nomical Moment

Every era has its own songstress. People place all of their hopes in her, and she must bring them hope.

Availability: Permanently available after the Version 1.5 update

Requirements: Complete Main Story "Leisurely Lull: Goldfinch's Escape" (available after completing Main Story Chapter 5).

※ You can experience this content in advance via the Advance Screening function.

● Ellen's Agent Story: It's Me... Leave a Message

"Hey, don't say goodbye, say see you tomorrow!"

Availability: Permanently available after the Version 1.5 update

How to Unlock: Complete Main Story Chapter 3 "The Midnight Pursuit"

※ You can experience this content in advance via the Advance Screening function.

● Agent Trust Events, Quality Time Events

New Agent Trust Events and Quality Time Events for Astra Yao and Evelyn

Availability: Permanently available after the Version 1.5 update

How to Unlock: Obtain the corresponding Agents and complete the required Stories (Please see Workbench > Partner Archive)

5. New Area

● Starloop: Available after the Version 1.5 update. Complete Special Episode "Astra-nomical Moment" to unlock.

The Starloop Tower is a modern, multifunctional venue in New Eridu, specifically designed to host concerts and events of various scales.

6. New Events

● Brilliant Overture

Wait for a sparkling holiday and a note that will finally be played.

Event Duration: After the Version 1.5 update – 2025/03/11 03:59 (server time)

Requirements: Reach Inter-Knot Lv. 8 and unlock the Event feature in the Main Story Prologue - Intermission.

● Harmonic Pact

We hope everyone can seize their own moments of happiness!

Event Duration: After the Version 1.5 update – 2025/03/10 03:59 (server time)

Requirements: Reach Inter-Knot Lv. 15 and complete Agent Story "Mole in the Hole (I)."

● The Troubles of Ellen the Shark

My dear friend, you are you, regardless of secrets or meaning.

Event Duration: After the Version 1.5 update – 2025/03/10 03:59 (server time)

Requirements: Reach Inter-Knot Lv. 15 and complete Agent Story "Mole in the Hole (I)."

● The Day of Brilliant Wishes

Eous is going to partner up with the superstar of New Eridu!

In New Eridu, wishes always come true. Do you believe it?

Event Duration: 2025/01/23 10:00 (server time) – 2025/03/10 03:59 (server time).

Requirements: Reach Inter-Knot Lv. 15 and complete Agent Story "Mole in the Hole (I)."

● A Dream Come True at Last

The long-awaited dinner gathering is just around the corner, but a sudden cancellation crisis hits!

Good news: All you have to do is pay a little extra on your electricity bill to eliminate this issue.

Event Duration: 2025/01/24 10:00 (server time) – 2025/02/05 03:59 (server time).

Requirements: Reach Inter-Knot Lv. 8 and unlock the Event feature in the Main Story Prologue - Intermission.

● Godfinger Ultimate Showdown

The new Urban Video Game Festival begins — Godfinger joins the lineup of participating stores!

The toughest Hellhound, the most agile Mr. Work, the fastest jet-powered taxi... it's time to assemble!

Event Duration: 2025/01/28 10:00 (server time) – 2025/02/10 03:59 (server time).

Requirements: Unlock Godfinger arcade in Prologue - Intermission.

● New Year Gift

As the year passes by with a smile, best wishes for the new year!

Event Duration: 2025/01/29 10:00 (server time) – 2025/03/11 03:59 (server time).

Requirements: Reach Inter-Knot Lv. 8 and unlock the Event feature in the Main Story Prologue - Intermission.

● Click Click Hollow Reporter

Confident smile, perfect pose, flawless background, and the ideal companion!

All the elements are in place, what are you waiting for? Press the shutter!

Event Duration: 2025/02/02 10:00 (server time) – 2025/02/17 03:59 (server time).

Requirements: Reach Inter-Knot Lv. 15 and complete Agent Story "Mole in the Hole (I)."

● Advanced Bounty: Routine Cleanup

During the event, Routine Cleanup rewards will be doubled.

"Battle is almost upon us! Rest assured, the Defense Force will show you who we truly are."

Event Duration: 2025/02/07 04:00 (server time) – 2025/02/12 03:59 (server time).

Requirements: Begin Main Story Chapter 2 - Intermission and unlock Routine Cleanup.

● "En-Nah" Into Your Lap

En-nu-en-nah! (Here we come!)

Event Duration: 2025/02/12 10:00 (server time) – 2025/03/11 03:59 (server time).

Requirements: Reach Inter-Knot Lv. 8 and unlock the Event feature in the Main Story Prologue - Intermission.

