Think I’ve found a bug around the save/checkpoint system used by cogdemos.ink:
If the player reloads the page or returns to game after closing the window, forcing the site to load a checkpoint from local or server cache then Choicescript doesn’t load in scene files properly and instead once it reached the end of the current scene file it simply displays the “play again” options.
How the final page of scene day0.txt should look like as it’s followed by day1_scene01.txt:
I’ve tested it while logged into my account using server and local saves as well as logged out and also on mobile. Using different browsers also results in the game bug. I’m not sure if it’s actually a site bug or something wrong with CS itself. If it’s the latter then feel free to kick it towards Dan I guess.
And for those affected here’s a temporary solution that fixes it without losing progress in a game:
Make a new manual save while on the page that has this “play again” bug
Press “Play again” to reload the game files
Go into the saved games menu and load the save you made in step 1
That should make it possible to go into the next scene file and continue the game normally
Thanks for this. Several others have found the same bug/workaround. Looking at it, I think the problem is that, although the code allows for players to quit the game and go back to where they left off after closing the browser, it’s not registering startup.txt when they open it again. I sent instructions to the dev on how to reproduce it, and get around it.
He had asked me to try using mygame.js, but that shouldn’t be necessary since (for unpublished games) startup.txt replaces it. I did try putting it in the ‘mygame’ directory, but still got the error. I tried creating it from scratch with all of the stats and achivements, but still go the error. Startup.txt is going to have to be reloaded after the browser is closed, I do believe. He’s been sick, so it may be a few days before he gets back to me on it.
So, just finished a section of my book and went to put it up on Dashing Don before rreelizing I forgot the password. Tried recovering it, but it hasn’t shown up in my Email yet, I checked all the mailboxes I could think of, and then tried recovering it again just to make sure I hadn’t missed something.
Anyone else having this issue, and would anyone know how to fix it?
Anyway, I hope you who read this have a good rest of you’re day/week.
Please send a message to dash@donelliston.com from the email address you used to register (to verify ownership) and I will reply with a temporary password for your account.
I am no longer able to maintain the dashingdon.com system and server. It is terribly outdated and there are creeping security concerns. So, unfortunately, I will be shutting down the service at the end of this month. The URL will be redirected to cogdemos.ink and all users and games will be permanently deleted (mostly to prevent any user/pass/email leaks).
This community is a small light in the vast darkness and it was a great honor to provide this service to my fellow writers for as long as I was able.
Please move your content to cogdemos or another service of your choice as soon as possible.
Is there any way a preservation effort can be undertaken before the shutdown? There are so many dead WIPs that’ll never get migrated, some of which are quite robust. It feels a shame to just… leave them.
I’m not sure of the ethics behind it, but it is under good intentions. You can pull the scenes from those wips by adding “scenes” to the end of the URL, after the “mygame/” part. It will display the text files, and you could save each one.
Thank you for lending your giant shoulders for the rest to succeed on. I’ll look back fondly on the how this community supported each other and cobbled things together while everything was still taking off.
As for what’s to come, I eager await a save management system from whatever IF hosting service takes over. The old way was inaccessible and opaque; we are lucky Dashingdon is retiring the site responsibly <3
Thank you so much for your efforts for keeping this site afloat! Sad to see it go but whatever the reason may be I hope you know you did an amazing job and it was much appreciated!
I am a long time fan of your work and server, since 2013. Perhaps even longer, since I was still in elementary school when I first began reading WIPS hosted. Your maintenance and hard work was the bedrock as to how came to meet the COG forum community at large.
Just now, a friend saw the announcement and pinged me to the news, and I just want to come and say thank you for everything you’ve done for the community in hosting Dashingdon all these years and allowing readers like me to stumble across it and fall in love with the site, stories, and beautiful arts.
Your work has made very deep and inspiring impacts for me, and encouraged me to learn how to transition from writing fanfictions to taking the leap in learning to code and make my own story available.
From the bottom of my heart, thank you for your server and for keeping it up for as long as you have. I am a big lurker, but it was your work and COG that allows me to start bringing some smaller ideas to life.
Thank you for the past decade, and all the sweet memories and inspiration that come from a server as communally-binding and uplifting as Dashingdon.
Truly, thank you. For your contribution and for a decade of shaping our experiences with COG and hosted text games.
Truly, thank you. 
For your contribution and for a decade of shaping our experiences with COG and hosted text games.