Posts tagged guitar fretter
Polytechnicast - Service of a Game
In this episode of the Polytechnicast, I delve into some behind the scenes planning and development I do to support Guitar Fretter.
Recently I received an email from an Android user who is rather good at the game. On her Android device once she gets past level 12 or so the game has problems. I share details on how I’ll tackle that issue, ponder the complexities of the Android market, future updates for Guitar Fretter and behind the scenes thoughts on Guitar Fretter’s game design.
Links Mentioned and Links That Came to Mind While Writing These Show Notes
- Guitar Fretter
- Corona SDK - the tool I used to build Guitar Fretter
- Interview of Rob Stenzinger for the Ansca (maker of the Corona SDK) Blog
- Guitar Fretter - iTunes App Store
- Guitar Fretter - Android Market
- Guitar Fretter - Amazon Appstore
Follow Rob on Twitter or his blog at Interactive-Storyteller.com
Guitar Fretter Sale Extended 1 More Week!
Guitar Fretter is still 99 cents (USD) through June 7th!
Why extend the sale? I want to extend it another week a spirit of let’s spread the word - Guitar Fretter is a great way to have fun learning 6 string guitar fretboard (also 7 string and 4 and 5 string bass)!
There’s a second factor as well. I put Guitar Fretter on sale on Amazon at the same time as the Android Market and iTunes App Store and they reflected the sale price rather quickly. The public price hasn’t dropped yet on Amazon… let’s call that my learning curve for Amazon’s App Store. I hope it all works out within the week, because as of June 8th… it’ll be back to the regular price!
I’m still super excited to have Guitar Fretter in the Amazon Appstore… being a one-person indie game developer is a fun challenge on many levels. Getting to learn the ins and outs of the different app markets/stores is certainly a thing to learn about and adapt to. This is the first time I’ve had a special sale price and first time coordinating that across the three different app markets/stores.
Thanks for checking out Guitar Fretter! Please tell your guitar playing (and guitar curious) friends!
—Rob
Guitar Fretter - Half Price Through End of May!
To celebrate mobile gaming out in the warm weather now through the end of May you can get Guitar Fretter for half price - only $1 (USD)!!!
Get it for your mobile phone or tablet at one of these three app stores:
iOS Devices (iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch)
Android Devices (2.2 and above - phones and tablets)
Please note - the sale price isn’t showing on Amazon yet… stay tuned! I’ll extend the sale on Amazon if I need to - don’t want the Amazon Android community to miss out!
Games, Learning, and Inspiration
In this episode of the Polytechnicast I some inspiration I gained from a Games and Learning presentation and additional inspiration from playing some popular mobile games for the first time (Angry Birds, Cut the Rope, and Fruit Ninja).
Some links mentioned in this episode:
- Seann Dikkers site Gaming Matter (his presentation Gaming Media as an Instructional Tool should be posted soon)
- Cut the Rope
- Angry Birds
- Fruit Ninja
- Guitar Fretter
Guitar Fretter 1.3 Release Notes and Gallery
After months of development, I’m proud to share with you a significant update to Guitar Fretter. I call it version 1.3. I hope you call it really fun and an awesome way to memorize the guitar note positions. :)
It’s live in the iTunes App Store for all iOS devices - that’s right GF is now a Universal App which means it runs at an appropriate resolution on iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad!
Guitar Fretter is also live in the Android Market - which, by the way, the Android Market has received a huge upgrade from Google. The new Market is looking great and is easier to use. Now you can browse apps from any device, not just Android devices.
What’s new in Guitar Fretter 1.3?
*** Guitar Chart mode!
— See the fretboard, the fret note positions, and play guitar sounds for 6 and 7 string guitar and 4 and 5 string bass.
— Guitar Charts mode is a “free play” where you don’t have to worry about game rules, minions, or lives.
*** Save and Resume!
— Save/Resume: Your game will be saved when you exit the game in Minion Battle or Ninja Mode. Your saved game will be available when you launch Guitar Fretter, you will see a “resume” option.
*** Multiple Difficulties
— Start Minion Battle or Ninja Mode at Easy, Normal, and Hard difficulties!
*** Ninja Mode!
— Match notes and fret positions without hints! Test how well you’ve memorized the note positions.
— Ninja Mode gives 10x multiplier for points earned!
*** Battle Minions
— Includes the New: Timed Ninja Mode, experience Ninja Mode for 30 seconds when you activate it by pressing the Ninja Minion.
— Classic match - touch a minion, touch a fret note.
— Instant match - touching a fret note first now matches all minions that share the same note!
*** iOS Universal App!
Guitar Fretter is now a Universal iOS app! Now with high-resolution support for iPhone4 and iPad!
*** Android - Built for Android OS 2.2 (Froyo) and Newer
*** Usability Improvements
— “Extras” screen: a summary of what’s in this release and link to the comic and blog (the blog you’re reading right now).
— Non-blocking minions: Minions don’t block the guitar fretboard anymore! Note: the flipside to this is once a minion is over the fretboard, the only way to match them is to use the “Instant match” technique mentioned above. What that means to you during gameplay: just press a note on the fretboard that matches the minion and you’re all set!
— Alert balloons point to off-screen approaching minions.
*** Instructional Comic!
— Added 6 instructional comics to introduce the core gameplay of Guitar Fretter
*** Fixes and Improvements
— Game performance improvements - especially at high levels of play.
— Graphic style improvements - better layout, colors, and other adjustments to game graphics.
— New way of displaying health
— Improved hint text in comic word balloons from the penguin character: Pick Wingvey
From Comic to Game to Comic Again
Guitar Fretter began as a game when I made this Flash interactive guitar finger chart for E Minor. Afterward, I was pondering what kind of game I could make out of the guitar fretboard and stuff I wanted to learn about. Then I recalled - memorizing the note positions! That’s always been something I wanted to do but never got around to doing. So I got to work on the prototype of what became guitar fretter.
But I the post title says “comic to game to comic again”… right? Well the catalyst for sharing that chart was my very guitar infused comic: Art Geek Zoo: The Way of Sound. One of the main characters is Crunchy the Mystical Guitar. He and his friend Pick Wingvey (a penguin who is a very talented guitarist with a case of stagefright) are the comic’s main characters.
Pick and Crunchy are also the characters you play in Guitar Fretter and now in Guitar Fretter 1.3 they teach the basics of the game in the 6 included “how to play” instruction comics. Curious to see them? Wondering about the new “ninja mode”? You can also check out the instructional comics right here in this post!
