I'm working on Beta 7. While I'm not ready to announce much about Beta 7 yet, I did want to report one important thing: In Beta 7, I am removing the flickering that a cube does when it is damaged. This flickering can cause accessibility issues. Instead, when a cube is damaged, it will play a slow animation where it shrinks down in size a bit before growing back to full size.


Better late than never, right? Four years and five months after Beta 5 was released, I am happy to announce Beta 6 is released! And let me be clear that I have no intention of allowing that much time to pass before the next update again!

If you have Zancrunio, hopefully it should automatically update to Beta 6. If it doesn't, you may visit the Microsoft Store to update it manually.

Here is some of what's new:

• Redesigned the world and added a new area too!
• New Monster Cubes and quests.
• Redid stats for all the levels, Monster Cubes, abilities, and items in the game.
• The world in Online Mode may now be updated on the game server over time without the need to update the game client.
• Because of that, you now have two separate character rosters; one for Offline Mode, the other for Online Mode. When you first enter Online Mode, the game will automatically clone any characters you have from Offline Mode. You can also clone characters manually from Offline to Online Mode. (Cloning from Online to Offline is not allowed because the online world is more up-to-date than the offline world, so there would be problems with cloning Online to Offline.)
• Added TAB (and SHIFT+TAB) key targeting. Now you can target characters on your screen with those keys.
• Added a new ability that you get at Level 7 named Dot. Guess why it's called Dot?
• The Keyboard Configuration now lets you assign an action to pressing SHIFT and/or CTRL together with another key, such as SHIFT+TAB.
• When an enemy NPC cube is defeated, it now immediately returns to its spawn point at the same time it enters Stoneform.
• The maximum level is now 8 in Offline Mode, and 9 for Online Mode! And the Online Mode maximum level may raise again in the future as the online game world is updated.
• In Online Mode, the two kings are stronger than their counterparts in Offline Mode.
• The "message box" in the lower-left corner of your screen now has a scroll bar.
• Game Configuration offers the ability to use an extra action bar.
• There's probably other things that got updated too, but why spoil them all?

As I make updates to the game world on the server (for Online Mode only), I intend to post about most of those updates on this web page. But maybe I might decide not to announce them all so that some updates can be a surprise!

At some time in the very near future, I will be shutting down the old Beta 5 server. From that point forward, if you're still on Beta 5, then only Offline Mode will work. The Microsoft Store program on your PC should automatically update Zancrunio to Beta 6 in the background, but in case it does not, you may open the Microsoft Store program manually, search and go to Zancrunio's page on it, and click the Update button to bring it to Beta 6 and enjoy all that's new!


May 2018 was when Beta 5 was released. After four years and five months, I have finally clicked that "Submit for Review" button for Beta 6! Hopefully it won't take THAT long again for Beta 7! I'm guessing I might hear something from Microsoft by the end of this week.

While we wait, there's a few changes from my September 20, 2022 plan that I'd like to mention for how Beta 6 will work:

• The Online Mode game server for Beta 6 is already running a slightly updated version of the game world compared to Offline Mode.
• Therefore, your Offline Mode and Online Mode character rosters will be separate immediately once you run Beta 6.
• You can clone characters from Offline to Online Mode, but not the other way around.
• In Offline Mode, the maximum level will always be 8 for Beta 6.
• In Online Mode, the maximum level is currently 9 and can be raised with further game world updates on the server.
• In Online Mode, the kings of the two teams are stronger and have more HP than they do in Offline Mode.

Note: Once Beta 6 is approved by Microsoft and available, then at some point after that, I plan to take down the Beta 5 game server. At that point, you will need Beta 6 to continue playing the Online Mode.

