Thursday, August 2, 2012

WazHack Android version brings Benefits for All

One of the beauties of multiplatform development is that improvements for one platform usually carry over directly to the other platforms.

While WazHack for Android was being developed, and was really only known to the folks on the wazhack IRC channel, I started getting words of thanks for the improvements to "mouse only play" in the Web version. Personally, I'm a WASD + Mouse guy, so there had been a lot of silly little usability uglies in the Web and Windows version if you tried to play only with the mouse.

Making the Android version forced me to cover every tiny case and to test every nook for ways to make the touch experience better, and all the mousers in the Web and Windows versions got the benefit of that before it even appeared on Android! I love the Web version: I'm sorry if web users feel they're in a constant beta program, but that version is the first place to get all new changes to the game - it only takes me 30 seconds to push an update, as opposed to days for the other platforms - you are my heroes.

WazHack under Unity Profiler with 1.0.13
The release of the first version for Android (WazHack 1.0.12), was admittedly quite jerky on a lot of older devices. With the new release (1.0.13), I can't say I've made it perfect on those old devices, but now I think anyone complaining should really just go get an upgrade - Samsung and Google really need your money ;-).  WazHack, unlike all the cheezy Zynga crap, has a lot going on beneath the visual surface of the game, and I would rather not cut back on game depth just to get 60fps.

I hope players on older Windows computers will enjoy the performance boost in 1.0.13 as much as those playing on an older Android device.

How do you get updates? It depends on the platform:

  • Android: open the Play Store, search for WazHack, and select Update. You can choose to update it automatically: I'll warn well in advance if a new version will lose your save games.
  • Web: nothing - you get the new version automatically! If you're impatient and know a new release just got published, press shift-reload a couple of times. You don't have to worry about losing save games: all old versions are kept on the server and loaded on-demand if you try to play an out-dated savegame.
  • Windows: in the Desura client, click the update button. For other versions, visit the site where you bought it and you'll get a download link. WazHack is currently on Desura and Indievania.

Still to come on the cross-platform front is better support for gamepads (no, I'm not thinking of targeting XBOX any time soon). The original Controls Options in the Web/Windows version was done to facilitate crazy ESDF players (hey, Ted!), but with a few changes it will also allow me to support Joysticks and Gamepads. Maybe this will make Xperia Play users happy?

And yes, I'll be targeting iPhone and Mac as soon as I can get myself a Mac Mini.

4 comments:

  1. After a year or so of trying to load Vulture's Eye on DosBox on my phone, I stumbled across this game. It is even better! The controls are a breeze (which they wouldn't have been if I got Vulture's Eye working) and it provides the depth I feel Dungeons of Dredmor is missing. Plus, I don't know how to save scum, which just about broke Nethack for me. (I drink the smoky potion. No wish? I reload.)

    Could you please release this game somewhere other than Google Play? Millions of less tech savvy Kindle Fire users won't be able to play this game. And let me tell you, getting the game was quite a hassle. It works great once you get it loaded up, however.

    This game is not open source, correct? Boy do I want to make a fork of it! SWASH'EM, anyone?

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    1. I would love to put it on the Kindle app store, but I don't have a Kindle Fire so I have no idea if it performs at all well. In-app-purchasing on Kindle Fire is also a mystery to me. My daughter keeps asking for a Kindle Fire, so it may happen yet! Open Source also creates the temptation of spoilers which are just as hard to resist. If you have ideas for the game, or even want to contrib a monster model, post or email me about it - plenty of things in WazHack came from player suggestions.

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  2. I think you'd create an account here:

    https://developer.amazon.com/welcome.html

    And then use the In-Game Purchasing API:

    http://www.amazonappstoredev.com/2012/04/announcing-the-in-app-purchasing-api-for-kindle-fire-and-other-android-devices.html

    I say like I have any idea whatsoever. Hey, I've created TWO mods for Project Zomboid. This should be a piece of cake.

    Speaking of mods, some modding tools would be awesome! That way, you don't have to release the source, but I can still get my crummy little fingers in it. Character models, I'm on it!

    There are no spoilers yet! I found a wand of probing and felt like I owed it to the community to flush out the wiki some.

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  3. Hi, I've posted a question on wazhack desura forum: http://www.desura.com/games/wazhack/forum/thread/localizations

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