Blogs

I’m sure this will surprise no one, but yes I’ll be releasing Smiles HD for iPad. The iPad port will be based on my current Smiles code running on Netbooks and some Windows Mobile devices (Samsung Omnia II), but I’m in the process of adding several more enhancements on top of that. I’ll dive in to more of the specifics as iPad launch gets closer. The biggest different between iPhone Smiles and my current code is I’ve squared the playfield (was 9×8, now 8×8) and added rotation buttons....

As part of Intel’s new AppUp Center launched at CES yesterday, Smiles is now available for select Windows PC’s of the XP and 7 varieties. http://www.intel.com/consumer/products/appup.htm The store is very new and beta. It’s designed specifically for Netbooks and the OEMs that make them, but is freely available to for everyone to test and purchase from. Me personally, I had to install .NET 3.5 and .NET 3.5 Service Pack 1 on my Aspire One to make it work....

I know it’s hard to compete with the wake of the IGF Finalists announcement yesterday, but the Ludum Dare 16 winners were announced yesterday too. Go here for the Top 20: http://www.ludumdare.com/compo/ludum-dare-16/?action=top Here for the categorical listings: http://www.ludumdare.com/compo/ludum-dare-16/ And here for the news post: http://www.ludumdare.com/compo/2010/01/03/ludum-dare-16-results/ Trying to compete with the IGF Buzz would be silly, so I’m going to push back my little LD retrospective until things are a little more calm....

So wow. That’s finally it for 2009. Like doing taxes ever year, I feel a special sort of obligation that I write some sort of retrospective, especially after such an eventful year as this one. Far more awesome than taxes. 😉 I wasn’t sure where to start, so I ended up categorizing aspects of the year. I’ll free form rant about each topic as I come to it. Let’s begin....

It’s that time of year again. We did it last year, and we’re doing it again for 2010. The New Year App Blowout. www.newyearappblowout.com Yours truly has put all 3 Smiles games on for New Years. Grab it while it’s cheap. Smiles Zen – $0.99 (Was $1.99) Smiles Drop – $0.99 (Was $1.99) Smiles – $1.99 (Was $2.99) – Contains both Zen and Drop Of course, Smiles isn’t the only thing on sale....

As the title suggests, I came 4th place with Smiles Zen (in Italian). Hey, isn’t that Fluffy art from the Blender movie? I imagine the English versions will be available soon. Samsung’s approval department might be taking xmas off though. 😉 Happy Holidays folks!...

Well, I can relax now. 🙂 I have the results back from the Samsung contest, but I can’t say how that went … yet. There’s supposed to be a proper winners announcement deal on SamsungApps Thursday, so if I have anything to add, I’ll do it then. So that’s one thing off my mind. The other thing off my mind is Intel’s contest. Netbook ports were due today, the same day as the results for Samsung....

Wow. To say the last 3 weeks have been busy would be an understatement. First of all, I ported Smiles to a new phone. The Samsung Omnia II, a Windows Mobile phone with a beautiful amoled screen and a custom GPU. Some photos. What’s Windows without a Registry Editor Some Avalanche… a little blury though. Itz-a me! Zen in Italiano! For those keeping score, the game unfortunately runs a little slow on the Omnia II....

An intense month of work awaits. Crunch time, and then some! Early/Mid last week, I spec’d out the plan for my time between now and GDC. Quite a busy schedule, with a lot of really cool things coming up. Smiles stuff, and a quick collaboration with a friend, which I’ll talk more about later. I should have plenty to talk about with my internet colleagues in March. But the icing on the cake was a development Wednesday/Thursday of last week....

Or in other words, awesome C an C++ language features you’ll learn to love in GCC, that’ll break your heart if you ever have to use Visual Studio. 😉 This is a list I collected whilst getting my Smiles PC code to compile with Visual Studio 2008. Most have no equivalent in Visual Studio, but one simply has a slightly different syntax (compatible too). As before, long and technical. Hit the link if you’re up for the challenge. You’ve been warned. 😀 ...