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A response to this is not expected (your time is valuable). As one of the early faithful and true believers, I can wait for the game until the end of time. However, is this the first email to suggest that the growing piles of puzzles adjusted create more questions than they answer?

Because the game contains more puzzles than I would ever have imagined in the first place, it would be nice to know how many puzzles there ARE to be adjusted. Then one could happily construct one's own imaginary time frame for their completion. Or would you then have to kill us?

I check your site regularly. You know, you’re still saying “All this effort to make the game work exactly as it did before Christmas... minus the memory crash.”

We’re approaching another Christmas…so it’s technically before Christmas…

I have no idea where I was going with that.  Where ever it was, it didn’t work.  Keep up the good work and take your time to get things done to your satisfaction.

We’ll be here when you’re done.

I was just checking out your website (like I do every week) to see if the game is out yet, when I had a funny thought. You might find it humorous to know that, while I ordered the game the summer before going to college, I´m now a university professor. (Granted, the university is not a very good one, and it´s in a third-world country, but it´s a university nonetheless.)

You hang in there as well. Looking forward (still!).

i am sorry that you hit so much of a problem and that you had such gargantuan work to get it straight -- although I am shocked almost to prostration that you didn't find sifting through code, line by line, to be as much fun as it sounds.

to you and your beta testers i raise my glass and wish you godspeed to the end of your task.

This isn't my real name/private email. I have pre-ordered and I did get a receipt. For security reasons (I don't want to link my 'public' anonymous identity with my 'private' real one), I won't be revealing that information at this time.

On this day you refer to as Natal.

54 fruitful years from the cradle.

Don't bemoan your delays;

Soon you'll be heaped with praise!

A few years off the mark's hardly fatal.

Hope you're doing well... or, at least, as well as can be expected considering how much work you're doing. You're not pushing yourself too hard, I assume? Because that'd be silly. What you're doing is great work, to be sure, but it's not worth killing yourself over. Seriously, I know what that's like. Working too hard, I mean... not killing myself.

On the plus side, I guess you must be coming to the end... at least, the numbers on the site look promising. That said though, I seem to remember you having to stop yourself from adding more and more to the game in the initial period - and, of course, only you know where you stopped. What's on there already looks like more than enough to keep everyone going, but I suspect you might not have stopped there.

Anyway though, just wanted to write to say the usual 'keep up the good work'/'look after yourself' malarky that you've no doubt heard many times recently. Silly, I know, but just felt the urge. Don't get all soppy on me now.

When I first heard that there was some kind of glitch within the program.... that you were trying in vain to hunt down what the problem was... I thought to myself... leave it to Cliff Johnson to design something so devious he stumps himself with it.

Well, at least there's the satisfaction of knowing that the game is giving you as much trouble as I hope it will give to me when it's done.

I've played Fool's Errand and 3 in Three completely through so many times that I now have the puzzles memorized. I try them again every few months to see if I've maybe forgotten a little bit, but everything comes back very quickly. It's been so long since I've had a challenge from the games that my hate for you is actually starting to fade.

Best wishes to you, still believing in you after all these years, and I look forward to hating you anew in the coming months.

I figure there are 2 possibilities here:

1) you're holding to a high standard of quality, and the game will be worth the wait.

2) you've gone the way of Duke Nukem Forever, this will be in dev for another decade, which means I'll get jokes from Cliff Johnson regularly delivered to my door for the foreseeable future.

I can't lose!

It will get there, we've waited this long (just how long has it been? Damn even I don't know!) so longer is no problem. I am sure my wife will hate you all the more when it is done.

As Dante wrote in the Divine comedy.

"Mentre che la speranza ha fior del verde."

(There is always hope while the bud is green.)

Translated for the program developers in all of us it means:

There is always a new compiler that handles the memory.

It makes the final product even more delicious.

No prob, I'm sure the game will be cool!! :) Deliver it on April 1st, like you planned once before. You gotta admit that date has some charm!

I Believe. I Believe. Be sure to take some time to enjoy the holidays.

