Sand Saga Insider: October 2024

Patrik Harag, 2024-11-01 (edited: 2024-11-03)

Welcome back to Sand Saga's monthly update! October focused heavily on improvements aimed at making the game accessible to as many players as possible and expanding modding capabilities, as well as adding some exciting new experimental elements.

October Additions

Explosives
Three types of explosives have been added, each corresponding to a different material type. The visual effects look fine, but I am not yet satisfied with their impact on the surroundings. They should break more, push elements, and so on. For now, they are labeled as experimental. Will they be unlocked for everyone in the future? I am not sure. We have seen that the game does not get much support when everything is free (if we are lucky, we get one supporter per month), so something has to stay locked. But it does not necessarily have to be the explosives.

Theme Designer
This tool allows for easy customization of the Sandbox, specifically in a declarative way, without the need for programming. If you are somewhat familiar with computers and understand JSON structure and RGB color notation, you will find it straightforward to use. Themes created with the Theme Designer provide a way to adjust Sandbox visuals, although options are still limited since this is a new concept. In the future, there will be a dedicated Workshop category for sharing themes. See Manual.

Official Alternative Domain
Younger players often complained that the sandsaga.com domain was blocked on their school networks. Because of this, many continued playing the older version, Sand Game JS, on harag.cz. I had been thinking for a while about how to solve this issue. After launching the new alternative domain, the number of players nearly doubled, which is great!

Google Authentication Method
I had been planning to add another authentication option for some time. Discord is blocked in many schools, and younger players often mentioned they'd like to create an account or become supporters but could not. Google is also far more widely known. It turns out this was a great idea – the total number of accounts tripled within just two weeks!

Referrals
If you promote Sand Saga using a link with your referral code, we will know whom to thank for bringing in new users! You can place your link in various locations, such as under your Let’s Play video, in articles, social media posts, or simply share it with friends. Just remember to keep it genuine and avoid spamming. If you manage to bring in a few real supporters (the minimum number isn’t specified yet), it would be a valuable help, and for that, you would receive the supporter badge. You can find your referral code in the account management section.

Android App

We are still looking for volunteers to help with testing. I would be grateful if you decided to get involved. See Sand Saga Insider: September 2024.

Further Development

In the coming month, I plan to improve the explosives and do some experiments with blood effects. We will see how it turns out.

Conclusion

That's all for today. Stay tuned for more updates!