I'll keep you all posted! - Josh Hoffmann


Here's the tentative plan on how the Online World Updates feature will work in Beta 6:

• In Offline Mode: You'll always play in Major Version 1 of the world (aka World Version 1), even if Online Mode has a later version world.
• When Beta 6 is released, World Version 1 will also be used in Online Mode for some time. During this time, your roster of characters will continue to be shared between Offline and Online Modes just like in Beta 5. Note that just like Beta 5, your characters are stored only on your own PC, not the game server.
• At a later date, the game server for Online Mode may be updated with World Version 2. After that happens:
  • You will then have two separate rosters of characters, one for Offline Mode and the other for Online Mode. Both rosters will still be stored only on your own PC.
  • Your existing roster will be considered your Offline Mode roster, but when you select Online Mode for the first time, the game will automatically clone all your Offline Mode characters to your Online Mode roster.
  • In reality, your Offline Mode roster is really your World Version 1 roster, and your Online Mode roster is your World Version 2 roster. This will come into play when a future Beta of the client offers the ability to play different World Versions in Offline Mode.
  • It will be possible to manually clone a character from your Offline Mode roster to your Online Mode roster. However, you won't be able to copy in the opposite direction because the Online Mode world may offer new items, levels, etc. that aren't available in Offline Mode's older world version.
  • Whatever you do on a character on one roster won't affect that character's clone on the other roster.
  • If you create a character on one roster, that character will only be on that roster. Again, you can clone an Offline Mode character to Online Mode.
• At an even later date, World Version 3 may become available in Online Mode.
• In Online Mode, you can only play the World Version that's running on the game server. The server will not be running multiple World Versions. I feel this is necessary in order to keep players together!

I'd like to list some of what's planned for later Betas after Beta 6 (not necessarily Beta 7):

• Being able to play the latest World Verison maps in Offline Mode that were previously downloaded by the game client in Online Mode.
• Offline Mode being able to support multiple World Versions. In this case, you'll really have a separate roster for each World Version. The game would offer the ability to clone a character from an earlier World Version roster to a later one. While Online Mode would only allow playing on the latest World Version, Offline Mode would let you choose.
• A second Online Mode called Registered Online Mode. This would coexist with the existing Online Mode. Here's a comparison between the existing Online Mode and the new Registered Online Mode:
  • Existing Online Mode: No logging in. Your characters' items, coins, levels, experience points, etc. are all stored on your PC. When your game client connects to the server, all that information is transmitted to the server, and the server makes updates to those stats as you play. But as you play, your game client saves your information only on your own PC. When you disconnect from the server, then the server forgets everything about your character!
  • Registered Online Mode: Under this mode, you create a free account with a login and password. Your characters' information would now be stored only on the game server under that account. Again, this mode will coexist with the existing Online Mode.
  
  The Registered Online Mode would offer some advantages. Since your characters would be stored on the game server, you could login on another PC, and your characters will be there.
  
  Additionally, should this game become more popular, then eventually hackers would be a problem. Under the Existing Online Mode, hackers could potentially edit the contents of their character information since it's stored on their own computers. Therefore, it is likely that certain new valuable items and other aspects of the game may only be available to characters who use Registered Online Mode.
  
  The goal is to keep offering the existing Offline and Online Modes even after Registered Online Mode becomes available. Offline Mode offers a way to play the game without an Internet connection. And the existing Online Mode allows playing the game online without having to login, which I believe many people desire.

I'll keep you all posted! - Josh Hoffmann


Small update: I'm disclosing that I've edited my earlier blog posts today. While I'd like to avoid discussing what I edited and why, I feel it's important to tell everyone edits were made.

For those who read those posts earlier before I edited them:
For Beta 6, I'm still planning the feature where online mode can receive updates and additions to the game world, items, monster cubes, etc.

I'd also like to eventually rework this web site so it doesn't have such a sparse feel to it. But if I'm spending time on that, then I'm not spending time getting Beta 6 done. So I'd like to get Beta 6 done first!

I'll keep you all posted! - Josh Hoffmann


Rewritten on September 9, 2022

Oh wow, it's been almost a year since my last blog post!

Due to my 9-to-5 job, work on Zancrunio Beta 6 has been progressing slowly over the past year. However, over the past few months, I've figured out a few ways to spend maybe just an hour or two every evening on Zancrunio and still make a lot of progress. I've found ways to address the "recuperation" problem that I mentioned in my August 11, 2021 post. So I've been progressing faster these past few months compared to the first half of 2022!

Based on what's left, I could have Beta 6 done and submitted to Microsoft for approval before the end of this year!

