Project Sunburst -- any hope? - Windows Phone 7 General

Cross-posting this from a thread I made over at WPCentral:
Seriously, this game is the biggest disaster and disappointment in WP7 history. A great (though not perfect) tower defense game is bugged, bugged again, and then swept under the rug. Why? I paid for this game, and now I can't even play single player modes, because there's no server.
What would it take to have the server restored? Why has no one dug through the mess of stupidity to try to get this game back?
Twin Blades left, but later came back. Is there any hope to be held for this game as well, or are we just left to forever have this black mark on our phones (and, in some cases, Gamercard as well)?
I only have one achievement remaining anyway, and it's not even one of the glitched ones. Who owns the servers and who can I pay to get them back up? Seriously, I got money to throw at this if it'll work.
Edit: I am also trying to do some digging myself, and I discovered the page of Charles 'Chicky' Surmonte, an individual who worked on Project: Sunburst. I dropped him an e-mail (a few months ago) requesting information on who I can contact for more details about Sunburst.
I still have the game on my phone, and check it every once in a while, just in case the servers came back up for whatever reason (maybe a new version, a la Twin Blades?).
Seriously, this missing achievement is bugging the crap out of me. It's killing my entire Gamerscore hunting buzz. The main reason I was drawn to Windows Phone was because of its Xbox Live functionality, and now I'm getting games that are broken and permanently unavailable.
Does anyone know anything that could help us get some answers?
I just want the servers back, even if it's only for a couple of days, so I can finish the last achievement (which, in my case, isn't a bugged one). Moreso, if I could dream, I wish we could get the entire game back. But none of this can happen until we find out who made it.
All I've figured out is that it's a "SEED Studios" which is allegedly a part of Microsoft Game Studios. Anyone up for some more digging?
By going through GiantBomb, I found this website: http://www.seed-studios.com/
Obviously, it's not 100% confirmed as being theirs, since the information on GiantBomb may be user-submitted. But it's (possibly) a start. I sent them an e-mail, asking if they were, in fact, THE Seed Studios of Project Sunburst fame.
Gamespot suggests that Seed Studios has a website here: www.seedstudio.com/ -- I sent them the same e-mail I sent the other Seed Studios. I swear I'll get to the bottom of this.
Lastly, I found an interview here:
https://channel9.msdn.com/posts/Crackdown-2-Project-Sunburst-on-WP7--Xbox-LIVE
It features a couple of guys who are part of the Microsoft Game Studio team, which according to the previously-linked page of Mr. Surmonte, has the Seed Studios as a part of it. From there, I found this:
http://platformbiased.com/
It's a website with a podcast hosted by a handful of MGS guys. Naturally, this led me here:
http://www.facebook.com/platformbiased
Where I will try to get a hold of someone who actually worked on Project Sunburst, or maybe find out where one of the creators can be contacted.
Does anyone else want to help dig around?
I mean, I don't need them to update the glitchy game, or even re-release it, I just need the servers back so I can keep playing the game I paid for (and get that last achievement). If there were any way for me to run the server code, believe me, I would. Failing that, I'd like this stain removed from my Gamercard. Anyone know of Microsoft ever removing a game from a Gamercard for any reason other than cheating?

Related

Do we have a Picross game on windows mobile?

like this one http://www.thetimmys.com/flash/picross/
iPhone and DS also have their's.
it's an interesting game can waste your half afternoon.
Bump.
Did you ever get an answer to this question? I can't understand why picross/nonogram/oekaki/griddler puzzles aren't popular on the Windows Mobile platform. They are wonderful logic puzzles that look nice, and they're best to do electronically rather than using a pencil and paper and a huge eraser.
Sandra
There's an old but very functional Picross gamer called PocketGriddler around if you do a bit of Googling. Annoyingly there's a nag screen in the game asking you to register (for free)...but the game's so old the sodding website it references doesn't exist any more so you can't! That said, the nag screen doesn't have much functional impact so it's easy enough to ignore. I would give a link to the installer but a lot of the sites that reference it point straight at the now defunct author's website so you need to dig a bit to find a site that's hosting it on their own servers and I can't check for the one I found as I'm at work currently. If anyone wants this and can't find a copy then PM and we can probably sort something out.
And if anyone knows of a better, newer game of this style, or knows how to 'register' the games to get rid of the nag screen, I'd be eternally in your debt!
I actually managed to find a site with a hosted copy of the most current 1.7.2 release here:
http://handheld.softpedia.com/progDownload/PocketGriddler-Download-17737.html
Tip: change the skin to "BlackAndWhite", it looks much less cheap and horrible than some of the others.
Actually, scratch that last post, having been reminded of how annoying the nag screen is I've done another search around and managed to find the new home of PocketGriddler from which you can download and register it:
http://griddler.free.fr

