MORSE News

[p]Hey folks! [/p][p][/p][p]If you want to grab the game at 20% off, now is the chance![/p][p][/p][h3]Couple of other quick announcements:[/h3][p][/p][p][/p][h3]Sunday Stream - 23rd 7:30pm UK time[/h3][p]I'm doing a MORSE Stream on here Sunday 23rd at 7:30pm UK time, where I'll be playing the game with various telegraph types and my glowing LED telegraph wire! I'll be able to answer your questions about development, tips for the game, talk about amateur radio and telegraphy. See you there![/p][p][/p][h3]Patch #3[/h3][p]I'll also have another patch through today, keep an eye out for that. Going to try get Cloud Storage working as a priority so pardon my dust. [/p][p][/p][p][/p][h3]MORSE Guide![/h3][p]For those of you wanting to learn more about gameplay tips and tricks, "The Programming M16A4" has started putting together a guide for MORSE! I'm so pleased about this, as the developer, it's very fun watching the nuances of combat slowly excavated and documented.[/p][p][/p][p]My main input to the guide section for MORSE is a bit different: Rather than purely focusing on the game itself, I want to populate it with information about amateur radio, telegraph assembly and setup guides to encourage exploration into the hobby. [/p][p][/p][p]Within the game itself, there's a manual with a bunch of different knowledge about amateur radio, so documenting that in an expanded format in the guides I think would give folks an additional incentive to learn, ask questions and share knowledge.[/p][p][/p][p]That's all for now, thanks for your interest and stay tuned! I'll be doing another post soon about homebrew telegraphs and a couple of different projects to try! [/p][p][/p][p]73, Alex[/p][p][/p]

[p]Wow, what a whirlwind! I can't believe MORSE has been out for nearly a week, it's been a hectic but pleasant time since launch, listening to people's experiences of playing the game and real sense of relief that the game has gone down well. [/p][p][/p][p]I'm very excited to announce that MORSE has passed 1000 copies sold within the first week! That's a lot of folks learning Morse Code.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]I feel significantly better for some rest in this weekend and a real sense of achievement for getting the game over the line. I'm so glad people are enjoying MORSE, in particular I am absolutely loving the images of different telegraph keys emerging to operate the game. As someone who's spent most of their career teaching people how to build their own game controllers and being creative with simple hardware, seeing the game seeding that kind of creativity around the world really is a dream come true. I'm going to try feature telegraphs made by players in these updates, so stay tuned for more of that. [/p][p][/p][p]Here's a pair of homebrew telegraphs shared with me online ^[/p][p][/p][p]On that subject, I've created a dedicated thread for folks to share tips on wiring up their telegraphs. I'll be updating the top of the thread with a collection of different homebrew telegraph solutions and adapters, if you have any suggestions please do share them and If you've fashioned your own telegraph (or purchased one) to play the game with, please share those as well![/p][p][/p][h3]Updates so far:[/h3][p]The last week been mostly about getting through launch and stabilising the build, that appears to have been successful, I appreciate the help and patience of those who've decided to play the game so far. Here's the full list of what's been fixed:[/p]

• [p]Mouse issues on platform select: Mouse input was disabled for the platform selection page, that has been re-enabled. I really appreciate folks in the Steam discussions highlighting this issue to me quickly. I've added some supporting text on the platform selection screen explaining what controls to push to control the game at that point.[/p]

• [p]Expert and skirmish unlock fixed: There was a fringe bug that if you closed the game after unlocking these modes (but before the game was saved) it wouldn't restore the unlock on the next load. This has been sorted.
  
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• [p]Ability to turn off Morse references: In the previous build, the Morse translations for the letters/numbers were only turned off in expert mode. These can now be fully disabled using H on PC or Y on Steamdeck. I'm very happy with this, particularly playing on Skirmish mode where more unusual letters come up.[/p]
• [p]Collapsible version of helpsheet: Previously, MORSE had no helpsheet in expert mode, which meant on later levels if submarines rows out of view it was hard to tell. Now, the helpsheet isn't gone, it just collapses smalls and displays the characters on either axis. You can also hold H to fully close the helpsheet if you want. I am looking into adding some extra achievements tied to leaving the help sheet closed to encourage folks to try beat the game by memorising the letters rather than relying on the patterns. [/p]
• [p]Fixed the telegraph beep not stopping on the end screen.[/p]
• [p]Minor text correction "Plant 3 mines to start the wave", adjusted to 2.[/p]

[p]All in all, it seemed like the QA we had done and hard work squashing bugs before launch paid off, I've also got used to submitting patches, so I'll try and keep the game updated whenever something comes up.[/p][p][/p][h3]What's next to fix?[/h3][p]Now that the game is shipped, what is next in the pipe? [/p]

