Hello @everyone. Flashpoint 7.1, "Stay on Target" is now available at the usual places (#downloads, the website).
First thing is an apology. I originally pushed Flashpoint 7.0 out the door in a state that, looking back at all the problems we've found regarding it over the past month, was not acceptable. I don't really have an excuse; we should have held out for longer. 7.1 is the first in a set of steps to fix up things; 7.1 has been put out relatively quickly to push out multiple fixes and updates that should have gone out with 7.0. This includes fixes for the launcher, a fair few games that found themselves broken in 7.0, and 2000+ games and 100+ new animations on top of that.
There's more coming in 7.2 and onwards, of course, but that'll be for another time. Please enjoy the new release and flood us with bug reports if you find them.
We're always looking for more translators (https://fpl-translations.bluemaxima.org/), curators, and others to help work on the project. If you've got the spare time, please consider helping us out.
Hey @everyone, it's been a month since the release of 7.1. We've been working hard over here since then, and it's about time we talk publicly about a bunch of things that have happened between then and now.
Read the link below for updates on:
* A look at February's popularity spike
* The upcoming removal of Nitrome titles
* Our attempts to circumvent the redirector
* Introducing the new Viscape plugin
* Microscopic preview of the 4,000 new curations since 7.1
* Talking about the new tool for recovering games from older PCs
* Me looking at random games from the Flashpoint library
https://medium.com/bluemaximas-flashpoint/flashpoint-status-update-march-2020-6b1bd57e5df0
@everyone Another month, another delayed release. Sorry about that. You get another status update though! Read on for:
* More details on last month's tease of the Sploder archive
* A new tech that'll make Flashpoint more flexible than ever
* A glance at all the new games that made it in this March
* And a quick update to the Kahvibreak project
https://medium.com/bluemaximas-flashpoint/flashpoint-status-update-april-2020-a5449713843f
@everyone The nightmare ends. Version 8.0, 301, is now available for download. (If you don't understand the meaning of the name, read the second point below, then look up HTTP Code 301.)
The list of changes is, frankly, ridiculous:
* 10,000 new games. Yeah, you read that right. Ten thousand. (And a thousand-ish new animations). Everything from niche Japanese developers to a full archive of Sploder.
* The Redirector is gone, long live the Redirector. Just you and the server, no proxy trickery required. Hopefully this helps Flashpoint usability and stability significantly.
* We've added our own app, the Flashpoint Secure Player, to do a bunch of new things and allow us to support more plugins than ever before. There's three new supported plugins as a result; Viscape, Vitalize and Hypercosm, and more to come.
* A fancy new manual. (I'm quite proud of it myself. Came out better than I expected. If you've used Flashpoint before you know what to expect, but I'd like to see people give their opinions on it anyway https://bluemaxima.org/flashpoint/Manual.pdf)
* Tons of fixes, alternate versions and plenty of other minor things you can read about in the changelog. https://bluemaxima.org/flashpoint/changelog.txt
Downloads are available in the usual places; the site, #downloads, etc. Be ready for a big one if you like Ultimate - we added nearly 100GB to this release. I can't guarantee when the next version will be ready, mainly because I'm about to swap out the power supply on my PC and there's always the chance I'll screw it up. Either way, go get downloading, and wish me luck.
(One more thing, there's a new version of the Flashpoint Cache Dumper that supports Windows 9x era machines. See #web-cache for more details on that, if you have an old PC that might have games for us on it.)
(Also please don't forget that Nitrome games have been removed from this release at their request. Read slightly more here: https://medium.com/bluemaximas-flashpoint/flashpoint-status-update-march-2020-6b1bd57e5df0)
We understand there's problems with Windows 7 users unable to play Flash games in Flashpoint. We're aware of the problem and will provide a patch ASAP.
The problem for Windows 7 users has been resolved with a small patch. This also resolves issues with 3DVIA Player and PopCap Plugin that we didn't identify during testing.
Here's a link to the patch: https://bluemaxima.org/flashpoint/Flashpoint_Proxy_Patch.zip
Here's instructions:
Haven't downloaded Infinity yet: Download Infinity normally. The patch has been applied to the version we're distributing now.
Have already downloaded Infinity: Download the patch, extract the zip, move the folder so that the folders match up, overwrite all existing files, or redownload Infinity.
Have downloaded Ultimate: See above instructions, minus the re-download bit - we can't update Ultimate in the same way.
Sorry for the trouble.
Hey folks. This month has been a bit of a slow one, but there's still been plenty of curations that have been made, and progress towards the future of Flashpoint is always going on, so I've whipped up a mini status update to let you know what we're working on. Not big enough for an everyone beep in my opinion, but just enough to let you know we aren't dead over here. Enjoy.
https://medium.com/bluemaximas-flashpoint/flashpoint-mini-status-update-june-2020-f0cd9c51186d
We're hoping to have 8.1 out by July, probably.
LOOK SKYWARD AND REMEMBER,
YOUR SPIRIT OF ADVENTURE CARRIES ON!
