Dev Log #31 - Frequent Game Updates

08/16/2022

The Problem

There has always been a major problem with the way Queen's Brothel is deployed. It's all manual. When a build is ready, I have to manually export each version of the game and then upload it to all of the necessary locations. This takes me a few hours to do properly. Guess what might happen an hour after posting the game online? A bug. Guess I'm spending the next few hours fixing it and re-deploying. This is me updating links on every website and uploading files to every location.

The Solution

It's finally time to adopt a standard for continuous deployment. When I finish my code, I can have a script automatically push all changes to the players.

How?

Godot has a way to export all versions of the game I need (Windows, Android, etc). That takes about 2 minutes to finish. Afterwards, I wrote a script to .zip and upload all the files into their respective location onto a private cloud storage. itch.io and Steam both offer script tools to let developers upload games to their servers without having to touch the website.

The Benefits

Immediate access to game updates. With some caveats depending on your preferred way to play the game. Automatic game patching requires a client. itch.io and Steam are the two clients that will offer automatic game patching.

Windows, MacOS, Linux

itch.io

Supports automatic game patching through the itch.io app.

Steam (when released)

Supports automatic game patching through the Steam app.

Android

Unfortunately, itch.io and Steam do not offer client support for Android. I am also unable to put the game on the Play Store because they do not allow 18+ games. Android users are stuck downloading new game updates manually from itch.io.

Browser & iOS

The browser version of the game is finally available for both free and paid players. Paid players must authenticate from the play page to get access to the paid browser version. When release day comes, paid players will be able to authenticate via their itch.io login so that they don't have to be a patron.

Paid Downloads

The paid version of the game will soon be split between three locations, Patreon, itch.io and Steam. Purchase the game on itch.io if you prefer to have the game on both PC and mobile. Purchase the game on Steam if you only play on your computer. The Patreon page will need an update to better provide more value to the wonderful people who support the game every month. I will post a dev log about that when the time comes.

What Changes Today?

Game updates can become faster. Obviously, I won't rush updates, but now I have the capability to deploy bug fixes and other small updates easily.

No need to use the MEGA service anymore. All game downloads come from a direct source. This is important because the MEGA website redirects people to their app and it's starting to become really annoying to download files from.

Until release day, all patron / paid versions of the game will be accessed via the play page. The free version of the game will be on itch.io.

My Thoughts

I have no thoughts, I just want to show you guys the new Juri in Street Fighter 6!!! She's so cool! I'm surprised no one on Discord caught on to Juri being the inspiration for Suki. Juri has been my profile picture since 2015! She's my favorite crazy girl. Anyways, have a good day, catch y'all later.