Microsoft Haters

I may get roasted over this post, but it bugs me. First and formost not a big fan of the open source model. Have a friend that called me a freetard (I looked it up, some one who champions the cause for open source) when I had something positive to say about Andriod. Crazy! He is an iPhone, iPad user. iOs is based on Darwin which is open source. So when he made the argument for paying for software to drive innovation, it seemed a little odd. This guy is a rockstar in the IT world, but the iPhone smug is deffinately keeping him down. I was handed a Windows CE 1.0 device years ago and I could see the potential of this handy piece of equipment. Over the years I had some Windows CE based device at my side ever since. I have seen the rise of the Palm Pilot, listing to users complaing about how it synchs with outlook or doesn't until you buy something. I had my Pocket PC with Outlook, but the Pocket PC was not the rage so customers refused to even look. I was scratching my head as the Blackberry rose to power without the basic features I had enjoyed for years, it looked like a colorized version of a Palm Pilot. Enter the iPhone with the commercials touting listening to your music then answering a call. I was able to do that for years what was the big deal? Lotsa features in the iPhone at first were lacking.. how bout using songs as a custom ringtone... just plain old mp3 files.... nope you gotta jailbreak it. It was the must have items, if you had one you had status... it's a phone for crying out loud! Enter the G1 WITH NO OUT OF THE BOX EXCHANGE SUPPORT!!!! Use football, it sucks but it kinda works. Andriod is growing up into a much better phone O/S, better than the iSmug 4 (iPhone 4 for those who don't know a iPhone user or own one). Enter WP7 already condemed in the forums, even before official launch in the US. Windows CE from 1.0 to 6.5 were designed for lower resolution, smaller screens (excluding the screen size of the jornada and 1.0 devices) and a stylist. Phones are not like that anymore. A re-write has been long over due! From what I have read it's more like the Zune and it didn't act as a mass storage device either untill you installed a hack. I see the things it won't do as concerning sure, but as gamers argue the PS/3 is a better gaming box, it doesn't matter xbox is a more of a social network. I have seen the capabilities and it does now have huge potential. How many of you have installed Zune software and used it as a music player? Sure, internet radio is missing like a Winamp and it won't synch without a zune, that now has changed, but Winamp, itunes, any of them don't come close to the visual experiance and presentation of the zune software. Games that update your gamer score has my nephew frothing. Still has exchange support, better than Andriod when initially released on the G1.
Phones that had no out of the box tethering initially:
iPhone
Blackberry
Andriod
Palm O/S
All very successful O/S's. I think time will tell if WP7 is a hit or a miss, but in the tech world mediocre is usually the big winner. If tethering, mass storage support, and a few others are fixed in short order then who will you get behind? In all honesty I see huge potential in WP7. I have an xbox, use my phone as my music player... so bring on Zune software support! Work and play all in one device redesiegned for touch phones, I'm down to give it a try, to give it a chance to have some of it's limitations worked out in a few months. Don't be such a hater before it even has a chance.
You seem to be forgetting that not everyone wants what you want, there's loads of features which I consider unnecessary and others feel essential, and vice versa, does it matter? I don't think so. A friend of mine just got an iPhone 4, it's perfect for what *she* needs, I've never felt the need to ***** about how iOS is 'not for me'.
Using apps whilst on a call - I have never felt the need to do that, ever. I can, and it's nice to know that, but I can do without.
MS Exchange - I'm a teenager, what the hell am I going to do with exchange support?!
Tethering - I find it essential. No android doesn't have it built in (well, not included in shipping ROMs anyway), but I installed a *free* app, and now I can. I'm still able to sleep at night.
I agree that sometimes vendors can be a bit stupid about what they allow consumers to do (my girlfriend still can't set a wallpaper on her iPod touch, srsly), but as long as people are happy with their choice of device, does it really matter?
AdrianK said:
You seem to be forgetting that not everyone wants what you want, there's loads of features which I consider unnecessary and others feel essential, and vice versa, does it matter? I don't think so. A friend of mine just got an iPhone 4, it's perfect for what *she* needs, I've never felt the need to ***** about how iOS is 'not for me'.
Using apps whilst on a call - I have never felt the need to do that, ever. I can, and it's nice to know that, but I can do without.
MS Exchange - I'm a teenager, what the hell am I going to do with exchange support?!
Tethering - I find it essential. No android doesn't have it built in (well, not included in shipping ROMs anyway), but I installed a *free* app, and now I can. I'm still able to sleep at night.
I agree that sometimes vendors can be a bit stupid about what they allow consumers to do (my girlfriend still can't set a wallpaper on her iPod touch, srsly), but as long as people are happy with their choice of device, does it really matter?
