Firemint has announced some details about its highly anticipated updates to Flight Control. The developer has been carefully designing new features to build on the charm, simplicity and addictiveness of the original. Since its launch on 6 March 2009, Flight Control has gathered a large and enthusiastic fan base, and the updates will deliver on the most popular requests.
The first update will deliver:
Online highscores – by far the most requested feature, Flight Control will receive online leaderboards with a simple but clever design, to cater for many of the different ways people are playing. Firemint will use its cloudcell.com technology to go beyond a simple list of names and high scores and offer location based leaderboards and a skill based ranking system. Cloudcell.com has already been used in I-Play's Fast & Furious game and will also be used in Firemint's upcoming title Firemint Real Racing.
Save game – if the app exits mid-game (for example, closing with the Home button or receiving a phone call) the player will be able to pick up exactly where they left off.
Firemint will follow up with future updates to add new airports and aircraft to the game. "As long as people keep buying the game and loving it, we will keep supporting it" said Robert Murray, CEO of Firemint. "We're putting in place a framework that will allow us to add new content more quickly in the future." Flight Control has reached the #1 paid app position in 19 countries including USA, UK, Germany, Australia and Canada, and has been highly rated by players as well as receiving critical acclaim from top reviewers:
"makes brilliant use of the iPhone and iPod Touch's interface... surprisingly rich and devilishly addictive gameplay... an exceptionally entertaining and satisfying game." - Jason Parker, CNET
"I dare you to play it just once… a fun, quick fix game that has me coming back for more" - Mark Bozon, IGN
"Flight Control is one of those essential games that you'll continually return to and will remain on your iPhone forever" - Spanner Spencer, Pocket Gamer
"Incredibly fun... the winning balance of easy pick-up gameplay, ramping difficulty and tickling the need to try "just one more time"… we're big fans of the game" - Arnold Kim, Touch Arcade
I'm guessing where Robert
I'm guessing where Robert Murray is talking about adding a framework to make new content for the game, he wasn't expecting the game to be so popular. So now they get to do some refactoring I'm guessing just due to the sheer success of the game.
Yes, we are refactoring. We
Yes, we are refactoring. We have a team on it now and we have to think about other platforms and increased functionality, so the internal structure must change.
We have to maintain absolute identical behaviour for the map that we currently have, so the existing code has to live alongside a refactored version designed to support new maps and increased functionality. We cannot do an update that in any way changes the experience that people are loving.
I started to think the game might do well when people in the office started playing it quite seriously, along with their friends and families. However after finishing the very first prototype, without art, and without anyone else around to see it and make comments (I was home alone), I had no idea. I was actually worried that it was a pretty bad idea most of the time and I was struggling to make myself finish it.
Glad you stuck by the
Glad you stuck by the product then.
Fun little game.
I can relate
I know how you feel regarding working on an idea by yourself at home, staying motivated to finish can be one of the biggest struggles towards the end, once the initial excitement of the idea has died down. Stories like this are good motivation to finish those ideas I've been kicking around =0).