Ahoy mateys! I promised to share some new material from behind the scenes, so why don’t we talk about the new gadget selection menu, shall we?

The old menu was very errm…”simple” – nothing wrong with that by itself, but a) it couldn’t display all items and abilities we’d like to have in the full game , b) it was really annoying to use with a mouse and c) it wasn’t particularly pretty to look at. The new menu is more detailed and takes care of these issues, take a look at the snapshot and explanations below:

• The gadgets are still displayed in a circular fashion, but thanks to Michael the arrow is less sensitive now and doesn’t frantically reset to its initial position all the time. Especially players who use the mouse and keyboard will definitely appreciate this.

• Next to the gadgets – passive abilities will be displayed (on the right side). For example the Ninja Shoe Soles which allow you to surf on cables and railings or the descend function of the Jetpack. The Booty Magnet is also a passive ability (if you’re snickering now you have a dirty DIRTY mind), since it conveniently pulls coins and gems towards you as you pass by. There are different versions, each with a different radius, so they have their own spot in the menu right now. We might turn them into an upgradable icon and also list it among the passive abilities in the near future.

• We will hide collectible items in the levels that you will need to find in order to gain access to special areas. Once collected these will also be displayed.

We hope you like what you see! Any comments from your side?

On the topic of the preview build: while we’re still waiting for Unity to wrap up development on their new release, we’re also testing the game with the help of Jack Marshall of “Tofu Testing“. He is helping us catch those last remaining bugs  and he’s a great help. If you’re an indie developer and need professional help on testing your game, he’s someone you should definitely talk to.

I’m going to return with more news next week! Stay tuned, scallywags!

The positive reviews for Planet Buster keep coming in, which makes us very happy space pirates. Here’s a selection of quotes from the press:

“Planet Buster easily holds its own against the well-known Bejeweled and many may argue that it has surpassed that game with the subtle changes and challenge it has brought to the table.” – The Indie Game Magazine

“It’s easily one of the most gorgeous matching games we’ve ever seen for iOS, and best of all, it can be darn hard at times. There’s a wealth of levels to pick through, and with a quirk that’s spot-on, we can’t recommend Planet Buster enough.” -The iPhone App Review

“By and large, Planet Buster is incredibly well done. It looks and sounds great, the gameplay is addictive and fast-paced, and the general setting is charmingly ridiculous. Pick this up: You won’t be sorry you did.” – Gamezebo

“Overall, this universal match three game is a unique twist on the traditional genre. The colors are fantastic. The game is fun and interesting with plenty of added features. It is priced just right at $1.99. Pick it up in the App Store today.” -AppAdvice

And for those of you who can’t wait to hear news about their  favourite upcoming 3D Platformer: we’re still waiting for a new stable Unity release to get the preview build out of the door, but we’ll show new material to bridge the waiting time very soon. Also don’t forget that buying Planet Buster will support the development of Pirates of New Horizons. Stay tuned me hearties! 

Just dropping in to mention the Planet Buster PC review that Game Industry News did. Seems like they quite enjoy the game! Here’s a quote:

“Planet Buster is a matching type of puzzle game that will have you pulling your hair out in frustration, and loving every minute of the colorful, fast-paced experience at the same time.”

And:

“This game has a long “campaign” mode to it. I’m not a big fan of puzzle games personally, but this game had me sucked in and addicted. In the mornings before work I wasted my spare time playing this game.”

Mission Accomplished.

Read the full interview over here: Busting Planets And Taking Names @ Gameindustry.com and buy the game for 2.50 EUR (=~3.20 USD) straight from us right here.

Annha’s acrobatic skills aren’t just background story (an explanation for why she can operate a ship all by herself), her skills are also meant to show through gameplay. The combination of items and abilities will allow players to move through levels without barely ever touching the ground and reach distant places. I captured a quick video of me demonstrating the “spline surfing” ability and revamped grappling hook. As you can see we added a few *ahem* cables in Hubville which let you travel quickly from one place to the other. I’ll just stop here and let you watch the video yourself. In case anybody wonders I used keyboard and mouse in this playsession. NOTE: this is WORK IN PROGRESS i.e. sounds are missing, animations are not final etc.

Looks fun? Comments appreciated and don’t vorget to vote!

THIS IS THE LAST CHANCE TO CAST YER VOTES ME HEARTIES(Top UPCOMING Games Of 2011 -> Platformer):

A big thanks for your support from the entire crew!