● Elpis Ultimate Angler Championship

A grand fishing event is about to take place — it's time to show off your true skills!

But when you're with Qingyi, things don't seem that simple?

Event Duration: 2025/02/14 10:00 (server time) – 2025/03/10 03:59 (server time).

Requirements: Reach Inter-Knot Lv. 23 and Main Story Chapter 2 - Intermission.

● Hollow Zero: Cleanse Calamity

The threat is not yet gone. It's time to eliminate the danger lurking in the shadows.

Event Duration: 2025/02/17 04:00 (server time) – 2025/03/03 03:59 (server time).

Requirements: Participate in Battlefront Purge in Hollow Zero: Lost Void once.

● Today's Recommended Film

"Some customers questioned whether the recommendations are too unstructured, and if the films are played randomly."

"Response: 'Play At Random' is precisely the theme of the store."

Event Duration: 2025/02/21 10:00 (server time) – 2025/03/03 03:59 (server time).

Requirements: Reach Inter-Knot Lv. 15 and complete Agent Story "Mole in the Hole (I)."

● 141 Going Green For Everyone

141 Battery Recycling: Bangboo Batteries, Ether Batteries, Special-Model Batteries...

After using up the Battery Charge, please return the dead batteries to Sjal to support our environmental protection campaign!

Event Duration: 2025/02/26 10:00 (server time) – 2025/03/10 03:59 (server time).

Requirements: Reach Inter-Knot Lv. 15 and complete Agent Story "Mole in the Hole (I)."

● Data Bounty: Combat Simulation

During the event, Combat Simulation rewards will be doubled.

"There are many things that require your assistance, but you'll be well compensated~"

Event Duration: 2025/03/05 04:00 (server time) – 2025/03/10 03:59 (server time).

Requirements: Unlock Combat Simulation in Main Story Chapter 1 "Cat's Lost & Found."

7. New Gameplay

● Battle Trial: The Last Stand

Until the last drop of blood is shed, until the last blade is broken!

Fight in the Endless Tower, until the bitter end!

Availability: Available after the Version 1.5 update. Please stay tuned for future announcements regarding gameplay updates.

Requirements: Complete Main Story Chapter 3 "The Misnight Pursuit."

● Bizarre Brigade: Shared Dream

Bizarre Brigade's multiplayer mode, Bizarre Brigade: Shared Dream, will be available in Godfinger Arcade when the event begins.

Availability: Permanently available after 2025/01/28 10:00 (server time)

Requirements: Unlock Godfinger arcade in Prologue - Intermission.

In Version 1.5, the arcade game Bizarre Brigade has been updated. More details:

Bizarre Brigade Version 1.5 Update Details

● Mach 25

The arcade game Mach 25 will be available in Godfinger Arcade when the event begins.

Availability: Permanently available after 2025/01/28 10:00 (server time)

Requirements: Unlock Godfinger arcade in Prologue - Intermission.

8. New Systems

● New System: Outfit

After the Version 1.5 update, Proxies can change their Agents' Outfits in the Outfits interface of each Agent.

Astra Yao: Chandelier

The black-and-white dress glimmers in both light and shadows. Every smile of hers seems to sink into the flowing light of the night, becoming a timeless classic.

※ After the Version 1.5 update - 2025/03/12 05:59 (UTC+8), Astra Yao's Chandelier outfit will be on sale at a limited-time discount in Store - Today's Outfit. During the discount period, the price is Monochrome ×1350. After the discount period ends, the price will revert to Monochrome ×1680. Limited to one purchase during the sale period.

Ellen: On Campus

The tail doesn't quite match the school uniform, but with just a little bit of needlework, it can become even cuter!

※ After the Version 1.5 update - 2025/03/12 05:59 (UTC+8), Ellen's On Campus outfit will be on sale at a limited-time discount in Store - Today's Outfit. During the discount period, the price is Monochrome ×980. After the discount period ends, the price will revert to Monochrome ×1280. Limited to one purchase during the sale period.

Nicole: Cunning Cutie

Pink! Pink! Pink! Pink is Nicole's signature color. So are you feeling it?

※In Version 1.5, Proxies can obtain Nicole's outfit Cunning Cutie for free through the limited-time event "The Day of Brilliant Wishes."

※ After the end of Version 1.5, Proxies can purchase this outfit from Store - Today's Outfit.

*Known issue: During version 1.5, after Proxies have changed Agent outfits, the outfits temporarily cannot be displayed in the Friendly Talk area of Hollow Zero: Lost Void between floors or on the floor results screen. This issue will be fixed in later versions.

