Having cleared up our indiscretions with the turret update, One Man Left has been removed from the naughty list and given a big ‘ole sack of approval. Viva la Turret will be in your hands December 22nd! God bleth uth, every one.

Trailer coming soon!

Update: The new “¡Viva la Turret!” version is being submitted tonight, so the delay may only amount to a week or two.

It is apparently in bad taste to name your gametype after an affliction for which perfectly nice people are ridiculed. Lesson learned. The gametype formerly known as Turret’s Syndrome has met strong opposition over what is perceived, by some, as objectionable content. We’re now in the process of renaming it “¡Viva la Turret!” and resubmitting the update.

How will this affect the December delivery of Turret’s Syndrome? It’s likely to push it into early January, but we’re exploring every possible avenue to deliver this month. We’ll keep you updated.

We’re one week closer to the release of Tilt to Live‘s Turret’s Syndrome expansion later this month. You blog-&-facebook-&-twitter followers were the first to see the new weapon, and now you’re the first to get the details of our fifth gametype: Turret’s Syndrome. Check out the new music by Tilt to Live’s always-excellent composer, Whitaker Blackall.

Your Arsenal

Turret’s Syndrome will feature only one weapon type: the Perforator turret. In last week’s post, we mentioned that the dots would incinerate when they reached the turret pod, rendering you invincible. In Classic and Code Red that’s true, but it’s not the case in Turret’s Syndrome!

To be specific, the Perforator lasts 6 seconds and there is NO eject button. So for those six, point-earning seconds, you’ll be vulnerable to droves of dots bearing down on you from all angles. A word of caution: the deadliest formations are actually WAITING for you to get into a turret. You can shoot them at long range or, for an up-close-and-personal touch, fry them by sweeping your gun barrel.

The Jewels

You may be thinking it’s best to hop from turret to turret all day long. But what keeps this mode interesting is its multiplier system, which makes the difference between a “meh” highscore and a “MUAHAHAHA” one.

In TS, each dot is carrying a jewel in its little dot purse. The more dots you blow away, the more jewels litter the battlefield. Once your turret ends, you’re free to snag as much moolah as possible before entering another. But choose wisely! The jewels you don’t collect will disappear for good.

Jewels will multiply the points you earn in a turret. Grab 20 jewels before hopping in, and your kills are multiplied by 20. But multipliers only stick around for the life of one turret, so you’ll need to keep collecting jewels between Perforators for a truly great score.

Feeding the Turret

But what if you’ve got x200 multiplier, and aren’t ready to say goodbye just yet?

While you’re occupying one turret, the other pickup is floating innocently around the arena. Shooting that pickup actually draws it closer, like a tractor beam. Once it reaches you, a shockwave shoves your pursuers away, your Perforator’s life extends by 6 seconds, and your multiplier stays alive! The trick is knowing when to fire at your enemies, and when to go for that pickup. You’ll find yourself in a deadly game of chicken, praying that your weapon reaches you before the dots do!

When Oh When Oh When Is It Coming?!

Turret’s Syndrome has been finalized and submitted to Apple for approval. Once we’re given the okay, we’ll have a definite release date for you guys. For now, the best we can tell you is, based on past experience, we expect it to be out this month. The expansion for iPhone’s Tilt to Live will cost a mere 99¢, with a similar arrangement coming to Tilt to Live HD shortly afterward.

Don’t forget to join our mailing list for a chance to win one of 10 free copies of Turret’s Syndrome on launch day!

This week, we’re proud to unveil the next unlockable for your TtL weapon arsenal. Ladies and gents, the Perforator turret:

Hopping into this new pickup triggers a shockwave, shoving nearby dots backward (or smashing them to pieces against a wall). You’ll appreciate the breathing room when your mini-gun armor sprouts, spewing dot-chewing bullets in whichever direction you tilt. Dots that get too close will disintegrate against your hot metal pod. And when your turret finally overheats, a second shockwave shoves the survivors back for your escape.

The Perforator will be the star of our new gametype, Turret’s Syndrome, similar to the Burnicade in Frostbite mode. You can use it in that gametype from the start, but you’ll have to unlock it for Code Red and Classic. Unlike previous unlocks, though, the turret won’t be earned by grabbing awards (you’ve all had too much time to buffer those Pocket Scores). Instead, all of your scores in Turret’s Syndrome will be added to a pool of points. Earn enough lifetime points in TS, and the Perforator is unleashed upon the other, unsuspecting gametypes.

That’s all you’re getting out of us this week! Stop by next week for more on the new gametype, and how this weapon fits in.

Without further ado (well, maybe just a little more ado) we now decode the codename of Project Codename, Tilt to Live‘s next expansion. First came Code Red & Gauntlet mode, then Frostbite & the Burnicade weapon. Coming this December, cover your children’s ears for the new Turret’s Syndrome gametype and the Perforator turret.

The graphics envelope has been pushed, the spaghetti western musical theme is coming along beautifully from composer Whitaker Blackall, and I’ve already witnessed significant battery drain from gameplay (this is how we know when we’re on the right track).

