Mario Galaxy 2 [Wii]

I personally haven’t played Mario Galaxy 2, but from what I hear is that it’s more Mario. Which is usually a good thing. Adam’s been taking his sweet time in playing through this game and recently beat it. He’s now playing back through Mario Galaxy 1. Only Mr. Miyamoto knows why.

Solipskier [iPhone]

This game’s mechanic was really fun. My first exposure to it was on my iPhone 4. If you’re on a flash capable device you can play solipskier on Mikengreg’s site. The music is great and the sense of speed you experience in the game is awesome. The design of the game is very tight, laser focused and very polished. TA’s review was positive, but interestingly enough it stirred up some controversy in the comments thread. The all important ‘price point’ was the contentious issue for what was on offer. To me, this game was worth it. They even have a 100% free version for those to check out first, so I feel the price is right. Worth checking out!

Archetype [iPhone/iPad]

Alright, this is a weird one for me. I bought this on my iphone 4. Then I bought it on my iPad (Archetype HD). The game feels nice. I think it’s probably the best FPS experience you can get on the iphone or ipad right now. The game from a technical standpoint is nothing short of impressive. The ability to jump in and out of multiplayer matches so easily with no hassle is no small technical feat. I really wanted this game to be “it” for multiplayer experiences for me on the go. So much so that I even gave the iPad version a try. Again, TA’s review I think is spot on that it’s the best on the platform. But I think that’s just it. It’s only the best on the platform. That doesn’t say to much considering there’s only a handful of decent FPS’s on it. It’s early yet so I feel this will only get better. To get an idea of where I’m coming from you should know that I’m not a fan of FPS games on the console. I’ve made due and spent tons of time playing on the 360 because the games themselves are great. But give me keyboard and mouse any day. I actually have a lot to say on this topic from a game design perspective, but I won’t go into it right now. Just know that Archetype is good fun and definitely worth checking out.

Shot Shot Shoot [iPad]

I played this game with a friend over the past weekend. I absolutely love the design of this game. A very pure competitive game that despite it’s simplicity in it’s rules elevates to something much more complex when you add the human element. Shot Shot Shoot provided lots of enjoyment, and if you’re looking for a fun competitive iPad game then this is it.

Starcraft 2 [Mac]

My current “addiction”. I’m playing this game more than I need to be probably (just ask Adam). I was hooked on the first Starcraft over a decade ago. Games like Warhammer 40k: Dawn of War got me mildly back into RTS’s, but at the time I was very much into online team-based FPS’s. I didn’t think I’d still be playing Starcraft 2 after the first couple of weeks, but there’ something about this game that keeps me coming back. The sheer depth mixed with the almost twitch-like gameplay mechanics for controlling your armies is a great mix and something I can sink my teeth into. Warcraft 3 didn’t do it for me, but I appreciate the things they tried in that game to help push RTS’s forward. Starcraft 2 harkens back to a much “simpler” era before RPG’s and RTS’s started having children.

New

• The all new Frostbite Game Mode!
• A new devastating weapon, the Burnicade!
• 7 new awards to earn!

Improved

• AGON updated to 1.5.1 – better leaderboard functionality
• player visibility improved

Fixed

• minor iOS4 issues
• sound effect issues

Thanks to all who’ve supported us! Next Up? Tilt to Live on the iPad!

To help celebrate this milestone for One Man Left Studios, we collaborated with freeappaday.com to promote Tilt to Live for a very limited time at the extremely ludicrous price of $free$ this weekend. So be on the look out! Got a friend who’s incapable of spending money? Are they on a strict app budget? They simply can’t find their wallet? Now’s the time to get them to jump in and have fun with Tilt to Live, on us .

… you’ll have to wait for the update to hear the rest .

So what else is new in the update? Lots of minor stuff, but the high notes are:

New Stuff

• New Music
• 6 new awards to earn
• Tilt sensitivity now available under options or the custom position screen
• You can now play tilt to live on your toaster. (finally!)

Improved Stuff

• Added some more graphical elements to Gauntlet mode
• Increased the invincibility time after getting hit in Gauntlet mode
• You can cross your eyes and play tilt to live in 3D mode. (James Cameron eat your heart out)

Fixed Stuff

• AGON pocket score display now shows correct number
• Music no longer cuts out
• No longer spawns hell demons devouring your family and dog after dying in first 5 seconds of Code Red (sorry about that one!)

The much requested tilt sensitivity is finally in, and boy does it help! I tend to crank it up because I’m lazy and the less tilting I have to do the better. It’s also great for those that wish to play at a steeper angle and were having problems with the horizontal movement.

So what’s next? Our June update will have even more new content with a new weapon and all new game mode.

• 2 new game modes: Gauntlet and Code Red. Each with their own AGON leaderboards!
• 6 new awards to earn and brag to your friends about
• New how to play screen that gives a slightly better explanation of WTF is going on
• Fixed a nasty bug causing devices with some international region formats to crash

As always with game development, we didn't get everything we wanted in this single update, but we certainly got the fun stuff :]. We’ve got a decently sized list of user-requested improvements and features that we didn’t have much time to work through in this update, but will be hopefully addressing in a little while. We’ve got a few more goodies in the coming months for Tilt to Live so watch this space.