9. Other New Content

▶ New Content

● New enemies, Notorious - Dead End Butcher, Terror Raptor, Lumberjack, and Security Operative have been added.

● New collectibles Eous and Nicole Demara have been added to PS5™ and PS5™ Pro. During Version 1.5, Proxies can log in to the PS App on their mobile devices, go to the PS Stars page, participate in the corresponding events, and meet the requirements to unlock these collectibles. Proxies can download Zenless Zone Zero on PS5™/PS5™ Pro to unlock Eous, and earn the trophy Happy and Full! (Except for My Wallet) to unlock Nicole Demara.

● A new teleport location, Coastal Reef, has been added to Port Elpis, along with environmental changes during specific events.

● A new teleport location, Sān-Z STUDIO, has been added to Lumina Square, along with festive environmental changes during specific events.

● Some festive environmental changes during specific events in Sixth Street have been added.

● A new display format for certain dialogue has been added, with some dialogue now appearing at the bottom center of the screen. There may be instances where custom key bindings overlap with dialogue text on some devices. Proxies can adjust their key bindings to fix this issue.

● A new Battle Trial: The Last Stand exclusive avatar has been added, which can be unlocked by earning the corresponding badge.

● Dynamic backgrounds for Agents Astra Yao and Evelyn have been added. Obtain the corresponding Agent and increase your Trust Level to a certain amount to unlock.

● The dynamic wallpaper Bangboo Angler Club has been added, which can be obtained through the Version 1.5 event "Elpis Ultimate Angler Championship."

● New random play function has been added for dynamic wallpapers. Proxies can select up to 5 wallpapers, and they will display randomly when this function is enabled.

● New Ridu Snapshots category has been added for dynamic wallpaper.

● New titles for Arcade, Agent Trust, and Battle Trial: The Last Stand have been added.

● New achievements for A Ridu Journey, Agent Story, Agent Trust Events, Special Episode, When Opportunities Converge, and Combat Achievements added, including some hidden achievements.

● Added new Bizarre Brigade Achievements that can be viewed on the achievement page in Bizarre Brigade.

● Added Godfinger Arcade game Bizarre Brigade: Shared Dream to Quality Time Mode: Store Gameplay.

● Trial Bangboo can now be viewed in the Bangboo Deploy interface.

● Customization function is now available in Special Training Plan. After the plan is Customized, the upgrade targets will be displayed in their respective modules.

● Updated the TV commercial for Urban Video Game Festival.

▶ Shiyu Defense

Critical Node

After the Version 1.5 update goes live, the buff effects of Critical Node are as follows:

Phase I:

Increases Agent CRIT DMG by 20%.

Every time an Agent triggers Quick Assist, all squad members' ATK increases by 10% for 15s, stacking up to 4 times. Repeated triggers reset the duration.

Phase II:

Agents' Fire and Ice DMG is increased by 20%.

Chain Attack DMG increases by 40%, and triggering Chain Attack will recover 10 Energy.

Phase III:

Increases Agent Impact by 15%.

Hitting an enemy with Chain Attack reduces their DEF by 25% for 10s. Repeated triggers reset the duration.

▶ Deadly Assault

After the Version 1.5 update, the enemies featured in Deadly Assault are as follows:

Phase I: Notorious - Dead End Butcher, Unknown Corruption Complex, Corrupted Overlord - Pompey

Phase II: Notorious - Dead End Butcher, Autonomous Assault Unit - Typhon Destroyer, Notorious - Marionette

Phase III: Notorious - Pompey, Sacrifice - Bringer, Dead End Butcher

Phase IV: Unknown Corruption Complex, Sacrifice - Bringer, Notorious - Pompey

*Due to recording schedule arrangements, some of the new content in Version 1.5 currently lacks English voiceovers. We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience caused.

Adjustments & Optimizations

▶ Agents & Enemies

● Optimized the text descriptions of "on-field" for some Agent skills, adjusting the text from "on-field character" to "active character." (These are text-only fixes and do not affect actual gameplay).

▶ Systems

● Optimized the Backup Battery system as the default option for restoring Battery Charge. When attempting a challenge with insufficient battery and selecting the Backup Battery to restore Battery Charge, the system will automatically show the required amount of Battery Charge needed.

● Optimized the crafting and dismantling of upgrade materials, allowing Proxies to do both directly in the conversion interface without switching to the Manage Item interface.

● Optimized the red dot display logic for Compendium > Shiyu Defense > Association Supplies Store.

● Optimized the badge system and added the Endless Last Stand series. Proxies can earn different tiers of Badge of Honor based on their performance upon reaching the corresponding level in "Battle Trial: The Last Stand."

