Related
Ladies and Gents, first a disclaimer.
We will honour every request to remove unauthorised or copyrighted material from this forum and ftp. Please contact an Administrator if you require assistance.
Next, my personal disclaimer, plucked from here:
Batteries not included. Some assembly may be required. WARNING: NO USER SERVICEABLE PARTS INSIDE. REFER SERVICING TO QUALIFIED PERSONNEL! Contents may settle during shipment. Drink before date on carton. Use only as directed. You're soaking in it now. Do not use while operating a motor vehicle or heavy equipment. Use only in well-ventilated area. Keep away from fire or flame. Keep away from children. Viewer discretion advised. May be too intense for some viewers. No bottles, knives, guns, or attitudes. Keep out of direct sunlight. Apply only to affected area. If condition persists, consult your physician. All models over 18 years of age, affidavits on file. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead is purely coincidental. Contestants have been briefed on some questions before the show. List each check separately by bank number. No other warranty expressed or implied. Void where prohibited. Breaking seal constitutes acceptance of agreement. For recreational use only. Slippery when wet. Sanitized for your protection. Delivered fresh every day. For off-road use only. Your mileage may vary. Edited for television. Post office will not deliver without proper postage. For office use only. List was current at time of printing. This product is meant for educational purposes only. Penalty for private use. Substantial penalty for early withdrawal. Lost ticket pays maximum rate. Your cancelled check is your receipt. Add toner. Place stamp here. First pull up, then pull down. Avoid contact with skin. Beware of dog. Limited time offer, call now to insure prompt delivery. If you are calling from a touch-tone telephone please press one now. To ensure quality service, this call may be recorded. You must be present to win. No purchase necessary. You must be 18 to win. Employees and their families are not eligible. No passes accepted for this engagement. List at least two alternate dates. I want my MTV. Some equipment shown is optional. No Canadian coins. Not recommended for children. Prerecorded for this time zone. Reproduction strictly prohibited. Not for resale. Keep dog on leash. Please stand behind yellow line. Driver carries less than $20 cash. Driver does not make change. Many suitcases look alike. This is not an offer to sell securities. NO ANCHOVIES UNLESS OTHERWISE SPECIFIED. When a problem comes along, you must whip it. Whip it good. The Internet will change the way we live, work, and learn, yada,yada,yada. He who dies with the most toys, wins. I wish I had bought Microsoft a long time ago. Personal goal: to outlive the milk mustache commercials. And rap music. Isn't everyone bored yet? Please return your tray table to its' full upright and locked position and remain seated until we have come to a complete stop. We're all special because we're all different-- just like everyone else. Do not mark in this space. WARNING! Severe tire damage will result! Are your turn signals on? Happy Hour is from 4:30 PM to 6:30 PM. Buy one, get one free! We are closed on Wednesdays. Film at eleven. This vehicle not responsible for rocks thrown from tires. Tank you veddy much. No, really.
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Worship and and make offerings.
This rom is nothing to do with me. I have not installed it, and will not vouch for its credibility. It is the rom that was originally uploaded here
The author of this particular compilation is still unknown AFAIK.
Admin Edit: file removed due to complaints from microsoft.ftp://xda:[email protected]/Universal/Technical/WM6PreRelease.rar
V
Let the server hammering commence
Now it's out, I can stop biting my tongue and tell everyone how great Crossbow is on the Universal
Just a note about themes, the base hue method works on Crossbow too, but obviously uses a glass effect with dark edges, and a lighter middle.
iLauncher and PocketPlus are the best plugins if you want icons AND battery meters.
There is a MAJOR issue I have found with most of the free battery meter/memory meter plugins, batti works, but most of the others will hang on reboot, even if you have safe mode apps, so hard reset is the easiest fix.
Much appreciated!
(Why, oh why do I have meetings to go to for the next 4 hours )
Ah, great
Thanx
Thanks
Thanks for this.