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You're, in a way, making my point... I am not banging on Andriod here... not in any way. Stating a fact that all phone O/S's must grow over time. WP7 is a re-write, not an upgrade to 6.5 it will need to mature like the rest of them did. What your taking as a ***** about something is just the opposite, just saying hey there is potential there for a good device... see where it goes. As far as iPhone's go, maybe it is different in England... never been there, but people who own one here often times use it as statis. There is a funny youtube video on a lady who just wants one regardless and all they have in stock is an EVO. As I mentioned in my post... my nephew cares about the xbox points, I did not say I did. People should buy a device that does what they want not what others are buying. A phone doesn't make you better, it doesn't raise your status, and certainly doesn't make you more aware of the environment. An p.s. it is based on open source like the others. All that said isn't even a rip on the phone itself.
Many of those of us that are complaining about WP7 are long standing WinCE owners. My first WinCe phone was the BlueAngel but prior to that I had a jornada and acer n20w.
We don't hate M$ but we do feel let down by the focus of the new WP. I don't use face book or twiter, I don't want to play games, I don't give a toss about Zune, I don't want to have to open a windows live account.
I reserve the right to feck my phone up in an attempt to improve/personalise it.
I don't want a model T-ford with the engine hood welded down.
I would tend to agree with most of that a year ago. I got kicked in the a$$ by regular users.. same reason I got into this years ago. I was embracing change in the tech world it drove me to a point, but times have changed the way family's and businesses communicate. My supplier went off shore to the Phillipines, all my contacts there are on facebook. They know more about me then they probly should but has had a stronger team effect on our interaction. Good or bad technology is making leaps... it's a new direction. I am confident we are in the right place to drive the kind of change WP7 will need to make to have a more universal appeal. Nov 8 is big date for the O/S. I have a strong hunch no developer is gonna release a damn thing untill after that date.
awagner said:
You're, in a way, making my point... I am not banging on Andriod here... not in any way. Stating a fact that all phone O/S's must grow over time. WP7 is a re-write, not an upgrade to 6.5 it will need to mature like the rest of them did. What your taking as a ***** about something is just the opposite, just saying hey there is potential there for a good device... see where it goes. As far as iPhone's go, maybe it is different in England... never been there, but people who own one here often times use it as statis. There is a funny youtube video on a lady who just wants one regardless and all they have in stock is an EVO. As I mentioned in my post... my nephew cares about the xbox points, I did not say I did. People should buy a device that does what they want not what others are buying. A phone doesn't make you better, it doesn't raise your status, and certainly doesn't make you more aware of the environment. An p.s. it is based on open source like the others. All that said isn't even a rip on the phone itself.
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Ah, yeah I get your point, and I agree. Somewhat thankfully, I don't think I've ever heard someone try to sound big because they own an iPhone, but I've never been to the states
I didn't see your post as complaining really. The title of the thread made me think "oh no, here we go again." But your post was not what I expected from that title.
I completely understand how some people consider no tethering a deal breaker. However, just look at other phone OSs and you will realize that tethering will happen, with or without the consent of the carrier or the OS builder.
The bottom line is simple. If any of the missing items are what someone considers a deal breaker, just wait it out. We will find out soon enough how development, both official and unofficial, will add to WP7s feature set.
I personally have a few concerns but nothing that would cause me any serious grief. This may not be the case for others. Comparitively, iTunes is a deal breaker for me with the iPhone. Android's lack of native and consistent music sync is driving me crazy. I doubt we will ever see the perfect device, so I just try to find something that provides me with the features that are most important to me.
Your mileage may vary!
awagner said:
I would tend to agree with most of that a year ago. I got kicked in the a$$ by regular users.. same reason I got into this years ago. I was embracing change in the tech world it drove me to a point, but times have changed the way family's and businesses communicate. My supplier went off shore to the Phillipines, all my contacts there are on facebook. They know more about me then they probly should but has had a stronger team effect on our interaction. Good or bad technology is making leaps... it's a new direction. I am confident we are in the right place to drive the kind of change WP7 will need to make to have a more universal appeal. Nov 8 is big date for the O/S. I have a strong hunch no developer is gonna release a damn thing untill after that date.
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Much like you I am seeing that communication is very different than it was 2 or 3 years ago and it has nothing to do with the iphone (most users I know don't really text, send mms or even watch videos on thiers). What has changed things is twitter and facebook. A company or individual can accomplish more in getting the name and recognition of a product faster through these type of mediums than anything previous. Email is secondary to texting, updating your facebook or tweeting when it comes to communication with most of the younger generation (under 30). Most of my family that I had to force to use facebook is all over it now (ages 15-20) and our ability to cross reference our products (music, photography, etc...) or simply keep up to date with family events is much easier than before.