● Added a badge management feature, allowing Proxies to select up to three badges to display on the badge details screen. When the Auto-Adopts Default Settings option is enabled, badges will automatically follow the system's default layout, which updates with each version.

● Optimized the display limit for badges in Simulated Battle Trial. When Proxies reach a floor higher than 99,999, the corresponding badge will display an infinity symbol.

● Optimized button layout in Marcel Maze. In certain scenarios where they are not needed, the Interaction and Bangboo View buttons will be hidden.

● Optimized button positions in the default mobile layout of Marcel Maze. Swapped the Dive and Jump buttons while keeping their positions as they are during Hollow exploration with Bangboo Sensory Sync.

● Enhanced UI for Bangboo Dive button.

● Adjusted rewards for certain Notorious Hunts levels. At Lv.65, the original reward of 13–14 Noise Reduction Master Copies has been changed to 2–3 Hi-Fi Master Copies. In Pursuit to the Depths, the original reward of 6–7 Noise Reduction Master Copies has been adjusted to 1–2 Hi-Fi Master Copies.

● Optimized the secondary confirmation screen when selecting precious relics under Hidden Treasure in the Logistics Shop.

● Optimized Agent invite-related interactions. When Proxies access the direct message interface with no unread messages, the Agent contact interface will appear first.

● Optimized Agent performance in arcade game Soul Hounds III: Group Hunt in Quality Time Mode: Store Gameplay.

● Optimized dialogue display in Quality Time Mode. Some dialogue will now be displayed at the center bottom of the screen.

● In Quality Time events, if the Proxy has equipped a new outfit for the Agent, the Agent will wear it while following the Proxy.

● In Quality Time events, some Agents do not have camera voice lines yet. They will be added in future updates.

● Optimized trigger requirements for certain Fun Events in Quality Time.

● Optimized all combat stages in Notorious Hunt except for Sacrifice - Bringer. After the Version 1.5 update, Proxies will face the Boss directly in Notorious Hunt and there will be no Normal or Elite Enemies.

● Optimized the W-Engine display order in the Agent W-Engine Equipment interface.

● Optimized the Drive Disc display order in the Agent Drive Disc filtering interface.

● Optimized the filtering logic for Drive Discs. Conditions are now saved for each Agent.

● Optimized the Character Details function. Character Details for trial characters can now be viewed from all screens.

▶ Gameplay

● Adjusted certain text in the Overlord's Feast event.

▶ Optimizations for Mouse, Keyboard, and Controller

● Added a new feature to quickly toggle between mouse/keyboard and controller control in Combat Simulation, Expert Challenge, Investigator Training Course, and Simulated Battle Trial.

● Optimized the snap-to effect of the virtual cursor on the map interface in the event "Into That Pale Wasteland" event.

● Added haptic feedback effects for the PS5® controller's L2 and R2 buttons.

▶ Others

● Optimized the rewards screen after using Victoria Housekeeping Coupons in Routine Cleanup.

● Added Drive Disc icons to the stage entrance in Routine Cleanup.

● Optimized the layout of the Mail interface.

● Optimized the camera angle during dialogues in the city.

● Optimized environment visuals for some combat stages.

Issue Fixes

▶ Agents & Enemies

● Fixed an issue where under certain circumstances, enemies affected by Agent Hoshimi Miyabi's Frostburn status might display abnormal model behavior.

● Fixed an issue where the Ice Weakness of enemies Alpeca (Infested) and Tyrfing (Infested) did not take effect properly.

▶ Systems

● Fixed an issue on iOS devices where the actual download size of certain resources in the Resource Download feature did not match the displayed size.

● Fixed the problem where Proxies may encounter a pop-up message saying "Game data has been updated. Please log in again" when logging in, and clicking the "Cancel" button prevented access to the game.

▶ Gameplay

● Fixed an issue in Hollow Zero: Lost Void where using Bangboo Assist could sometimes result in Agents entering battle abnormally.

● Fixed an issue on certain devices where scratch cards are displayed incorrectly when opening the newsstand's scratch card interface.

● Fixed the problem where dashing forward with a Bangboo while exploring the Marcel Maze during the event "Into That Pale Wasteland" may cause it to get stuck in specific terrain.

▶ Environments

● Fixed an issue where certain background music tracks are played abnormally in specific environments.

▶ Others

● Fixed an issue where, under certain circumstances, some sound effects do not play correctly.

● Fixed some typos in the in-game text.

● Adjusted, improved, and fixed the in-game text for some languages. These changes will not affect gameplay or functions.