So i'm assuming..someone with an MDA can't install this right? I just realized it was for the universal after getting a no country id error..i see there might be a fix with it..but im scared of bricking. I just got my 8125 on 3.2 aku from molski...
It is for the Universal.
xda-developers > Universal > Universal > WM6 Technical Preview
some experiences with this rom on an universal?
Guys, as soon as i get home i'll upload a fuly working vanilla version, i should be home by 4:30 it wil be up by 5
I also have some tweaks and hacks (inc realVGA avaliable as cabs)
Bugs: Video calling, if you use owner info or password at resume in REALvga mode the device will hang and u need to hard reset!
Currently working on: REALvga bug, Video calling (hopefully soon) & AKU 0.1
Can it be used on Wizard?
dialekt said:
So i'm assuming..someone with an MDA can't install this right? I just realized it was for the universal after getting a no country id error..i see there might be a fix with it..but im scared of bricking. I just got my 8125 on 3.2 aku from molski...
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Click to collapse
wrong rom for that device..you will have to wait like every one else.
Ah, midget, now I understand re RealVGA. I'll try to work on your app in the next few days if that's ok.
V
Thank you! Thank you!
You definately saved my day!
So far everything that I use works ok; utms,directpush, a2dp. A bit slow startup compared to most AKU3.5 builds.
Thanks again!
im so keen to try this lol, but i think ill wait for a more stable fully working version!
anyone any ideas when / if we will get a final build?
Can somebody check me if storage card encryption is working in this version ?
Thanks
I saw an other version and I couldn't make that thing work
* Native HTML e-mail is nice, no need for FlexMail
* Remote Desktop Connection works superb, save username/pw, fullscreen, specify port.
Eelco
Downloaded and installed midget's cab file for vga and it looks great! Will install my apps and see how stable this ROM is.
This ROM is the BuuuuuuuM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!. I love it. 99% of the applications I use work 100%. Its a bit slow but it works thats what matters. I also miss MMS.
This absolutely rocks... so much faster than the stock T-Mo ROM, Pocket Word flies, bluetooth stereo by application, html mail, etc., etc.,
MMS
just updated my rom, great but does anyone know how to set up MMS, (does sound like a stupid question to me) I've added all the other O2 grps connections...
Hi all,
I'm just a junior member and have no autual authority in the XDA-Developers Community so I hope this is the right place to put this thread. Moderators, please move it if I've got that wrong. I've just read this thread in the Development and Hacking forum:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=425167
and it raised some concerns in my mind which could present some fairly serious threats to the nature of this forum (i.e. developers' willingness to get involved). Here's a copy of what I posted, entitled "We NEED to see the bigger picture":
OK, I have read through this thread fairly quickly and I have some observations and some suggestions to make. Let me say that I am more of a “user” than a developer but I have made a few very small contributions on XDA-Developers. Please check my stats if you want to. Let me also say that I always look at the “bigger picture” in these situations.
Unfortunately what has happened to A_C over S2U2 is a consequence of capitalism. Businesses exist for the purpose of making money and extending their business. It is not so much a matter of trust or character but that the very purpose of a business is to make money and nothing else. The situation we’ve been presented with does however raise some concerning issues.
There are technicalities and more technicalities which people will continue to use to make money out of products and items of value they did not produce themselves. I don’t think anything we can say to businesses will prevent them doing this. For all the arguments we can present, they will have others and there would be little we can do to stop them TRYING to use freely developed software in this way. Businesses will have more money than we have to promote “their” products, and as we’ve already seen, unless we have a pro-bono lawyer, they will have more money for to defend their business and sales through the law and search engine optimisation (which is a very big business by the way!).
The point I am trying to make is that while this may be an isolated incident right now, there’s nothing to stop this happening again and again. We may well have “lost” A_C despite all the genuine and heart felt encouragement directed towards him so it seems to me that if we want to protect what we have, an environment where developers feel free to develop software for themselves and “us” with our support, we need to do more. What can we do?
