Devlog - Archive Avoyd 1999

Developer Diary archive

Juliette Foucaut - 30 Oct 2013

There's still a lot of work to do on the site as it's still pretty basic, but one thing I've been able to do thanks to the automation is to import the entire archive of the Developer's Diary which Doug wrote in 2001-2002 when he was working on the first version of Avoyd. It's been quite emotional to go through those old posts as it brought up a lot of memories, both good and bad.

I hope you enjoy having a peek at the archive (list of posts below), and if you're one of the people who supported us all those years ago by testing the game and/or buying it, I'd like to give you a big thanks. You're part of the reason why we got back to working on our dream game. And also, there's you, thank you! :)

Note: you can find an overview of the Avoyd v1 (a.k.a Avoyd 1999) story and download the full game here.

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Back in 1999

Juliette Foucaut - 11 Apr 2013

Over 13 years ago, Doug Binks (mainly) and I started working on a shareware-style game called Avoyd.

A first-person shooter set in zero gravity, gamers could play deathmatches against bots or other people on a LAN. To our knowledge, it was the first editable voxel game in which the players could build and destroy the entire environment.

We sold digital copies of Avoyd over the internet for a few pounds, steadily increasing the price as we added more features. After Doug joined a games development company, we slowly stopped development and released the last version, Avoyd 1.7.1, in 2003. At that stage, many features and designs we had in mind had yet to be implemented in the game.

Our current project is based on the original Avoyd 1999. For more information and screenshots of Avoyd 1999, visit its press kit page.

• We've released the original Avoyd, which we'll call Avoyd 1999 from now on, for free.
  To install and play on Windows 95 to current:
  • download Avoyd 1999 (full version 1.7.1)
  • unzip
  • run the executable
  • select "I am a licensed user..."
  and follow the remaining instructions.

ECTS 2002

Doug Binks - 19 Aug 2002 - edited 30 Oct 2013

[This is an archive post about the first version of Avoyd which we now call Avoyd 1999. The full game is now free to download.]

ECTS, a yearly video games conference is coming up in a week's time, and if any developers out there fancy meeting up in the developer bar then drop me an email.

Additionally, we're considering developing a single player branch of Avoyd which will be sold both as an individual product and hopefully as part of Avoyd (so all current owners will get it). I know many people would like to see more effort going into furthering the multiplayer aspect of Avoyd, so many of the features going into this will make it into the multiplayer game as well.

Avoyd Version 1.6.1 out

Doug Binks - 22 Jun 2002 - edited 30 Oct 2013

[This is an archive post about the first version of Avoyd which we now call Avoyd 1999. The full game is now free to download.]

Following a suggestion from Warhead in the forums I've made the score chart and Avatar name display using the Avatars colour. Avoyd members can get a patch from the login pages.

Avoyd Version 1.6 out

Doug Binks - 10 Jun 2002 - edited 30 Oct 2013

[This is an archive post about the first version of Avoyd which we now call Avoyd 1999. The full game is now free to download.]

The new version is out, whith some changes that people have been asking for in addition to an overhaul of the network code to get it ready for internet play. As some may have noticed, it's been a very long while since the last update. As the only one working on Avoyd, small things like other full time jobs can get in the way.

Hope you all enjoy the new version - I'll get back to working on the next update right now!

Biting the bullet

Doug Binks - 09 Nov 2001 - edited 30 Oct 2013

[This is an archive post about the first version of Avoyd which we now call Avoyd 1999. The full game is now free to download.]

My current development schedule points one way, and a body of evidence points the other. Both directions have benefits and drawbacks, and it's really a matter of biting the bullet and making the call. Perhaps a coin toss would work?

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Avoyd version 1.5 out

Doug Binks - 19 Oct 2001 - edited 30 Oct 2013

[This is an archive post about the first version of Avoyd which we now call Avoyd 1999. The full game is now free to download.]

Both the demo and the full version of our new release, Avoyd 1.5, are out. This release could be thought of as a spit-and-polish, as its main purpose is to put a shine to the game rather than add significant new features. For Avoyd members, the ability to select your background opens up the possibility of user created backgrounds, and of course we'll be making a few more of our own for you.

