Dead on Arrival #2
Discover more from Hashtag Survival
Hey folks,
I'm now a few weeks out from NVMEGATE, and I think I've mostly gotten stuff squared back to where it was before the hard drive crash, minus the things I lost.
This weekend, I was poking around the internet, meditating on some sticking points that keep me on edge. I wish I had more talent. Suppose I had more money, skill, or time. Time is a big one. We could go down into the weeds about proper time expenditure: am I twiddling my thumbs doing nothing (yup), getting distracted by other shit (hell yes), or putting effort into the wrong thing at the wrong time.
So anyway, I'm dicking around the internet, and I came across Shortform.
"The goal of Shortform is to make it easier to access the world's best ideas. We want to show you what’s critical to learn about the world, then help you understand it better than any other source. We accomplish this with crystal-clear thinking, concise writing, smart analysis, and brilliant new insights." Shortform
I'm intrigued but also skeptical about whether I could handle this service. I would love to get the benefits of my massive "to-do" list of books I've yet to read. However, I'm not sure where this would fit in for me. If I do it before reading the book, will I feel I don't need to bother? If I do it after reading the book, will I be frustrated that I wasted time crawling through their personal stories to get to the good stuff?
It is tempting to get straight to the shit the author learned without hearing their life story. Sometimes reading an entrepreneur book feels like browsing a cooking site on your phone in the grocery store. Frantically scrolling through paragraphs of family history, pets, how they loved this recipe as a girl, AND DEAR GOD WHERE IS THE FUCKING INGREDIENT LIST.
Would you use Shortform or a similar service? Let me know in the website comments!
Now to the good stuff.
🏕️ Hashtag Survival Catchup
🗄️ I didn't add any games to the website directories this week. The only directory-related change was moving Survival: Fountain of Youth from the upcoming to the main index since it was released early last week. In addition, the game's directory and curator page listings were updated and are now considered current until I can try out the updated content.
🖥️ This weekend, Becca and I worked on overhauling the website's look at Hashtagsurvival.net.
Crash course: Initially, I had one website located at Hashtagsurvival.net. Let's call it HTS.net for the sake of my fingers. HTS.net is a WordPress installation with game directories, short game reviews, and links to other content.
When I decided to lean into the writing aspect more, I picked up space on Ghost.org: it's like a Substack and Mailchimp baby. I pointed my second domain, Hashtagsurvival.com, at this new Ghost installation. Then I realized that the Ghost installation - and sexy theme- makes a more excellent first impression. So now folks get pointed to HTS.com as the initial portal into the Hashtag Survival universe. This meant that HTS.net needed to be tweaked and not look like a wholly disconnected website experience but visually seem to work with the other site.
At least a bit.
I don't think it's completely finished because I can't ever seem to stop fucking with stuff, but it looks better and is much easier to navigate.
❣️Noteworthy Game Stuff
Last week- Survival: Fountain of Youth is now in Early Access. A tiny little launch discount, too, lasts another day or two. I like this co-op teaser for The Last Plague: Blight, posted on their Twitter. It's an entertaining title, and with co-op, Dee and I can combine our navigation skills to be twice as lost, twice as quickly. Good news for console players of 7D2D and Green Hell. An update was finally pushed for GH that helped catch console players up with decent content, like animal husbandry. And 7D2D posted a sneak peek of the updates coming to consoles. A bunch of games are putting up closed playtests, so keep an eye on upcoming Snippets posts because I'll share details on how to sign up for a chance at getting in! Remember that these playtests are usually buggy AF, under NDA, to benefit the developer more than your street cred or entertainment value. So go into it with good intentions, eh? The Day Before supposedly has a release date of November 10th, 2023. It's either going to be amazing or...I don't know. More of a shitshow?? More hilarious? No idea.
📅 This Week
🔮 The Infected plans to swap V14 to the live branch this week, barring any unforeseen issues or delays. Fractured Veil put up a pledge page where people can get a copy of the game and start playing immediately. They also said they would hold three public Steam Playtests between May and September. That'll be a neat way for folks to check out the game without losing their cash.
The goal for next week's DoA: earlier in the day, more content, better opening picture.
No offense Cher.