I have had such useful help from tech support too, though in other matters. The “That’s never happened before” approach to solving a client’s problems is neither helpful, nor particularly amusing, at least until the problem is solved. In any case, have happy holidays despite the trouble with the game. Gives bah humbug an entirely new meaning, probably. I’m sure it will be worth the wait.

Everyone knows how hard it is to separate a fool from his money, right?

When the time is right,that fateful can of Raid will appear out of nowhere and you will no longer be separated from your rightful place in the Hall of "Fool"ish History. Take a break and ponder the ills of the technical world from afar. Sometimes, distance provides just the view you need to solve the problems of that world.

Not to fret. Your loyal following will continue to pant in anticipation, and will appreciate the product of your industry whenever it lands at the doorstep!

Take several deep breaths, enjoy the holidays and know we aren't going anywhere. We will be here when you are ready!

That sucks for you!! Happy for the update though, I know it will be worth waiting for <G>

dear cliff, you old yule fool, merry christmas to you and lets all hope a very happy new year. lets hope all this hair-pulling doesnt affect your mental capacity for devising new puzzles for us to solve.

"Keep the faith!", as they say Cliff. I'm sure you'll solve the problem.

I really, really want to play it. But even if I never do, my fond memories of The Fool’s Errand were worth this expenditure. Such a great game.

I hope you find and kill your bug soon. But for your sake not mine!

I wish there were some way I could help. If you need some pizza delivered for sustenance in this trying time let me know.

I'm a programmer, so I know how that goes. Change one line somewhere and everything could work.

Good luck, and I look forward to hating you soon.

Don't beat yourself up. Good things are worth waiting for and great games are worth whatever time it takes. In fact, I plan to order two more copies for my sons as soon as I can get my act together. Thank you for the notice.

I still believe in it, just kind of was expecting this.

right.
as if YOU don't know what is REALLY going on.
as if we ALL didn't know.
it's not Macromedia's fault, and it's nothing their customer
support will be able to help you with.
no, mr. johnson.
you know what it is because you knew it was bound to
happen one day or the other.
it's the 3.
you've angered the 3.
was it something you typed ? a misplaced backspace ?
you may never know, but SHE knows and SHE's madder than mad.
and now she's out to get you, to make you pay for what
you had her endure, when you made a fool of her some years ago.
good luck, mr johnson. to know that you're facing the same 3 that
we all faced playing your game, just to know THAT is worth my $40.
heck, i'm changing sides.
good luck, 3.
make mr johnson sweat.
hehehe.

We would rather you get it right than get it rushed and appreciate the extra effort you are have to put in to get it to us. If it is anything as good as Fools Errand it will be worth waiting for.

Cheers for the update - and I know that personally, I don't think it really matters how long it takes for you to get this done anymore. I'd like to think that I speak for all us would-be fools by saying that you've more than earned our respect not just for creating this whole thing in the first place, but also going so far as to bring us more. You're making an entire game on your own, for Christ's sake! There are developers out there, huge teams of people, who take years to make one product that, in the end, turns out to be god-awful... so the fact that you're working so hard as an individual to make sure what emerges from the foolish cocoon is as much of a joy as we're all expecting it to be is more a testament to your dedication to the cause and your fan base than it is anything else.

Does that even make sense? I hope it does... it's meant to be praise. Anyway. Keep doing what you're doing... it'll work out eventually and then you get started on the third game in the series. There IS going to be a third game... right?   ;op

My sympathies, and I hope no one gives you any grief over it. My programming days are done, but I have enough memories to last a lifetime (though nothing feels quite the same as when it actually works).

Take care and do not stress.

Hang in there, Cliff. This, too, shall pass. :)

Preserve your hair... I am happy to wait as long as it takes without doing you harm.

All the best with those final bugs - I had the exact same thing happen with my Flash based interactive movie I created for part of my University course. Always happens at the 11th hour, eh?

Hope you have some hair left by the end of it. Remember - Long, deep breaths

It's nice to know you're going to such effort - a handful of games I have purchased lately are no more than Flash files - although it give rookies like me hope ;-)

Keep up the good fight, we know you'll win!!

Now that I am pre-ordered, a fact that I could not be more excited about, I wanted to write you a more personal letter of appreciation.

