So, I haven't updated my journal in approximately four or five geologic eras. This is mostly because I've been fighting with Novarunner and then self-medicating the resulting rage with other videogames.

First off, I'm not going to finish Novarunner. The basic play control is just not that much fun. Even if I added something like a plot, coherent trade systems, better user interfaces, etc, the game would still be no fun to play. I'm very glad that I managed to release something at all, but after almost a year and a half I'm really not that close to a game I can be proud of. I think I'll come back to space roleplaying later, but it certainly won't be the same kind of game.

The good part of all this is that I've been spending time working on Afterglow; I've got a minimal application up and running that uses my event and display chains, and so I should be able to have some screenshots of an actual game sooner or later. The toolkit for Afterglow is much nicer than anything I've made previously, so it should be reasonably trivial for me to add new modes, menu options, etc, in future patches. It's also got a much nicer hardware detection system than was in the original Glow, and a bunch of the Propane Injector improvements made since Novarunner was started.

So, sort of a bittersweet ending. Novarunner didn't work out, but Afterglow is something I'm really excited to be working on.

In non-gamedev related news, I'm still shopping for a car (much to the chagrin of Promit, who I keep haranguing with various questions about dealerships and warranties and what kind of ammunition to pack to drill through a sales office wall). I've narrowed it down to either a new 2008 Impreza or a 1999-2007 used Impreza (or Outback Sport). With any luck, I'll soon have a new AWD dragon sitting in my spot, making my overly-domestic neighbours stare at me in the morning.

It's nice going to a Subaru dealership, because (with some exceptions) the people working there are generally total fanboy nerds of the manufacturer. You don't get that from a Toyota Corolla, even though they sell one of those things every 35 seconds.