I don’t know. I think creating all the graphics and the text would take some weeks by itself. I don’t personally find the game very interesting, but if he wrote all that text himself, if English isn’t his first language, that is impressive. There’s a lot of it, and some of it is quite witty. Many of the developers I have encountered can barely spell, in their own language! And the graphic design shows some talent too.
The actual code, yeah, that’s probably the easy part. But he still had to come up with the concept which, like it it or not, seems to be very popular.
Some of it is resume building, and also just plain notoriety. Most of the programmers I know are far more interested in the good opinion of their fellows than they are in money. Once basic needs are met (and they define “need” far more strictly than I do!) they have no real interest in monetary increase. At least until the next faster microprocessor chip comes out.
Well, I finally ground up to 100 ACs without re-setting, then found there were basically no more upgrades or achievements I could get without re-setting, and did so. I was quite pleased with the 454 HCs this got, but I haven’t bought any of the HC upgrades yet because I read on the wiki that doing so would disqualify me from getting the True Neverclick shadow achievement (though that doesn’t sound right). I’m well on track for that now (probably already have it - I just leave the thing to run for hours without checking back). Once I’ve done that, I’ll probably re-set again to go for the speed baking achievements. One error I did make was failing to buy the elder covenant before re-setting - will do that next time.
Just curious…mare you a programmer or have you ever programmed? If so, have you come up with an original concept and created it completely from nothing except an idea from your mind?
I don’t know anything about programming games in java script, but i can’t believe it’s not harder than you say. Again, that doesn’t mean that the programmer that did it did it for himself or for fun (or the challenge). As far as black boxes, the only reason I asked is because that’s how the programmer could hide something running on your computer that you wouldn’t know about. If someone like Ximenean looked closely at the code, they might be able to find something that you might not want to be happening on your computer, unless there were calls to subroutines that were not visible in the java script.
Thanks, Ximenean. I think you explained this better than I did
Maybe things have changed from when I was coding in college, but although the really good programmers and computer guys would enjoy doing things to test the computer’s limits, most didn’t have the time required to make a game like this. Again, i confess no knowledge in creating gaming software, so maybe it’s much easier than I could imagine. But being poor is not something that was embraced.
I’m not insulting anyone that is playing this game and I am certainly not insulting the programmer. But the way you all play this game, I’d be surprised if anyone clicked on an ad to help him generate revenue. Perhaps. I am wrong.
It may be just as you all have stated. One guy wrote this in java script to see what he could do, and it could have all been for his/her own personal growth and knowledge, not for monetary gain.
Since there is no way to know really what the story behind this game’s creation is, I’ll assume it was for all the positive reasons you’ve stated and not for any of the nefarious reasons I came up with. i guess I’m jaded. 
There’s a donate button at the bottom of the screen and he’s working on Android and OS mobile app versions which I’m sure will be 99centers. I suspect that monetarily, he’s breaking even or better.
Javascript in web browsers is “sandboxed”, so in theory it cannot permanently affect your system in any way, apart from setting a few cookies, perhaps to save game state (which he seems embarrassed about doing, in his comments). For example, even in recent versions the only way to access a local file, AFAIK, is to invoke an Open File window and ask the user to pick the file. That is, Javascript running in a browser is not able to snoop around your file system (it is possible to run Javascript outside of a browser, like a regular programming language, in which case all bets are off).
If this game were running in some other environment, such as Flash, then there might be more potential for mischief. But if the only client-side code is Javascript then it should be safe to run. Of course, there have been many vulnerabilities in Javascript engines over the years, so you never really know.
Yes to both. And I’m not trying to belittle the idea: Obviously he came up with a really great idea, given how many people play it. I’m just saying that the implementation of that idea wasn’t a lot of work.
He’s probably getting enough from the ads to pay his ISP bills, with maybe a bit extra, and he probably considers that enough for the amount of “work” he put in (not counting coming up with the idea as “work”).
He’s actually made enough to start up a game development studio with a friend. But I agree with most here that that is rarely the point in these solo efforts.
Since a few people have mentioned Candy Box, I thought this would be a good place to ask about it. Maybe it deserves its own thread?
Anyway, I’m stuck in Candy Box 2. There are only 3 quests I can access right now, and it seems I can’t beat any of them. I think I could restart the game and spend my chocolate better, but that doesn’t seem like good game design, so I doubt that is the solution to my problem.
[spoiler] The only things open to me now are The Developer, Hell and “Yourself”. I’m saving up for the witch’s hat, but I doubt that will help much. Likewise, I haven’t gotten that purple shark fin yet, but that only gives me a spell that has limited uses.
