LD50 Version 1.2 has been submitted to Apple.  The very brief release notes:

Added local head-to-head mode: 2 players can now play against each other on the same device!

That's right... local multiplayer... which means two human players on the same iPhone/iPod touch.  Network multiplayer is being investigated for release with iPhone OS 3.0.

Also, the team at 148Apps.com was nice enough to do a review of LD50:

http://www.148apps.com/reviews/ld50/

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Payton R. White
Prehiti Labs LLC
contact@labs.prehiti.com
http://labs.prehiti.com

Foster City, CA - March 11, 2009

Introducing LD50:

LD50 is the first fully 3D artillery (scorched-earth style) game for the iPhone™ and iPod® touch. The game features lush, deformable terrain; exciting 3D graphics and effects; a range of highly explosive weapons; and multiple gameplay modes against a challenging computer opponent. Developed from the ground up for the iPhone and iPod touch, the game has an intuitive and visually appealing touch interface and uses the built-in accelerometer for control of a few of the most devastating weapons. LD50 is available now on the App Store for $2.99. Please email contact@labs.prehiti.com for a promotional code or an ad hoc build. Info on LD50 including video, screenshots and more: http://labs.prehiti.com/ld50 Redirect to LD50 on the App Store: http://labs.prehiti.com/ld50/itms

LD50 Lite:

LD50 Lite is now available for free on the App Store. LD50 Lite provides a taste of the LD50 experience and includes all of the weapons and some of the same gameplay modes as LD50.

About Prehiti Labs LLC:

Prehiti Labs was founded to bring compelling and unique gaming experiences to the iPhone and iPod touch platforms. Prehiti Labs founder, Payton R. White, has been involved with cutting edge work in the  the video game and visual simulation industries for over 15 years. Payton brings his expertise in interactive entertainment to this great new platform and is excited about the possibilities for future titles from Prehiti Labs. Before launching Prehiti Labs, Payton most recently led a team in the R&D division of Sony Computer Entertainment that contributed a number of key technologies to the PlayStation 3 platform as well as a number of SCE titles.

Prehiti Labs home page: http://labs.prehiti.com

If you would like more information on LD50, LD50 Lite or Prehiti Labs LLC, please contact Payton R. White at contact@labs.prehiti.com.

This release was updated on 2009/03/16 to note the availability of LD50 Lite on the App Store.

Woot. Here's the iTunes link which will work from the device or a desktop computer:

http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=306951362&mt=8

I encourage you to grab a copy and leave a [super awesome] review.

I had to resubmit LD50 Lite because I was too shameless in my upsell to LD50.  It should be out in 5-7 days.

Thanks for your support!

BTW, if you were a member of the beta program, I'll be sending out an update on how to get a copy shortly.

Here's the new trailer for LD50... I think it gets the point across.

Here's the HQ YouTube version:

Here's the crappy YouTube version:

Issues addressed in v 1.0:

• AI now gives priority to the use of defensive maneuvers, esp. shield, to prolong battles.
• Fixed crash on startup when going from splash screen to new game.
• Fixed memory leak in 3D file loading.  No remaining memory leaks.
• Fixed issue where purchases in store might not be credited to player.
• Fixed issue where help pops up on resume when player is out of ammo.
• Changed guided missile accelerometer input scaling in low  and medium difficulty.
• Fixed issue where computer did not do the right number of shot probes when switching difficulty.
• Moderately fixed issue where computer does not intelligently recover from a low shot that continually misses.
• Improved issue where strategically placed earthquake trail can leave player hovering in mid air.
• Improved level loading time by as much as 50% !!!
• Changed crash handling.  If the game crashes (never!) it will restart with the last state.  If it crashes again immediately, it will restart and ignore any saved state.  All progress will be lost but at least game will run again.
• New application icon looks much less like a push-pin.

Well... it's getting close. I have a little more tuning and testing to do and then I'll submit LD50 to Apple.

