Submitted 1.2

I submitted version 1.2 for review. Some fun facts:

Championship Ultimate is right now made up of 30,239 lines of code! The biggest file by far is Player.m which is 1699 lines.

Yesterday, August 24th, was the one year anniversary of the beginning of the project. Here are some comparison screenshots:

8/24/2009

8/24/2010

In a lot of ways, 1.2 is the game I wanted to make from the very beginning. But, I'm glad I didn't wait this long for the first release. I've gotten a lot of great feedback since it came out that has helped it evolve. So, many thanks to all of you for playing the game and spreading the word!

Here's the changelog:


Gameplay Improvements:
Much more realistic flight physics
Can put curve on throws (inside-out and outside-in)
Can alter the angle of attack (changes the height of throws)
Can optionally use simple throwing controls that require no pivoting
Tweak camera to show more action on the near sideline
Throws out of bounds come in where they went out
Pulls out of bounds respect the brick mark
Added Huck drill

AI Improvements:
Poached players cut more aggressively
Tone down AI poach defense and make throwers less conservative
AI will more intelligently chase your hucks
AI has better judgement of whether a huck is open

Graphical Improvements:
Better looking stadium
Added stadium lights
Added camera flyby to game intro
Added nicer looking sky
New buttons
New stall counter

New Teams:
OSU Leadbelly
CHS Varsity
Oberlin Preying Manti

Bug Fixes:
Player numbers looked wrong when pivoting (and related problems)
Holding down throwing arrow might lead to player switch
Other misc. fixes

A few things have been pushed back to 1.3, which should be a pretty exciting release as well.

iOS 3.1 crash..and...new buttons!

There's a problem with iOS 3.1 and CU version 1.1. I've submitted a fix and it looks like they'll review it on monday. Sorry about that!

Here are the new buttons I've made. I can't decide if they are too colorful. Maybe they should all be gray, and just labeled A,B, or C?

1.1 Is Out! And...some mood lighting.

1.1 has finally been approved for the app store. Scooops!

I've added some subtle stadium lights to the newest version. It doesn't jump out at you, but I think it does provide some nice graphical depth.  Actually, I think it also helps with gameplay, because depth perception is a little easier, as areas of light or dark become good reference points to judge distances.

Overall, the field does look a bit darker, but I think it raises the drama.

Love it? Hate it? Can hardly tell the difference?

Comparison pictures: Original (Above) and Lit (Below)

In other news, lefties should make it into 1.2, and I've started work on multiplayer, but I need access to another ipod/phone to really make good progress there.

Git 'er done!

A few weeks ago I started using Git, which is a source code manager, or a version control system, or maybe it has five other names. Essentially, it keeps track of every code change I make and it makes my life a whole lot easier! I can branch off in different directions for everything I do, and then merge everything back easily when it's ready. It's free and open source, and was started by Linus (the guy behind Linux). It's way superior to CVS and SVN and everything else.

Here's a screenshot of my git tree for Championship Ultimate:

1.2 Materializes

I had to resubmit 1.1 a few days ago because of a bug I found. But again, I hope it comes out soon.

The delay hasn't stopped me from working on version 1.2. It's going to have some pretty awesome and fundamental changes, and ideally it'll be ready to submit right after 1.1 is approved.

For 1.2 I dramatically improved the disc flight physics. Now it flies much more realistically. You can now throw the disc at an angle and have it curve. You can also alter the angle of attack, which means hucks can either be fast, low flying throws, or you can make them sail into the air. Short throws can be either quick, zippy passes, or you can float them into a space.

Sound complicated? Well, yea, it should, because throwing a real frisbee is a complicated process. I want the video game to have all the flight options that a real disc has.

However, I also added optional, simplified controls. A new player can pick them up and play without much practice. An experienced player might even like them if they don't care much about the attack angle or pivoting or throwing hammers.

There's also some AI improvements and a handful of bugfixes.

Update Submitted!

I submitted version 1.1 to the App Store. I think updates get reviewed faster than new submissions, so hopefully it's out within a few days.

Here's the changelog:

Added iPad support
Can now throw hammers and blades
Simplified throwing and turning controls
New help files to better explain the controls
AI controlled players are more likely to chase down hucks that fly near them
When jumping for the disc, your player has better judgement of whether to jump up or layout
Added layout D drill
Made a more informative tournament screen
Can now run game in both landscape orientations

fixed bug: Switching to running player caused them to stop
fixed bug: Fast devices would run demos too fast
fixed bug: Couldn't reliably turn left when holding disc
fixed bug: Sometimes turnover in endzone would incorrectly result in a score
fixed bug: Sometimes targeting control arrow would "stick"

Other small fixes and tweaks

Phew! It was a lot of work to get everything looking good on the iPad.

Now that I'm done with that, what should go into the next release? Any great feature ideas? Any hated bugs that should be fixed?

Off the top of my head, I'm thinking...
Inside out / outside in forehands and backhands, to add some curve to throws and pulls.
Lefties
Mini-frolf course type training drill?
Some iPhone 4 hi-res support

Add some stuff to the list!

Simplifying the controls

I took some time recently to change the throwing controls a bit. I think the new controls make it much easier to turn and find a target, and also make everything conceptually simpler.

The old controls (as seen in the current release, version 1.0) consisted of:
1. A "rotater" control to turn and find a target.
2. The DPad, which was used for pivoting.
3. The targeting pad, which was either used to throw short passes (high release backhands and push passes) by itself, or was used after pivoting to throw full power backhands and forehands.

The problems with the old controls...
1. The "rotater" was awkwardly placed above the DPad, making it slow to go from turning to pivoting. It was also visually complicated.
2. The targeting pad was too tempting for beginners. They would (understandably) use it to throw the disc without pivoting first, but that would result in short throws. I.e., "I'm dragging the arrow out pretty far, how come the disc isn't going anywhere?"

Once I added hammers, I knew I had to unify all the different throws. Instead of separating the short throws from the long throws, I would put all of them (forehands, backhands, high release backhands, push passes, hammers, blades) conceptually on the same level.

The new controls consist of:
1. The DPad, used for pivoting as usual UNLESS the red Action Button is held down.
2. The familiar red Action Button. If pressed, it will enable the DPad to turn the player.
3. The targeting pad, which only pops up once the player has started pivoting.

Benefits of the new controls:
1. Got rid of the "rotater", and found a new use for an existing button. The fewer buttons to learn about the better.
2. The left thumb is always positioned over the DPad; no need to move it up in order to turn.
3. The throwing pad is no longer a big problem for new players. Instead of, "Don't use it if you haven't pivoted first", the recommendation is, "Whenever you see it, go for it!".

Here's a visual explanation of the new controls:

What do you think? Is this better than the old controls?

Barring any strong objections, the new controls will be available in the upcoming 1.1 release. I might include even simpler "beginner controls" as an option in a future version of the game.