We do have two critical factors on our side:
1) Community
2) Technical Expertise
Community - A community has a much greater power to change it’s destiny than any one individual – as demonstrated by the unfortunate situation A_C finds himself in. If we all pull together, or even just those of us more committed to this community, we will be able to overcome much more than we currently realise.
Technical Expertise – As stated above, I am not a developer but I am convinced that there is more technical ability available to this community than many software businesses could pay for with their entire budget, or even turnover.
I believe we must make use of these two strengths or suffer the consequences.
My basic suggestion is that a working group is set up from developers who contribute to this community with the sole purpose of writing a code which can be inserted into any ROM or software which clearly states that the software/ROM has been developed free of charge, and that if the “customer” has paid for it then they should ask for a refund and contact XDA-Developers to report the licence violation and receive the full free version of the software. Once developed this code can then be made available, with instructions, to any new developers who start to submit work to the community so that they don’t fall foul of the same experience as A_C.
Additionally could this code be hard coded into the software/ROM so that unscrupulous software sales companies can’t take it out (I.E. not just a .gif or .jpg splash that can be changed or removed)?
As this is a forum, the next step would be for people to share their views on these suggestions and we’ll see what happens!
Best wishes to A_C – hope you’re not feeling too bad.
I’m going to post this in the general forum as a new thread if there’s not one there already.
andrew-in-woking
I hope that this thread will engender some constructive discussion and lead to a better community for all of us.
Best wishes,
andrew-in-woking
the problem with adding code, is that it adds bulk. the classic example is Cubase audio software, where it is estimated that 50% of cpu power can be wasted in it constantly checking it's protection; and even this has been cracked by geniuses, though i think they have since 'retired' from the scene. anyway, i digress. with space at a premium with phones, getting into copy protection, nag screens, etc. is removing that space. plus from own experience and feedback from users, nag screens and reporting fraud options will get ignored. as 9 times out of 10 they have seeked the software out through unscrupulous sources. add to that, a developer has spent months streamlining their code, only to bolt on some fugly security, kinda depressing.
i dont think there is or will ever be a clear cut solution to copyright im afraid, i mean, look at windows lol.
I had no idea this was happening. Thanks for the heads up.
badaas said:
the problem with adding code, is that it adds bulk...
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I think the OP's suggestion is a good one. It doesn't need to be anything complicated or over the top. Simply text in the About screen will suffice.
I.e.
Help>>About>>"Widget v.1.xx, Developed on XDA-Forums as FREEWARE - If you've paid for this please report the seller to the proper authorities"
i think adding in the freeware statement would be a plus i think if A_C decided to add it in down at the buttom when you first start up S2U2 where it states what verison this is and A_C name would be a good time to have it scroll. If there were some way to have it keep marqueeing while the program is running or for it to do it when the screen wakes up i think as users of A_C's product it wouldn't affect me seeing this because the programs are just that great
I really did not know where to post this, but seeing as 90% of the traffic from the area is from people here in the roms section. As much as I enjoy hosting for people. This is over and done for me. I'm pulling the roms directory off of my server and shutting down the ftp access permanently.
1&1 Internet, Inc. recently received notice under Section 512 of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) alleging that the above website infringes upon copyrighted materials (see attached). We are asking that you remove the content as stated in the attached notice. Should you fail to act upon this notice within 24 hours we will be forced to temporarily suspend your account.
Under the DMCA, you are entitled to provide "counter-notice" to 1&1's DMCA agent claiming that the material does not infringe copyrights. If the copyright owner does not bring a lawsuit in district court within 10 days, 1&1 may then reactivate your account. Notwithstanding any counter-notice, 1&1 reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to keep your site suspended in the event there is a continuing threat of litigation arising from your website.