• [p]Cloud Save Functionality: I think this one should hopefully be an easy fix, I was in the process of implementing cloud saves ahead of launch but decided it was too risky adding that it without proper testing. [/p]
• [p]Differentiating between Novice and Telegraphist Mode: Currently, the only difference between the modes is one the tutorial being enabled on one and not the other. I'm thinking of making Novice an easier mode to beat so that those familiar with telegraphy but unfamiliar with games don't find the game too punishing on later levels. There'll likely be other adjustments, but the first two that make the most sense is slowing ship speeds down and lowering the number of waves. [/p]
• [p]Improving the tutorial: Whilst the tutorial works for most players, I've had in the feedback a suggestion that the auto-scroll is too fast for reading, so my plan is to integrate the text/images from the tutorials into the manual, so the player can review them at their own pace. I also need to add the option to skip the tutorial if it's already been beaten.[/p]
• [p]Advanced settings menu: To give people more options for calibration, I'll be expanding the main menu settings menu to accommodate more configurations as informed by feedback given so far. Additions include the ability to invert mouse input, setting the in-game telegraph key tone (so players using adapters can use a dedicated sidetone without them clashing) and individual saved settings for each telegraph type. I'm also researching whether I can find a way to differentiate between the two ctrl keys on keyboards as that will unlock vBand support. If you have any other requests or nice to haves settings-wise, please let me know.[/p]

[p]These aren't particularly flashy updates, but these points have come up in feedback so I wanted to prioritise sorting these issues out as fundamentals to show my support for those who have supported the project rather than expanding the scope of the project/adding new features.[/p][p][/p][p]That's all for now, thanks again all for your support so far and stay tuned for more soon![/p][p][/p][p]73,[/p][p][/p][p]Alex[/p]

Hello! Another set of patches coming through, thanks for your patience in waiting for these fixes. Here's what's changed:

+ Expert and skirmish unlock fixed: There was a fringe bug that if you closed the game after unlocking the modes before the game saved and closed. All sorted.
+ Ability to turn off Morse references: In the previous build, the Morse translations for the letters/numbers were only turned off in expert mode. These can now be fully disabled using H on PC or Y on Steamdeck.
+ Collapsible version of helpsheet: Previously, MORSE had no helpsheet in expert mode, which meant on later levels if submarines rows out of view it was hard to tell. Now, the helpsheet isn't gone, it just collapses smalls and displays the characters on either axis. You can also hold H to fully close the helpsheet if you want.
+ Minor text correction "Plant 3 mines to start the wave", adjusted to 2.

That's all for now, let me know if you find any more bugs and enjoy!

Thanks for all those who've played the game in the first 24 hours, I'm really grateful for your support and for those who've experienced issues I appreciate you patience! Here's what I've fixed:
+ Mouse input was disabled for the platform selection page, that has been re-enabled. I really appreciate folks in the Steam discussions highlighting this issue to me quickly.
+ I've added some supporting text on the platform selection screen explaining what controls to push to control the game at that point.
+ Fixed the telegraph beep not stopping on the end screen.

If you find any bugs with the game, please report them here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSesjiALOtTlNzpSfrCTejvl8RdSVIL1PgmLisIqtI5Jlvw5KQ/viewform

73, Alex

[p][/p][p]The game is now available for purchase on Steam, there’s a 20% launch discount for the next 7 days, so grab that while you can.[/p][p][/p][p]I can't quite describe the sense of deep relief I feel for completing this project after ten years working on it. It's great to see already people taking the plunge into ordering a telegraph and seeking ham radio communities. A dream come true : )[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]Whilst the hardest part of the project is out of the way, I'm not putting my feet up just yet. The next week is fully blocked out for any new bugs that come up, and I'll be keeping an eye out for any issues in future too. We put MORSE through several rounds of QA over the past few months, squashing some major bugs before release, but there may still be small ones in there. If you do find any, the main menu in-game has a "report a bug" link, at the bottom left. Using that is by far the best and quickest way to bring any issues to my attention. I've already got some minor bugs to dig into, will be patching shortly. I greatly appreciate your patience with this, it is just me patching the game.[/p][p][/p][p] You can find the bug form here: MORSE Bug Reporting Form[/p][p][/p][p]So now that MORSE is finished, my plan is to use MORSE as a tool for outreach and enrichment for the amateur radio community, helping bring new people to the hobby. My experience of amateur radio so far has been wonderful, folks have been so welcoming and it's staggering the scale of infrastructure and community that exists out there, it's like being part of a secret society! Even in the last few weeks, I've had contact from clubs, museums and organisations from Norway, Scotland and as far as South Dakota, excited to use MORSE for engaging young people and the broader public. More about that soon.[/p][p][/p][p]I'm going to take December as an opportunity for rest, but also to get my foundation license and callsign. When I signed up as a member of the Radio Society of Great Britain, I got a free handheld radio and I am determined to do some CW transmission by the end of the year, preferably from the top of a big hill. I'll let you know how I get on with that, if anyone has any suggestions for learning tools for exam prep let me know.[/p][p] [/p][p][/p][p]I'll be posting a bit more about this soon, but mouse and keyboard aren't the only peripherals you can play MORSE with. You can use actual morse telegraphy keys too! I have a few I've been using to demo the game at events like Hamfest and Megacon, and as part of that I thought it'd be fun to rig up some LEDs to also display the morse code as it's entered. Here's a quick video showing it in use: MORSE - A strategy game playable with a glowing telegraph![/p][p][/p][p]I'm really looking forward to telling you all more about the hardware behind this, and so glad that MORSE is finally out there for everyone to enjoy. Please let me know how you get on, your adventures into telegraphy and amateur radio! [/p][p][/p][p]Thank you to everyone who have waited for MORSE over the years and the many people who helped me get the game over the line. I am incredibly grateful for your support.[/p][p][/p][p].... .- ...- . / ..-. ..- -. -.-.--[/p][p][/p][p]73, Alex[/p][p]
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