I can’t beat The Developer. I’ve tried every combo of items, spells and potions, and the best I can do is get him to about 10% HP. I think I could reset the game and not waste chocolate on the red gloves or the tribal spear, and instead spend it on the damage bonus, but this would be a last resort.
I can’t progress in Hell, simply because I can’t get over both lava pits. I’ve heard of jumping and flying items, so I imagine I just need one of those first. Likewise, there is a chest in the hole that I can’t access without some way to get over the spikes.
The third quest I can’t beat is “Yourself”. I haven;t tried it lately, but it seems “yourself” takes all the same damage that I do, so we both die at the same time. maybe there is some trick I don’t understand, or don’t have yet?[/spoiler]
Are you saying those are the only ones left? Have you been through the desert, etc? Found the chocolate in the caves? Maybe do an export save and give us your text?
Yup, I’ve done pretty much everything I can think of… Though when you say “been through the desert” it makes me think there is something there I’ve missed. I’ve slaughtered armies of Camels and Tripod Camels, and even a few birds, but I’ve not been back there… Maybe I should return. There is that little sand castle, I just assumed it wasn’t available to me yet.
Here is my game…
bool candiesThrownGotChocolateBar=true, bool candyBoxBoxOpened=false, bool castleBigRoomHovenHappy=true, bool castleRoom2LitFire=true, bool castleRoom2TookObject=true, bool castleTowerFirstVisitDone=true, bool castleTowerPStoneDone=true, bool castleTowerLStoneDone=true, bool castleTowerAStoneDone=false, bool castleTowerYStoneDone=false, bool castleTowerTookTalkingCandy=false, bool castleKilledNougatMonster=true, bool cellarDone=true, bool dragonDone=true, bool dragonUnlockedCyclops=true, bool forgeFoundLollipop=true, bool forgeBoughtWoodenSword=true, bool forgeBoughtIronAxe=true, bool forgeBoughtPolishedSilverSword=true, bool forgeBoughtLightweightBodyArmour=true, bool forgeBoughtScythe=true, bool fortressRoom1ChestFound=false, bool fortressRoom3ChestFound=false, bool fourthHouseFoundLollipopOnCupboard=true, bool gameDebug=false, bool gameInvertedColors=false, bool lighthousePuzzleDone=false, bool lollipopFarmPlant1LollipopButtonUnlocked=true, bool lollipopFarmPlant10LollipopsButtonUnlocked=true, bool lollipopFarmPlant100LollipopsButtonUnlocked=true, bool lollipopFarmPlant1000LollipopsButtonUnlocked=true, bool lollipopFarmIsProductionEachSecond=true, bool lollipopFarmConstructMillButtonUnlocked=true, bool lollipopFarmMillConstructed=true, bool lollipopFarmDigPondButtonUnlocked=true, bool lollipopFarmPondDug=true, bool lollipopFarmPondFeedingLolligators=false, bool lonelyHouseOpenBoxDone=true, bool lonelyHouseShakeBoxDone=true, bool lonelyHouseBreakLockDone=true, bool lonelyHouseKickBoxDone=true, bool lonelyHouseAskTheBoxToOpenItselfDone=true, bool lonelyHouseLureTheBoxWithACandyDone=true, bool lonelyHouseTakeTheBoxDone=true, bool mainMapDoneDesert=true, bool mainMapDoneBridge=true, bool mainMapDoneCaveEntrance=true, bool mainMapDonePier=true, bool mainMapDoneForest=true, bool mainMapDoneCastleEntrance=true, bool questPlayerSpellHealthPotionHasSpell=true, bool questPlayerSpellTurtlePotionHasSpell=true, bool questPlayerSpellAntiGravityPotionHasSpell=true, bool questPlayerSpellBerserkPotionHasSpell=true, bool questPlayerSpellCloningPotionHasSpell=true, bool questPlayerSpellPPotionHasSpell=true, bool questPlayerSpellXPotionHasSpell=true, bool secondHouseLollipop1Bought=true, bool secondHouseLollipop2Bought=true, bool secondHouseLollipop3Bought=true, bool secondHouseLeatherBootsBought=false, bool secondHouseChocolateBarBought=true, bool secondHouseMerchantHatBought=false, bool secondHouseTimeRingBought=true, bool sorceressHutTookLollipop=true, bool sorceressHutBoughtGrimoire=true, bool sorceressHutBoughtGrimoire2=true, bool sorceressHutBoughtCauldron=true, bool sorceressHutBoughtHat=false, bool statusBarUnlocked=true, bool statusBarUnlockedCfg=true, bool statusBarUnlockedSave=true, bool statusBarUnlockedMap=true, bool statusBarUnlockedInventory=true, bool statusBarUnlockedLollipopFarm=true, bool