The Turret’s Syndrome expansion will be released for the iPhone version of the game first, with an iPad edition to follow. You will not want to miss next week’s post for a first look at the Perforator turret (in mid-perforation, no less).

You may find it surprising that we play video games! Here’s a quick rundown of what’s distracting us from work this month.

Adam – Artist

Per usual, I do a lot more console gaming than iDevice play. Recently got through Alan Wake, which is a really engrossing single player experience that I couldn’t get enough of (and I have the DLC to prove it). Also played through Metroid: Other M, which I’d prefer to forget ever happened.

Highborn (or HD or Lite): I’m not usually a strat game kinda guy (unless you count Brutal Legend), but this one was charming enough to hold my interest from start to finish. Like a less-complicated Advance Wars, with dialogue that doesn’t physically hurt to read. Good variety in the boss designs and level scenarios, so I was compelled to see it through to the end… which never came. I’ll probably be picking up Chapter 2 when it’s released.

Alex – Developer

On top of the standard AAA fair of games (Black Ops, Starcraft 2…still) I’ve been burning through quite a few iPhone games. Not sure how I feel about getting an iOS game and being done with it after one play session. Probably stems from my tendency to never finish single player console games either, just magnified. In either case, I do keep coming back to…

Linkoidz: Maybe I have yet to come to terms with liking match-3 games, which may be why I feel surprised to mention this game. Yet, I tend to get more fun out of this one than most as of late. What’s amusing is I tend to play it BETWEEN games of Starcraft 2 while waiting on buddies to return or queuing up. When I stare at my iPhone and know I only have a few minutes to “zone out” while waiting on something (car at the shop, commercials, etc), I just tend to gravitate back to this game. The interaction of swooping linkoidz up into your gun and then shooting them out feels very fluid and satisfying. Hats off to Retro Dreamer for making a very well designed mobile game!

Check back next week for the de-codenaming of “Project Codename”, Tilt to Live‘s December expansion.

Today, only 7 months after Tilt to Live‘s original release,  we present Tilt to Live Lite!  Also presenting Temporary TtL (iPhone) Price Drop to 99¢, whose title is admittedly not as catchy. Now you can try before you buy, AND get a discount. This great deal is in honor of Tilt to Live’s next big  expansion, coming in December, which we have codenamed “Project Codename”. More on that at the end of this month.

The lite version is basically TtL HD‘s free demo, but for the iPhone. Now everybody gets a demo. Isn’t that nice!

In other news:

Tilt to Live was recently inducted into the App Hall of Fame, alongside such heavyweights as Harbor Master, Pocket God, and some game called Fruit Ninja. We’re truly honored to be included, especially since we’re a few million downloads behind the other inductees.

You can consider it in the mail if you used free, 5-8 day super-saver shipping. We submitted the release build to Apple yesterday, so we’ve penciled in September 30th the official release date. So on September 30th, barring some misfortune, expect to grab Tilt to Live HD for free. Free to play Classic with 4 weapons, $3.99 to own it all.

One thing you’ll notice immediately from this screenshot is the word “Score” where “Time” should be. While we were tweaking gameplay for the upcoming Tilt to Live HD, we invented a brand new Gauntlet mode; one that takes advantage of all this glorious space. It’s the same idea: survive weaponless in a barrage of dots, axes, and nasty surprises. But it’s no longer your time that counts. It’s how you use it.

What’s different?

• Everything.
• Dots, axes, and knives will be coming from all four edges of the screen, not just the right.
• No predictable formations, only chaos!
• No lives, you wimp.
• No depleting life bar at the bottom. Orbs give you points, instead.
• Orbs are more valuable if you collect them quickly.
• You won’t be graded on how long you last, but how many points you can gather.

Be on the lookout for TtL HD later this month. Classic mode is free to try, but this new Gauntlet is only playable in the full version.

One Man Left Studios will be releasing Tilt to Live’s iPad incarnation this September. More than a mere resolution bump, the HD edition will feature completely revamped weapon effects, four times the arena space of its iPhone counterpart, and optimized tilt controls for the iPad platform. It’s bigger, it’s prettier, and best of all: it will be free to try before you buy.

All four of the iPhone’s gametypes will be returning, now with super-sized play areas. That’s four times the space to flee in Code Red, and twice the ground to defend in Frostbite. The current nine-weapon arsenal will also be available to unlock, each sporting an impressive graphical facelift. And speaking of unlocks, the AGON platform will be reprising its role as TtL HD’s (rebalanced) awards and leaderboards provider.

But what’s all this “free to try” business about? Well, in the spirit of drug dealers and food court Chinese restaurants, we’re offering our users a sampling of TtL HD absolutely free of charge. In demo mode, you’ll fight for the highest score in a giant Classic gametype with its own demo leaderboard. There will be four freshly-beautified weapon pickups at your disposal: the nuke, blastwave, cluster missiles, and ice blast.

If you likey what we makey, you can access the full version for a $3.99 in-app purchase. That’s five unlockable weapons, rebalanced award challenges, all four giant-sized gametypes, and the iPad-exclusive leaderboards for each. Keep your eyes peeled for more details on this blog, as the September release of Tilt to Live HD approaches.

Click for actual size.

See more screenshots on our new TtL HD page.