To Bryan Duke, Good job on Air Hockey

[dudehuge]

Bryan! Good job on Air Hockey, but my real question is. . .

How many units have you sold? Damn your app has been on the top 10 list for a long time now. I really hope you'll answer or just give us an estimate. I just want to know out of curiosity.

[tosui]

I agree - This is imho the best air hockey game around, and my most-used app: it's perfect for an engaging 2-minute play! Well done, Bryan!

@dudehuge, I personally don't really care about numbers, but I'm happy to see a good app at a fair price achieve such success!

[dudehuge]

Originally Posted by tosui

I agree - This is imho the best air hockey game around, and my most-used app: it's perfect for an engaging 2-minute play! Well done, Bryan!

@dudehuge, I personally don't really care about numbers, but I'm happy to see a good app at a fair price achieve such success!

Hehe. I'm just curious and I like numbers, I'm a Math major for heaven's sake :P

But yeah his app is well done.

[MattB]

Yeah, I compared his game to two other air hockey game, and his was, without a doubt, the most fun. It's the right size, pace, and challenge. All important when translating air hockey to a small screen.

I played against a doctor a couple of days ago, and he beat me, twice. I blame his medical degree and bigger brain power.

[Acceleroto]

Thanks everybody. I really enjoyed making the game & I'm still enjoying making it better with each release. The customer response has been wonderful & I really appreciate all the kind words.

It hit the #1 paid game spot (#2 overall) on August 31 & has been in the top 5 since. Sorry though - I don't plan on releasing actual numbers sold. I'm very pleased with the sales though.

Development of my next couple apps has been on hold while I dig into the lag issues some people are having with the 2-player mode. It's my #1 concern right now with the game (but other things are in the works too). Most people who have that problem have lots of apps installed on their devices. Apple's claimed that a bug has been fixed in 2.1 that previously slowed down devices with lots of apps installed. Oddly, if you have the problem (while running 2.0.2) & you plug in the device to your computer, the lag goes away. Try chasing that one down (*sigh*)!

My tests with iPod touch 2.1 show a huge improvement in the 2-player mode. I'm hoping the iPhone 2.1 update will have the same results. Besides that fix, what do you guys want to see in the game?

Development for other games will march on soon. My team's expanding...I'm working with a new Code Ninja/Design Wizard that will play a huge part in upcoming releases. I have some fun ideas that I hope will be hits too. I plan on continuing to price my apps as cheap as I can, but I can't promise that they'll all be $0.99.

Favor request...Can I get some 2-player feedback from people once they've installed the iPhone OS 2.1?

Have fun!

[dudehuge]

HAHA ok :P

Can you give us a hint on your next game? You don't have to explain everything just give us a clue on what genre it is, does it have multiplayer, and so on. ;P

[Acceleroto]

Originally Posted by dudehuge

Can you give us a hint on your next game?

How about this: nope. I wish I could share some info, but I don't plan on spreading detailed rumors/hype until things are more firm. Once I have a game within a couple weeks of release, I'll start sharing. I will say that I want my games to be fun, easy to learn, fun to play for as little as a few minutes, and engaging/challenging enough so that you'll want to keep coming back to them for more.

I guess here's one hint: accelerometer controls.

Less than a day to iPhone 2.1... let me know how things run!

[dudehuge]

Originally Posted by Acceleroto

How about this: nope. I wish I could share some info, but I don't plan on spreading detailed rumors/hype until things are more firm. Once I have a game within a couple weeks of release, I'll start sharing. I will say that I want my games to be fun, easy to learn, fun to play for as little as a few minutes, and engaging/challenging enough so that you'll want to keep coming back to them for more.

I guess here's one hint: accelerometer controls.

Less than a day to iPhone 2.1... let me know how things run!

Oh well here's another one. . .

They updated the SDK to support iPhoneOS 2.1, do you have to download the whole thing again (1.4 GB) or is there an update button on Xcode that I'm missing?

[crunc]

I'll add to the choir. In fact, I just got through writing up a list of some 99 cent games that are more fun than Cro-Mag Rally at $2.99 (in the comments on the article about that Pangea sale), and your games was one of the ones I listed. No one is going to call your Air Hockey the best game ever, but it is exactly what it says it is and is a great, fun way to kill a few minutes. It's also great to see a 99 cent game achieve such sales success.

I have been playing it with the 2.1 firmware on my iPod Touch, but haven't played it 2 player yet.

EDIT: One improvement I'd like is a way to set the offset of your paddle. I.e. I'd like it slightly forward of my finger (not entirely in front of, but just jutting out a bit) so I can see it better, but since not everyone would like it, it should be an option.

[Acceleroto]

I just got done testing Air Hockey under the new iPhone 2.1 OS & the 2-player mode looks completely fixed. If anyone out there was having problems with 2-player mode, please install the new iPhone OS & let me know if it makes things better for you. I'd love to mark that bug as "fixed" and "Apple's."

Once I get some positive feedback from users that the bug is fixed, I'll post a new note here to spread the word...

Originally Posted by crunc

EDIT: One improvement I'd like is a way to set the offset of your paddle. I.e. I'd like it slightly forward of my finger (not entirely in front of, but just jutting out a bit) so I can see it better, but since not everyone would like it, it should be an option.

I'll put that on the official Air Hockey to-do list. There's only so much you can offset the mallets though. You still have to be able to bring the mallets all the way to the back edge of the table.