DRL

 
 

Phobos Times (Issue 6, April)

23 April 2010

Monthly newsletter of Chaosforge!

Issue No. 6 – Shaping the Future of the Phobos Times

We find ourselves at a crossroads this month, and the survival or destruction of the Phobos Times is indeed in the hands our you, our beloved reader! Want to know how you can help shape the face of things to come?

· · ·

What Happens Now?

We here at the Phobos Times need your help. DRL development won’t be seen as actively for the time being, as graphics is the next big step (and that takes time!). So DiabloRL and AliensRL are the two games most likely to have a release in the coming months. Also, both AliensRL and DiabloRL’s pages have had facelifts to be more in line with DRL’s page – and it’s been suggested that they might get/need some newsletter loving. The question, dear reader, is this: How and where does the Phobos Time evolve from here?

Our beloved publication has delighted tens of readers (we hope!) and perhaps even raised a bit of awareness about the community and the development thereof. Sadly it’s been mainly geared towards DRL. Not that we’re unhappy with DRL! It’s a wonderful game, as I’m sure most people reading this would agree. But it’s not the only game. And eventually, it might even get set aside in favor of a second iteration.

Now there are certainly options for where our marketing team should push forward. We can create multiple newsletters for our three main games, and decide each month which site will get the newsletter that month, depending on what is being most actively worked on. Perhaps we could create one massive “Hammer of Chaos” – a newsletter devoid of bias towards any particular roguelike, and posted in tandem on all three pages. There are other options as well, but we would really like to hear what you think could be done. Your opinion could shape for face of the forge!

Development News

What’s this? Every project is going forward! How do they do it?

AlienRL
We are now in Beta 6! Code is being re-written left and right, and new ideas are being tossed around for how to make this more of a survival/horror game, and not just DRL with Aliens. Our Dev team is still looking for active beta testers, so feel free to sign up.

DiabloRL
DiabloRL will have it’s magic system completed, we are told, once AliensRL has its next release confirmed. That being said, the code is getting small tweaks all the time.

DRL
DRL’s code is slowly but surely progressing towards Graphical state. With what the team is learning from AliensRL’s new graphics mode, we fully expect a graphics beta in Q2 of this year – fully accessible to donors!

Community News

Need to brush up on some badge collecting strategies in DRL? One of our community members, Game Hunter, put together a Badge Guide! This work in progress is sure to help out some of our new players as well as refresh the old pros. Check it out!

Statistics

Yet another month with ~50 new members to Chaosforge. Let’s keep spreading the word!

The ambitious attempt at getting a mobile coding platform for our primary developer is still underway. Our thanks to those who have contributed so far!

Campaign Goal: $2000.00 USD
Below Goal: $1771.63 USD

Once again: we want to hear from you about the direction of the Phobos Times! Let’s keep the newsletter fresh and exciting for the community – the more we know, the better we can keep you informed!


Comments

  1. ortoslon · 23 April 2010, 07:49

    I! don’t like! the hyper-excited tone! of this newsletter!

  2. FinDude · 24 April 2010, 04:23

    Graphics. Yay?

  3. ecto · 26 April 2010, 13:34

    expect a beta in q2? aww and i thought it was more or less finished.. whats the hold up?
    guess i’ll check back in a year or so again..

  4. Frank Zumbo · 1 May 2010, 21:24

    DONORS?

  5. Karhell · 2 May 2010, 12:33

    I’d personally go for a more general kind of newsletter, eventually linking to other more specific news. Then again, that’s just one man’s opinion.

  6. PFL · 2 May 2010, 16:23

    I wouldn’t mind seeing an amalgamation of info on all games in the Phobos Times. We’re all intelligent enough to differentiate between in the one publication and since there’s cross fertilisation between the games it make sense to me. It also prevents fragmenting the fanbase having a single, focused source of info. :)

    Glad to hear the other games getting some love!

  7. thelaptop · 17 May 2010, 18:22

    I’d opt for a “Hammer of Chaos” as the main monthly newsletter while shifting Phobos Times to either a quarterly schedule or once-every-two-months schedule.

    That way, we can keep our special interest for DRL on the one hand and keep all ChaosForge games fans satiated on the other hand. Everyone wins (except maybe the newsletter writers… sorry for the additional work >.<)!