PoKéQuesT

I have good news, and bad news, you can click the one you want to read first.

Good News

The good news is that we have two new programmers and that I’ve been working on some classes and some code to start getting a test server up, and that the PNC (committee in charge of the protocol) is getting more activity.

Bad News

Lethargy is hitting me really hard, as well as the fact that I now have a girlfriend I need to pay more attention to, the fact that school is starting, the fact that I’m taking Japanese, and the fact that I need to get a job, will probably give me less and less time to work on it.

More Good News

With two developers and the committee working hard, we should be able to start moving forward with or without my activity.

Thanks for all of your support through this.  I know a lot of you are annoyed with how little that gets done around here, but we promise you, we are definitely working on it, and are definitely trying to clean up our acts.

It’s really self-explanatory.

So, I have a couple of questions about what to do with PoKéQuesT.  You see, I’m only now learning Java, and am nowhere near C++ yet.  So, it is unlikely that I will be able to give you a full, working, lovely program anytime soon.  So, because of that, we have three options.  Please comment, anonymously or with a name, which one you would prefer.

1. I can continue slowly working on the website, learn programming languages, and wait for a new programmer to join the team [Slowest Option],
2. I can work on coding a MUD (Multi-User Dungeon)-like system which will be text-based but will pave way for a 2D or 3D program later down the line, or
3. I can start work on a browser-based AJAX-game while setting up the backend, paving way for a future game.

Two or Three is what I’m sure that you will probably choose.  I’ve already created some work with #3 (In school, when I couldn’t work on PoKéQuesT) and came up with an interesting Pacman-like game that showed the basics of what I had been programming.

As the years pass by, and only a little bit more work gets done towards our ultimate goal, we are forced to come to terms with how unlucky this project is.

We are meeting with yet another delay before the beta.  I am sorry to announce, that PlasmaFox, our main client/server developer, is having a rough time in school, and it will take a little longer to get the beta finished then we had hoped for.

However, we will continue working diligently.  I’m still writing up a major portable backend for the site and will continue work on the HTML part of it soon.

I would like to invite are members to our biggest friend and affiliates site while they wait, Eevee’s HQ.

We are sorry about these delays, we hope to be able to pick up speed soon.

From the looks of things, it seems like the first version of PoKéQuesT is going to be in 3D.

What does this mean for the big scheme of things?

• The PKQST Protocol is no longer.  This may or may not be sad news for our affiliates.
• The DS Client is less likely than it was before.
• The game will have a beta sooner.

Wait.. what was that last one?

If what Plasma is telling us is true; we should have a test game and server up within two months, if not before.

Why is this?  How is this possible?  We’re using the Quake Engine.

So, have a wonderful December 25th

I’m back to working on the newest website.  None of which is currently visible to you right now.

Right now, I’m working hard on adding visual effects and making the layout.  So far, its 100% cross-browser compatible.  Including Opera, FireFox, Safari, and Internet Explorer (7).

If you are still running IE6, please, do us a favor and upgrade to IE7.  PoKéQuesT’s website may never be useable for you if you don’t.

Those running FireFox or Opera, stay the course.  Both are great browsers.

Those running Safari.. yeah, it’ll work for now.  I don’t know about later though.  The WebKit engine is not a big priority for me.

As for development on PoKéQuesT itself, I haven’t heard from our new developer in awhile.  I’m going to query Inaki about what’s going on server-side.  It is school time for pretty much everybody on the team though.  Yuki hasn’t even been online in forever, and our graphics designer’s Zayn and Seffy have been busy.

We’re in a little bit of a slum, but, I think we’re still doing good.  We’re advancing a little bit with the website; whereas P:DoA is not doing anything, and POL’s website doesn’t even work.

We’re going to try to keep up the hard work.  Our team really needs to get their act together.

For those of you who remember the “Dead Pikachu Incident of 2007″ and the pkqst.com domain name, we may be getting that back when it expires, which ironically enough is the same day as my 2 year anniversary with my girlfriend, Carla.  She’s pretty supportive of the project.

Thank the Goddess that we’ve finally picked up Glen as a new client side programmer to help Inaki out with crap.

Thank you.  More updates as they come.

Well, it seems that there has been a steady decline of activity for all Pokémon MMOs, not just ours, making me feel a heck of a lot better if I may say so myself.

The main programmer of Pokémon Online has lost his computer to a storm (poor dude) and I’ve been (unofficially) told by a team member that they are not releasing updates often because people get upset for the lack of things in the updates.

Shame, they really should write a blog or something to keep those who care up to date constantly.

PlasmaFox has not been working on the client for awhile; all work there is constantly on hold as we try to get a good Windows Development Environment so that he can work on the client for Windows and not just Linux/Macintosh (that way we don’t need to work all the way back from the beginning of the client).

As for the website; I have most definitely not been working on it lately.  I’m sorry; but school is coming up soon for me as well, and there is currently a lot on my plate (family stuff).

We are still no closer to getting a dedicated server (other than the $5 that are thanks to that very special person.), but we hope to continue to raise up enough possibly with the advertisements, and a possible job (that I may or may not get) to pay for a server.

As for users; we are losing the amount of members that are paying attention constantly.  Probably a large amount saw the website set up by our old domain name’s owner and said “screw it” without even googling PoKéQuesT to double check.

So, this is where we currently are.  Maybe we will be able to get some more work done soon.  I’ll try to work on the website as soon as I can.

We’re having serious trouble attempting to build PoKéQuesT for Windows.  So far; our developer has told me that it builds fine on Linux, and Macintosh OSX.  However, the Windows version is having troubles building (probably because of my very horrible development environment.)

 We hope to have this fixed soon.

Good News to anyone out there that is using the OS, Windows Vista.  PoKéQuesT has a full size 256×256 PNG High-Resolution Icon, as well as its own place in the Windows Vista Games Explorer.

The client (when its finished) should be 100% compatible with Windows Vista.  It will have a very lovely High Resolution Icon; Its own spot in the games explorer; its place in the start-up menu.  Upgrades to the system should prompt for Admin Privileges to install the updates to its folder (using either a custom piece built right into it (like FlyFF) or possibly a system where it downloads an NSIS installer for upgrades (like IMVU), and it can be uninstalled using the Uninstall Programs part of the Control Panel.

The client is being programmed using the SDL Library (the same library Armagetron uses) so it will work on Windows Vista, as well as Windows XP, Macintosh OS X, and Linux, Unix, and possibly older versions of Windows.