I have loved the Fool's Errand for years and years, as I was quite young when it first came out. Along with Dark Castle, this is what I grew up on. This is one game that stands the test of time, being fun to play even now. I go back and do so whenever I have forgotten just enough of the puzzles for it to be fun to figure them out again. There has never been a game quite like it. I have played the Wheel of Fortune card game at least a hundred times. And the way you brought all the puzzles and story together for the Sun's Map and the overarching metapuzzles still amazes me.

The story and the puzzlecraft have stuck with me through the years, affecting how I think and how creative I can be, particularly in writing and roleplaying games. I am grateful to you for that, sir. It may seem strange to say of a mere game, but I believe that the Fool's Errand made me a better person. My philosophy of life is the better for it.

So I am obviously very much looking forward to The Fool and His Money. And I am not the only one. Everyone I have ever met who knows the Fool's Errand recalls it with fondness.

I proudly list myself as a Fool, amidst the ranks of all Fool-kind. May our reckless waywardness bring us at last to our haphazard goal.

Take all the time you need - remember that some of the best games out there (Half Life, Quake, etc...) shipped "whenever they were ready to ship" and the wait was more than worth it.

Keep up the good work! I’m still not upset and I’m still willing to wait for it! No one else makes games that I’m willing to stay up to play (and play non-stop over weekends).

Remember to take breaks once in a while. Take a walk, have dinner with friends. Sometimes the answer will come to you if you can just get you’re mind to move it to the back burner for a little while.

"That shouldn't happen; what are you doing wrong" is right up there with asking software makers for a new feature and getting the "why would you want to do that" question.

No worries. I look forward to playing it when it is done.

The best phrase I've ever heard come from a game developer is "When it is done". The worst? "It will be done by <enter date here>".

Hey Cliff. I know all too well from personal experience how tough programming problems can be. Your prior products prove that you have the chops to overcome whatever obstacles are there. We look forward to the game when you get it done!

Thanks for the update! Seasons greetings to you and yours. Looking forward to the Fool when you're able to get him sorted out.

Cliff, never fear - the thrill is not gone! Actually, the waiting heightens anticipation.

We'll still be here. Well, most of us will. And some of us mostly will.

What is that principle... "If something can go wrong it will"? I am sure that all of us die-hard fans out here who still remember "The Fool's Errand" as the best puzzle solving game ever invented, are willing to wait. I slaved over it for months the year it came out. Good luck, and don't give up! We need you.

The memory is the first to go… after the knees. Keep the faith, Cliff. I’m with you all the way.

No problem! I can definitely understand it, especially with Director/Flash.

My roommate was working on the bonus dvd for the new edition of Star Wars Galaxies that just came out (which I helped him out with) which was done entirely in Flash, and Flash just isn't made for projects of that size so it really pushed the limits and uncovered a lot of bugs no one else seemed to know about. You'd think Director would be better about that, but I'm not surprised that would have bugs too. Most people just don't push the limits of those programs, so it can be hard to get information on things that aren't the basics.

Well, good luck with the bugs, and I'll be looking forward to seeing the new game whenever it comes out!

I wish you luck with the Memory Problem. I'm so looking forward to play your new Fool game. I've played the Fool's Errand over and over again during the years. That's the ONLY game I've played repeatedly like this. I know it by heart, but I still enjoy it.

I hope you and your family will get a joyful and restful Christmas!

You might find this amusing.

When I first read this message, I thought, "Gosh, it's a shame that an excellent puzzle designer is getting brain deterioration late in life."

"Oh, wait. Maybe he's talking about memory problems on the COMPUTER."

Best of luck! As a professional puzzle designer myself (with a weekly deadline, no less), I know just how hard it is.

No worries, mate! We will love it just as much if it gets here in a week or a month or ?

We are programmers too so we feel your pain! and anyway, we haven't finished re-enjoying At The Carnival, etc.

I admire your honesty almost as much as I admire your games. And that is saying a great deal. Best wishes with your bug detecting!

Hang in there Cliff! We've got faith in you, man!

Said cheek-in-tongue, "I don't remember what I paid for. I believe it was a monthly series of humorous emails. From that perspective, I feel I've gotten more than my money's worth already!"

