Update about the site update

Remember when I said I was in the middle of updating this site?

Well the changes I had in mind back then are complete. That said, I have ideas for another site renovation. One much larger in scope...

That's all I have to say for now.

So Many Numbers! - Major Update

So Many Numbers has a brand new update, and it's a huge one. From redefining new gameplay features to a complete rewrite, let's get this changelog up and running!

Escape a Tower Version 2.6 - Futureproofing the Game

Escape a Tower version 2.6 is out! For this update, I focused on under-the-hood adjustments that help the game adapt to newer Web standards.

Offline support is back!

Previous versions of Escape a Tower would save the game to the hard disk so it can reload without Internet access. However, the method I used became deprecated, so I reluctantly removed this functionality in version 2.4.3.

That's why I'm excited to announce that offline functionality is back, using a modern Web standard called service workers. Service workers offer more robustness than before and should remain future proof for years to come. Special thanks to UpUp.js for making service workers easy to set up!

"Install" Escape a Tower

Chrome users may notice the new + button on the right of the address bar.

"Installing" Escape a Tower will launch the game in a dedicated window that functions like a native app on the computer. It'll appear on the start menu, taskbar, dock, etc!

Chrome does all of this because Escape a Tower is now a progressive web app (PWA). PWA's are a recent Web initiative that bridges the gap between Webpages and native apps.

New app icon

To adhere to Chrome's PWA guidelines, I needed a larger-sized app icon. That's why I resized and enhanced the icon a bit, which you can see the result above.

Still supports ancient browsers

Despite these new Web standards, Escape a Tower maintains its top-notch backwards compatibility, going as far back as IE5 from 1999. Those curious can download the game files and see for themselves (virtual machine highly recommended).

For everyone else, click the link below to enjoy Escape a Tower's new offline and install features.

Click here to play!

Fixes for hyperlink issues on PowerPoint for Mac

Some PowerPoint 2016, 2019, and 365 for Mac users have encountered a bug in my projects that causes certain hyperlinks to take two clicks, instead of one, to activate. Unfortunately for us, it's a PowerPoint for Mac-specific flaw that's been unresolved for over three years.

However, it turns out if you add spaces to the project filenames, the hyperlink problem goes away. Don't ask me why; it just is what it is.

I would have re-uploaded Flashcards for PowerPoint and Wheel of Fortune for PowerPoint, but GitHub Releases does not allow spaces in filenames. Therefore, if you encounter the hyperlink problem in these projects, you should rename the file to include spaces.

Example: rename the file

WheelofFortuneMac4.1.1.pptm

to

Wheel of Fortune Mac 4.1.1.pptm

New Masher Series Icons

Did you know that I created new, spiffy icons for Button Masher, Keyboard Masher, and Mouse Swipe over three years ago?

I was originally going to save these icons for the next, big release for the Masher Series: version 5.0. However, I still haven't gotten much work done on this update, and I'm at that breaking point where I just want to share these new icons now. So here they are, in their full glory!

Note that I haven't yet abandoned the Masher Series! I'm still eager to update the games at some point, but they're unfortunately not a high priority at this time.

Music - Medieval Start

Here's an old piece of music I built way back in 2013. It used to be uploaded on Newgrounds, but I've finally been able to locate the MP3 to upload here.

Below is the original description of Medieval Start from Newgrounds, along with the music itself.

---

The beginning of a medieval adventure

This is my first digital song I ever created. At first, I wasn't aiming for any specific genre, but as I progressed, my peers felt like it was suited for medieval music. The music is created in Garageband '11 using five different instruments. Enjoy, and don't forget to leave a review!

Tags
beginning, first, medieval, peaceful

Castle image taken from https://www.publicdomainpictures.net/en/view-image.php?image=169589&picture=castle-15, CC0 Public Domain.

About Page: September 2018 - April 2019

As part of the ongoing site renovation, I've replaced the About page with an About Me page that focuses more about who I am rather than how the blog works. I'll explain my reasons behind the change in a later post.

For archival sake, here's the About page that was live from September 2018 to April 2019. You can find the March 2015 to September 2018 version here.