I've made lots of improvements since 1.2, and they should be hitting iOS within the next few weeks.  It's a completely revamped game now, and should be much more ipad friendly too for the folks on the bigger screens. I'm also hoping to get the xbox version out by early summer, but we'll have to see about that-- I wan't to add a co-op mode for that. The flash version will be almost identical, save for the defence missions, and hence will be an absolute bargain at the price of $free.
Also, the full version of MegaCity is now available for Windows PC on IndieCity here.

More graphics for Sleigher this week! Also, an update for Planet Wars will be coming soon, along with the flash version. This adds some optimizations among other small tweaks and the like. I've tried to improve the game based on feedback from you. The resolution is still sucky on iOS I'm afraid- upping it would mean re-doing most of the code and most of the art assets.  If the sequel goes ahead, expect plenty of pixels though.

Elsewhere, we have MegaCity coming in the form of a Windows PC executable very soon too.

It's going well. Pouring detail into the various objects you can smash through I think is the key to it's success, as it makes it fun to play. I've split up the randomly generated terrain into several sections; Tundra, Ice lake, Town, Winter Sports Resort, Mountains. There might be more of them to come, but those cover all the 'wintery' themed things I can think of. Expect to smash through houses, trees, ski jumps, ride on bob-sleigh tracks, outrun avalanches etc. It's going to be a lot of fun, I can promise you that.

I'm thinking of going free-to-play with this, at least on iphone with iAds. Then having an option to buy it and remove the ads, and perhaps unlock some more features. This option will be in the lowest price bracket, so $1 or equivalent. I think this should be good though, as everyone will have a chance to play it properly without spending anything.

Till next week,

-Cole

My game MegaCity has just hit the Xbox live Indie marketplace! I'm pleased to announce it plays really well on 360, so I'm going to be linking to it like crazy from now on. Really, you should try it out, it's only 80 points. Go on, I'll be here. Waiting.

In other news this week, I've been doing some more work on Sleigher, the Android version of MegaCity, and Planet Wars. So a little bit of everything.

MegaCity will be hitting Android, and also Windows Phone 7 later this year (hopefully before the summer). Stay tuned. It's all possible with the hard work of Clickteam who make the software I use to make my games.

Also, I've changed the comment system on this site. Previously you had to log in which I realise that was a bit of a hassle for most visitors who probably come here in passsing. I had to do that because I was getting a lot of spam, but I've recently got a WordPress plugin which can apparently tell if you're a pesky bot. Yeah bots, what are you going to do about that? You certainly won't be commenting about it that's for sure. Unless it doesn't work. I challenge you!

What's been in the works this week?

I've been busy porting Planet Wars to Xbox. It's going pretty well, and it should be entering its first playtest soon! The xbox version is the best so far, its core gameplay does seem more suited to a console than a mobile device, and it's a lot of fun to play. Along with this, I'm be bringing the iOS version up to date with v1.3 which fixes the last of the bugs and adds a few improvements which I've since incorporated into the xbox version. Also, a flash version will be available and hopefully an Android version not long after.

MegaCity for XBLIG is in review as I type. Fingers crossed nobody finds any more bugs as I've spent literally months making sure it's more or less flawless.

Speaking of multi-platform development, MegaCity for Android is going into testing this next week. It's working on my old decrepit Xperia phone, so here's hoping it should shine on newer Android phones & Tablets. Watch this space.

I'm aiming to have both PW, MegaCity & Sleigher finished and released for all their intended platforms by the start of the summer.

I'd like to add this is all possible with the hard work Clickteam are doing on their awesome XNA, iOS, Android & Flash exporters.

First off, XBLIG MegaCity is still not out! I've run into some more bugs to fix, horray! It's practically there but I'll save promising release dates this week as they only seem to come and go. I also can't afford to buy & eat another hat. In other news though, I've been working really hard to port MegaCity & Planet Wars to different platforms. A flash version of Planet Wars is very nearly done, as is the Android port of MegaCity.

Next on the agenda is Xbox and Android Planet Wars. When those are done it's back to work on Sleigher. Busy Busy Busy.

You might of noticed I've prettied up the site, I think it's looking pretty spiffy now. There's also a nice new company logo to go with it which will appear in all my games from now on. I've also added a little forum for your inquiries.

I've been continuing 'Sleigher' this week. It's going pretty well, I've just put in the scoring system and the HUD. The current release date target is this summer, but it's still too early for anything concrete. I've been thinking of multiplayer modes to include on the xbox version too; I can only imagine how crazy a local multiplayer version of this game would be.

Aside from the continued development of Sleigher, Xbox Megacity has been going through some final testing. If it's not at least sent off to XBLIG next week, I'll eat my hat. I'll buy a hat, then I'll eat it.

I'm going to be doing weekly updates from now on, to keep you informed of what I'm working on.

This week I've been working on a brand new project; Sleigher. A husky sled game, where the primary goal is to cause as much destruction as possible.

It's a nice, simple concept. I'm aiming for it to be very easy to pick up and play. If MegaCity was my thinking person's game, this is my idiotic no-brain action arcade game.

The engine is mostly done. It works! This is relatively simple to code compared to some of the other ideas I've had for new projects recently, which is refreshing. It's great when stuff just 'works'. This week in particular, I've been drawing up some graphics for the game. I've gone for hand-drawn and digitally coloured, the same as I did for a lot of the art in Planet Wars (more on that soon too).

I think this may develop into my personal style- I love vector graphics but have never enjoyed creating them, and photo-realism is hard to achieve in 2D- so I'm going with a heavily textured semi-realistic style.

In terms of gameplay- I want it to be simple but have depth. I'm going to give the player a load of upgrades to earn by playing the game- crazy upgrades to your sled, upgrades to your dogs etc. Those ideas are under wraps for now and have yet to be finalised. Gameplay modes will range from speed runs, time trials, 'chaos mode' (your sled gains speed from smashing into stuff instead of loosing it) and a few others.

The game is being developed for iOS, but I'm thinking this could well be my first simultaneous multi-platform release on iOS, Android, Flash and perhaps XBLIG.

Also this week I've been testing MegaCity for Xbox. A release is pretty close, although I said that weeks back and it didn't transpire; but I mean it this time!

So that's what I've been doing this week. Stay tuned for more info + releases!

-Changed timing to BPM.
-Should now work properly with iOS5.
-Changed samples to higher quality versions.
-Both landscape modes now work.

If it's any consolation, this will probably be the last big update to MegaCity, so this shouldn't happen again.