Windows Phone 7 taking advantage of these services makes it a desirable, easy to use product that looks great and allows growth in the future. The last 5 years has proven Windows Mobile is not going to sell and targeting only the closed in person who shuns social interaction through these mediums will be the fastest way to have a product fail.
no cut/paste will be the ultimate demise of wp7
Wow! I was expecting to get ripped from one side to another for merely mentioning a wait and see attitude. I am surprised to see other people get the point it is a direction change and much needed. A Great phone just does no cut it. With HTC sense and an Energy ROM I have everything I want to know right on the home screen, plus internet sharing, etc, etc... for me it's better than Andriod, but look at the market share for a once dominate phone. It's just not good enough, I think we can all agree a new direction for Microsoft is needed like it or not. I for one am looking forward to it, just need to rethink how I might get around the obsticals of the stuff that does not work. Hopefully, the HD2 will see a ROM soon hacked or not so I can get into it without pluncking down a bunch of cash for it.
orangekid said:
no cut/paste will be the ultimate demise of wp7
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Isn't that supposed to be in the first update? Don't you think an xda developer will do anything with it or somebody else might write something?
awagner said:
Isn't that supposed to be in the first update? Don't you think an xda developer will do anything with it or somebody else might write something?
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Click to collapse
It is already in the next update and is already being tested with the latest builds of the OS. There is no reason to be concerned unless waiting a couple months without c/p is going to cause a major problem for you.
orangekid said:
no cut/paste will be the ultimate demise of wp7
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not to veer this topic off course....but it is stupid comments like this that annoy me...and apparently he doesn't pay attention to the news that copy/paste is coming in Jan.
Hi I had a Windows Mobile Sony Ericsson Xperia X1 and an Htc Diamond 2 but when Android arrived in the Market from Hero 1.5/2.1 to Desire 2.2 is been a great experience now. I am very happy and life is very easy. Android is the future of smartphones. Go for Android you won't make a mistake!!
I love Microsoft! I especially love developing for them. I think Visual Studio 2010 could quite easily be considered the best development environment in the world.
I love the fact that most people world wide use the same operating system, and that I can develop a single program and expect it to work on most peoples machines.
This is why I want WP7 to work well. I want to feel happy with it. I want others to feel happy with it too, because I want it to be a roaring success.
This is why I b**ch and moan about features that have been intentionally left out
That's exactly how I feel, except mines is from a consumer point of view.
MS always makes something with great potential, but then they half do it. Its like that with every MS product except the desktop.
Hmm... Could Microsoft do better? Sure. If you think Google has the magic pixey dust to make the perfect phone O/S that will make everyone happy you need to get out more. Apple and Blackberry have their own issues. I cringed creating a gmail account when I setup Andriod on my phone. Sure Microsoft has privacy issues, but at least I know with them I am the customer. With Google more often than not, your not. Has anybody listened to Eric Schmidt talk? The guy is just plain creepy, Google had to shut him up. "If you don't like street view just move." Ok, so where is it safe Eric? Your place? Oh I get it he is saying he is Noah and we must follow him to his ark. Look, all I am saying is give WP7 a chance.
Just FYI
HTC Support
Will there be any upgrade path to WP7? Free or purchase?
"I understand the importance of having the most up to date software for your HTC HD2. At this time, there are no plans on releasing a Windows Phone 7 update for any HTC device. I do apologize for any confusion that you may have had, I hope this clears things up for you"
XDA is officially my only hope for the HD2 and if nada then this phone will be worth very little in short order
The only thing that could change the path of t-mobile and HTC if t-mobile is sitting on thousands of HD2's only way they could unload them after the 8th is upgrade the phone!
Im pretty sure all WP7 updates will come via Zune
francomur99 said:
Hi I had a Windows Mobile Sony Ericsson Xperia X1 and an Htc Diamond 2 but when Android arrived in the Market from Hero 1.5/2.1 to Desire 2.2 is been a great experience now. I am very happy and life is very easy. Android is the future of smartphones. Go for Android you won't make a mistake!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If the future means having to reboot you phone, Or even worse have it fail to restart because a poor App. [I will give it a miss thanks.]
I have not enjoyed being left without a phone the few times this has happened.
Just give me a stable OS any day. [ Reliability is a key for success]