#zenless zone zero #version update

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aamitmorthos · 6 months ago

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new pet peev unlocked that means nothing to anyone but me probably to the point where most ppl probably don't notice it but it's just shit I noticed bc I have an interest in the indie horror scene, I guess

when a let's player get their indie horror game from the first page of itch and then complain that there's nothing bc it's just a rotation of the same games. OF FUCKING COURSE it's gonna be a rotation of games you've already played. it's the FRONT page! it's automatically sorted by POPULAR! use that damn search bar, check through the horror tag, at least go to page 2! it's itch fucking io! you will find so many good horror games that don't get discovered because youtubers are only playing the popular top 10. this might not even be a pet peev, this might actually bother me more than that I thought because it just shows that people are taking their time to look and give more devs a chance...

#aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa i love indie horror game youtube but i also hate indie horror game youtube #itch.io

0 notes

bluebirdinternational · 8 months ago

Text

Which are the 10 most Popular Software Developer Roles?

There are several possible classifications, but I believe this one best depicts what a software developer actually does. Let us examine them.

1. Front-End Developers

Front-end developers are software developers who write code that runs on the user interface, or browser. Nowadays, it typically refers to a JavaScript developer.

Many people associate front-end developers with JavaScript developers. Although this is true today, there were previously specific front-end solutions for both the Java (Applet technology) and .NET (ASP.NET) platforms.

2. Backend Developers

These people work as server-side programmers. In a nutshell, their goal is to create multi-layer server applications, API development, and database process execution programming. The work of front-end developers is directly visible because it appears on the user interface. Meanwhile, backend developers are in charge of the software’s background.

3. Full-Stack Developers

A single person is responsible for both front-end and back-end development. This was a common occurrence prior to the separation of the front-end and back-end. However, as the front-end and back-end of the production line were separated, the value of experts who were familiar with both ends of the production line increased.

Finally, a full-stack developer must be familiar with the entire technology stack.

4. Mobile Developers

Developers of mobile apps create mobile games and applications. The primary platforms supported are Android and iOS. Their goal, while collaborating closely with the designer, is to create the designed mobile applications.

5. Game Developers

They typically have specialized knowledge of gaming frameworks (Unity, Unreal Engine, Ogre, and so on) or other languages (for example, C++). Their goal is to create games for a variety of platforms, such as desktop, mobile, and console.

6. Data Scientists

A data scientist is a software engineer who analyzes and processes data. They use techniques such as machine learning, deep learning, and data visualization to analyze trends and statistics. They are currently primarily proficient in SAS, R, Python, and SQL. Furthermore, they can use data or the data bank to improve the company’s efficiency.

7. Embedded Software Developers

Their software is used in medical devices, automobiles (ABS), robots, and other devices. C/C++ or assembly knowledge is primarily required.

8. Web Developers

Web developers are software developers who specialize in the creation of websites. HTML and CSS skills are essentially required. A fantastic introduction to the world of software development.

9. DevOps Engineer

The DevOps engineer position was created by combining development (Dev) and operations (Ops) (Ops). They use a variety of technologies such as Kubernetes, Docker, Apache Mesos, HashiCorp, and Jenkins.

10. Security Software Developer

Their goal is to create and deploy software that safeguards devices and data against data theft and intrusion.

Check out our website and follow us on LinkedIn if you are interested in IT, whether you are an IT leader or a DEV/BA/QA/OP.

#java #python #javascript #bluebird international #software development

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qonqr · 10 months ago

Text

QONQR 4.0

Greetings Players

It has been a very long time since my last formal update. I’ve been struggling with some tough decisions regarding QONQR over the past few years. The TL;DR; is that I’m working on QONQR again. I’m making efforts to keep it alive. The details follow. Warning: it is a lot of doom and gloom, but there is positivity at the end.

Some background and history

Version 2 and 3 of QONQR were written using a coding technology called Xamarin. It allowed us to write code once and run it on iPhone, Android and previously Windows Phone. For a small company like ours, it wasn’t feasible to write the application 3 times for 3 different platforms. Xamarin was written on top of Microsoft’s technology, and Microsoft purchased Xamarin several years ago to make it the core of its cross-platform developer solution.

Several years ago, QONQR simply couldn’t pay my salary anymore. I started a new application with another entrepreneur and that project was also a cross-platform application, written in Xamarin, this time for PC and Mac. I’ll refer to this app as “NOTQONQR”. For the past 10 years, I have worked in Xamarin on Android, iOS, MacOs, and Windows (and Windows Phone). Building cross platform software has become one of the most frustrating and unfulfilling career decisions I’ve made. I realized it wasn’t phone apps or gaming that was making me miserable. It was everything cross-platform and the dependency on multiple companies to make a good product so that I could in turn make a good product.

