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.
This video that was in a comments thread for one of our posts and I wanted to bring it to everyone’s attention. The Gauntleteer achievement requires players to play survive 10 minutes of Gauntlet, and Zago-ITA pulled off one of the hardest achievements in Tilt to Live without losing a single life. This guy makes it look easy :). He knows how to tilt to live.
It is a 10 minute video, so if you want to see some of the highlights click here instead.
Hats off to Zago-ITA!
If you haven’t checked your iPhone app store updates lately, you may want to give it a check soon. Tilt to Live 1.5 is finally out. What’s new?
- Game Center Leaderboards – compete with your friends on daily and weekly leaderboards
- Game Center Achievements – bragging rights
- “Retina Display” graphics – High-res graphics for those with high-res devices
- Bug fixes carrying over from Tilt to Live HD
What is that you say? Where are the new weapons or gametypes? Well, the holiday season is full of miracles. See you then.
We had a major issue in the initial release of Tilt to Live HD that prevented a lot of international users from playing the game. We’ve been working as fast as possible to resolve the issue and getting a working version out on the app store. It’s now live and should be appearing throughout the different app stores within hours.
What’s fixed
- Non-US iTunes users no longer crash on start up
- Red dots now draw on *top* of pick ups. No more sneaky dots!
Update:
We screwed up with our review alert. A fix is in the pipeline and should be up live within a few days.
Wow, I was quite pleasantly surprised at the amount of response we got when asking for beta testers. We weren’t kidding when we said “small” as we’ve only got 20 or so spots to fill, but got a lot more requests. Sadly, not everyone will be able to try out the beta :[. I’ve sent out the beta e-mails so if you haven’t received one by the end of today, sorry, maybe next time! Thanks to all that have shown their support and for lending a helping hand in making Tilt to Live even more awesome!
So we’re close to wrapping up our next big update for Tilt to Live, but we’re in need of a little help from you guys. Some of the big new features in this update:
- Game Center Leaderboards and Achievements
- Gyroscope support
- Retina Display Graphics
We’re wanting to run this game through it’s paces on a nice range of devices. Anyone with a 3G, 3GS, or iPhone/iPod 4 are welcome to request an invite. What issues we’re potentially looking for:
- Game Center integration working (or not working) on older gen devices and being correctly disabled on 3.x iOS devices. In areas with less than ideal interenet connectivity/speed are of particular interest.
- Gyroscope support: (iPhone 4/iPod 4G only) Does it make sense?
- General feedback of any bugs or crashes discovered.
If you think you have the time and would like to give TTL 1.5 a test run on your device, just head over to our contact form and choose ‘Beta Request’ and fill in the info. We can’t accomodate everyone due to very limited ad-hoc space, so please only apply if you’re willing to give it an honest effort.
It’s finally out! Tilt to Live HD has hit the app store and so far the response has been phenomenal! You can download the game for free here!
Also, we’ve given out 10 free full version copies to our lucky subscribers of our newsletter. If you don’t want to miss out on a chance like that again you can always subscribe.
So the madness is over and we’ve got our stuff in line. Tilt to Live HD is set to hit the iPad App Store October 7th. Prepare for take off!