A proper counter-notice must contain the following information:
1. The subscriber's name, address, phone number and physical or electronic signature [512(g)(3)(A)] 2. Identification of the material and its location before removal [512(g)(3)(B)] 3. A statement under penalty of perjury that the material was removed by mistake or misidentification [512(g)(3)(C)] 4. Subscriber consent to local federal court jurisdiction, or if overseas, to an appropriate judicial body.
[512(g)(3)(D)] For more information on the DMCA, see http://www.copyright.gov/onlinesp/.
For additional information on the Safe Harbor Provisions and assistance on drafting a proper counter-notice, see our website at http://faq.1and1.com/legal/index.html.
If you have any further questions please do not hesitate to contact us.
--
Sincerely,
Nancy McNelis
Customer Compliance Operative
1&1 Internet Inc.
<---------- Forwarded ---------->
From: [email protected]
VIA EMAIL:
Demand for Immediate Take-Down: Notice of Infringing Activity
URL: http://captfiero.com/
Case #: 206019
Date: 12 March 2009
Dear Sir or Madam,
Microsoft has received information that the domain listed above, which appears to be on servers under your control, is offering unlicensed copies of, or is engaged in other unauthorized activities relating to copyrighted works published by Microsoft.
1. Identification of copyrighted works:
Copyrighted work(s):
Windows Mobile 6.5
Copyright owner:
Microsoft Corporation
2. Copyright infringing material or activity found at the following
location(s):
http://captfiero.com/roms/joshkoss/Tests/21176_Test1.7z
The above copyright work(s) is being made available for copying, through downloading, at the above location without authorization of the copyright owner.
3. Statement of authority:
The information in this notice is accurate, and I hereby certify under penalty of perjury that I am authorized to act on behalf of Microsoft, the owner of the copyright(s) in the work(s) identified above. I have a good faith belief that none of the materials or activities listed above have been authorized by Microsoft, its agents, or the law.
We hereby give notice of these activities to you and request that you take expeditious action to remove or disable access to the material described above, and thereby prevent the illegal reproduction and distribution of this copyright work(s) via your company's network.
We appreciate your cooperation in this matter. Please advise us regarding what actions you take.
Yours sincerely,
James Young
Internet Investigator
on behalf of Microsoft Corporation
One Microsoft Way
Redmond, WA 98052
United States of America
E-mail: [email protected]
Wow dude! i'm sorry I should have known better... everyone loves ftp speed
Well Josh, your gonna have to change the links in your sig LOL. I really had to cring as I held my finger of the "delete" key on the entire "Roms" dir. For the record, the link to your folder had been passed around to at least a dozen PPC sites. Your single folder was pulling 3 to 4 times the traffic as even CRC's device update which was mirrored on my server. Trust me you were pretty popular. I hope you find another place to host your most excellent Roms. I'll catch ya on the flip side.
They really want to stop the betas from leaking.
I had a copy of my kitchen on filedropper, and it disappeared.
Microsoft seems unfair
YEah it is sad that Microsoft is doing this to us after buying the product and have no support whatsoever after selling the product ( try going to their site and they will give you agents that would probably sell items first before giving their ears for us to tell a problem)
this is sad really ... but it is a good choice to do this step
Capt Fiero said:
Well Josh, your gonna have to change the links in your sig LOL. I really had to cring as I held my finger of the "delete" key on the entire "Roms" dir. For the record, the link to your folder had been passed around to at least a dozen PPC sites. Your single folder was pulling 3 to 4 times the traffic as even CRC's device update which was mirrored on my server. Trust me you were pretty popular. I hope you find another place to host your most excellent Roms. I'll catch ya on the flip side.
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wow dude!! will do. thanks!!
and don't worry i aint going anywere
Sad Day
I understand the concern from MS, but...
Don't want to speak for others, but I've been waiting for something (anything) different from MS on my mobile phones/pdas for over 5 years now and they still offer me that same "today" screen.
This site & the chefs who generously give so much of their time have been able to give me so much more from my phone than MS has, and 6.5 was turning out to be a great follow up.