statusBarUnlockedCauldron=true, bool statusBarUnlockedInsideYourBox=false, bool statusBarUnlockedTheComputer=false, bool statusBarUnlockedTheArena=false, bool statusBarUnlockedHealthBar=true, bool SuperRPGReward1=false, bool SuperRPGReward2=false, bool SuperRPGReward3=false, bool SuperRPGReward4=false, bool SuperRPGUnlockedHardmode=false, bool TheCavePattern_ChocolateBarNowGotTheBar=true, bool TheCavePattern_TreasureMapSawMap=true, bool TheCavePattern_TreasureMapFoundTreasure=true, bool theHoleFirstChestFound=true, bool theHoleSecondChestFound=false, bool theHoleThirdChestFound=true, bool theHoleFourthChestFound=true, bool wishingWellFirstCandyThrown=true, bool wishingWellFirstLollipopThrown=true, bool wishingWellWeAreEnchanting=false, bool wishingWellWeArePainAuChocolating=false, bool gridItemPossessedMainMap=true, bool gridItemPossessedTimeRing=true, bool gridItemPossessedThirdHouseKey=false, bool gridItemPossessedBeginnersGrimoire=true, bool gridItemPossessedFeather=true, bool gridItemPossessedPogoStick=false, bool gridItemPossessedHeartPlug=true, bool gridItemPossessedAdvancedGrimoire=true, bool gridItemPossessedSponge=true, bool gridItemPossessedShellPowder=true, bool gridItemPossessedRedSharkFin=true, bool gridItemPossessedBlackMagicGrimoire=true, bool gridItemPossessedGreenSharkFin=true, bool gridItemPossessedPurpleSharkFin=false, bool gridItemPossessedHeartPendant=true, bool gridItemPossessedFortressKey=false, bool gridItemPossessedUnicornHorn=false, bool gridItemPossessedXinopherydonClaw=false, bool gridItemPossessedPitchfork=true, bool gridItemPossessedTalkingCandy=false, bool gridItemPossessedP=true, bool gridItemPossessedL=true, bool gridItemPossessedA=false, bool gridItemPossessedY=false, bool eqItemWeaponWoodenSword=true, bool eqItemWeaponIronAxe=true, bool eqItemWeaponPolishedSilverSword=true, bool eqItemWeaponTrollBludgeon=true, bool eqItemWeaponMonkeyWizardStaff=true, bool eqItemWeaponEnchantedMonkeyWizardStaff=true, bool eqItemWeaponTribalSpear=false, bool eqItemWeaponSummoningTribalSpear=true, bool eqItemWeaponGiantSpoon=false, bool eqItemWeaponScythe=true, bool eqItemWeaponGiantSpoonOfDoom=false, bool eqItemHatOctopusKingCrown=true, bool eqItemHatOctopusKingCrownWithJaspers=true, bool eqItemHatOctopusKingCrownWithObsidian=false, bool eqItemHatMerchantHat=false, bool eqItemHatSorceressHat=false, bool eqItemBodyArmoursLightweightBodyArmour=true, bool eqItemBodyArmoursKnightBodyArmour=true, bool eqItemBodyArmoursEnchantedKnightBodyArmour=true, bool eqItemGlovesLeatherGloves=false, bool eqItemGlovesRedEnchantedGloves=true, bool eqItemGlovesPinkEnchantedGloves=true, bool eqItemBootsLeatherBoots=true, bool eqItemBootsRocketBoots=false, bool eqItemBootsBootsOfIntrospection=false, number aTreeStep=3, number cauldronBookCurrentPage=8, number fourthHouseCupboardStep=2, number fourthHouseCarpetStep=2, number galacticWarsBestScore=0, number gameSecondsElapsedSinceLastLollipopsProduction=0, number gameCandiesAccumulated=25198109, number gameCandiesCurrent=3749895, number gameCandiesMax=7862786, number gameLollipopsAccumulated=714851722, number gameLollipopsCurrent=518279698, number gameLollipopsMax=518279698, number gameChocolateBarsAccumulated=10, number gameChocolateBarsCurrent=1, number gameChocolateBarsMax=6, number gamePainsAuChocolatAccumulated=3, number gamePainsAuChocolatCurrent=0, number gamePainsAuChocolatMax=1, number gameCandiesEatenAccumulated=3708518, number gameCandiesEatenCurrent=3708518, number gameCandiesEatenMax=3708518, number gameCandiesThrownAccumulated=1630, number gameCandiesThrownCurrent=1630, number gameCandiesThrownMax=1630, number gameCandiesUsedToRequestFeaturesAccumulated=55, number gameCandiesUsedToRequestFeaturesCurrent=55, number gameCandiesUsedToRequestFeaturesMax=55, number gameCandiesInCauldronAccumulated=127932, number gameCandiesInCauldronCurrent=0, number gameCandiesInCauldronMax=100000, number gameLollipopsInCauldronAccumulated=665912, number gameLollipopsInCauldronCurrent=0, number gameLollipopsInCauldronMax=100000, number gameGiftPower=2, number gameGiftHealth=1, number gameGiftMagic=0, number lollipopFarmLollipopsPlanted=24000, number lollipopFarmTimeSinceLastProduction=0, number