Hello everyone, I'm finishing up my 2nd app: SnoWords - and I want some really good feedback so I'm looking for beta testers! Here's a video of the most recent build (basically): For now, it's pretty close to being finished - at least gameplay-wise - and I'd really appreciate some solid feedback. Of course, I'd also like beta testers so I can catch any bugs that might still be present. I'm new to the whole beta testing thing but I think the way this works is that you PM me with your contact info and iPhone identifier if you're interested (if this is wrong, let me know). The only requirements for being a beta tester are: - You promise to give feedback on the app - You report any bugs that you encounter, and along with this give good detail of the situation - i.e. which game mode you were playing, how long you had been playing, any specific things you did that might have triggered the odd behavior. Oh, and some things that will be added after beta testing for sure (so you don't need to worry about this stuff in the feedback, unless you want to give me a specific idea): - Music - Options - Help (Come to think of it, I'll add this before I send it out for beta testing ) Let me know in this thread if you sent a PM, and thanks in advance to anyone that beta tests SnoWords I'm hoping to get it submitted around mid to late December and get it out some time in January.
Well, 95% of apps are getting approved within 2 weeks, so I'm probably going to submit around the 10th or something. It's not ready for submission and I'm not on any sort of deadline so I'm not going to rush it, Christmas was just my original goal.
I believe on the TA podcast they mentioned that Apple said you'd need to submit by Thanksgiving if you wanted to guarantee a Christmas release. On the other hand, you game looks like it has an all-around winter theme, so prob not crucial that you get it released for Christmas. Oh, and the game looks pretty fun. Can you build more than one word at a time on the snowballs at the bottom or just a single word?
I'm just guessing here, but there will probably be a ton of games for apple to get reviewed after taking Thanksgiving off. So it might take longer for your games get get approved in December.
Alright then, I changed it to say January release. As I said in the OP though the release date was never really important, just my personal goal. It makes sense that apps would take longer to get accepted this time of year so I won't be holding my breath for a Christmas release. As for the app, I don't currently have it set up so that you can make multiple words although you definitely aren't the first to ask about that. I think I'll add that in, shouldn't be too difficult at all. And so far I haven't received any PMs ... so far I've gotten almost universally positive response on the app so I'm a little confused why there's no interest in beta testing. The app is definitely not finished and I can absolutely still add stuff, so if you're thinking it just looks ok but it needs a certain upgrade/modification let me know, and if I like your idea I'll probably use it! If you have any interest at all please shoot me a PM for beta testing EDIT: Oh, and I forgot to mention. I currently have the game integrated with OpenFeint, but I've seen a lot of praise for Plus+ on these forums. Would it be a wise move to switch over? The actual code on my part for the OpenFeint stuff is hardly anything so it wouldn't be too much of a hassle (hopefully), is Plus+ really that much better? I'm curious what you all think, as I don't have experience with either.
As it does look like a Christmas themed game, I'm kinda glad you decided not to rush this. Look at all the submissions you'll be competing with around the same time, it's likely to get lost in the crush.
I thought about this, but to be honest I don't think it makes that much of a difference. While faster snowflakes would be harder to grab, there would be so many more of them that it would be fairly easy to make any words you wanted. Slower snowflakes are obviously easier to grab, but then you get less of them and may not get all the letters you were hoping for to make your word. I do have the snowflakes speeding up as the level moves on though. So far you're the only person to suggest this, and while I thought about it I don't think I'll add difficulty levels unless more people think it would be helpful. And I'm glad you think it looks fun, PM me your UDID if you're interested in beta testing Sure, just PM me your iPhone/iPod touch's UDID. Thanks to the few who have PM'd me so far, I think the app is pretty much ready for beta testing but I want to wait a few days and hopefully get a few more testers, and also add a few things.
Thanks, anyone else who was interested but hasn't PM'd me yet please do so I can add your device to the beta. I'm hoping to set it up tomorrow and get it out either tomorrow or Tuesday.
Would be nice if you had a summer mode too. Like bubbles maybe with in app purchase for a summer theme.
You pretty much don't have a choice at the moment since Plus+ is not available to the general public. You have to apply and get accepted to the program, which is currently rather difficult.
Thanks, and it's fine if you send me the UDID tomorrow. That's an interesting idea...I hadn't considered other themes since I've chosen the name SnoWords, but despite its mismatch with the name a summer mode with bubbles could be cool. They would float up instead of falling down..I'd have to talk to my artist and think about it but that's an interesting idea. Maybe if this one does well I'll just release a second version with a summer theme Yeah, I wasn't aware of that when I asked but I went and checked a few days ago and noticed..I applied but I'm sure the odds of me getting accepted are extremely low. I'll definitely switch if I get accepted but obviously it's a longshot.
Thanks, beta is almost ready..I need to add the help screen and a title on the menu screen which I've been neglecting. I'm planning on sending it out tomorrow so if anyone hasn't PM'd me their UDID yet you still have about 18 hours.