11th of August 2024
How I spent this summer
Summer 2004 – Morrowind. I'm running in Boots of Blinding Speed between the hills, and I can't tell if it's sunrise in the game or outside my window. I just helped an alchemist in Vivec and climbed a couple of ranks in the Mages Guild. And there's that annoying cliff racer. Why didn't I use fast travel? But that's the whole point – “Take this arrow, winged monster!”
Summer 2014 – League of Legends. Imagine Dragons is playing on the loading screen. I've got 5 more losses than wins. I need to fix my stats. Which position to choose isn’t a question – solo mid, but which champion should I pick? Teemo (the cheerful mushroom man) or Akali (the assassin girl)? I choose Akali and wait for the game to start.
Playing as Akali before level six is really tough. Akali struggles with minions and is vulnerable to jungle attacks. But the opponent turns out to be weak enough, and I manage to take them down a couple of times before getting my ultimate abilities. On the bottom lane, our support goes offline, leaving us 4 versus 5. Akali reaches level six and starts dominating mid, but both the top and bottom lanes are falling apart. Only the jungler is doing his job diligently, clearing the jungle. The player left alone on the bottom lane against two enemies eventually leaves the game as well. The jungler is forced to defend the bot lane. But on the mid lane, Akali is unstoppable at 10/0, pushing the second tower. Two enemy players constantly have to stay on mid to hold the line, which keeps the balance. The game continues like this for another 15 minutes. Akali is dominating, but the flanks are collapsing. Tension is rising in the chat. The enemy team is getting close to our inhibitor. The match enters its final phase. All champions are at their highest levels. Our team is still down to three against five. Akali is super strong, with zero deaths. Three opponents take down Warwick in the middle, and Akali jumps into the fight. The three enemies gang up on her, but they've already used their ultimates on Warwick, so Akali deftly dodges all the attacks and takes them all down with her throwing daggers and shuriken. Then she goes after the enemy jungler and soon finds him in a nearby bush. He's finished. In the final phase of the game, respawn timers are really long, and the last opponent hasn't revived yet. But then he respawns and heads to the bot lane. Akali rushes there to secure a pentakill. An ally sets a trap for Riven, and the enemy is caught. Pentakill!!! The allies have a full minute to destroy the enemy's infrastructure and finish the game. And we did it. Victory: 3 versus 5.
Summer 2024 – I'm working on my project. Over the summer, I published chapters 6 and 7, and now I'm working on the payment system. I was debating between Stripe and PayPal and decided on Stripe since they offer a more modern API, and according to reviews, PayPal often blocks accounts without explanation.
The launch on Microlaunch brought in over 5,000 views and several new registrations. After completing the Stripe integration, I'll be launching the game on ProductHunt. In the meantime, you can support the project via the link.
How are you spending the summer?