Droid Odyssey BETA 1.06 Update RELEASE NOTES

We are just finishing off the final touches for the upcoming 1.06 update to Droid Odyssey BETA.

This update focuses on bug fixes, primarily associated with some control responsiveness issues reported.  Unfortunately on some earlier devices we are seeing issues in control responsiveness and despite our best efforts it seems this is actually an Android problem:

http://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=7836

For users experiencing these problems, if you are fortunate enough to have a hardware keyboard we are adding customizable keyboard controls to this release.

This should help users with devices running older Android versions (including Motorola Cliq users).

We are also introducing an alternate on-screen control option to avoid problems on some devices where the on-screen controls are a little too close to the handset home/back buttons (including HTC Aria users).

We’re aiming to push this update out in the next day or so.

Thanks!

 

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Support for Droid Odyssey BETA continues to grow

We are getting some wonderful feedback, and a couple of very complimentary reviews.

Here’s one posted recently:

http://www.indiegamemag.com/droid-odyssey/

Thanks Meg!

And another one.. a little older but no less appreciated:

http://www.droidgamers.com/index.php/game-news/android-game-news/855-droid-odyssey-beta-a-little-robot-and-the-ability-to-distort-the-laws-of-physics

Thanks Andrew.

Why the device permissions?

I couple of users have asked why Droid Odyssey BETA needs phone state permissions (android.permission.READ_PHONE_STATE).  This is a fair question so we thought we should explain this.

The game has a “Feedback” function in which users can respond directly to us with suggestions or bug reports.  In order to make this as valuable a process as possible, we use the READ_PHONE_STATE permission to gather information about the device.    Because there are literally hundreds of different devices running Android we can’t hope to fully test the game on all platforms, so we use this information to help us understand and diagnose any issues.

This device information is also sent to use when an unexpected error occurs in the app.. for the same reasons.

Here is an example of the information we gather:

Device ID: xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Game Version: 1.05 BETA
PRODUCT: htc_liberty
BRAND: cingular_us
DEVICE: liberty
DISPLAY: (480.0×320.0)
MODEL: HTC Liberty
ANDROID VERSION: 2.1-update1

We use the Device ID merely to track whether the same error is occurring several times on the same device.   The rest is fairly self explanatory.

Hope this clears things up!

Droid Odyssey BETA 1.06 update

We are just getting ready to ship the next update to Droid Odyssey BETA (v1.06).  This next release will contain a few new configuration options for the controls to accommodate users who have hardware keyboards, and particularly users for whom the on-screen controls interfere with core phone functions (HTC Aria users mostly).

We have also received reports of control responsiveness issues and are working to improve this.  Hopefully we can squeeze in some control response improvements in this release, but it may be pushed to the next release if we can’t devise a really good solution.

We are also working on incorporating some game play instructions in response to user feedback, and steaming ahead with level production in preparation for the full version release later this month (hopefully!)

Stay tuned…

Droid Odyssey Screenshots

Just a couple of screenshots…

Droid Odyssey BETA 1.05 Released!

We have just published an update to Droid Odyssey on the Android Market.

This update includes a number of bug fixes, chief of which was a re-write of some of the core audio systems to prevent some unwanted audio reloads mid-game that were causing lag on some devices.

Most importantly, this update contains a NEW LEVEL!!!

The new level, “They’re Out To Get You” marks the first introduction of enemy robots into the Droid Odyseey world.

Grab the update now and let us know how you like it!

 

Droid Odyssey Update Imminent

We are getting ready to release an update to the BETA version of Droid Odyssey and are just finishing up the final testing.

This next release is mostly a bug fix release.  We have been working hard to resolve the most common problems reported from our users.

These fixes should hopefully resolve some of the lag problems (which we believe are caused by unexpected reloads of audio files mid-game due to audio errors), as well as some other smaller problems.

We haven’t yet had a chance to focus on some of the more “game-play” style suggestions that have come through (faster moving platforms, better controls etc).  These will be coming in the next few updates.

We should have the update live in a couple of days.. so stay tuned.. (and watch out for a surprise inclusion!)

Thanks for the help Bug Reporters…

Amongst the many positive comments we are receiving for Droid Odyssey have been an equally welcomed set of bug reports and general game-play feedback.  We are working hard to resolve all issues prior to the full version launch, however it’s worth noting that two devices in particular seem to be having some problems with the game:

• Motorola Droid X
• Samsung Galaxy Tablet

If you have tried to play our game on either of these devices, or indeed any other device where you have experienced issues; please be patient (and kind!), we are doing our best to address all of these issues as and when we can.

Having said that, our Flurry stats are telling us that a touch over 96% of all games played were done so with zero errors (of course this doesn’t account for laggy controls, misaligned graphics etc).  Regardless of this, we know that at least 4% of our [current] user base has experience an error.. and this is just not good enough.

On current numbers this equates to around 450 people.  That’s way too many people to be getting errors.

So we are committed to resolving these issues, and hopefully the full version will work on all (well.. almost all) devices.

Droid Odyssey… early results from the front line

So it’s been two days since we launched the BETA version to the market, and the response has been fantastic.

So far we’re tracking at around 7,000 downloads, and our current average rating is steady at 4.5 stars.

Many people have volunteered both feature requests and bug reports, as well as many many positive comments for which we are all very grateful.  We are working hard to resolve the issues reported and plan to do regular updates to the BETA until all the major issues are ironed out.

Meanwhile we are also straining our brains to create an amazing set of puzzles for the levels to be included in the full version.

Thanks to all the people who have downloaded so far, and particularly to those who have posted comments on the Market and provided direct feedback from within the app.  Rest assured we are listening!

Stay tuned for more updates on the official release date of the full version.

Droid Odyssey BETA is LIVE!

We are very proud to announce that the first BETA version of Droid Odyssey is live on the Android Market:

Droid Odyssey BETA

http://market.android.com/search?q=pname:com.carboncrystal.ro

This BETA version includes the first 5 levels of the full game, and should help us weed out any pesky errors.

Download it and and give us your feedback!