So now we just wait for MS to actually deliver something.
Not sure I can wait. I'll probably break down and buy an iPhone.
2udCrRAZdK said:
I understand the concern from MS, but...
Don't want to speak for others, but I've been waiting for something (anything) different from MS on my mobile phones/pdas for over 5 years now and they still offer me that same "today" screen.
This site & the chefs who generously give so much of their time have been able to give me so much more from my phone than MS has, and 6.5 was turning out to be a great follow up.
So now we just wait for MS to actually deliver something.
Not sure I can wait. I'll probably break down and buy an iPhone.
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dude... i tried a iphone today... totally tempted to man.... but this is such a cool hobby though.. i don't think i could bring myself to do it.
I've gotten emails like this before on other matters and found all of them being fake. But while reading found this thread and posts.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=492330&page=6
just to re-enforce bmx, see my sig...it has been found to be a Hoax...plain and simple ...
Click the link and read for your self....
Microsoft Impersonator Sends Fraudulent Letters, Disrupts Community
Posted by Chuong Nguyen
March 13th, 2009 at 02:53 PM
It turns out that there may be an impersonator lurking around disrupting Windows Mobile communities. In response to an article that was posted this morning about Microsoft demanding that Windows Mobile 6.5 ROM images that were cooked unofficially be taken down, our own Microsoft MVP Adam Z. Lein spotted that the guy responsible for the letter to XDA-Developers may be a fraud, as was posted on PPCGeeks.
A similar hoax had occurred before at msmobiles in regards to Windows Mobile 6.5 screenshots. In the cease and desist letter to msmobiles, the gentleman claiming to be with Microsoft's legal department asked the site to remove screenshots of the forthcoming operating system. The letter was sent after Microsoft had publicly announced and shown the very screenshots at Mobile World Congress 2009. According to msmobiles: "In any case, if it is genuine action on behalf of Microsoft, it is a case of extreme incompetence that this guy is showing because he is requesting removal of pictures of something that has been officially announced few days earlier." It should also be noted that pocketnow.com had posted screenshots and news of Windows Mobile 6.5 before, during, and after Microsoft's Mobile World Congress announcement and we did not receive a cease and desist letter.
The community over at msmobiles performed some additional investigations and found that the gentlemam, James Young, sent emails originating from IP addresses in London and not from Microsoft's corporate headquarters in Redmond, Washington, leading many to believe that he is not connected with the software giant. Additionally, emails were sent from [email protected], and not at a "@microsoft.com" email address.
Whatever the case may be, other forum members in our original post here at pocketnow.com made mention that only the Windows Mobile 6.5 cooked ROM made by ROM chef Da_G was affected and 6.5 ROMs for other HTC-made devices were seemingly okay.
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More info..
tsowen's
Admins: Just talked with Microsoft being my profession and this was not sitting good with me since it was missing A. a contact phone number and for these cases it must also contain a Digital Signature with that being said they said it is fraud, I gave them the link here and they verified that they do not have a James Young employ and that the email extension [email protected] is not valid furthermore they said on there notices they will also have a phone number for the person(s) to call and correspondence is done through written. I will be receiving an email with the case number and contact information for the antipiracy case manager who verified the information and will forward it to the Admins here and at PPCGeeks as well. If one one the Admins here can PM there email addy so I can send the email to them for future verification on these types of notices.
__________________
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Un-delete the folder, capt!
Is there a back up of it?
I dumped the entire 4.5gig to a local drive here before I deleted it.
However here is why I am hesitant to put it back up. The email that I got came from 1and1 which hosts my server. 1and1 is taking this fairly seriously. Now it is entirely possible that this guy emailed 1and1 claiming to be from MS and got the warning sent out to me. I know the email from 1and1 was legit as it included my personal account number that is only on file with my account and not part of the registrar or whois info. I'm going to call 1and1 and speak to someone verbally on the phone regarding this. If its all green. I'll start uploading the data.