Hello @everyone, Flashpoint 8.1, "Spirit of Adventure" is now available! The last two months have brought plenty of updates to the table, and I want to take some time to talk about them in depth, because there's a few things you might want to know...
First thing is new content count. Not as big as 8.0 by a long shot, but we still have 4,100 new games and 1,200 new animations. It's still a lot! Even with this being one of the smaller updates in the past few months, we still added a full Blu-Ray worth of size to Ultimate...and that's compressed.
Second is that the launcher has received some massive updates. We've migrated to an SQLite database, for multiple reasons, mainly performance - the launcher should now be faster than ever, with limits imposed by those pesky XMLs gone. However, for the purpose of stress-testing, Infinity in particular has a new, somewhat exclusive feature...
For those of you in the know, you'll know a while back that I and DarkMoe did a full scrape of Newgrounds, publishing it under the name Newgrounds Auditorium - it contained over 131,000 Flash animations from the site. Due to its overall size, however, it was impossible to integrate into Flashpoint proper, both filesize wise and with the ridiculous amount of entries it has. With Infinity and the new launcher version though, both problems are more or less solved, so for Infinity users only, we've integrated Auditorium into the launcher - you will find a new, third tab next to Games and Animations called NG Auditorium, that contains all 131,000 of these animations, ready to stream from the internet. (This can be duplicated in Ultimate; just ask if you want more details)
There's also another new feature - download on demand logos and screenshots! This is enabled in Infinity by default; basically, when you're in Grid view, or you click a game and the right sidebar is open, the logos and screenshots will download automagically to your PC and be displayed in the launcher. No more stages! No more needing to grab separate zips! It's all there, when you need it. Don't want it? There's a new config option to turn it off. (We're hoping to augment this with an ability to download the database itself on demand, but that's for another time...) (Also note that Auditorium doesn't have logos or screenshots; this is to be expected)
This isn't getting into plenty of other things new in this version (the usual new extras, a few bugfixes related to certain plugins, a new plugin named Pulse, a big update to Tags, and the usual ridiculous amount of metadata fixes). As always, the changelog is available with both versions if you wanna see that. https://bluemaxima.org/flashpoint/changelog.txt (There's more indepth launcher changelogs at https://github.com/FlashpointProject/launcher/releases/)
Two more things I feel the need to talk about:
* There's been news recently that Adobe has added a 'killswitch' into the latest versions of the Adobe Flash Player, which means they can stop Flash working in browsers and on PCs at will. We can't be sure if this has made its way into other Flash-related things on the web (think Newgrounds Player, or Supernova, etc.), but what we can guarantee is that Flashpoint is not and will not be affected by this killswitch. We're using versions older than the killswitch, and we won't be updating until we're sure we can either disable said killswitch, or if our methods don't contain the killswitch. Be calm and carry on.
* In relation to that, our logo, while a lovely beast of combining old and new Flash logos is great, considering the expanded scope of the project and the potential of someone breathing down our necks, we're open to suggestions for new Flashpoint logos. If you have an artistic drive and feel like you can come up with something that'll pass my ridiculously high barrier, please, feel free to send off a message on #logo-discussions.
8.1 is available from #downloads now, with more mirrors coming as we can make them. Enjoy.
Time for the monthly update!
Read on for:
* A peek at the next version's changelog
* Two new web plugins
* Some really poorly done graffiti
* A project big enough that we couldn't fit it into Flashpoint proper
https://medium.com/bluemaximas-flashpoint/flashpoint-status-update-august-2020-6d94fec13dbf
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@everyone Flashpoint 8.2, Approaching Planet Nine, is now available! The new features in this version include three new technologies, seven thousand new entries overall and the usual set of general polish that you can find in the changelog once you've downloaded the new version. Which, of course, is available at the usual #downloads. We've also updated Flashpoint Core, now Flashpoint Core 8.2, to follow up with the new techs and changes. All curators, please update ASAP.
With that said, if you pay attention, you might note that we're...behind. Due to ongoing technical issues with the ridiculous amount of files in Flashpoint (we're looking at over 1.2 million in this version), our backup system to preserve day-over-day work broke so badly that we needed to spend time testing and looking for new backup solutions...which we couldn't find, because nothing is truly suited to this kind of project. We've been working on new tech to bring the file count down ASAP. Curations have been behind while we try and find something new as a result. So, to stave off the potential disaster of losing work that we've done, I made the decision to release this version so there's a fallback. The next version of Flashpoint is hopefully going to have ways of slimming down the file count as much as we can, and it will probably need a overhaul of underlying tech in the process. Don't worry, we've got this under control. Too many smart people are working on this to screw it up. The new version will be out as soon as we can figure out the kinks. Hopefully before Flash is gone.
Two more things: @nosamu wrote an article about how he (and others) managed to add the ShiVa technology into Flashpoint. Have a look: https://medium.com/bluemaximas-flashpoint/shiva3d-web-games-what-they-are-and-how-we-saved-them-20c2a2f486ec
We also have some server restructures going on, because of course we do. Hopefully they'll be self-explanatory once they're done.
And as always, please learn how to curate if you have the time. There's still a ton of work to do before Flash is gone.