While things started out “OK”, building software in Xamarin over the past decade has destroyed my passion for building software. I, along with the developers I have worked with, had the attitude for years that the issues were the result of being on the cutting edge and early days of cross platform development. I lost that opinion years ago. To this day, the outstanding bug list for Xamarin is thousands deep. Many of these bugs have been on the list for years, and now they will never be fixed.

While this sounds like a Xamarin issue, it is an industry issue. Look around at other cross platform solutions, and you’ll be hard pressed to find one that doesn’t have many hundreds or thousands of outstanding bugs on their public bug trackers. Building apps is a nightmare, it has been from the start. I have spent most of my development time on both projects the past 5 years fixing issues caused by big companies or governments. I can’t count how many times I spent my days fixing something that worked just fine 6 months ago, but now is broken because Apple, Google or Microsoft decided to do the exact same thing a different way, and now a rewrite is needed. Governments around the world have passed laws making it harder for developers to build apps. Privacy laws have made it nearly impossible to keep predators, would-be hackers and toxic people out of an app. Governments and consumer advocacy groups are suing and fining Apple and Google at every opportunity. As a result, Apple and Google are making changes that satisfy the mob, but hurt developers like me. No smart developer would build a game like QONQR today. The things we did before to ensure the GPS coordinates were legitimate, people were actual people, and gameplay was fair have nearly all been removed from my toolkit, making it very hard to protect my good players from bad people.

To further the opinion that this is an industry problem, a friend of mine who is a well-known Android podcaster, author of several android developer books, and speaker and many large developer conferences recently made a blog post about the state of app development. He mentioned that he is seeing burn out in both Android and iOS camps. Developers are tired of fighting the issues and are leaving to become web developers or leaving all together. He even admitted that he thinks his days as a mobile developer are numbered, despite being an internationally known and industry respected mobile dev. Too many developers are exhausted from the continual churn of fixing things that shouldn’t need to be fixed.

My mental status the last few years

I frequently receive support emails berating me for allowing cheaters to cheat, including two emails last week from a long-time player demanding I either “fix my shitty app or shut it down.” Sadly, most of the perceived cheating isn't actually happening, and the small number issues that we are blocked from addressing are the result of Apple and Google, and many of them are in direct response to new laws and regulations that protect everyone, including criminals and predators, but not developers.

In the first 5 years of QONQR, I would regularly work from 7am to 2am multiple days a week. However, for the last 5 years I have been in a developer depression of sorts. I didn’t want to get out of bed. I would sit at my computer for hours, sometimes an entire day and struggle to write 10 lines of code. I’d find any excuse not to code. Everything I looked at was broken. Internet searches showed me never ending bug reports in Xamarin, Android and iOS, that went unfixed, and workarounds that must have worked at some point, but no longer work today. I hated the profession I had chosen, the technology stack I had invested my career in, and felt trapped by being tied to two applications that I had ownership of, and from which I couldn’t just quit and find a new job. My wife would ask me frequently to consider finding a career I thought I would enjoy and just give up software all together. Unfortunately, I simply didn’t have passion for anything outside of my volunteering as a high school robotics coach. That is a retirement, not a career move.

The technology situation today

Xamarin was declared “dead” by Microsoft a couple years ago. It was replaced by a technology called MAUI. In nearly all respect, MAUI is identical to Xamarin, but of course different enough. My fellow developer and I started migrating NOTQONQR from Xamarin to MAUI about 3 months ago. Early indications are that MAUI will have better performance and stability than Xamarin had. It seems to be slightly or moderately better in most cases.

For the developers reading this, I’ll get into some technical details in this paragraph, skip to the next if you aren’t a developer. We built the UI for both apps using code. XAML markup wasn’t even an option for years when QONQR staring using Xamarin. You needed to build your pages one element at a time using code. No markup, no layout tools. Many/most developers who have been using Xamarin for more than 5 years, probably built their UI using code, rather than markup, even after XAML became an option. For the NOTQONQR app, I spent a week in June and completely converted the code from the Xamarin framework to the MAUI framework. It was pretty easy to get to a point everything would compile. I was able to get tens of thousands of lines of UI code to compile in the new framework in a few days. When the app would run, we found lots of minor issues with layout. Things didn’t align quite right or wouldn’t become visible when they should have been shown. We came to the realization that we needed to completely rewire the UI in XAML, and could no longer draw our pages using code. The rendering engine was built for pre-compiling your page layout and it was clear Microsoft had not put much emphasis or testing on generating UI on the fly. It makes sense. Given the timelines the Microsoft developers were under, it was the right choice. Unfortunately, it took a few weeks migration and made it into a few months for those of us who started with Xamarin a decade ago. The effort to get to MAUI even though it is basically the same as Xamarin is a huge lift due to the age of our code.