Oh, and mucho thanks to TA for the honor of being one of the Games of the Month for March.

So what’s in this update?

Fixes/Improvements

• The “Quit Blowing Bubbles” achievement exploit is now fixed.
• Cluster Missiles and Blackhole pick ups are now correctly muted when you mute the SFX in the options menu.
• Pausing the game is now no longer triggered on the very edges of the screen, avoiding accidental pausing.
• Simplified in-game HUD. No more HUD elements that obstruct the playfield.
• Some new loading screen material.
• Other minor bug fixes

Calibration

I think our biggest complaint (and strangely enough also our biggest praise) was the calibration for movement. Looking through all the e-mails, tweets, forum posts, and facebook wall post, we have a contingent of users who, as far as I’m concerned, play the game literally like the custom icon implies. I’ll spare you the technical details of trying to get an accelerometer game to work in as many positions as possible.

Out of all the presets, Sleepy and Custom were having the most problems. Namely, when someone tried to play the game in a ‘vertical’ orientation (ie, 90 degrees from the Top-Down setting) they would lose horizontal control. So to remedy this we had to add a steering control scheme for those specific types of calibrations. It’s not the most elegant way of going about it because it introduces a bit more complexity to the player, but hey, you can now play in “Sleepy” without your arms getting  tired .

Pocket Scores and YOU

We also did some UI tweaks to help better convey how the awards work with the the weapon unlock system. There seemed to be a lot of confusion as to how pocket score related to weapons, which wasn’t very clear in the UI. So hopefully this’ll make that a little easier to understand.

Tilt to Live is off to an amazing start, and it’s only going to get better! So help support Tilt to Live by letting your friends know about us!

]]> http://www.onemanleft.com/2010/03/28/tilt-to-live-1-1-update-on-the-way/feed/ 7 http://www.onemanleft.com/2010/03/21/a-test-of-finesse/ http://www.onemanleft.com/2010/03/21/a-test-of-finesse/#comments Sun, 21 Mar 2010 15:40:39 +0000 Alex http://www.onemanleft.com/?p=71 Touch Arcade was kind enough to host our announcement for the new game modes we have planned in our April update!

Gauntlet

Run the Gauntlet to put your precision tilting skills to the test! In Gauntlet mode, players compete for the longest survival time rather than highscores or combos. Enemies waves will no longer relentlessly chase you. Instead, the dots work together to form an increasingly difficult treadmill course of smashers, battle axes, windmills, and more. It’s an entirely new gameplay experience! The difficulty curve will be comparable to our original gametype, a crescendo from manageable to kick-your-butt.

Code Red

Rather than guiding players along a polite difficulty curve, we’re chucking them off a difficulty cliff with Code Red mode. This gametype is best described as “Classic mode on crack”. Everything from Classic is there, but the red dots will spawn at their highest intensity right from the start. It’s tailor-made for experienced players that “just wanna get to the good part”, without enduring the buildup.

Here’s some wallpapers we put together that we figured some of you might enjoy using for whatever devious purposes you can conjure up. We’ve got ‘em sized for desktops and iDevices as well. Enjoy!

Click the thumbnails to open the full size images and save them.

iPhone/iPod Touch

Desktop Mac/PC

1024 x 768
1280 x 800
1280 x 1024
1440 x 900
1600 x 1200
1920 x 1200

1024 x 768
1280 x 800
1280 x 1024
1440 x 900
1600 x 1200
1920 x 1200

• App Advice – “The game is extremely addictive, so this review comes with not just caution, or a warning but a full scale alert. Alert: You will be addicted.”
• Touch Arcade – “…it shows an attention to detail and knack for the inventive that escapes many games we see on the AppStore.”
• PocketGamer – “A title like Tilt to Live is as much a warning as it is a call to action.”
• Games Uncovered – “Tackling tough achievements earns you rewards; but playing Tilt to Live is a reward unto itself. We can’t put it down.”
• AppModo – “Tilt to Live takes addictiveness to a whole new level! It is probably one of the best pick up and play games on the appstore!
• The Tanooki – “Tilt to Live is a shining example of what arcade iPhone gameplay should be”

There are several other sites I don’t have in front of me at the moment, so blame my disorganized self :[. A HUGE thanks to all the editors, contributors, reviewers, and previewers that worked with us over the past several weeks, even months, to get the word out on Tilt to Live! Adam and I are both hoping this is sign of good things to come…

Now, I’ve gotta finish up some prototype builds before the night is done …

In the meantime, I’m going to take this brief moment between projects and relax  a little bit with Assassin’s Creed 2…mmmmmm. I believe Adam is expanding his literary knowledge by playing through Dante’s Inferno, but don’t get me started…