What does iPhone 3.0 bring to the Underworld and other games?

June 16th, 2009 Add comments

iphone-3-0

Everyone will probably agree that these are exciting times both for the iPhone game developers and for the players. The long and highly anticipated 3.0 firmware is finally coming out tomorrow!

We would like to take a minute and summarize what does this new firmware mean for the Underworld and other MMO & location based games.

Improved Parental Controls

parential

As the biggest fans of Underworld might know, the game was originally called DrugLords. Having a setting of a street trade, it took the game a while to get to the AppStore. We have first submitted it for Apple’s approval in November 2008 and have waited for two and a half months just to get a reject!

Not to mention that those weren’t the most quiet two and a half months: some people asked to ban DrugLords, and this was not a staged PR stunt unlike the one from EA @ E3. Tabloids’ fury was dreadful.

Only in April 2009, after we have re-skinned the game to the setting of a sweets trade, Apple decided it was finally possible for Underworld to meet its players in the AppStore.

And you know what? We still think the idea of location-based game about gray zone economy is awesome. With new parental controls, Apple claims it might be appropriate to publish applications that were found objectionable before. We are going to take our chances for sure ;)

Push notifications

push

The iPhone community has waited for Push Notifications for almost a year. If you remember WWDC ’08, Apple told this feature is going to be available in September. Better late than never, eh?

For Underworld being a real-life game about interactions with real people, we have a lot of plans involving Push Notifications. Obvious use is to notify dealers about sales made and messages received. Less obvious but also interesting: to let you know when your friend enters the area close to you or when desired commodity appears to be in demand, Cream of the Crop changes and so on.

Purchase API

point packs

If you are one of those players who use UW points, there is one thing you definitely hate: inability to purchase the same point pack more than once. Yeah, believe us, we don’t like it either.

The whole idea of distributing point packs as normal applications is a huge workaround for the AppStore’s lack of micro-transaction mechanics. In spite of all the drawbacks of this system, it was widely used in iPhone MMO games and Underworld is not an exception.

With the Purchase API, we are going to get rid of unnecessary packs and leave only few of them with ability to get every pack as many times as you want.

Google Maps API

maps

Google Maps API is one of the core features needed by location-based games like Underworld. In simple words, it allows us to implement Game Map at the same user-friendly level as the native Maps application.

In the future releases you can expect map to show broader game areas, other tiles with real dealers and more customized info overlaying the neighborhood.

* * *

As it usually comes in Underworld, we have put all the new proposed stuff to the Open Roadmap (right in the game). Although we have already started working on the most important features, we still want to hear from the community — what do you consider noteworthy and what could wait a bit more.

Don’t hesitate to visit About / Roadmap section in the game and vote for the good stuff.

One last thing: don’t stop with the feedback! In fact, some of the stuff described above was based on players’ suggestions. So please keep it up! ;) Submit new cool ideas either to the About / Suggest a Feature section in the game or drop the comment right here in the blog or even use Twitter.

druglords, iphone3.0, sweetdeal, underworld


61 Responses to “What does iPhone 3.0 bring to the Underworld and other games?”

  1. Malik
    June 16th, 2009 at 6:25 pm

    looking forward to the updates but doubt if i will do it, i like my phone being jailbroken so will hold out unless i upgrade my phone.


  2. Bart
    June 16th, 2009 at 6:50 pm

    The Jailbreak will be available as soon as 3.0 is publiclly available. Its already been jailbroken so no worries about that :-)

    Im really looking forward to the new updates, both in UW and on the phone.


  3. noar
    June 16th, 2009 at 6:54 pm

    hi
    i would like to know how can i do for restore my account after update my iphone 3g… because i’m in 2.1, i need to go in 2.2.1 and 3.0 and re-jailbreak…
    Thks…


  4. A1Yola
    June 16th, 2009 at 7:05 pm

    Cant wait! Is all this going to be on the 1.2v? I hope you guys work on travelling stats. Out of all the things to vote for on the roadmap that has to be best idea.
    On another note , Andrey, did you ever look into my issue of my wandering character?


  5. noar
    June 16th, 2009 at 7:05 pm

    re!!
    sorry, i s*oke too much !! i forget ,UW come to appstore…
    have a good deal !


  6. Sal
    June 16th, 2009 at 10:41 pm

    Like Noar said, im very worry about loosing the stats of my game when it comes to switching to the 3.0. is there gonna be like an account tranfer or someway i can recover my account? Its gonna be hard for me not to upgrade to a better FW just for a game i like.


  7. Guru
    June 16th, 2009 at 11:28 pm

    No mom of fat kids or kids with dental caries tried to ban SD?

    :-D


  8. Uncopyrighted
    June 17th, 2009 at 12:32 am

    Sweet deal! I can’t wait. Anyone know what time OS 3.0 will be available?

    BTW, you can already jailbreak OS 3.0 with Pwnage 2.0.


