Aubrey Falconer - Mars Explorer Mobile 1.4

Mars Explorer Mobile 1.4

22 Comments - 8206 Views

New logo, better physics, integrated iPod controller, and smarter camera following

Submitted By admin on 11/06/21

This Document originally posted in the "Mars Explorer" Group

Just submitted to Apple, should be approved and available before next week.

This release was primarily focused on interface refinements, vehicle physics, and bugfixes. 1.5 will bring Whirld to your iOS devices, so get your block worlds ready for a whole new level of relevancy and enjoyment :)

-Aubrey

Paramount:

Incredibly cool new logo and orbit particle effects
Unified blue color scheme throughout the game's interface
Integrated iPod music system, allowing you to control and enjoy all the music on your device while cruising on Mars
Comprehensive buggy handling improvements:
Brakes no longer autolevel in flight, but instead lock out accelerometer input to facilitate precision aiming
Stall recovery has been greatly improved, allowing you to take off and recover from a variety of attitudes and speeds
Low speed steering is significantly less sensitive, making controls a bit easier
No longer automatically seeks horizon while in normal flight, instead responds precisely to your tilt controls
Can now perform powered loops in flight, allowing you to glide forever without needing to land and build up speed!
Now handles better in lava, and can exit lava a bit easier

Significant:

Hovercraft now gracefully reflects off the terrain at any speed, instead of punching through it upon occasion
Mars Explorer now incorporates a fully anonymized analytics system
Glasses-Free GRilli3D library implemented, but not currently available due to licensing restrictions. I hope to have this incredibly cool technology available in the next release!
Battery life improved by capping the framerate at 30 fps instead of 60fps, and optimizing the rendering loop
After you launch Mars Explorer 15 times, it now provides you with a friendly reminder that you can submit a new review with each update
Input is now tracked even when you are applying brakes - allowing finer maneuvering in the buggy and stationary attitude adjustments in the hovercraft. The hovercraft can now spin while you are stopped!
Camera now detects when vehicle is stationary, and enters a new mode that keeps behind the vehicle and lets you see where it will be pointed when you release the brakes
Camera also now detects when vehicle is flying, and follows directly behind vehicle instead of a bit above it to give you a better intuitive sense of where your craft is headed

Noteworthy:

Fixed occasional crash on mission restart
Custom iPad loading screen
No more dead zone in x tilt axis, which allows for much more natural flight
Fine tuned low pass filter for accelerometer data, resulting in smoother controls
Ride camera no longer clips inside of hovercraft
Camera now orbits vehicle when settings screen is open, and tracks inertial swipe motion to determine spin rate - it looks really cool!
Materialization clouds now look far more amazing
Crosshair no longer shown in background of settings screen
Updated introduction with note on how to set cam distance
Optimized mesh compression for faster load times
Skybox walls now properly compressed to save on VRAM
"Restart Mission As {Vehicle}" button simplified to "Rerun Mission"

» Comment on Document Threaded Hybrid Flat 22 Comments

The Number J (Ender)

6 days - 18,611v

Posted 2011/06/21 - 20:50 GMT

Thank you Aubrey for your wonderful hard work on your projects.

You have improved the world.

*mouth waters*

So yeah...great improvements, and thank you! I can't wait. :)

Stryker

3 days - 16,532v

Posted 2011/06/21 - 21:55 GMT

Wow mars has grown a lot since the day it started.

(C.I.C.B.) There's good real estate on Mars (pocketMAD)

4 days - 12,819v

Posted 2011/06/22 - 2:51 GMT

*Mouth drops to the table* (Im talking about 1.5)

Cool, Aubrey. Any chance that you can tell me the the Syn3h App will come out?

WolfLink

17 hours - 1,604v

Posted 2011/06/22 - 6:19 GMT

This game is getting more and more awesome! I hope that eventually (although it is still far away) we will be able to play online on the iPhone as we play on the computer. Also, I know how much lowering the framerate helps. In my app, I lowered the framerate from 50 to about 30 and it made a huge difference in lag (which I was having lots of problems with).