DEV IDEA POOL [Sift through for ideas] USERS must post REQUESTS/IDEAS here -MANDATORY

Not with all the live stuff (would be nice though) but when I flip something up it goes into trash or closes it (think it is nice interaction) also with only pages/programs open shows up in screen slides with this interaction. Could possibly make winmo perform a little better. Sorry for bad wording and such but pressed for time at work Hope someone takes interest in this .
A really good simple app idea for Windows Phone 7
Its funny how one always has a great app idea after the event (read; http://www.windowsphone7.com/ineedt...2526pmodex253D1x2526gridviewx253D0#pbbh21054p),
An app I thought that would be really cool is a supermarket price comparison. The 'story' is that you visit you local store with your shopping list on your phone; the phone checks off the items on the list when you scan their respective barcodes, also as you scan the barcode it brings up the price for the product and the price from the competitor supermarket chains. I think this app would really sell well, and people will buy it because they know they will make their money back in their first shop
What do you guys think?
i would definitely use it
+1 !
but the problem is: who will update the price and the product list?
I believe there already is an API available (for the web -UK supermarkets) which does this for you...all a coder/dev needs to do is build the app.
an API for worldwide would be perfect... i think google provide such api for US/europe?
otherwise, maybe somebody can find an agreement with online stores to provide prices and models ...
really the idea is interesting and someone should start coding it (personnaly i don't currently have enough time )
I remember hearing of the Iphone porting of apps a while back
I was just wandering is anyone actually doing this? I know there is an windows equivalent every now and then but sometimes the apple app works better. I know I am a 6'4 guy that 270, and I love the Lose it App (my fiance has) and I know about vita one (no were near the build in database). And other things that help communicate with others and such. I am not going to apple been there 2x and always perferred windows mobile for the last 6+ years just wanted to ask this. If someone took it up to port apps I am pretty sure there would be hundreds or thousands of people willing to donate/pay for your hard work. Just a thought.
Problem with porting certain apps, is it requires you to actually have a iPhone
If you got some links to apps you would like ported, with screenshots and so on, I'd love to check it out, as porting apps is a good challenge to get familiar with the development environment.
Thanks I meant to put this in the development and hacking section in general not just windows 7 , here is a link to one of them I thought about creating a bounty or reward system for people to request apps and pay developers here to port them? Here is the link for one http://www.loseit.com/
really nice app because the database is constantly updated with nutrition facts from most of places we eat. I will have more later when I repo my girls phone for a while.
I would totally use this. I have the Shopaid app and it is okay, but doesn't update the price and such
The thing is with applications like that, is it depends more on the data that's available. Duplicating the interface into a Metro styled hub for weight-loss and exercise could be done in a day or two, but getting the actual data setup is a completely other story.
Beyond that, you can be totally sure people will duplicate that type of app.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f_A4TdEV3Sk
Looks like someones already getting the ball rolling.
Someone is already developing that app actually, just go to Youtube and type "windows phone price check app" and you'll see. I can't post the link because I'm new here! The app looks amazing so far.
My company, with decades of experience with Windows development, is looking to break into mobile development in a big way with the launch of WP7. We have a couple of original ideas we are working on, but we would also like to officially port a successful iPhone app or game for some additional credibility.
I've approached a couple of different iPhone app developers with this proposal:
>>Let us port your app at our expense and we split the proceeds 50/50.
>>You retain all ownership and have quality assurance approval before launch.
I have tried every phrasing I can think of to convince them I am legitimate and that I want to create an arrangement where I take on 100% of the risk, but we share equally in the reward.
So far, not even a reply.
Any ideas?
Regards,
Jason
ebook readers
I curently have an HD2 and will probable end up with a WP7 device at some point when they come out. However I'm a big ebook fan and at the moment i'm tempted to get an android phone so that I can use he Kindle app. I'm waiting to see what developers come up with for WP7.
Do you think there's a good chance of a kinde app or something like it being made for WP7?
Cheers
Steve
I think so. I think the amount of sales will be suprising, and that there will be more hardware with WP7 on it than critics give it credit for. There are alot of peopl ethat HAVE an iPhone that want out. My father just got the AT&T Galaxy S (Captivate) and loves it, diching his iPhone 3G.
I think they would be silly not to. I'd prefer a Nook app on WP7 myself, but something to start would be nice!
Brandon Watson said they were worknig with developers who already had WM apps - that means B&N for sure. MS also has an eboo reader but it's unclear if they are going to bundle it with the phone (not likely). Based on the ease of writing WP7 apps I'd suspect all of the large developers to write a WP7 app and they are permitted to have their ebook stores.
Let's hope that you guys are right and there is a strong enough uptake to make all the big players developer readers for WP7. competition is a good thing after all!
Cheers
Steve
I relay like your idea…
After all because I had nearly the same
But I would give it more features…
X Online Service for the markets where they can register the products with barcode and price
-„POI“ Database with geodata of the markets
-Markets can enter special offers
X Online „Community“ section
-Users can Post reviews and vote for products
-Users can vote for markets / stores
-Users can enter alternate products
X Private section for Users
-You can make your grocery list an search for alternate products
-You can enter an amount of saving and a distance you would go for
So the system could give you a shopping tour
Now to the Phone App
X The App can download your grocery
X You can make a Live price comparison with the barcode
-The app could give you a market / store, it would consider your amount of saving and a distance you would go for
X You can do a live vote for Products and Stores
X You can enter a grocery list
X You can search for alternate products
X The app would use the geodata and GPS
SHOP NAV!
I thought of an app years ago called shop nav.
You type in your shopping list and your phone guides you around the store in the correct route.If your in your local then you know where everything is.but how many times have you shopped in a different store one only to find everything is in a different place.You spend most of your time doubling back on your self and walking up the same flaming isle 3 times!.Supermakets are getting bigger and if an app like this was possible it would save everyone time and ease shop congestion.