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Monday Mayhem

Doug Binks - 15 Oct 2001 - edited 30 Oct 2013

[This is an archive post about the first version of Avoyd which we now call Avoyd 1999. The full game is now free to download.]

The mayhems' for the whole week, as we grind our gears and prepare for another release. With much ado, and a short vacation looming over the horizon, I'm hedging my bets by saying that we'll delay rather than release if there are any problems.

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Avoyd version 1.5 alpha 1 out

Doug Binks - 12 Oct 2001 - edited 30 Oct 2013

[This is an archive post about the first version of Avoyd which we now call Avoyd 1999. The full game is now free to download.]

We've released the full version of Avoyd 1.5 alpha 1, which is available from the downloads section of the member pages. Be sure to download the correct version, as we've left V1.4 up in case people have problems with 1.5 alpha 1. This version is not as significant an update as 1.4, but adds a few nice elements which make the game a better experience.

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Avoyd version 1.4 out

Doug Binks - 14 Sep 2001 - edited 30 Oct 2013

[This is an archive post about the first version of Avoyd which we now call Avoyd 1999. The full game is now free to download.]

We've released both the demo and the full version of Avoyd 1.4. This adds simple computer controlled opponents, which really makes a big difference to the game as you can now practice on your own or have huge battles with friends. There are quite a few other improvements in there too.

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ECTS 2001

Doug Binks - 06 Sep 2001 - edited 30 Oct 2013

[This is an archive post about the first version of Avoyd which we now call Avoyd 1999. The full game is now free to download.]

Last night I got back from ECTS, travelling from a sunny London morning to a dark and rainy Manchester afternoon. It's good to be back :)

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Fun with Greek letters

Doug Binks - 01 Sep 2001 - edited 30 Oct 2013

[This is an archive post about the first version of Avoyd which we now call Avoyd 1999. The full game is now free to download.]

I'm not sure which is the news - that we've got AvoydV1_4alpha1.exe up for download on the member pages, or that this is my second diary update in less than a week.

The big news in Version 1.4 is Single Play against bots! You can also use them in a LAN game, and if the server gets too full the bots drop out one by one, reappearing when people leave. We've also got some new skins for the avatar, and improved performance. Due to a few additional extra variables which need passing over the LAN, I've had to decrease the maximum number of players to 13 at the moment (unlucky eh?). This should increase again when I move to optimising the network code.

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Closer just a little closer

Doug Binks - 30 Aug 2001 - edited 30 Oct 2013

[This is an archive post about the first version of Avoyd which we now call Avoyd 1999. The full game is now free to download.]

It's an exiting time here in front of my monitor. Recently we've had a spate of hardware troubles, not the least of which is the ongoing saga of getting the car repaired. However, the worst of these was a keyboard and mouse failure at the same time, which led me to first believe I had a more serious problem.

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Back already

Doug Binks - 17 Aug 2001 - edited 30 Oct 2013

[This is an archive post about the first version of Avoyd which we now call Avoyd 1999. The full game is now free to download.]

Exactly a month has gone by since the last post, and some might be wondering if I'd given up the promise to keep this diary regularly, or just fallen under a passing bus.

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Artificial Humanity

Doug Binks - 17 Jul 2001 - edited 30 Oct 2013

[This is an archive post about the first version of Avoyd which we now call Avoyd 1999. The full game is now free to download.]

And I'm not talking about politicians.

The main feature I'm busy working on at the moment is a single player component. This will be in the form of computer controlled opponents, or bots as the games community calls them.

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Products and promises

Doug Binks - 06 Jul 2001 - edited 30 Oct 2013

[This is an archive post about the first version of Avoyd which we now call Avoyd 1999. The full game is now free to download.]

You get to keep one, and I'll try and keep the other.

