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  • BY Tim Nixon
    ON June 30, 2011
    TAGS:
    job opening
    CATEGORIES:
    Uncategorized

    COMMENTS: No comments

    Opening: iPhone Programmer

    We’re looking for a talented and enthusiastic programmer to join our team on the development of our latest iPhone game inspired by an incredible work of nature.You’ll work with the wider team to build a polished game product from a strong established gameplay mechanic previously developed through an extensive prototyping phase. It’s a character fueled 2D adventure associated with one of the biggest brands in factual entertainment and will be a challenging and rewarding project. 

    Skills Required

    • Exemplary object-oriented programming ability
    • Proven ability to ship a polished product, preferably a game
    • Excellent written English and teamwork skills
    • Passion for great games and drive to iterate a highly refined, fun gameplay experience

    Desired

    • Objective C experience
    • iPhone SDK experience
    • Specialty in 2D graphics animation and “bling effects”

    Engagement

    • 8 week on-site fixed term contract in Dunedin, New Zealand
    • 18th July – 9th September
    • Competitive weekly rate (advised on application)

    Apply with CV and sample code / project to: tim@runawayplay.com by 4th July 2011

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  • BY Tim Nixon
    ON June 24, 2011
    TAGS:
    development
    flutter
    honeydew flowers
    interface updates
    usability
    CATEGORIES:
    Uncategorized

    COMMENTS: 3 comments

    A Little Boost

    Good news team, there’s now a very good reason to visit Flutter more than once a day!

    Recently we revised the way the flower beds worked. We did this to bring them in line with all other resources in the rainforest in “recharging overnight”. This gives our game a unique differentiator in that you can pop in once a day (at any time that suits you) and really feel like you’ve been productive, not pressured to come back every five minutes. This is in line with the more relaxing nature of the game, and also makes the flowerbeds functionality a whole lot easier to understand.

    However! We recognize that some fans are very keen to return more than once a day, so we wanted to make sure there was something for them to do and get a little bonus. New to the rainforest are “Honeydew Flowers” that you’ll find popping up around the place, with one appearing every hour (up to a max of six). These become worth more as you progress, so they’re still meaningful for higher level players. All flower beds orange? One of these will be worth one orange flower.

    Also, the Honey Dust will now regenerate every 6 hours, giving you even more to pick up!

    We’re happy this update gives the best of both worlds in that the main Honeydew collection source supports our casual, once a day players, while those keen to return more can get a little advantage for their dedication.

    Look forward to your feedback as always

    P.S. Thanks again for all your feedback on the new interface items, we’ve been listening and making refinements through the week, so as a little thank you we’ve sent you all a free pack containing: “Instant Grow Formula” “Blue Seed” “Instant Brew Formula” and a “Luck Potion!”. Have fun :)

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  • BY Tim Nixon
    ON June 17, 2011
    TAGS:
    development
    flutter
    new content
    usability
    CATEGORIES:
    Uncategorized

    COMMENTS: 35 comments

    What’s That!?

    Today we’re really excited to release some updates to the core interactions in Flutter that move us closer to a more intuitive, lightweight experience for our daily players. These updates are informed by months of quantitative analysis on player data, and qualitative feedback from both experts and everyday players. Here’s a rundown on what we’ve changed and why:

    Contextual Interactions: For new players and seasoned veterans (developers included!) we found it could be laborious and confusing to know what you should be dragging-and-dropping to keep your rainforest alive and at full productivity. To combat this we developed a system that would clearly show for each object in your world, what its state was, and what actions you could perform on it. With one click you can now expand and upgrade flower beds, feed animals and apply potions. This significantly smooths out the difficulty curve for new players, and makes the daily cycle for experienced players that much more straight forward.

    Reminder Bubbles: We needed to make it clearer where there was something in the world that needed your attention, so alongside these new menus we’ve integrated a neat little bubble that alerts you when an item or creature needs your help. No more will you aimlessly flutter about the forest wondering what to do next, the inhabitants of the Amazon will just pop up a friendly reminder.

    Daily Honeydew: One of the things that makes Flutter great is the fact you can just pop in once a day. A while ago we updated the harvesting system to take into account your local timezone and have the rainforest “recharge” overnight. This meant that no matter what time of day you found a few minutes to check in, you’d still get a full benefit of a daily harvest. We’ve now brought the pollination flowers in line with the idea, so you just have to pop them once a day to get your full 24 hours worth of Honeydew!

    These changes don’t come lightly, and for our existing player base we appreciate that change in the world that you have come to know and love can be tough. We as players love the newfound fluidity that these updates have introduced to the game, and we’re confident they will lead to a better experience for all.

    As always we are close knit with our community and appreciate all of the constructive feedback and generous support we receive from our passionate player base. As such we will continue to refine these new interactions and the game as a whole in partnership with our devoted fans.

    Thanks again for all your support as we strive to make Flutter one of the best games on the Facebook platform :)

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  • BY Tim Nixon
    ON June 14, 2011
    TAGS:
    community manager
    development
    flutter
    usability
    CATEGORIES:
    Uncategorized

    COMMENTS: 4 comments

    Usability and Community

    Hey Flutter fans, just a quick update to let you know we’ve had our heads down working on some really cool updates to the game which will make it easier to learn, smoother to play, and lay the foundation for all our future extensions of the rainforest.

    A lot of new players have found it hard to deal with the game’s complexity, especially when having to drop special items on special objects in the world. That frustration is going to come to an end very soon as we introduce a one-click system for interacting with objects that magically knows what everything in the rainforest wants! You’ll get to see it in action very soon, and hope you enjoy the new fluidity it’ll add to your trips through the forest.

    I’d also like to take this chance to welcome our new Community Manager, Donnelle, to the team. She’ll be round to help you guys out if you have technical problems, game suggestions, etc. We’re really excited to have her on board to ensure we stay right up to speed with our community, and that we’re doing the best we can to make the game better for our players. Join us in welcoming Donnelle here, or pop her an email with a question or suggestion atsupport@runawayplay.com

    Hang tight for a very cool update end of this week :)

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