Appaloosa for WP7

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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Click to collapse
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

Some Ideas on KIN Improvments without replaceing the OS

I had some ideas this morning on what we could do to make the OS and usabilyity of the phone greater without hacking (I rolled out of bed and fell on the floor and then it came to me lol. Ironic right?).
*This will of course involve the browser which isnt the fastest but not the worst.
What if we made web applications for the KIN and a web apps store which basicially is like an android market turned into a mobile version and KINafied a bit and instead of downloads has links to webapps people have found and/or made. I would be willing to ut time into it if someone else will help and if you guys want this.
*Please leave a comment on your standpoint.
I stated this before. It was a work in progress called WebOS. I stated the idea, then people started to get involved and made it happen. Doesn't look like it will be done.
Yeah I know and it was a good idea so I stated it again because for some reason your posts always get passed off as bad, but I think some of them had good ideas.
That's not entirely true. I get impatient with people when they say "Just release the damn hack already" Or "Show some proof" I got annoyed so I gave up and gave those trolls what they deserved: Stuff to piss them off
True true but are you working on an online web app store optimized for the KIN or not? If you are can I be of any assistance?
I brought up the idea of web apps a long time ago but was simply blown off. I now have a Droid charge but still like to keep an eye on this forum. This is a good idea, but I do not have the apps I was using on my phone before I upgraded. However I did post them soif you look up my previous posts you could maybe as then to your list.
Sent from my SCH-I510 using XDA
Thanks I didnt even know they were up here. Can you tell me which page or what im looking for?
kintwofan said:
I brought up the idea of web apps a long time ago but was simply blown off. I now have a Droid charge but still like to keep an eye on this forum. This is a good idea, but I do not have the apps I was using on my phone before I upgraded. However I did post them soif you look up my previous posts you could maybe as then to your list.
Sent from my SCH-I510 using XDA
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry to bust your bubble, but your idea wasn't blown off. I stated the idea before you and they tried. I don't know here you were when we started but one of the main person that was in on this (Alex Williams) Left the train ride if you know what I mean. We made some good progress too.
im not so sure about doing apps for the device as long as we cannot really rely on the case or browser hehaviour.
on the other hand,im making some tests that could let you plug your kin on one pc and access the content wherever you want,through web browser
kinda....kino web version. kin on the cloud...whatever
must ask some guys to see if its doable in windows. but for linux,and probably mac it works. i just tested the kinect samples.
also is all done on javascript so if releases is instantly opensource.
tldr; makin something like studio....but on your pc so you will have to have it powered on, and that stuff
Johnwhat would we do without you. That sounds great. My next suggestion was something like that. If we can add our own apps without changing the software Im fine with that too. But changing the software to something like ICS would be a bonus! Can you give a bit more detail on what your program does?
mmm its too late here so i will just say that this will be just like kino but the interface will be by browser and from any device.
except the kin itself haha,will be the host.
this lets you edit the interface and the code in stuff like notepad.
also using css templates, designers csn change the gui,extend it..whatever
Kinuser1
