MonDAY, July 13, 2009
Big Fat iPhone?

Some of you may have tried my latest flash game, Bathroom Simulator. Although the game is not a new concept, and certainly not my invention, I enjoyed creating my own version of how I thought the game should be, with my own graphics, sounds and personal rules of bathroom etiquette. Before releasing it as a free flash game, I actually developed the game as an iPhone application using xCode.

Unfortunately, I ran into a major issue when it came time to submit the game to iTunes Connect, the agency used to collect applications from developers like me. My digital certificate was either invalid, or appeared invalid. Digital what? That was my reaction, after investing 20 hours in the project, only to hit a barricade at the very end of the process.

Well, I was not alone. I googled the issue and found others who had a similar experience. Many of whom I spoke with had managed to resolve the issue, but not me. Being new to xCode and iPhone programming, this was extremely frustrating. Now I was investing even more hours trying to resolve an issue that still exists somewhere deep in the guts of my app.

At that very time, Airport Madness 2 was gaining traction. I became busy with adding features, answering emails and squashing bugs, and decided that AM2 was more worthy of my attention than the iPhone app. So I shelved it. One month later, somebody else beat me to it, and their iPhone application became the #1 freebie for over a week. Ouch.

The experience kind of turned me off of iPhone programming, and so I decided to go ahead and launch Bathroom Simulator anyway, as a free online flash game. It's done OK. Since then I've totally embraced Flash, Flex and all things Actionscript. My next game, Sky Madness comes out in a week, not as a continuation of Airport Madness, but more as a close relative of it. I also have two other flash games that I am working on, and have also promised everybody that there will be updated builds for Airport Madness 1 and Airport Madness 2 by the end of August.

I am planning to port these games over to the iPhone in the near future. As I code up these flash games, my Macbook sits lonely on a shelf in my den, beckoning me to flip the lid and fire up xCode. Even my Actionscript hero Keith Peters, who has taught me just about everything I know of Flash through his wonderful books, has moved on to iPhone development. Although I intend to make many more Flash games, it makes sense to put these games on more than one platform, if possible. Maybe I'll develop them for Android as well.

wedneSDAY, July 8, 2009
Upcoming Game: Sky Madness

Airport Madness takes to the skies in my upcoming new game, Sky Madness. I know that I promised a screenshot over a week ago, but what can I say? There is always so much to do. The release date for this game is July 25, 2009.

This game obeys my new law, "less realism, more fun". To be a successful game, the fun factor definitely has to be there. Aside from a small die-hard group of ATC simmers out there, the masses just aren't looking for uber-realistic ATC games, so I am trying to come up with ways to simplify and intensify the game experience here.

The idea is to climb or descend all aircraft to their correct flight level without hitting any mountains, blimps, birds, restricted airspace or other aircraft. From my initial beta testing, I can tell you that it is definitely not as easy as it looks. I had intended to have this game ready by now, but had to abandon an original control interface concept that involved UP and DOWN buttons. All that mouse-clicking really sucked away the fun, so I've gone with a click-and-drag concept to reassign flight levels to aircraft.

There will be a free version and a full one. The full version will offer more levels, a continuous-play option, no ads, and will sell for just $4.95. The code is still wet (so to speak) so if you have any suggestions, please email me. I really hope to make another successful game from this 2D sky concept.

friday, june 19, 2009
Upcoming New Game

I am especially psyched about a new game that I am working on. I can't share a lot of details yet unfortunately, but it will be available here on July 10, 2009. I should hopefully have some screenshots up by July 1, 2009.

One of the great difficulties I experienced while programming the Airport Madness series was testing. I would receive an email about some aircraft that wouldn't line up with the runway properly, so then I'd fire up AM2 and wait patiently for 20 minutes until the scenario in question would finally occur. I would perform debugging sessions that lasted hours on end. What a time eater. I could be doing other stuff, like filing my taxes late.

During the creation of Airport Madness 2 I tried to be good about posting details of delays and troublesome bugs. Then finally somebody emailed me and said, "If you spent as much time coding AM2 as you spend writing about coding AM2, it would be done already!". Good advice, however I do intend to post my progress regularly on projects old and new.

Although I am moving forward with some new projects, I have not forgotten the existing ones. Airport Madness 1 is in need of an overhaul. Some bugs still exist, and it could use some of the features included with Airport Madness 2, such as pause and mute. Airport Madness 2 has some minor issues, and there will be a version 1.8 coming out for that in August.

Please don't hesitate to email me if you have any ideas for new or existing games of mine. Many of my ideas come from email that I receive. And if my emails sound a little short and blunt, please don't take it personally. I am trying to answer them all. Thank god for my iPhone.

friday, june 5, 2009
Bathroom Simulator

Here is a project that I originally published as an iPhone application, and last week decided to distribute it as a Flash game as well. There are several versions of this urinal game circulating the internet, so admittedly it is not an original concept. Here is my version of this great game idea, and I hope that you enjoy it.

The idea here is to test and improve your public washroom etiquette. You choose the most appropriate stall in a variety of situations. The Bathroom Simulator was inspired by several other games that are based on this concept, but mine has enough "extras" to hopefully get your attention.

The other urinal games are fairly basic, offering the player a variety of situations such as, "There's a guy on the left and a guy on the right, so which urinal will YOU choose?". I've really tried to pimp things up by adding sit-down stalls, busted urinals, and pervert bikers. The game is loaded with graphics, sound effects and music.

I always appreciate fresh ideas from people, so let me know if it is missing anything, or if it could be made better in some way.