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we just love games
We are busy with making our games availble on iPhone. We have choosen Mini Plane to start with and the others will follow soon. The development is a lot diffrent from the Android games. We have to learn a new language, and have tot start working on a different pc.
The dutch site www.g4m3.nl has asked us to write about our development on a weekly basis. So for all our Dutch readers you can find the first episode here: http://www.g4m3.nl/mini-plane-iphone-we-gaan-vliegen/#more-10693
tag: Mini Plane
If there’s one thing that simultaneously illustrates humankind’s ingenuity and its stupidity it’s heavier-than-air flight. Actually, a better example would be war, but that’s a bit heavy for Sunday morning on a mobile gaming site.
Heavier-than-air flight, then. Brilliant idea and all, but who in their right mind would strap themselves into a metal tube and launch themselves thousands of feet into the air? We all would, of course – and we drag out kids along for the ride.
Lunacy aside, though, the mechanics of flight make for great gaming material. Take Mini Plane, for example, which is concerned with the simple climb and dive physics of a wee jet plane.
Plane simple
And when I say simple, I mean simple. There’s only one virtual control to worry about in Mini Plane, and it can be activated by pressing anywhere on your Android device’s screen.
Your buzzy little plane makes its way from left to right in a charmingly hand drawn, 2D scrolling world. Left unattended, its natural inclination – as with all airborne objects – is to hurtle towards the ground. Touching the screen reverses this effect, causing your plane to climb.
You’ll need to do plenty of climbing and diving in order to collect the many pick-ups that are littered around the screen, including point-yielding stars, fuel (which floats down on parachutes) and the larger superstars that combine to unlock the next level. If you’re feeling particularly daring you can even swoop in close to a building or rock and rescue a stranded member of public or two.
Not all plane sailing
Contact with these solid structures, or any of the air traffic clogging up the busy skies, will cause you to crash instantly, bringing about an instant state of game over. It’s a little harsh, particularly as the collision detection – like another OrangePixel release, Gulp – is a little too exacting. On a number of occasions you’ll swear blind you managed to narrowly avoid nicking a building, only to be sent hurtling to the ground.
The way your plane reacts to collisions, too, is rather unsatisfying, gracefully arcing downwards (even through solid objects) rather than bouncing off at an angle or coming to a sudden and destructive halt. The two factors sit at odds with the otherwise graceful physics implementation, and combine to take away some of the game’s lustre.
Only some of it, mind. Regardless of these frustrations, Mini Plane will continue to pull you back in for another go at besting your high-score – which is instantly uploaded to an online high score table – or to complete the list of achievements on offer.
Ultimately, it’s just plane good fun. (Sorry.)
“Though spoiled slightly by some dodgy collision physics, Mini Plane is an instantly compelling casual experience that will have you returning repeatedly to climb that high-score table”.
Rating: 7/10
Source: Pocketgamer
tag: Mini Plane
Of all the so called seven deadly sins, none gets more of a workout in video games than gluttony.
Well, okay, maybe wrath gets a look in. But otherwise, frantically shoving foodstuffs down your character’s neck is a surprisingly common digital pastime.
OrangePixel’s latest Android gameGulp! is a case in point. Taking command of a cute little birdy fella, your sole aim is to gobble up as many enemies as you can using your incredibly long tongue.
Light bite
This is very simple to achieve. Holding your Android phone normally, you send birdy left and right by tilting the handset accordingly. As various baddies drop from the sky, you can shoot out your tongue diagonally to gobble them up by touching the screen on the appropriate side of your character.
A brief tap will send your tongue out a short way, with a prolonged hold extending it further. If you miss any of the baddies, they’ll take out a section of the floor, making things a little more precarious from that point on.
The ultimate aim is to collect enough coins from gobbled enemies to buy passage to the next level. There’s also the incentive of boosting your score by stringing together successful gobble combos.
Unfortunately, stringing multiple gobbles together can be tough thanks to a quirk in the controls. The ‘press and hold’ technique for extending your tongue seems a little twitchy, and I often found myself (initially, at least) sending a second tongue-lashing out inadvertently after the intended one, resulting in the end of my combo.
