Development Blog #8

iPhone App Development Blog #8

Hi folks. Ron here with your weekly iPhone App Development Update. Let me slip on some KCRW and get into the writing mood...

Lots to relate, things have been extraordinarily busy. I'll try to break it down and hit all the beats-

- Last week was bittersweet in so many ways. Ben compiled a new build were most of the rest of the gameplay was finally implemented; the game "feels" very close to how it is supposed to in it's final state, minus all the bells and whistles of course. We have one major hurdle left (gameplay wise) to tackle and then we'll be done with that phase! Surprisingly it feels like there's a much lower count of bugs/balance issues at this stage that we will have to resolve. The game plays remarkably well, I can't put it down (no I am not just saying this!)

- The bitter part? Another game using OUR EXACT WORKING TITLE and EXACT UNIQUE GAMEPLAY MECHANIC that we invented ourselves, and kept secretive, was announced for imminent release. What? What, really? This was, at first just very unreal - after a day or so we both got kind of down (I mean, what were the odds?) After a little more investigation into things, it appears like this may be beneficial for us after all, for reasons I will get into at another time. As of this moment we need to struggle to come up with a new name (no easy task). In the interim, the project will be referred to as 180, not impossible that we may keep that name (but I kinda hope we can come up with something a little smoother!)

- I went out with my buddy Andy and he donated his old iPhone to our development effort. This is HUGE since I have been going without the entire time (and my girlfriend is getting pretty tired of me using her phone for constant testing). I haven't even got to the phase where I am jazzed about all the stuff I can do with an actual iPhone yet, I am too immersed in development to mind.. I had just started scouring Craigslist for something, but even then they get snapped up if they're cheap and otherwise, too costly for my broke-ass..

- IndieCade is this week - Independent International Game Developer's Conference, just up the street in Culver City, Thurs Oct 1-4. $20/Day or $50/the whole magilla. HcG will be attending on the first day, at the very least. Never attended before, so we will see how it goes. We will be demoing our current build of 180 to interested parties (send an email if you'd like to meet up!)

- Los Angeles iPhone App Game Developer meeting (last Wednesday of every month) is this week the night before IndieCade, contact me if you'd like to be involved - it should be a good time!

- Been very very busy, spending a ton of time developing our social network relations. If you are reading this and wondering who the heck I am, at this point you get the gist! Welcome to the fold!

There's the skeleton of what's up. Overall things are good and in spite of the speedbump, our spirits are strong and our game is so much fun. I am trying to get some video uploaded for the beta testers, if you would like to be considered for inclusion in the program than drop me a line!

Lastly, Headcase Games needs your help - if you are reading this far, then you have at least a little interest in what we are all about, and for that we appreciate it! As we are still quite young and growing, we are dependent on our fans to help spread the word. Word of Mouth is the most powerful tool we can use to get some traction, as we near release for 180 we'll start ramping that up. In the meantime, please tell your friends to hit up our site if you feel they would be interested in our Retro Game of the Day feature, be our Fan on Facebook, things like that. Every little bit helps - in return. we promise to reward you with some really great games! Stay tuned!

-Ron