lollipopFarmProduction=4500, number lollipopFarmPondHowManyLolligators=46, number lollipopFarmPondConversionRate=174477, number lollipopFarmPreviousCandiesProduction=89, number lollipopFarmCurrentCandiesProduction=144, number mainMapDefaultScroll=0, number playerHp=1872, number questPlayerSpellHealthPotionQuantity=5, number questPlayerSpellAntiGravityPotionQuantity=5, number questPlayerSpellTurtlePotionQuantity=10, number questPlayerSpellBerserkPotionQuantity=3, number questPlayerSpellCloningPotionQuantity=6, number questPlayerSpellPPotionQuantity=12, number questPlayerSpellXPotionQuantity=1, number statusBarCornerStep=0, number wishingWellPreviousCandyWishPrice=1552, number wishingWellCurrentCandyWishPrice=4240, number wishingWellCurrentLollipopWishPrice=100000000, number wishingWellHowManyChocolateBarsThrown=6, number wishingWellHowManyPainsAuChocolatThrown=3, string gameLanguage=en, string gameWeaponSelected=eqItemWeaponScythe, string gameHatSelected=eqItemHatOctopusKingCrownWithJaspers, string gameBodyArmourSelected=eqItemBodyArmoursEnchantedKnightBodyArmour, string gameGlovesSelected=eqItemGlovesPinkEnchantedGloves, string gameBootsSelected=eqItemBootsLeatherBoots, string gameGameMode=normal
There’s a trick involved. I’ll give you a series of spoilers, starting with pretty minor info, and getting more spoilery as they go:
[spoiler]
How thoroughly do you read descriptions of items, enemies, and/or abilities or spells during game play?
[spoiler]
Have you tried all of your different items or spells against “You”?
You’re going to need to be very confident in your abilities to defeat yourself…[/spoiler][/spoiler]
Ah ha, your first spoiler gave me an idea.
Thanks, Munch!
And since you mentioned you haven’t been to the desert castle, you should take a look through the Hole again. You’ve definitely missed a few things that will REALLY help.
Yeah, spend some quality time in the hole. He does have the spoon of doom though.
You’ll have to do some grinding to get the remaining shark fins.
AS for the Developer:
[spoiler]You’ll need to use the most powerful force in the universe - then get the heck out of there fast!!
Cast black hole just as the words start towards you, so it sucks them in and kills him with his own weapon. Teleport away as fast as you can.
[/spoiler]
I’ve not had luck with that.
Casting black hole, demons, or erase magic causes the Developer to cast a black hole, killing me instantly. I’ve gotten him easily with Giant Spoon of Doom, all various power and health upgrades in the desert castle, equipping red gloves and jasper helm, and drinking a turtle potion to survive the initial attack. Your health should be maxed out at this point though.
What I have a problem with is that awful cyclops puzzle. I cheated by looking online, but I just can’t grok the mechanics of it.
It’s basically a picture slide puzzle - like one of these. You have to move the charges into place to charge the final square. It’s also got some extra twists like having to scoot boxes to the left and right.
I agree though that it’s more obscure than difficult. Once I figured it out, I got frustrated with the time it was taking to uncover and work the steps perfectly to avoid losing charges, so I finally used a step-by-step from the web to get it over with. I still had to go through it three times since any small misstep ended up in a dearth of charges.
Yeah, I just kind of figured it out just now. I was getting frustrated that the final box had charges, but I hadn’t won yet…
Yup - you gotta click it. Duh!
So…anyone else seeing how much extra health you need to withstand the Developer’s attacks by just standing there with Boots of Introspection on? No, just me? I’m up to 24k health, and that <3 attack still one-shots me.
That puzzle frustrated the hell out of me, until I figured out the mechanics. I enjoyed the here-is-a-puzzle-but-i’m-not-telling-how-it-works-or-what-you-need-to-do style.
So I beat the hard mode today. Makes me appreciate the game a little more - it wasn’t that much harder, but it required all hands on deck of my attention to get by. Add a little strategy, timing, reflexes and a small bit of grinding, and it’s a solid, solid little game.