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haha did i say "this friday"? i meant "next friday"
🕑 Added 2018-04-19 21:46:37 +0000 UTC Two weeks ago, I said I predicted I'd be done with The Wisdom and/or Madness of the Crowds by tomorrow, April 20th Friday. Turns out, I forgot to take into account Hofstadter's Law, which states:“Hofstadter's Law: It always takes longer than you expect, even when you take into account Hofstadter's Law.”
Jokes aside, I'm sorry for this delay! I want to take the time and make sure this explorable explanation really shines, really serves as a great introduction to some powerful ideas about networks and humanity. I only have a few minor things left, so I expect to be done with this by Wednesday, but since it always takes longer than you expect, let's say it'll be out April 27th, Friday.
If you like "process" updates, here's what was done in the last two weeks, and what's left to do.
What I did from Apr 8 to Apr 19:
- ALL the words (sans footnotes). This took a lot longer than expected, because it's not just about writing the words, but making sure the words work with the interactive parts, and arranging the word-boxes and simulations into a single coherent whole.
- ALL the hand-drawn art. The thumbnail above contains some of the art that will appear in Crowds! (I drew multiple variants of some icons, so I can pick the best ones later) They were all hand-drawn with felt tip markers on paper, scanned, and turned into spritesheets.
- ALL the beta-playtests. Just finished my final in-person playtest this afternoon! In the last 11 days, I did three in-person playtests and eight-or-so online playtests with friends. They really helped me catch some weird glitches, poorly-phrased words, and awkward interface designs – and thanks to them, this explorable will be much more polished!
What's left to do from now 'til Apr 27:
- Sound effects. I've picked a music track (from Komiku, the same person who did the song in The Evolution of Trust!) Now I need to get the rest of the sounds up in here. Holy moly let's get some Foley
- Write up footnotes. The footnotes will mostly just be links with a few sentences of context, but some of the notes will be more involved.
- Making it work across browsers / be mobile-friendly / be translation-friendly. This is the part that makes me regret going into web-dev.
And other than a bit more polishing, that should be about it! Let's just hope Hofstadter's Law doesn't strike again...
Again, sorry for the delay, and thank you so much for your patience!
<3,
~ Nicky Case
