Dawn approached stealthily

With the Solstice nearly upon us, I thought I’d post an update on the status of the Android version.

Firstly, to be clear, I’m not going to have a final release ready for Friday. I apologise for any disappointment that generates, but I think it’s for the better.

Over the last two weeks, in between getting everything ready for the release of the game, Website, Documentation, Press Release, and other final flurries, I’ve been trying to get the Android version working. The good news is that it does. I have it completely playable on my Nexus 7. The problem is with a) the sheer number of resolutions that need to be supported, and b) not actually knowing what those resolutions are. I noticed for the first time when I ran the app on my Nexus 7, that the expected 1280×800 became 1280×736-ish because of the Nav Bar. This means that although I have a list of a large number of resolutions to support, I don’t actually know what they really are. Making the resolutions support having to be even more robust than I expected.

This on the whole, it is. However I have been having issues with the landscaping, which I have struggled a little to resolve. This is partly because I don’t fully understand the process not being a 3d programmer, and the landscaping being 3d maths. Landscaping was originally written for 4:3 aspect resolution and I’ve had to tweak it for others. Sadly, Mike would have dealt with this in two shakes of a Skulkrin’s sleep frost.

I’ve nearly resolved the issues, it’s working on most of the test resolutions I’m trying, just a little tweaking to do. But even if I have it finished by tomorrow, there is no way I can release it into the wild without more major testing.

Hopefully what I can do, is make a version available by Friday that can be side loaded onto Android devices for a quick test against as many real devices as possible, with a view to releasing on Google Play the following week if all goes well.

8 thoughts on “Dawn approached stealthily

  1. sounds good. i’ll be interested in taking it for a test drive on my two android devices. well done on getting this far.

  2. All sounds very good news Chris. I wasn’t expecting anything for Android until late January at the earliest anyway, so I’d say don’t bust a gut, be happy with it first and then release it. If it helps, I have a Galaxy Note (Phone) and would be happy to have a look on that regards sizing etc.

  3. Hi Chris ,

    I have downloaded the IPad version today. I hope the sales are going well. I also have a Samsung Galaxy S2 android phone so I am happy to test it on that if you want.

    Scott

  4. Hi Chris ,

    I have downloaded the IPad version today. I hope the sales are going well. I also have a Samsung Galaxy S2 android phone so I am happy to test it on that if you want.

    Scott

  5. You’ve done well Chris. Have a good Christmas. And if a lowly galaxy ace 2 is any good for you ‘Im free !’

  6. At last it has become a reality. Great work Chris, you are going to make a lot of people very happy.
    If you need a tester for the PC-Windows version, I am more than willing to lend a hand. I am sure it will be more pleasure, than work.

  7. You are now on the new and note worthy for ALL GAMES which is quite an achievement considering there are only about 15 in that list and over 50 games released every day. Well done. Loving playing it, would now love to see things like

    Difficulty levels, jus double the enemy starting size
    Different strategies for doomdark, would blow me away if he just charged right down to xajorkith and ignored all other keeps
    Ability to pinch and zoom out of the character map so I can see more

    Nothing that changes the game a lot, but adds enough to keep it fresh even for those of us who have completed it many times over.

    Well done again, and thanks for sticking with it.. Now less reading, and more converting doomdarks revenge please 😉

  8. Or really turn it on its head, and make Doomdark and his forces playable 😉

    Or get people to devise strategies for doomdark and implement them as AI

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