Do you check this blog but can’t get enough updates? Hit us up directly! The Exit Strategy crew is getting more and more social: three of us now have personal Twittarrrr accounts! Follow us through the ups and downs of indie game development, get behind-the-scenes scoops, read personal stories and chat with your favourite indies:

– Follow “Soenke” - 2D & 3D Artist, Designer, Movie &

Game Connaisseur

– Follow “Skjalg” - Coder, Unity3D enthusiast and hardcore

PC Gamer

– Follow “Friedrich” – Biz guy, Designer, Closet Nerd

Got a long way home for Christmas ahead of you? Looking for a game to play on your mobile device over the holidays? Or do you just want to bridge the waiting time until our Preview Build is released??? I’ve got good news for you: our challenging and explosive puzzle title Planet Buster is now available for iPhone, iPad and Android devices. It is 2,39 € (how much is that in dollars?) and it contains the same love and polish that you are used from us. It contains unreleased concept art from the PONH universe and we put every cent into the development of the Action Adventure – all the more reason to open your treasure chest, me hearties!

Links:

Planet Buster on the iOS App Store

Planet Buster on the Android Marketplace

Don’t forget to rate and leave a review!

Video Trailer:

ENJOY!

Thanks to you we are on the TOP 100 list of the Indie of the Year Awards 2011!!! Here’s a small ‘thank you’ in the shape of two brand new screenshots:

First up is the “ground stomp”. Jump in mid-air and press ‘kick’ to perform a ground stomp – a powerful move that sets off a shockwave which stuns enemies surrounding you. It can also help to you to break through specific floors and reach places beneath you that would otherwise be unreachable:

The second screenshot shows the new ‘aim mode’, which lets you switch to an ‘over the shoulder’ camera perspective via the click of a button. If you have an item selected that can be thrown e.g. the karma bombs (as in the screenshot) the predicted trajectory is displayed to aid you while aiming.

Now let’s close the deal in the final round and board that ship mateys! Click on the image below, go to the “platformer” genre category in the UPCOMING GAMES section and click the “vote” button next to Pirates of New Horizons. No sign-up required, easy-peasy! Thank you for your support, we appreciate it!

The bad news first: we decided to postpone the release of the preview build and not open up for pre-orders today. When I say “decide”, what I really mean is that we didn’t have much of an option. We found a critical bug that causes a nasty input delay. As you might have heard us mention it before – tight and responsive controls are extremely important to us and we find it unacceptable to ship the preview build as long as this isn’t fixed. The bigger issue is that this bug cannot be fixed by us but only by our middleware provider (Unity3D). We are super bummed out about this and apologize for the delay. We wouldn’t do this if we didn’t believe your game experience is going to be so much better when this is fixed. We will keep you posted on our progress and inform you as soon as the build is ready to be released  (e.g. here or on twitter and facebook). Of course no time is lost, we will keep polishing the content in the meantime.

Onto the good news: Google has approached us to bring Pirates of New Horizons to the Chrome Web Store. Over the past weeks we have cooperated with them and Unity to support Google Chrome’s Native Client. It will allow Google Chrome users to play the game without installing any additional (Unity) plugins. The game (among other titles such as the excellent Bastion and Mini Ninjas – which Michael worked on at io interactive) was shown to journalists at an event in Mountain View yesterday. Working with the guys from Google and Unity is very exciting and we’ll continue to move forward with this until the launch of the app, which will most probably coincide with the launch of Chrome 17. Our puzzle title Planet Buster is going to be available on the store in a few days.

Again, sorry to keep you waiting! We’ll get back to work now and make sure your wait is going to be worth it!

What is Annha doing in the middle of an asteroid field? Where do all these debris come? You will find out next week when you’re playing the ‘Preview Version’ of Pirates of New Horizons (and hopefully pre-order the game)! Excited? There is more: two pre-order editions will be available – both at a discount price, each with many pre-order perks. You can expect a new video trailer and new website where you can play and pre-order the game to be available on Friday, Dec 9th. Save the date!

By the way: this is one day before the 1st round of indiedb’s “INDIE OF THE YEAR” competition ends. Please don’t forget to vote! Our advice: if you want pirates to rule this year’s competition, give us your vote right now! With the preview version, we plan to blow all landlubbers out of the water in round 2, so vote harder scallywags and go tell your mateys!

Exciting times ahead! See you here on upcoming Friday!

P.S. We did an interview with True PC Gaming about Planet Buster, living the life of an indie developer and games in general. Adam asked us a lot of interesting questions and it was a good opportunity for us to reflect on the past months. You can read it right over here!