This has been a tough decision, one I’ve been struggling with for a long time. If The Cloak Bot comes to an end, it will be heartbreaking for me too. But in many ways, the time it has spent in limbo has been just as heartbreaking—receiving questions, requests, and hearing amazing new ideas for the bot up to this day, yet knowing I couldn’t move it forward.
So now, I finally want to make a decision: Either The Cloak Bot gets a second life, or it’s time to say goodbye.
A Project That Changed Lives
I’m incredibly humbled and grateful for what The Cloak Bot has meant—not just to me, but to the amazing team that built it.
It all started as an initiative at my workplace to give a group of teens from challenging backgrounds a way into UX design and coding. What began as an educational project quickly became something much bigger. The team kept coming up with creative ideas, and over time, The Cloak Bot evolved into an invaluable tool for many servers.
But beyond the bot itself, the impact on the team was even greater. Many of those who worked on it have since graduated as designers, and some even work in my department today. Seeing that transformation has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my life.
And Then, There Was All of You
None of this would have been possible without the players, server admins, and community members who used and enjoyed the bot. Your engagement made it possible for me to secure funding from both my company and the government in the first place. And beyond that, you brought me so much joy just by having fun with it.
So from the bottom of my heart: Thank you.
What Happened?
With such a success story, you might be wondering—what went wrong?
- The ALTA Integration Collapse
The Cloak Bot relied on an integration provided by ALTA, which was never properly maintained. Eventually, it stopped working completely. We saw this coming and searched for a developer to rebuild the middleware, but as an educational project, we had no budget for hiring. - The Shift to Voice Integration
When Google ended support for Assistant Skills, our focus had to shift to maintaining the voice app. With limited resources, this left The Cloak Bot in limbo. - Game Limitations & API Issues
We had big plans for new features, but we kept running into limitations within A Township Tale. The API claimed to support certain functionalities, but in reality, they were often buggy, slow, or didn’t work at all as described by ALTA. - The ALTA Bot Crash
No explanation needed—anyone who was around knows exactly how that ended. - Failed Attempts to Secure Funding
When it came time to present our progress and roadmap for new funding, we had nothing concrete to show. Everything depended on ALTA fixing bugs… on finding a new developer… on a whole lot of ifs. Without a clear way forward, funding dried up, and I had no way to continue the project. - Life Happened
On a personal level, I also had to take a step back for a while to focus on my own life.
One Last Call – Do You Want The Cloak Bot Back?
Despite everything, I still get questions about The Cloak Bot to this day. And that makes me wonder—maybe it’s not over just yet?
So here’s the deal: The bot’s core is still there. The only missing piece is the middleware—the bridge between the ALTA API and our backend server API. If someone is willing to take on the challenge, I’m more than happy to:
✔️ Hand over the bot code
✔️ Provide the environment for development
✔️ Assist however I can
✔️ Fix any issues related to the game logic backend (not the bot itself)
Current Season: Last Breath
In light of the bot’s uncertain future, we’ve titled the current season “Last Breath,” running from March 1 to March 30, 2025. This season symbolizes our struggle against the challenges posed by ALTA’s integration issues. While there are no material prizes, participants have the chance to earn appreciation and contribute to preserving a valuable tool for our ATT server.
Deadline: The Clock is Ticking
This is not an open-ended offer. If no one steps up to take over the project, I will likely shut down both the bot server and the backend server.
I want to make it clear that this is not a decision I take lightly. Walking away from The Cloak Bot after everything it has been would be painful—but so has watching it sit in limbo, unable to fulfill the potential so many of you still see in it.
Where and When to Talk About It
Until then, I will be hanging out on The Cloak ATT server every Sunday at 20:00 CET (Germany time).
That translates to:
🕗 3:00 PM (Eastern Time, US)
🕗 2:00 PM (Central Time, US)
🕗 1:00 PM (Mountain Time, US)
🕗 12:00 PM (Pacific Time, US)
Feel free to join me there if you want to talk about the bot or just hang out.
I will also be answering messages on Discord, so if you can’t make it to the ATT server, you can still reach out.
This is NOT a promise to revive the bot.
It’s a call to see if someone out there wants to try.
If you think you’re up for it, reach out to me.
If you know someone who might be, tell them to reach out.
Let’s see if The Cloak Bot still has another life left in it.
– Ray
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