Avoyd is now available for purchase, somewhat later than I outlined in the previous post. The game was ready to go 'online' at the start of June, but fate dealt me a a small blow by taking out my internet connection for about a week. That was long enough to take some time to reassess the schedule, and it was decided to postpone the launch to add two features. These were on the map to be included in the next version, but for a variety of reasons we moved them forward. Avoyd is much better for their inclusion.

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Ecommerce

Doug Binks - 22 May 2001 - edited 30 Oct 2013

[This is an archive post about the first version of Avoyd which we now call Avoyd 1999. The full game is now free to download.]

Those of you who actually read some of the blurb we've been putting out with the demo may have noted that Avoyd is supposed to be sold over the internet sometime in the summer of 2001. Indeed, the mysterious silence here at EnkiSoftware over the last couple of months has in part been down to getting prepared for this. Soon, we'll be releasing the latest demo version, and also giving you the chance to buy the full game.

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Explosions galore

Doug Binks - 23 Apr 2001 - edited 30 Oct 2013

[This is an archive post about the first version of Avoyd which we now call Avoyd 1999. The full game is now free to download.]

As some may have noticed, things on this site have been rather quiet for the last month. You'll be glad to know that I've been hard at work preparing the next release, which is going to contain a host of new features.

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Spring fixes

Doug Binks - 03 Apr 2001 - edited 30 Oct 2013

[This is an archive post about the first version of Avoyd which we now call Avoyd 1999. The full game is now free to download.]

A month has passed since our first release, and we're still alive and well. Those of you who have been to our forums may have spotted that at least one person experienced a bug in version 1.1 which stopped him from playing it. We've fixed that (thanks Ouroboros for your patience and assistance), and have released a patch. This patch also includes further optimizations, so things should run faster.

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Open source and ports to other operating systems

Doug Binks - 28 Mar 2001 - edited 30 Oct 2013

[This is an archive post about the first version of Avoyd which we now call Avoyd 1999. The full game is now free to download.]

Things are going well with the Avoyd demo, and to our knowledge we now have over ten thousand downloads from the various sites which have counters on their download pages (combining versions 1.0 and 1.1 but excluding the patch). We think this is pretty good going for a small game from a small company with a small budget, and hope that it bodes well for our commercial release.

A recent email to us concerned whether we'd release the Avoyd game engine to the public. There are many ways we could do this, and I thought I discuss them here, along with the pros, cons and likelihood of them happening.

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Avoyd LAN Demo Version 1.1 is out

Doug Binks - 19 Mar 2001 - edited 30 Oct 2013

[This is an archive post about the first version of Avoyd which we now call Avoyd 1999. The full game is now free to download.]

We've released both a patch and a full install for the new version, which includes some new features and a few fixes. I'd like to thank Ranger55 for pointing out several bugs to us in our support forum, along with everyone else who posted in the forums!

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Thanks for the support

Doug Binks - 12 Mar 2001 - edited 30 Oct 2013

[This is an archive post about the first version of Avoyd which we now call Avoyd 1999. The full game is now free to download.]

It's been a great week, nervously surfing the web to see how many downloads we've made, responding to emails and posts in the forum, and tracking down strange behaviour from the Microsoft Visual C++ compiler. So far, we're doing very well for a small independent developer, with over four thousand downloads from our site in the first week and about twenty thousand visitors to the site. With the other sites which are hosting the demo, we probably made over five thousand downloads in the first week. What that means is anyone's guess, but it does make Avoyd one of the most downloaded 'small' action games. Without feedback from players it's difficult to form any opinion, but most comments we have had have been very positive about the concept. So, many thanks, and I encourage you all to post what you think in our forums.

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Avoyd LAN Demo Ready

Doug Binks - 04 Mar 2001 - edited 30 Oct 2013

[This is an archive post about the first version of Avoyd which we now call Avoyd 1999. The full game is now free to download.]

Finally, the culmination of over a year's work has been reached. It's been great fun, with hopefully more to come. But it's somewhat frightening to unveil to the public something which has been at the core of my life for so long. The positive remarks from those who have seen our test versions have been extremely encouraging. So I now find myself typing in the last few lines to a long chapter in my life.

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