I attempted to migrate QONQR to MAUI two years ago when Xamarin was declared “dead” and MAUI the new successor. At the time, MAUI could not play sounds, did not have notifications, and could not make an in-app purchase. The product was “ready for production” and completely unusable. I was stuck. There was no way I could migrate QONQR to MAUI and given my mental state, I just couldn’t force myself to push through the issues like I had in the past. That was a stopping point for me and QONQR. I’m sure all the players noticed nothing new was happening.

Fast forward two years, NOTQONQR must migrate. I wasn’t the only owner of the app and my partner company needed to make it work. We were looking at a complete rewrite of the app in a new language, or push through a MAUI migration. So we revisited MAUI. Things are much better two years later.

When I started working in MAUI for the NOTQONQR app, it felt like home. I spent years working in XAML markup before Xamarin. MAUI made sense and seemed to work well. Yes there are still thousands of bugs on the backlog. This is frustrating but not new.

My attitude got better. I have spent several days in the past month working past midnight in MAUI. I’ve spent my weekends writing code. It has been a significant change from being unable to force myself to write code, to looking forward to it again. I can’t say that I love writing code again, but I do feel productive.

The future for QONQR

I’m up against a big deadline. Apps written in Xamarin have an end of the year deadline to be migrated to something else or stop working. I am getting notices that maps will stop working in the next version of iOS if I don’t update my controls, and an update isn’t possible in Xamarin. It is very possible the current version of QONQR will not work on the new iPhone or when everyone updates iOS.

I had planned to try and work on QONQR over the summer, but having a summer intern at NOTQONQR I needed to manage and that MAUI migration taking months more than planned took all my time away. Now that intern has returned to college, and the NOTQONQR migration can be wrapped up by the other developer on that team, I have told the owner of the NOTQONQR company I’m taking a month off work. I’ll be avoiding my other job to focus on QONQR.

Sadly, the first two weeks of the QONQR migration have been painful and slow. After two weeks of long days and weekends, I have the Welcome page, login and map working including the Android Anti-hacker security checks. That’s it. Some of the simple pages may work as is, with the basic migration, but all of the complicated pages (which is a lot of the app) will need a fresh start. For example, the launch page draws everything in the middle of the screen stacked on top of each other. Very little can be salvaged, I need to start over and build the screen from scratch. I think many of our pages may be this way.

Admittedly, I spent much of my time the past two weeks just trying to get the core of the app to work. A lot of the system stuff like local storage, notifications, sounds, colors, fonts, images, etc all had to be setup differently. I had to start with a completely new map. Animations never really worked well in Xamarin and they aren’t any better in MAUI. I’m taking them out everywhere I can since they have always been the source of most crashes. Today I have a running app in MAUI, but it doesn’t do much yet. The past two weeks have shown me this looks possible to complete before the end of the year.

Beta release of QONQR 4.0.

Distribution: If/when I get to that point, the beta would be available through Google Play and Apple App Store and you would need to opt-in to the beta program. I previously had been using Microsoft’s App Center for pre-release versions of the app for player testing. That has been shut down. The only good option available is to release through the stores, which requires official (and long) app reviews on Apple, even for a test release. You won’t be able to run the beta side by side with QONQR 3.X

Barebones: Registration may have to be done online in the early releases. Upgrades and ordnances may also have to be purchased one the web portal. Probably no notifications.

No Chat: Right now, I am planning to remove chat from the app. The US Senate passed a bill in July that would make me responsible for anything posted in my app by a user. While this bill is unlikely to become law, it is a sign of further punishing app developers, but not giving us the tools to keep bad people out of our apps. I will replace chat with a link to the “Unofficial Community Discord”. It is unclear how this potential law may impact the forums should something similar become law in the future.

Launch: I’m going to do my best to get something like the old launch screen working, but it may be just the simple launch screen to start. Whatever I come up with, I hope it will be temporary. A big challenge with QONQR is hackers attempting to automate launching. While I have some ways of stopping that after a few hours the current “are you human”, takes hours to have an impact. I’d like to redo this screen so that it requires more than just tapping in the same spot over and over to launch. No one likes change, but I hope you like cheaters less. I’ll do my best to come up with something players will tolerate but is harder to automate.

