Website update : Fixed save games issue

Sometimes it feels like we take two steps forward and one step back...

A few people have been in touch about a fault that re-occurred after the launch of Chapter Five.
Due to a minor coding glitch, saved games were not loading in any achievements when accessed.
It appeared that all previously gained achievements had been deleted.

Fortunately this was not the case, but simply a matter of the website not connecting to the database where all the user accounts are stored.

It has now been fixed and pushed to the website.

You may need to refresh the page a couple of times for it to propagate through.

Thank you for reporting issues!
This is a good opportunity to thank all those who take the time to contact me when an issue arises.
Although we do test everything, we don't always discover everything, which is why your feedback is absolutely invaluable.
So once again, thank you.

Future website updates
For the last few months my main focus has been on the Academy game and the remake process.
Alongside and integral to this is the website platform.
I'm working very closely with a Developer to get all the functionality that I want to add in to the gameplay experience.
Updating an old inherited html format has it's challenges, and has already required a lot of changes to the code and game structure.

One of the biggest headaches is the cookie based scoring system which controls everything from individual character scores to the in game achievements.
At the moment, each chapter generates at least 100 individual cookies which get passed over to the database when you save your games and then loaded back in when you go back to start the next chapter.
Each new chapter adds more cookies and variables to the database entries.
The more data that gets passed the more variables there are that can potentially fail.
Web browsers, especially Chrome, like to handle cookies in their own way, and we are often at the mercy of what the browser wants to do rather than what we want to happen.

Each page that loads into your browser window also checks for these cookies.
The volume of data checking and browser quirks, can occasionally cause overly long page loads, especially if internet connection isn't optimal.

With at least 15 chapters planned for the Academy series, we are faced with exponentially expanding levels of complexity and data generation.
It's all a bit overwhelming!

At present we are investigating a way of massively simplifying the cookie handling processes and storage without losing any functionality.
Unfortunately, for me at least, this will mean thousands of files will need code modifying.
But, much of the editing process can be automated to an extent, so perhaps that's not too daunting a prospect.

Long term it will definitely be well worth it. Website performance will be hugely improved.
There's no point having a great game if the experience of playing it isn't equally great.

Right now we are working on getting Chapter 6 released before the end of October.

After that we may spend some time concentrating on the much needed website updates before the next Chapters come out.
We will be working out a schedule soon and I intend to keep you all updated on how we plan to roll things out.

Many thanks as always for your ongoing patience and support.
dsp3000