Here’s a screenshot of something I’ve been playing around with. It’s just a proof of concept, but I was wondering if it would be worth it to put some time into full 3D for Planet in a Bottle 2.0 possibly. Let me know what you think.
BTW, I’ve got some updates coming soon for the current version.
I finally got around to pushing an update to my most popular game Planet in a Bottle. As some of you might know, these games are a side project of mine, and sometimes I need to go to my normal day job so I don’t starve. That said, I was able to put some time into some much needed graphics updates and interaction improvements. Also included in the update are many bug fixes and the addition of a background service to keep levels a little more consistent between opening the app. This background service will also enable some interesting features to come.
So, if you already have the game, you can update it like any other Android app in the Android Market. If you haven’t yet tried it, go ahead and jaunt over to the Android Market to get it for free.
Some more tips for how to play Planet in a Bottle. Much is covered in the in-game instructions, but my analytics tell me people would rather Google for help. Check it out here
A new Android App, “Sexy Simone” was released by the guys at webOnyx this week with much anticipated fan fare. What’s the hubbub? webOnyx’s first game, Combo Breaker, is a free “Simon Says” type game, but with Sexy Simone they’ve, shall we say, made many augmentations that are worth checking out.
Simon Says (or Combo Breaker) is where players repeat the ‘Pattern’ made up of a sequence of colored lights and sounds. They are billing Sexy Simone as, “…a sexy version of a classic game with a twist.” The lead android developer for the webOnyx says, “It was time to introduce our fans to Simon’s sexy little sister, Simone.” Improving the Combo Breaker game by making a few tweaks to the audio and adding a few surprises under the colored squares. This Sexy Simone is a good-time vixen.
Like most of the webOnyx apps it is an enjoyable and challenging game to play and is a welcome improvement from the Combo Breaker Google Android App, which was by their own admission, “…bare bones.” Adding, “We wanted to find out if we had something users wanted. Once we know that it is, it is just a matter of doing what good Android dev companies should do – listening to the feedback and incorporating the changes and improvements they want to see. It is a real give and take market place and we enjoy the collaboration with the users of our products and we really listen to what they have to say.”
And listen they did. Other than a commonly quoted, “not enough information on how to play” which we all can agree falls in the category of, “things that disqualify you from playing or rating any free Android App” the number one issue users (me being one) with the Combo Breaker Android app was the level of play. It did not progress in difficulty or challenge the player.
This is not the case with Sexy Simone. The better you get the more she plays hard to get, making Sexy Simone a real home run (or so I hope). It is also fitting for the webOnyx goal of having apps that entertain and/or challenge the users for about ten minutes.
This is exactly what I did. I downloaded the Android app Sexy Simone just before visiting my…shall we say… “second office”, and played for about 10 minutes. During this time Sexy Simone gave me a few laughs, challenged the gamer in me, and left me feeling satisfied.
The second time I played was at a Happy Hour. The ten minute goal was demolished as every able bodied drinking person around me downloaded the app or took my phone to play with Simone. Yes. I know. I am a geek, but at least we were playing with the lovely and talented Simone.. Nicely done webOnyx – look forward to seeing more, quite literally, of Sexy Simone.
Musts: Play it with sound, do the happy hour test – seriously – see if you can play it once without someone asking about it, enjoy it in your “second office” Download Sexy Simone on your Google Android Phone by searching: “Sexy Simone” from your phone in the Android Market and let us know what you think!
PseudoBlue is an Android app developer and a friend of webOnyx. His released apps, “Green Tree” and “Planet In A Bottle” have seen over 100,000 downloads. He is a conosuier of Google Android Apps and reviews at least one per month. Have a suggestion for PseudoBlue? Post a reply here.
Planet in a Bottle updates have been pushed to version 1.1.0. The main reason was the negative age bug people were complaining about. With this update your age should be converted back to the correct positive value. However, I apologize for any achievements you may have missed while having a negative age. (If anybody cares) The problem was an accidental conversion from an int to a long, so it was only manifested when the planet’s age (in millis) was over the maximum signed integer value.
I also took the chance to add a little counter for your population. I guess now age is the only thing you would need to open the stats screen to see. Maybe I’ll just put that on the main screen and ax the stats dialog altogether.
Thanks again for all the feedback and bug reports! You people are awesome!
I released my new game for Android a couple days ago and got a great response! Thank you to everyone who showed interest! However, some of you may have noticed that there are some problems. Because this app was very difficult to test fully (it would take days to do one test run), it was released prematurely.
I will do some work on it and test it over the next couple days before re-releasing it with the same title. The new version will be the full, uninhibited version and hopefully bug-free.
I think I’m probably one of the two people to quit their job during the recession. The other guy already had a better job lined up. I guess I should be freaking out right now, but I’m really not. The decision was made in my head a few weeks ago, but the advise my family unknowingly gave me over the holiday break really was the tipping point. I don’t want to stay in web development all my life and if I stayed, I likely would not be able to move to other areas of technology.
Look out for some new Android apps in the next few weeks. Mobile devices has always had my interest, so right now I’m taking the time to learn as much as I can and possibly find a new career in it.