After a rather prolonged journey through Apple’s approval process the updates for our iPhone title Turbo Duck have now been released.

The updates include the launch of a free Lite version, and an update to the main app (with a special offer price of 99 cents.)

Full App updated to version 1.1
The game, which has users race against the clock to guide a rubber duck around a pool, avoiding hazard and collecting flags, has been updated to version 1.1 which includes:
* Global high scores – post your scores to see how you compare against everyone else
* Freeplay mode – play with the water, double tap the screen to feed your duck
* Improved Duck controls and bug fixes.
* Special offer price of 99 cents

App store link: Turbo Duck full app

Free Lite version launched
The free version contains:
* 3 levels of watery fun plus
* Freeplay mode – play with the water, double tap the screen to feed your duck
* Turbo Duck now even more turbo charged!
* Even more special price – Free

App store link: Free Lite version of Turbo Duck

Meeting with Microsoft in Seattle today to go through the latest build of Space Ark. The team have been busting a gut to get a whole bunch of features working so the game was really starting to look good. Then, as of a week ago they came up with an extra new combo feature, which make the game way more addictive. I am really looking forward to sitting down with our Account Manager and going through the new stuff with him.

We should have a new game play video showing the latest progress any day now.

In addition to meeting with Microsoft I am visit an old friend Colin Gordon, who runs Valcon Games (ever so slightly smaller than Microsoft) in Redmond, Washington.

Following the release of our iPhone game Turbo Duck we wanted to develop another small project in parallel with our XBLA game Space Ark. The project we chose to develop was Soup. and we thought we would share this post-mortem with you which details what went right and what went wrong with the development.

The high concept for Soup was to create something that gave the gamer a warm happy feeling. We knew from the start that very little of our existing tech would be suitable for the project so Simon (our Technical Director) was tasked with designing a new set of tools for the project. The following image shows what was needed to create Soup.

The tools included 1 large onion, two potatoes, one sweet potato, a clove of garlic, one cup of chicken stock (you can use vegetable), one cup of white wine, 2 tablespoons of oil and some herbs (Basil, Thyme and Oregano). In addition we built the levels using a large knife and a wok (a large saucepan is also fine) and a blender.

Our knife tool was left over from a previous project and was only version 1.1 (blunt). Simon upgraded it to version 2.0 (cutting edge). Once the tools were ready he passed them to Derek (Production Director) who, would be responsible for the game play programming on Soup. While he was preparing the game engine the designers were creating assets for the levels.

The oil was added to the wok and the finely chopped onion was fried over a medium heat until it started to turn translucent. While this was happening the potato, sweet potato and the garlic were all peeled. The garlic was finely chopped while the potato and sweet potato were cut into roughly one inch squares. The stock cube was added to a cup full of hot water and the designer had a glass of the white wine.

The potato, sweet potato, garlic and stock were all added to onions in the pan, the designer took another swig of wine and then added one cup full to the pan.

Note: Don’t add too much wine (one cup will do) – you want plenty left for yourself.

Next half a teaspoon each of dried Basil, Thyme and Oregano were added and the soup was brought to the boil then turned down and left to simmer for 15 minutes, or until the potato and sweet potato become soft.

With most of the levels assembled Soup was then put through an intensive testing phase to get the lumps out (1-2 minutes in the blender should do fine). Soup was then returned to a large pan to simmer. The designer tested it and added a little salt and pepper to taste. Soup seemed a little too thick at this point so a little extra wine and stock was added.

What went wrong during development?

Our version of knife was out of date and needed to be upgraded. This caused some problems for the designers at the beginning. There wasn’t quite enough wine for both the designer and Soup. In hindsight we should have made sure more wine was available before starting the project.

What went well during development?

Soup was quite a short project, scheduled for just 30 minutes development. Once our version of knife had been upgraded asset production was very quick and easy so the project came in on time.

The taste was excellent and Soup was filling and warming, thus meeting the project original design specifications.

Soup is best served with some crusty bread and yet more wine.

Warning: Soup is not compatible with Xbox 360, Playstation 3, Wii, PC, iPhone or any other gaming hardware. If you get Soup on your console or PC immediately turn off your console and wipe off the Soup with a damp cloth.