.-.. --- -. --. / .-.. .. ...- . / ..-. .-.. .- ... ....
Hey folks. Just a quick announcement that we've updated our rules. Go look in #rules-and-faq.
Hey folks. We've been raided twice today by bots that send DMs to people, telling them they've won some kind of cryptocurrency. As true now as always, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is; ignore, delete, block and report these bots as you see them. We'll be trying to keep up with the waves of them if they continue. Sorry for the inconvenience.
Hi folks. We've uploaded a slightly modified build of Infinity that has a networking issue fixed up; if you've been having trouble with Infinity recently, try redownloading this new build. If you're not having problems, don't panic, you don't need to redownload anything.
Sorry for a lack of monthly update for October; there honestly hasn't been much happening that is noteworthy or that we can realistically show off. Do know that big features planned for Version 9 are coming along, and there's currently over 6,000 new games in the current master build with 2,000 more still to be processed.
Hi folks. Yet another slightly modified build of Infinity that should fix that networking problem...again, and also remembers to fix Auditorium, is up. Again, if you've been having problems, grab the new build.
Hi @everyone, sorry for the radio silence for the past two months, but we've been hard at work making 9.0's biggest feature, the game zip system - compressing games comprised of hundreds or thousands of files into one - and it's finally ready to show off in some fashion, so instead of having a long, somewhat unengaging article about the system, how about I just show you?
This'll hopefully whet your appetite for the next version, which will hopefully be out by the end of the year in order to give Flash a proper send off.
There's something else I'd like to mention, too, since it's related to this project and its goals. Ruffle, the HTML5-based Flash emulator, has recently found its way onto the Internet Archive in a playable form, and we've had a request for help from archivist extraordinare Jason Scott to get as many games and animations that are working on Ruffle onto the Archive as possible. I've already contributed a couple of dozen; here's one, just as a demonstration that the tech works. A Flash game working on the archive, no Flash required.
If you want to help, pop over to the Ruffle server's #ruffle-showcase server and read the wiki link in the channel's topic for detailed information. The more we get working there, the more attention we get for Ruffle, and the more likely Ruffle becomes more complete and compatible as a result.
Here's an invite link:
We've heard that there are ongoing server issues with Infinity at this point. We're aware of the problem and are working on it. Stay tuned.
The issue with the Infinity server should be resolved now, thanks for your patience!
@everyone
Well, this was a little sooner than expected.
Flashpoint 9.0 is now available from the usual places. There's multiple reasons we moved the release schedule up, but I won't bore you with those. Here's the summary:
* Ultimate now has support for gamezips - single file distributions of multi-file games, for the purpose of cutting down the filesize on Flashpoint. As a result, the way Ultimate works has changed completely. We need people testing this if available; this is a brand new system that hasn't seen much in the way of widespread trials.
* Over 12,000 new entries across games and animations.
* Tons of launcher updates - Flashpoint'll work offline with On Demand Images, no more duplicated games in playlists, lots of new things you can see in the changelog.
* While we haven't included these in the default Flashpoint installs, if you want Discord rich presence or support for Ruffle, you can install one of our new launcher extensions. https://bluemaxima.org/flashpoint/datahub/Launcher_Extensions
* The usual bugfixes, additions and thousands of metadata updates.
* Our new logo! This has been in the works for some time. It's now applied across the site, Flashpoint itself, and this Discord server. Also, a new trailer to go along with it. https://youtu.be/rUatW8cXl-s
We've named this version "Glorious Sunset" as because, barring some freak accident in which we need to release 9.1, this will be the last new version before Adobe pulls the plug on Flash, assuming it happens this year. Hopefully this is as good a showing of Flash's legacy as anything could be.
@everyone
This is not a content release, but there are a lot of things that I'd like to talk about now. I apologize if you were expecting an update. With that said, hope you've had a Merry Christmas, or other holidays you celebrate around this time.
There's a new Flashpoint Twitter account that we made recently that we'll be posting fun factoids, bios and random games on from time to time, also including things like new releases. If you feel like following that, head over to https://twitter.com/fp_archive. It just posted a tweet celebrating the third anniversary project of Flashpoint, which just so happened to be yesterday!
There was a video released by Nick Robinson recently about Mission in Snowdriftland, and ow it may be "lost", and for one of a few potential reasons, there was some misinformation shared about Flashpoint. These issues include some kind of odd software he uses that makes Flashpoint look like we don't actually save the games we archive, which is not true. I've gone over the issues in my own video on the subject to correct them and dig into how he may have fumbled this particular ball, which you can view here: https://youtu.be/POHBOjgOqRE Please share this video around to places the original video was shared, as I'm worried that misinformation about Flashpoint and its capabilities could spread far enough to be harmful to our efforts as a team. Please don't harass Nick over this video. There's no point. No one benefits. Don't be one of those people.
As for the upcoming death of Flash in a little under 3 weeks, while there hasn't been any major updates as to what might happen when the clock strikes midnight on the 12th, we're watching everything very closely and will update you if anything changes.
Enjoy the rest of your holidays, and stay safe.