Capt I understand where you are coming from, the problem is going to be convincing them that this was faked, I suggest getting as much info you can find on this hoax and forwarding it to them, also the mods and admin are looking very closely at this whole thing....so keep an eye out for info from as well
Check out the link in my sig and also look at this site for more ammo
http://pocketnow.com/index.php?a=portal_detail&t=news&id=7041
alot of damage has been done by hoaxer,
Noob here
What a load of BS! I've had my Hermes (Cingular 8525) for a while and was about ready to give it up for something new. Then a co-worker with a similiar phone directed me to this site and I new for sure I had to keep it. I had no idea about any of this until recently. I don't even know how many times I had to update my contacts and emails after I found this site There is so much info on this site, all you have to do is look or do a little search.
Now some [email protected]@$$ is trying to ruin it for a whole bunch of people. It's a shame, hope this doesn't affect the XDA world too much. I'm still trying new Rom's to see which one works for me. It's endless!
Hey Guys, I have some server space, I might be able to host it if you'd like? If you can setup a SFTP between my server and your server I might be able to have a mirror?
let me know
[email protected]
Sadly this project is no more. We were a dev team of 3 people who had about 3 months into Appaloosa. However, the slow build of the WP7 platform and some reported low sales numbers in the App Marketplace made it hard to justify the additional time needed to bring this title to market.
Was very hard to let go of so much work and creative energy.
Here is a walk thru of an alpha build. It definately shows what that phone is capable of pushing (forum is perventing the url, sorry first post).
img816.imageshack.us/img816/3521/32430348.mp4
You're kidding, right?
The WP7 platform has had a faster uptake than both iOS and Android when they were first launched. As for marketplace sales, I don't know what numbers you have seen, but games is what generally sells well, especially ones with great graphics as they are not only used as a game but also as a "look at what my phone can do" kinda thing amongst the owners friends.
From the video, and with no background information available, it doesn't look like a game for me, but if it was performing well and priced correctly I would still probably pick it up.
Anyway, that's my $0.02.
Hi there
lard666 said:
However, the slow build of the WP7 platform and some reported low sales numbers in the App Marketplace[...]
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I don't know exactly what numbers you are referring to, but I guess you mean LG's statement. Isn't LG maybe just part of the picture? There are Samsung and HTC that are currently the main sellers of WP7. (for the shares, look here: http://wmpoweruser.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/wp7oem.png)
Although I can't exactly be sure why LG is doing that bad (it might have to do something with the phone they offer...) - that's up for speculation.
I'd like to add that T-Mobile Germany just stated that they are ahead of their plans regarding WP7 sales (source: http://thenextweb.com/microsoft/201...-windows-phone-7-sales-are-ahead-of-schedule/ along with several other sites)
Personally, I don't get the impression that WP7 is doing badly.
lard666 said:
Was very hard to let go of so much work and creative energy.
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Judging from what is shown in the trailer, I'd say it's a great thing you did so far.
And I'd like to buy a version as soon as it is out (I know that I am just one person - but there might be others who think the same)
lard666 said:
Here is a walk thru of an alpha build. It definately shows what that phone is capable of pushing (forum is perventing the url, sorry first post).
img816.imageshack.us/img816/3521/32430348.mp4
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Like stated above, it looks fantastic up 'till now.
I'd like you to continue your work and take this project all the way to the Marketplace.
Wow! That looks absolutely amazing.
Maybe this is a stupid suggestion but if you get it to be an xbox live game (they seem to do well) then it has every chance of being a success. Not sure how much Microsoft will take but worth consdering.
Good job!
I'm with you guys. I don't even know what this game is about but from the alpha build the 3D graphics look slick as hell. If you look at a game like Zombies!!! MS took it under its wing, gave it XBox Live integration and now it'll get a sh!tload of sales because of that. And that seems to be what they're donig with high performance games so it's worth pursuing...
