The llamas are wrangled: Geodashing is back

[Lucien Van Elsen]

Hello fellow dashers,

I am writing to you today simply as a humble llama, hoping to help keep Geodashing alive for a new generation of players.

Like many of you, I followed Geodashing from its very early days and managed to participate in a few games back then. However, the usual demands of work and family ultimately kept me from playing as much as I would have liked. I had always promised myself that I would dive back into the game and play more once I retired.

That day has finally come, but alas, the original Geodashing site is no more. Since I am a software engineer by trade, I decided that reimplementing the game from the ground up with current web technology would be the perfect project to kick off my retirement.

I want to be fully transparent with the community: I did not have access to any of Scout's original code, the database, or even a working copy of the site to reference. I have rebuilt the engine entirely from scratch based on the rules and mechanics as we all remember them. Because of this, if you notice anything different in the dashpoint generation algorithms or the scoring rules from the original implementation, it is purely due to my own interpretation.

I did, however, reach out to Scout recently to share this project with him. I am thrilled to report that he has given the new site his blessing, and he even mentioned that he might participate in a future game! He was also kind enough to take a look at earlier beta versions of the site and offer some excellent suggestions that I have already integrated into this release.

The new site is currently up and running at https://geodashing.org . I have also set up a new email list specifically for players to connect, coordinate, and discuss the game. You can reach it at das...@geodashing.org .  A few intrepid cachers have already stumbled across the site on their own, and I thank them for their patience in waiting for this announcement.

I would be absolutely thrilled if you would take a look, explore the new interface, and perhaps even log a dash. I would deeply appreciate any and all feedback, especially from the veteran players who know the nuances of the game best. My goal is to recreate the experience as faithfully and respectfully as possible so that we can all keep dashing.

Thank you, and happy navigating,

Lucien

[David Ackrill]

Hi everyone,

I'm pleased that geodashing is back again, I have missed it over the last few years.

Just logged my first dashpoint, which I hope will be the first of many more to come.

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Morseman