I'll keep you all posted! - Josh Hoffmann


Edited on September 9, 2022

Still progressing slowly on Beta 6! Without spoiling too much, I'll list some of the additions I've made to Beta 6 so far:

• Maximum level raised to 10
• New monster cubes, quests, abilities, items, etc. being added
• Map in the "neutral area" being expanded for these new things!
• New buildings being added to the "blue team" and "red team" areas for new shops, questgivers, etc.
• A debuff ability has been added! There's now an ability that costs AP which will place a red "dot" on your enemy cube for 10 seconds; guess what that does?
• Tab targeting! You can use the TAB or SHIFT+TAB keys to target enemies with your keyboard like in other online RPGs! Of course, you can reassign those keys!
• Speaking of key reassignments, you can reassign an action to use the SHIFT and/or CTRL keys together with a key. Like SHIFT+TAB!
• More features I haven't mentioned here

I'll keep you all posted! - Josh Hoffmann


Edited on September 9, 2022

Hey friends! I hope everyone is doing well. Development on Beta 6 is still going, though it's going A LOT SLOWER than I expected.

The primary cause: After I get home from my 9-to-5 job, it takes me time to recuperate. But when I recuperate, it's already time for me to sleep, so I can wake up for my job the next morning!

And even on weekends: It takes me all Saturday and Sunday to recuperate from my 9-to-5 job over the past week!

But I am still progressing on development, even if it's just a little bit each day. I'll keep you all posted! - Josh Hoffmann


Edited on September 9, 2022

As I mentioned previously: Over the past week, I made updates to the Zancrunio game server that are compatible with the existing Beta 5 game client that's in the Windows Store right now (and has been for the past three years!). These updates will ONLY be in effect when you play in online mode:

• The Water ability is a little bit faster.
• If you buy a piece of equipment, or if one drops off a monster cube when you defeat it, then you will automatically equip it.
• Added a third Red Slime Cube where the Red Slime Cubes hang out in both the Blue Team and Red Team starting areas. This should make doing that second quest a little bit easier from not having to wait for them to respawn.

There's more updates I wish I could deploy right now, but those will require the upcoming Beta 6 game client. I wish I could update the game client right now. However, game client updates to the Windows Store require submitting them to Microsoft and waiting for their approval. It doesn't make sense for me to make a submission to Microsoft every single time I make a small update to the client. That's why the Beta 6 client will have support for receiving some kinds of data updates from the game server like additions/changes to maps, items, abilities, and monster cubes. Once I've finished developing that, then I'll submit the Beta 6 client to Microsoft for their approval, and I'll let you all know how that goes! - Josh Hoffmann


Edited on September 9, 2022

Hello friends! I'm resuming development of Zancrunio!

It's been a long time! Over three years! I released Beta 5 of this game way back in May 2018. Since then, a number of factors prevented me from performing further development. I won't go into details about those factors right now; maybe later.

So for the past three years, Beta 5 of Zancrunio has remained available unchanged in the Windows Store! I've kept the server (for online mode) up on the Virtual Private Server (VPS) for all this time! And even on the rare occasions that it goes down, or when you have no Internet connection, you can still play it in offline mode.

Within the past week, I have resumed development of Zancrunio! I'm working on the Beta 6 game client which will have some new features! Once it's ready, I'll submit it to Microsoft for approval, and they do take some time to approve it. (All games in the Windows Store and updates to them have to be tested and approved by Microsoft.)

I'll have more to say about upcoming new features themselves in later blog posts. I'll also mention that I've already made some small updates to the game server over the past week that are compatible with the existing Beta 5 game client that's in the Windows Store right now. I'll talk about that in an upcoming blog post.

I should mention that I deleted the Zancrunio forums that were here over the past three years. For three years, I wasn't paying attention and cleaning up all the spam posts. So the forum database got so big that the provider of this web site disabled that database. So the forums stopped working. I figured it would be best to just get rid of them for now. I'll look into reintroducing forums or something similar when the time is right.

So I'm happy that I've found a way to come back to developing Zancrunio. I look forward to making Zancrunio a better and more fun game! If you haven't played Zancrunio yet, go to the Windows Store and get it; it's totally free! Until next time! - Josh Hoffmann