If you write for Android you won't make money. No one buys anything on that platform. if you write for iOS no one will see your game in the sea of apps. WP7 still has potential.
Moving this to SW development since this is an ongoing project. Once its in the "its an app" stage I will move it back to the release section.
~~Tito~~
With regard to the kind words about the looks of the project, thank you.
The environment for level one (which was shown in the video in it's incomplete form) was 210K polygons.
Appaloosa is an old school western pistol pack'n arcade style shooter. It's based in a fantastic, toony, world centered loosely around America's late 1800's Old West. It's a rail shooter with shorter action-areas that can be completed in a single mobile time wasting session. So think western popup shooter crossed with Time Crisis; and add tumble-weed bonus rounds ala Galaga. It also had direct Face Book integration for quick posting of achievements. The game was to be priced at $.99 for each level (we were toying with the idea of releasing one level at a time, episodic style) or $2.99 for the complete game.
About WP7 being viable (currently, say this year 2011) to develop apps for... I don't see the indicators or hard data that proves so. And I'm not saying this with a confrontational tone, I just haven't seen any. I keep hearing lazy statistics (which are easily manipulated like, "fastest sales", "highest rate of apps", "most devs to date", etc.) and praise ("performing better then expected")... but the hard numbers are being held for some reason. I would bet no one had recovered their time investment for WP7 development yet, let along make a living from it.
Regardless, the numbers of phones sold is something to be mindful of, but more important is how the paid apps are selling. And the short answer is they aren't.
Games sell more then any other app and 'LIVE' games sell the most. We knew we would be dead in the water without 'LIVE' support, but when we spoke to a MSFT rep in Belgium we got the answer, "oh LIVE... yes yes, that is tricky. Probably can't get you LIVE status; that is reserved for the big guys. Let me know when your game is done, and I will see what I can do to push it up the list."
We were also in contact with a dev studio who's game has always been in the top 10 and has "LIVE" certification. Their game has sold in the tens of thousands; which doesn't even cover dev costs. Maybe the costs will be recovered over the next year. But that 'maybe' was a risk I couldn't take; not with a self-funded (sweat equity) game.
We weren't looking to make big bucks. Just wanted to be able to exercise our craft and make a living. Everyone on the team was willing to live on 1/3 a typical studio salary in exchange for creative freedom and a chance to gain from their own sweat equity. We all brought senior experience to the table (I've worked on Tomb Raider, Half-Life, Tribes, Tony Hawk, and others). Sadly, the numbers aren't there. Punch in some basic math numbers on keeping 3 people alive for a 9 month dev cycle; plus additional time for sales and payment, and it's just not an equation that balances yet. Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately) I'm bound by the realities of the real world, so at the New Year we had to evaluate the project progress and platform landscape.
If anyone has direct access to a MSFT rep, I would be happy to chat with them about bringing the game to market; Or point them to this post.
I guess the point of this post is that the phone is capable of pushing some great graphics and supporting original, mobile specific, titles of very high quality. But if a tiny 3 person team can't justify a 9 months development risk... then I see a chicken-n-egg scenario formed.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=902681
the person that posted this works for Microsoft... send him a message.
@lard666 One thing you have not accounted for in your numbers are Xbox sales. I am assuming this is written in XNA which means you can release it on the Xbox with it's 30 million users and $1 billion revenue last year almost at the flick of a switch.
I'm not saying this means you would definitely recoup your costs, but I know quite a few people who have high-selling titles on XBL, so it is possible.
I'd also like to point out that regional MS reps are nowhere near as helpful as their US counterparts. We had more luck contacting US people directly than we did liaising with the Swedish reps. I cannot say for certain that this is the same everywhere, but I have had similar experience in two other European countries in the past.
I'll forward this to Brandon Watson right now.
Guess you didn't hear about the Nokia deal. Too bad you quit.
lard666 said:
With regard to the kind words about the looks of the project, thank you.
The environment for level one (which was shown in the video in it's incomplete form) was 210K polygons.