Strawdog Studios are releasing Soup as freeware and hope that users will take the tools and create their own user generated Soup.

Coming soon: Lettuce wrapped Chinese chicken with cashew nuts

The guys over at Console Arcade just posted an interview we did with them last week. In it we talk about our fondness for bright colours and the fact that Digital Distribution may let developers escape the problems of retail publishing but it also presents you with a whole new set of challenges.

You can check out the whole piece over at http://www.console-arcade.com/features/strawdog-studios-interview/

When it’s on the iPhone App Store. Apples original app rating/reveiew system was rather flawed in its implementation. It only prompted a user to rate an application when they were removing it and, by default, had the user rating set to one star. Users who weren’t really interested in rating an app would automatically accept the default rating, leading to apps with a large number of one star reviews – and a lot of unhappy developers.

Of  course some of these users may have actually wanted to assign one star – after all they are uninstalling the app so it probably isn’t their favorite game of all time. Hoever many were almost certainly just hitting a button to accept the default as the quickest way to get through the process. Now, according to reports the version 3.0 update has the default set to no stars and the user must select a rating from one to five stars.

Users are still being prompted to rate the game while uninstalling it, which is far from ideal. It would be much better to prompt for a review after they have played the game 5 or ten times – or to not prompt at all. Leaving it to people who feel strongly about a to go and rate it. Still at least now there is a better chance that users will pause for thought and select a more meaningful rating instead of just accepting the default one star.

As detailed in a story on GI.biz (here) the UK government have finally decided that video games sold in the UK will now be rated exclusively by the pan European ratings body PEGI. This finally eliminates the long running dual ratings system in which PEGI (http://www.pegi.info/en/index/) rated games that did not require a UK 18 rating and the BBFC (http://www.bbfc.co.uk/) would rate games that required an 18 rating.

The past
The BBFC was designated as a body able to classify movies (and games) under the Video Recordings Act 1984. However it was not a legal requirement to get a game classified unless it meets the criteria necessary for it to be classified 18 or 18R.

For those games that didn’t meet the requirements for an 18 rating there was a voluntary ratings system in place. It was down to the developer/publisher to ensure they submitted to the right system and if you distributed a film/game without an 18 classification, which was later found to require an 18 rating, you could face a hefty fine and/or imprisonment.

As of now
Following the Byron report and some hard lobbying by various trade bodies the UK government have decided that the BBFC will no longer be involved in rating games. The PEGI system will be adopted for all games, thus eliminating the annoying duel system. This new process will be managed in the UK by The Video Standards Council (VSC/PEGI Article)

As a small independent developer looking to self-publish some of our titles we welcome our new PEGI overlords. Anything that simplifies the age rating process is a good thing for us.

Gamasutra posted a story about forthcoming changes to Xbox Live Community Games and (importantly for us) Xbox Live Arcade.

“…..Microsoft also revealed that, in response to user feedback, it would add user ratings to both community games and much of the Xbox Live marketplace content, including Xbox Live Arcade and game add-ons. Ultimately, the company will add the ability for users to sort content by rating.”

A more in-depth filtering and recommendation system would be a big plus but user ratings are at least a step in the right direction.

The full piece is at http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=24008

A busy week at Strawdog central. Everyone is busting a gut to get to the next milestone on Space Ark as well as finalising an update for our iPhone title Turbo Duck (iTunes link).

We are going to be launching a free Lite version of the game so that people can try it out, as well as adding some updates to the main app. More details on what is coming and when as soon as it is nailed down.

We are currently preparing to post our latest Space Ark video which should be ready in a few days. Just so you have something to compare to I thought I would post the very first Space Ark visualisation trailer to our Youtube channel. This video was created when the game had the working title Bounce.

This video was produced as part of the Microsoft pitching process. The video, along with various documentation, was submitted to MS in order to get approval to publish Space Ark on Xbox360 Live Arcade.

As well as our recently announced Twitter feed (http://twitter.com/StrawdogStudios) you can now also keep up to date with the dogs via our new Facebook page. Check out http://www.facebook.com/pages/Strawdog-Studios-Ltd/79843542837

We will also be posting a Space Ark development blog in the next couple of weeks as well as Space Ark videos on our Youtube channel (http://www.youtube.com/strawdogstudios).