Messaging: Player to Player messaging may eliminate the use of the custom emoji packs we have sold. This will simplify the complexity of this screen and message passing. If you purchased one of these emoji packs, you will receive a bundle of cubes as compensation. I won’t know for sure if we are removing the packs until I get in there and attempt to migrate.

Sync Lock Mini Game: This unfortunately needs to stay as our only reasonable way to combat multi-scoping. I am well aware this still hurts families, but I don’t have an alternative giving the privacy laws the EU and US have enacted that prevent me from taking better measures. This is a very complex UI and I’m concerned about the effort it will take to migrate.

No music: I don’t think I’m going to migrate the background music. I think it is time to let this go. Background audio is hard and inconsistent.

Skins: This seems unlikely. The library I used in Xamarin to tint images doesn’t work on Maui. I don’t have plans to work on a replacement until everything else is working.

New features: None are planned yet, but the largest roadblock to new features in the past 3 years was the knowledge that anything we built was being built on a dead coding platform. If the migration succeeds, that roadblock will be gone.

Can developers help?

Many have asked me if they can help or if I can make QONQR open source. Sadly, I don’t think this is a viable path forward. Exposing all of the code would make it a trivial matter for a hacker to bypass all the protections in the app and automate and manipulate everything except buying cubes. Even if I went to the effort to pull out the secret code that stops hacking the app, any developer who worked on the code would be perceived a cheater. There are too many instances in the past where a player I asked for advice or tips, claimed to be a QONQR developer and claimed to have a special build and/or free cubes. This has never been true, but if people think their opponent is cheating they stop playing or stop spending money that is needed to keep the servers alive. The past has shown that letting anyone have even a little access never ends well.

Even today, with as hard as it is to stop hackers and cheaters the impact is much smaller than most people believe. Yes, some players are probably cheating their location, but they are put into overheat penalty on their scope when they do. They can deploy in two locations, but deploy fewer bots than if they stayed in one spot. I get many emails with “proof” that someone is cheating. Most of the claims don’t hold up when investigated. There are certainly limits on what I can do, but the perception of people cheating is much much higher than actual instances we have uncovered. Every day, I receive dozens of automated notices where QONQR code blocked devices that had a hacked version of the game, attempts to steel cubes, GPS spoofing penalized, too many failed launch verification, and players switching devices too frequently. There are many many cheater detections in place and they are working. For the most part, the biggest problem with cheating isn’t that it is happening, but that players think it is happening much more often than it really is. Giving anyone access to even part of the code would only make this problem worse.

In Reflection

Next week, it will be 14 years since the name “QONQR” came out of Justin’s mouth at a Starup Weekend competition. So much has happened in that time. There was a time when I felt like it was going to be time to turn off the servers because profits had gone negative. Then Gmenman goes and gets a huge damned Legion tattoo. There was no way it could be shut down in the months after that. A while later, profits got a little better and the servers were safe again. A few years ago, I posted a fairly negative blog post about how things were going, hinting that things may finally be coming to an end. The next day I received a heartfelt thank you message from a player who had shared that she struggled in her real life and QONQR was the first place where people accepted her as the person she was, and didn’t judge her as they did in the real world. She thanked me for making a safe place for her to be her true self. There was no way I was going to take that away from her, so I kept the servers up. TotallyGomer and YellerCukes both shared with me their appreciation for QONQR as a way to stay in touch with their friends and the outside world before their passings. This will forever be something I’m proud to have provided. Together we have grieved the untimely losses of several players, and the memorials show how much they are missed. Players have been through so many challenges in their lives, with QONQR friends supporting them along the way.

The necessity to either rewrite QONQR or shut it down has been looming over me for months. It doesn’t make financial sense for me to stop working at my other job and spend months rewriting the QONQR app to keep this going. The smart thing would be to shut it down and move on. Focus on something new and leave behind all the issues of mobile gaming, government regulations, and abusive mobile marketplaces. But… the smart decision has been the wrong decision too many times before.

QONQR is too much of who I am, who you are, who we are. I’m going to try. QONQR may be always full of issues. It may have fewer features than in the past, but I’m going to try and keep the heart of what QONQR has always been in the new version. I can’t promise it will be done soon and can’t even tell you it will keep working on your current or new device in the coming months. However, I’m here today to tell you, QONQR is too important to let go, and I’m working on keeping it going until I find it just isn’t possible. I now believe I can make it work. I ask for your understanding and patience as the 4.0 beta moves forward.

For those that continue to buy cubes, thanks for keeping the servers alive.

-Scott (aka Silver)

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