Appaloosa is an old school western pistol pack'n arcade style shooter. It's based in a fantastic, toony, world centered loosely around America's late 1800's Old West. It's a rail shooter with shorter action-areas that can be completed in a single mobile time wasting session. So think western popup shooter crossed with Time Crisis; and add tumble-weed bonus rounds ala Galaga. It also had direct Face Book integration for quick posting of achievements. The game was to be priced at $.99 for each level (we were toying with the idea of releasing one level at a time, episodic style) or $2.99 for the complete game.
About WP7 being viable (currently, say this year 2011) to develop apps for... I don't see the indicators or hard data that proves so. And I'm not saying this with a confrontational tone, I just haven't seen any. I keep hearing lazy statistics (which are easily manipulated like, "fastest sales", "highest rate of apps", "most devs to date", etc.) and praise ("performing better then expected")... but the hard numbers are being held for some reason. I would bet no one had recovered their time investment for WP7 development yet, let along make a living from it.
Regardless, the numbers of phones sold is something to be mindful of, but more important is how the paid apps are selling. And the short answer is they aren't.
Games sell more then any other app and 'LIVE' games sell the most. We knew we would be dead in the water without 'LIVE' support, but when we spoke to a MSFT rep in Belgium we got the answer, "oh LIVE... yes yes, that is tricky. Probably can't get you LIVE status; that is reserved for the big guys. Let me know when your game is done, and I will see what I can do to push it up the list."
We were also in contact with a dev studio who's game has always been in the top 10 and has "LIVE" certification. Their game has sold in the tens of thousands; which doesn't even cover dev costs. Maybe the costs will be recovered over the next year. But that 'maybe' was a risk I couldn't take; not with a self-funded (sweat equity) game.
We weren't looking to make big bucks. Just wanted to be able to exercise our craft and make a living. Everyone on the team was willing to live on 1/3 a typical studio salary in exchange for creative freedom and a chance to gain from their own sweat equity. We all brought senior experience to the table (I've worked on Tomb Raider, Half-Life, Tribes, Tony Hawk, and others). Sadly, the numbers aren't there. Punch in some basic math numbers on keeping 3 people alive for a 9 month dev cycle; plus additional time for sales and payment, and it's just not an equation that balances yet. Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately) I'm bound by the realities of the real world, so at the New Year we had to evaluate the project progress and platform landscape.
If anyone has direct access to a MSFT rep, I would be happy to chat with them about bringing the game to market; Or point them to this post.
I guess the point of this post is that the phone is capable of pushing some great graphics and supporting original, mobile specific, titles of very high quality. But if a tiny 3 person team can't justify a 9 months development risk... then I see a chicken-n-egg scenario formed.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
At the DerbyCon hacker conference this past weekend, a buddy and i were asked to give a presentation about unlocking and modding of Android phones. Naturally, it's well below the level of most folk here, but if you have a friend who is interested in this topic they might get a lot out of this video...
Roamer & Deviant - Welcome to NinjaTel, Press '2' To Activate Your Device Now
youtube [dot] com [slash] watch?v=gz4w1kS1fHs
(i don't post here often, i just read... so i can't make a direct link)
... our original idea was just to claim a table in the hotel bar and offer to show people how to tweak their devices, just giving a helping hand in case newbies were apprehensive. Due to a last minute speaker cancellation, we were tapped to turn this into a full-on presentation. So, i rapidly put together slides and we grabbed a few spare devices and off we went.
The main crux of what we hoped to do with this presentation (which is NSFW, by the way) was convince newbies that it's not very hard or risky to do this. People should not be afraid to try.
This talk is geared towards the HTC One V because hundreds of them were given away at this past summer's DEFCON conference (which, if you don't know about that, google and read up on the Ninja Networks. it was amazing!)
So, perhaps someone will enjoy it. If it convinces just one more new person to try hacking their Android devices, mission accomplished.