A touch of indigestion
That’s not the only unpalatable element, either, as the collision detection on birdy is a little harsh. Direct contact with an enemy means game over – fair enough – but it felt as if we were snuffing it a fraction too early, just prior to actual contact.
There’s also the lingering feeling that such a simple game would have benefited from a slightly more involved chaining system – perhaps rewarding more points according to the distance of the target, or for grabbing multiple targets in one go.
Still, there aren’t many 0.99 Euro games on the Android Market that can claim to offer as polished an experience as Gulp!, with achievements and global high-score tables – not to mention OrangePixel’s usual excellent presentation – lending the game a distinctly premium feel.
Gulp!’s rough edges and extreme simplicity mean that it’s not going to fill you up for long. If you fancy a sweet gaming snack in between meals, though, you could swallow a lot worse.
“Gulp! is well presented and enjoyable in small doses, though one or two undercooked elements might spoil your appetite for more”.
Rating: 6/10
Source: Pocketgamer
tag: Gulp!
OrangePixel releases Gulp! for the Android.
Den Helder, Netherlands – February 23, 2010
OrangePixel releases “Gulp!” for Android. Grab all the falling yummies to avoid getting hit! Use your extending tongue to snatch all the various yummies that fall from the sky. Don’t let too many yummies hit the floor, or you won’t survive ! Collect coins to fix the floor and advance to the next level.
Short feature list:
* great sound effects
* unlockable achivements (RumbleX.com)
* online highscore rankings (RumbleX.com)
At the top world 1 and under world 2.
We have updated our game DynamoKid Touch. When you collect the little stars, you are coloring the game and when you do that you can multiply your scores, so try and play for as long as you can to earn many points. We also added a complete new second world, you unlock this after collecting three big stars. So go and check out all of these extra’s for yourself at the Android Market!
tag: Dynamokid
OrangePixel releases DynamoKid Touch for the Android.
Den Helder, Netherlands – January 26, 2010
OrangePixel releases “DynamoKid Touch” for Android. A different take on the platform game genre. Dynamokid Touch recreates Dream Islans mixed with touch-controles and a new unique gameplay. Guide DynamoKid as he tries to collect as many stars as possible. Clear a path, remove baddies, destroy hazards, and debri and make DynamoKid jump!
Short feature list:
* great sound effects
* unlockable achivements (RumbleX.com)
* online highscore rankings (RumbleX.com)
A Dutch Magazine has made a big article on Android. They have asked us some questions about Android. The full article is in Dutch and only in the magazine.
tag: Magazine
OrangePixel releases Cupids Arrow for the Android.
Den Helder, Netherlands – January 14, 2010
Help Cupid spread the love. OrangePixel releases Cupids Arrow a classic game in a new jacket. The gameplay is very easy find the love gifts by matching three or more of them, and collect Cupids items.
Try to match all the love gifts by touching your screen.
You need Cupids items to move on to the next level. Make big combo’s to get more points. There are many achievements in this game can you unlock them all?
Short feature list:
* OneThumb gameplay
* audio enabled
* unlockable extra’s
* unlockable achivements (RumbleX.com)
* online highscore rankings (RumbleX.com)
At the top world 2 and under the new helpscreen.
We have updated our game Mini Plane. We have added Superstars, if you collect 3 of these you get an extra life. That life will be played in the next level. Yes, that’s right! we added a second world. We have also updated the help screen. It is now a blueprint that explains how to play the game!
tag: Mini Plane
Android App Review Source:
How did you get into developing apps?
Pascal Bestebroer from OrangePixel:
I started OrangePixel about 5 years ago, and have been developing mobile games, on the Java platform, since then. Android is simply the next step. The development language is basically the same, but Android adds alot of extra power and options to what you can do with games and applications.
Android App Review Source:
What was your inspiration for developing this app?
Pascal Bestebroer from OrangePixel:
The game is based on one of my old Java mobile games, where you used a single button to shoot the Toddler into space, and then use that same button to jump on clouds, angels, etc. The whole one-button gameplay thing was really the hype at that time.. but for Android we wanted to use very Android-specific controls like the shaking, tilting, etc. The result is: Toddlers – Shake it!
Read full interview: Androidappreviewsource.com
tag: Toddlers