The Geek (Geek377)

3 days - 10,147v

Posted 2011/06/22 - 14:37 GMT

Too bad I cant try it. Good work though.

killerdude (TheCyberMan)

5 days - 18,318v

Posted 2011/06/23 - 5:57 GMT

*Mouth falls to ground*

What can I say? Aubrey's work is always the same great, successful, and original work.

Darth (ffroggy)

2 days - 7,831v

Posted 2011/06/23 - 16:06 GMT

Wow! I've been checking about every two hours to see when this update's gonna come out! Looks amazing, can't wait!

awesome321

1 hour - 241v

Posted 2011/06/24 - 15:11 GMT

I love the update I really do but I hate the 30 fps limit

Aubrey (admin)

2 weeks - 18,842v

Posted 2011/06/25 - 15:34 GMT

On my test devices, I really couldn't see much of a difference side by side.

Do you feel that a 30fps cap actually detracts from the gameplay experience? If so, I'll consider changing it back to 60. Anyone else have input here?

(4/3)πr^3 (ACC-Yoshi)

1 week - 27,619v

Posted 2011/06/25 - 18:16 GMT

Leave it at 30.

1) It drains the iPod battery more quickly.

2) He's one of those people who needs 500 fps and super high quality graphics to like a game.

3) I can see no problems, and 30 fps is actually really good.

Lovin' the game Aubrey!

Aubrey (admin)

2 weeks - 18,842v

Posted 2011/06/26 - 0:18 GMT

I am also one of those people who love to see my desktop running at 500fps, but I value battery life in mobile devices just as heavily :)

I welcome everyone's input on the 30 V 60 fps discussion - I might even be able to add the ability to choose between them in game...

WolfLink

17 hours - 1,604v

Posted 2011/06/28 - 5:22 GMT

Make it a users option! Whenever I cannot decide whether to go one way or another with one of my apps, as long as it is not too hard to do, I make it an option that the user can decide.

WolfLink

17 hours - 1,604v

Posted 2011/06/24 - 17:37 GMT

Update Downloaded!! Yay! Getting better and better!

{CSM} (Seashock)(1)+ The Wishing (Shaychi)

3 days - 12,462v

Posted 2011/06/25 - 18:44 GMT

My jaw would probably drop too, but I don't even own an iPod/iPhone/iPad...*Sigh* Oh well...

sUn (Fai)

2 weeks - 18,070v

Posted 2011/06/26 - 15:40 GMT

I'd love to see this on the Android Market as well. :)

AppleSky

1 week - 32,767v

Posted 2011/07/04 - 17:01 GMT

The handling is definitely much better in this update than the last, much less frustrating :P Last version, I almost couldn't stand to play it, and now I find it extremely enjoyable!

«•» F440 (neon)

1 day - 6,110v

Posted 2011/08/18 - 23:29 GMT

500FPS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

AUBREY PLEASE!

YOSHI YOU JUS HAD TO GET MY MIND ON IT !!!

lol

Good work Aubrey (as usual (*always)

DJ Pyro (Bob_)

2 days - 6,226v

Posted 2011/09/12 - 22:20 GMT

mars is awesome :D

cheezburger

3 days - 14,311v

Posted 2011/09/12 - 22:38 GMT

mars is the sheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeyut :P

(please dont be hatin)

killerdude (TheCyberMan)

5 days - 18,318v

Posted 2011/10/23 - 18:40 GMT

Aubrey should have a link to this thread in his "iPhone" page. Then people could see all its current features without having to see this as a stickied thread.

Kerstin (Moonwalker)

2 days - 7,136v

Posted 2011/10/25 - 1:42 GMT

Does he ever get on his own page anymore?

Stryker

3 days - 16,532v

Posted 2011/10/25 - 2:29 GMT

Yeah its at aubreyfalconer.com.

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