Zugg Software :: View topic

Posted: Wed Nov 24, 2004 5:16 am

OK, I think I'm about done for the night. After two 14 hour days in a row, and about 11 hours today, I'm really fried.

Tomorrow I'm going to try to finish filling in the various zApp web pages, like the Demo pages, the FAQ, and a Known Issues page.

I'll also look into the problem with zAppPro not creating runable ZXL files...that's a pretty critical issue to get fixed.

After that we are taking a break for the Thanksgiving holiday here in the states. Then I'll have about a week to clean up some loose ends, get the eLicense store set up, and get some marketing people to start working on zApp marketing.

On December 7th, Chiara and I disappear for a long vacation. We haven't taken a vacation longer than a day in about 3 years now. In fact, we realized the other day that we haven't been apart for more than 8 hours in over 2-1/2 years (back when I went to E3). So, we are going away for most of the month of December. We've got people staying at the house and taking care of our cats so we can relax. Then we will have our normal Christmas break where we will be home, but not working much.

That means you won't see a huge amount of activity around here until the first of the new year.

Hopefully, (once the zAppPro issue is fixed), there is enough new stuff in zApp to keep you plenty busy. I still have a *lot* of documentation to write and will probably do that over time, fitting it in when I can. Since I can edit documentation from any web browser now, it's pretty easy to do. I know that the Object Reference in particular needs a great deal of work, along with some more general articles on how to do stuff in zApp.

That's the latest plan from here. Enjoy zApp!

Posted: Wed Nov 24, 2004 5:27 am

By the way, if you haven't seen the main zApp Home page yet, select "zApp" from the "Products" menu along the top (or take this lazy link). I'm having fun with the web site portal system Wink

It sure does make it easy to create some nice web pages.

Adept Joined: 03 Dec 2000 Posts: 260

Where does zMud fit into that schedule? Can we expect to see something in early 2005?

Posted: Sat Nov 27, 2004 7:53 pm

Thandril,

It doesn't. zMUD sales are dwindling, and Zugg needs to concentrate on apps that will generate money for him to stay in business. zMUD is quite stable now. Is there a particular reason you want Zugg to work on zMUD?

Adept Joined: 03 Dec 2000 Posts: 260

Well, fixing the bugs in speedwalking would be awfully nice. There are quite a few 7.05 bugs listed in the Beta forum. I can certainly understand the direction Zugg's heading in and don't dispute it. It would be nice to know though that there will be some bug fixes on the horizon.

Posted: Sun Nov 28, 2004 6:41 am

I've always said that I will only work on the next update to zMUD after the first Public version of the eMobius email and communication client is released. That hasn't changed. zApp is the first step towards eMobius, with an expected beta version in the spring of 2005. The timing of the public release depends upon too many factors to estimate the date at this point.

There is no way I can work on zMUD right now. If I divert my attention away from zApp and eMobius, then Zugg Software isn't going to have enough sales to stay in business and you'd never see any more zMUD updates if that happens. Getting zApp and eMobius into the market is the only way for zMUD to have any future at all.

None of the bugs on the bug list are major and none of them effect a large number of people. At this point, no work on zMUD is going to improve it's sales. The MUD market is saturated and is slowly collapsing as people move the graphical games. So, I can no longer work on zMUD as a viable business product. I can only work on it once income is bolstered by other products like zApp and eMobius that have a larger market base.