You poor man! Your Christmas Peace ruined by an evil bug, shame on the bug, make a nice man lose his hair and everything. ((-:

But don´t you worry, most people are all busy planing for the holidays so thay are fully ocupied.

No one but you can do this game so you won´t lose any costumers, we all love your games and are SO grateful you put up with the nitty gritty, so we can have hour of fun for years and years to come.

Hope you can sort this out and have a nice end of the year and a quiet beginning of the next.

Happy Christmas and a good new year from us in Sweden to you!!!

So sorry you are having "pesky pest" problems... but do have a Merry Christmas and know that those who love The Fool will love it all the more because of the love and time (and your hair!) that went into it!

Last May I ordered a new very expensive high capacity computer with audio and video editing capabilities. It was delivered in September and didn't work. The outfit who built it and promised me that it would do it all and incorporate all the files and programs on my present computer lied and offered to deal with each of the many problems for $125 an hour.

It is now with another expert, honest and much less expensive, who is trying to rebuild it properly.

So I sympathize and have no problem with your delays.

Try to enjoy the holidays!

Don't worry Cliff. I have paid for the game and know you are working as hard as you can. Take your time and Don't Kill Yourself Over This!

There is no problem with me. Whatever time it takes - don't worry about me. I am behind you all the way. Take a break and enjoy the holidays!

Good luck. That is the reason I am moving toward less computer programming and more data analysis, as debugging annoys me to no end. I can't stand spending hours upon hours to find some small silly little bug. Hope it goes well for you (for your sanity's sake; I can wait longer for the game).

Hang in there, Cliff. We'll be loving it whenever it comes out.

As a software developer, I fully understand the misery of the One Last Bug That Breaks Everything And Can't Be Tracked Down. I wish you good luck in finding and eliminating the offending code, and I will endeavor to be patient for just a little bit longer.

I've been playing your old games again the last week or two (quality entertainment which doesn't require an internet connection is a godsend when you've just moved and you're waiting for your DSL service to come back on), and I have been reminded of just how much I enjoyed them. I expect great things from the latest installment, and would not want to settle for a less-than-perfect release. :-)

Take your time, break a leg and enjoy the holidays!

<insert "a fool and his money" joke here>

Thanks for the update, take your time, I'm really looking forward to the finished product. I have plenty of other games that were rushed to market to keep me busy in the meantime. I'll be patient for the good stuff...

And the best holiday gift you can give me is to also manage to have a nice holiday - I'm certain you really deserve it :-)

I, for one, am willing to be patient.

As a fellow software developer (in more boring products) I understand perfectly. Get it done well. I've waited around 20 years for a sequel, won't be a matter of a few more weeks ;o)

I will continue to patiently? wait. ;c)

Rest easy Ye merry fool; It’s almost as amusing to hear from you from time to time, than to get the game, play it & finish it. I guess it’s kinda like kids getting that Christmas present they had to have, only to toss it aside.

Thanks, Cliff. Those of us who dream of recapturing the joy we had in playing the original Fool's Errand are eager but able to wait. Enjoy your holidays if you can!

Can't wait, but I can and I will. I know it will be worth it.

I really really really want to play this game! But I'm glad you are taking the time to knock out all these nasty bugs. I know this game will be a blast once it's done. I hate to say this since the longer you take, the longer it will be before I can really figure out how big a Fool I am, but take as much time as is necessary for you to feel this game is complete.

And I say this as a fellow game programmer, be sure to take off plenty of time for the holidays and enjoy yourself! I'm glad I am able to support this project and hope to see more in the future! (After you take a nice long vacation of course. :))

And I really want to play! ...but I can wait. Don't put yourself through extra expense just to get it out sooner.

Have at, Cliff. I'm in no big rush. I'd rather see you get the bugs out on the front end than be issuing patches, etc.

I've been reviewing games for 12 years. The last thing I want is a product that isn't ready to ship.

My faith in your integrity keeps me warm this winter. :)

Rest up and have happy holidays....we'll be OK.....

As a fellow programmer, all I can say is... been there, done that. I'm only sorry I have no relevant Macromedia experience to offer you. If you want stupid, but non-obvious suggestions, I'll be happy to provide.

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