Two things to note:

1) I've been meaning to come up with a new app icon. I like the current one... but a few folks have said it just looks like a push-pin to them. So, here's a contact sheet of possible new icons. Check them out and then fill out this form to let me know which one you like.

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2) I'd like to get a little bit of closure on the beta test, so I've put together a quick questionnaire that I'd like testers to fill out. The questionnaire is here... please go poke some values into it.

Relnotes:

• Changes:

• • Added wind effects (no wind in low difficulty, moderate wind in medium difficulty, strong wind in high difficulty) and drag to missile shots (not guided missile or laser).  Wind also affects pod city when falling/jumping.
  • First time players will see LD50 splash screen.
  • Added practice mode so that players can try out different weapons without having to wait for AI to take turn.
  • Updated intro help page to be more useful.  Removed superfluous help pages.
  • Added/changed help pages for controls.  Now included visual instructions on how to use the interface and how to manipulate the view.
  • Added context help to mode buttons in low difficulty level.  Clicking on the current mode button a second time will show help for that button.
  • Changed the way laser does damage.  The amount of damage is now reduced every time the ray goes through the terrain.
  • When a player uses the jump jet to land on another player, the jumper will die and possibly do damage to the jumpee due to the resulting explosion.
  • Added skybox with subtle star pattern.
  • Added timeout to pod movement in cases where velocity does not stabilize.  This occurred most often when a player fell into a valley created by the earthquake bomb.  Also changed the friction of terrain to be a bit lower.
  • Changed view manipulation: Low difficulty level can rotate the view freely.  Medium and high difficulty levels are still constrained, but the movement is now based on spherical rotation rather than constrained to a plane.  Zoom is now possible with two-finger input.
  • If the game crashes, game progress will be erased to avoid any recurring problems.
  • 2 songs now alternate during gameplay.

• Bug Fixes:

• • Fixed crash when using jump jet.
  • Fixed crash when starting store.
  • Fixed restore issue after kill.
  • Fixed bug where player can get stuck in the air after a powerful jump jet.
  • Fixed issue where control wheel drag would not work correctly.
  • Fixed problem with AI where best shot was not always used.
  • Fixed problem with AI where simulation of shot didn't match AI probing of shots causing AI to always miss.
  • Fixed restore problem where items bought in the store were missing on resume.
  • Fixed bugs where bounds of level were not correctly calculated.  This caused players to often end up on the fringe of the level or shots to erroneously miss.
  • Fixed jump jet launch splash appearing in wrong place.
  • Fixed bug where AI did not reset aim after player does jump jet or wormhole.

• Late Update:

• • The skybox has been temporarily removed due to a performance issue.  I'll be reviwing this and I will likely re-introduce the skybox for the final version.

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Ater some wrestling with a few tough bugs, it's time for the first wave of the beta test.

I've decided to throw LD50 up on ibetatest.com.  I'm interested to see how it goes... they've put together all of the requisite stuff to have a good relationship with testers.  Please hop on over there and sign up if you'd like to test LD50.

For those folks that were part of the alpha testing, I'll carry your UDID's forward into the beta, so no need to sign up.

Here's the current app icon... blown up just a bit to look nice:

Just packaged up the last alpha release.

There are just a few things missing, including modifying difficulty level and save/restore of game state.  I'll also be doing a tuning pass to speed up load time and get a few additional fps.  I might even check for memory leaks.

It's good to see an ecosystem forming up around the iPhone... today's notable addition: http://ibetatest.com/ These guys are bringing developers and testers together in a way I'm sure Apple was hoping to see.

So, I'm probably going to release a lite version of LD50.  When you're in the menus in the lite version, and you try to switch to campaign mode, you'll get the following annoyance dialog:

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It's been a busy week or two, except for a trip to the snow in Tahoe.

The latest work is on the menu/help system.  Below is a contact sheet for the new menus.  These will be activated in the next day or so.

After this, the remaining work is largely under-the-hood tweaking and tuning.

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