I just submitted Removr 1.0.2, which has a few bug fixes, most notably improved responsiveness to taps. It now shows the level number and extra praise if you don’t remove any blue pieces when you complete a level. I also removed the gloss from the icon to clean up the appearance.
removr
Removr 1.0.1 is now available
Removr 1.0.1 Submitted
I plan to release frequent updates with new levels as we design them.
Game Level Design
One thing I learned from writing Removr is that designing level maps is a lot more challenging than writing code. There are tools like debuggers & unit tests to verify code, but the only way to test a game level is by playing it repeatedly.
You can’t verify that a level map is ‘correct’ – it’s largely subjective and involves more art than science. A game level needs to be visually appealing and needs to be challenging enough to maintain interest while still being possible to win.
50% Off Sale – Two Weeks Only
For two weeks from today through Aug. 15, Removr is on sale for only $1 – that’s 50% off. Buy it now!
Future Removr Plans
Removr 1.0 was just approved, but we’re not resting. We’re already planning for the first update. Here are some of the things we’re working on now:
- More levels, of course
- A Removr community site for sharing levels
- Loading levels directly from the web instead of using the level editor & syncing
- Improvements to the level editor for easier sharing.
- Improvements to the physics – make the balls more bouncy & reduce friction.
- Various refinements.
Removr has been approved
I got an email from Apple informing me that Removr is now Ready For Sale. I originally set the availability date to Aug. 3 so I could prepare press releases, but I’ve pushed up the availability date to tomorrow (Thursday July 29). You will be able to download it here.
Removr is now In Review
After a week waiting for review, Removr changed to ‘In Review’.
Trying to sneak one past Apple hurts everyone.
Yesterday Apple approved an innocent-looking flashlight app which contained a hidden tethering feature. Needless to say, as soon as Apple found out about it, they pulled the app.
I’ll admit, it was a brilliant feature and I bought the app while it was still available. If you weren’t lucky enough to get Handy Light, iProxy is available at github, which will do exactly the same thing without masquerading as a flashlight app.
As a result of this deception, Apple seems to be a lot more cautious and taking more time to review apps, as reported by several developers on Twitter and the iPhone SDK mailing list. I only submitted Removr yesterday, but it’s still “waiting for review” 24 hours later. Most of the time it was less than an hour waiting for review before it changed to “In Review”.
During beta testing, I had a feature in Removr which checked my server for updated level maps. I was doing very careful version & timestamp checking and could either run SQL code to insert or modify levels or replace the entire level database. I removed that feature for the release version because I was afraid Apple would reject it if they discovered it.
Removr has been submitted
I submitted Removr to the app store this morning, with a projected release date of Aug. 3, assuming Apple approves it by then. Coincidentally that’s also the same day Arcade Fire is releasing their long-awaited new album in the US. Two things to look forward to in one day!
Removrapp.com has a fresh new look, and I’m working on a new site for sharing your level map creations.