I was talking about a single game cached on the phone. Here is where I brought it up back in July 2011. forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=15759037#post15759037
I don't see were you mentioned this at all and I just reread all your posts. You didn't burst my bubble because like all your posts you are trying to act smarter than everyone.
WEM If you look at my posts I think I listed the games I gound that cached.
Thanks but what im trying to get us to do is make a website based app store with web applications designed for the KIN. basically just until we can crack this thing.
Sounds good I'll keep an eye to see how the progress is coming I thought you could use some games that cached to use source code to put in your site. I will say I got a lot from an open source site and added the caching code and was housing on a local server die nee. Worked perfectly and lated on phone for songs 12hours with no internet
Sent from my SCH-I510 using XDA
kintwofan said:
I was talking about a single game cached on the phone. Here is where I brought it up back in July 2011. forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=15759037#post15759037
I don't see were you mentioned this at all and I just reread all your posts. You didn't burst my bubble because like all your posts you are trying to act smarter than everyone.
WEM If you look at my posts I think I listed the games I gound that cached.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for your smart comment bud. But, I didn;t post it on here. I posted it on the facebook group. Either way it's the past and it doesn't matter
Okay, well I'm not a member of the Facebook page so maybe you did. Either way it seems like the best workable solution for the kin. It worked great for me while I had my Kin, made the phone pretty useable when not around wifi. However, yall keep up the good work. I still have mine as a back up for my charge so I hope you make some progress. Also if anyone needs some testing I am willing to risks bricking my phone since it just sits in my attic
Sent from my SCH-I510 using XDA
kintwofan said:
Okay, well I'm not a member of the Facebook page so maybe you did. Either way it seems like the best workable solution for the kin. It worked great for me while I had my Kin, made the phone pretty useable when not around wifi. However, yall keep up the good work. I still have mine as a back up for my charge so I hope you make some progress. Also if anyone needs some testing I am willing to risks bricking my phone since it just sits in my attic
Sent from my SCH-I510 using XDA
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think the idea for a "Web store" or something like that, is out of the question. It's a good idea but the browser is slow, Plus we've tried this before..maybe I can ask people to try and do this again
to be honest... develop that would just take one evening.
the other stuff is just making it pretty.
the most imporant stuff is to store it somewhere.
and i may be... "overacting" but i wouldnt bet on someones personal site for storage of my "downloaded" or selected stuff.
Apart from that... well is a pity as kin doesnt accept ad-hoc networks so refreshing could be done from a laptop without internet.
Also:
WEM97 said:
...until we can crack this thing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
not gonna happen. If electronics guys help us, we could just plug the samsung chip and use the wiring on the right pins, so read it in serial (UART) mode and dump the content into bin files (including possible rom content) like has been done for other Movinand devices in this forum (XDA). Of course no one has interest, and i got no means to do so, even if i had found the samsung documents describing the wiring.
And the alternative, which is decoding what XNA game dev studio says is not easy for me, so imma not gonna do it, and there is no other way to create a installable/runnable app (so no "do half and...." stuff that is on the other thread)

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