  9. chezk
    June 17th, 2009 at 2:10 am

    You won’t lose a thing when you update boys. The only time you will lose something is when you switch handsets….

    …Andrey, I will be upgrading to the 3Gs as soon as it’s available….when and how do we need to get you the info for the switch?

    Thanks.


  10. andrey
    June 17th, 2009 at 8:06 am

    A1Yola, nope, unfortunately we don’t have the resources to implement everything so fast ;) The 1.2 is not going to be 3.0-rich yet, although we are already working on the new version. Almost ready ;)
    Regarding your “wandering character” problem. We couldn’t find any bugs at our end. I’m afraid there might be a problem with location detection: either on your handset or in the particular area where you live.


  11. andrey
    June 17th, 2009 at 8:08 am

    Sal, you don’t lose your character data while you are playing with the same handset. Just install the game after firmware update and your account will automatically load up again.


  12. andrey
    June 17th, 2009 at 8:11 am

    Guru, not yet, luckily for us ;)


  13. andrey
    June 17th, 2009 at 8:13 am

    chezk, drop me a note to when you obtain your new handset. I’ll tell you what to do.


  14. Sal
    June 17th, 2009 at 10:58 am

    @andrey, thx for for the response. Even for Jailbreak phone?i should’ve mention that in the 1st post


  15. andrey
    June 17th, 2009 at 12:05 pm

    Sal, yes, this works for all devices, regardless of the model, firmware or jailbreak status.


  16. JasonDavis
    June 19th, 2009 at 5:15 am

    awsome I REALLY REALLY hope you can change this the the drug wars version again, no offense but the candy theme just ruins the app, drug wars is the way to go if you can get it approved next time around, sure you know what i’m talking about


  17. Bart
    June 19th, 2009 at 11:58 am

    Andrey, Do you think the Police Fines are slightly unfair? In my experience, they seem to fine you for the profit you’d make on that transaction.
    I have level5 protection and tend to find myself getting two fines in a row, usually at the same amount of profit id make on that deal?
    It’s quite demoralising when its half a million or something because it’ll take forver to get that profit back.

    Bad times :(


  18. chezk
    June 19th, 2009 at 12:38 pm

    you have to buy in smaller amounts Bart. If you’re spending half a mil you’re clearly buying from another dealer. Buy his/hers stock at 3-4 at a time. I know it’s time consuming but beats the big busts. The only time you should scoop up 10+ is when you’re driving through tiles and have to grab joy lab stock quickly…or if someone else lives in your tile (blumpkin….bastage)


  19. Bart
    June 19th, 2009 at 12:50 pm

    Chezk, I can see your point, however, buying big does have great benefits, espically if you dont get busted. Its allowed me to climb from 77th in the UK to just 10th!
    I guess the bust is just a downside of buying big.

    Yes, alot of what im buying is from other players, its handy to neogiotate prices and move large amounts around.


  20. Hippie
    June 19th, 2009 at 3:35 pm

    No the busts [email protected] suck either way I just got busted 5 times in a row for 150000 loss total at level 5 protection this was for coke/waffles and later today it will happen for LSD/whatever f$&king bulls&@t.


  21. Hippie
    June 19th, 2009 at 3:47 pm

    That was with me buying from another dealer also.


  22. Bugsy
    June 19th, 2009 at 4:35 pm

    It’s the frequency of busts (at level 5 protection) that has stopped me playing so much.
    I used to be dealing almost all day every day, but now i only spend like an hour a day on Underworld.
    Hope they make some changes to it soon.


  23. Cocain
    June 19th, 2009 at 5:23 pm

    Agree!


  24. Bart
    June 19th, 2009 at 5:24 pm

    Hippie, theres no need to get like that about it, but yes its extremely annoying considering im getting busted extremely large amounts when I have level 5 protection and all im doing is working with other players and moving stocks around :(


  25. A1Yola
    June 19th, 2009 at 8:02 pm

    Ya bust suck! 
    My worst bust was $5m in one buy. But i still love this game. As long as its fair and everyone gets busted equally I dont feel that bad.


  26. A1Yola
    June 19th, 2009 at 8:03 pm

    I meant $500k lol


  27. chezk
    June 20th, 2009 at 12:25 am

    @Bart. lol…”NOT” getting busted as much has helped me climb to number 10 on the cream of crp for the entire earth ;)


  28. A1Yola
    June 20th, 2009 at 6:58 am

    Congtats to chezk. Ive been stuck at the #30 spot for earth for so long now


  29. TheConfuzed1
    June 20th, 2009 at 7:24 am

    I’ve gotten to a point that I don’t even care if I get busted.

    I used to be careful and buy small quantities at a time, but I’ve been getting ballsy lately and buying big.

    I think overall I don’t lose any more than I was before, but it’s faster this way, which is better when you’re racing others to get the stash first, and it works out in the long run.

    The ironic thing is that I’m so far into the game, and I have so much money, that it doesn’t even matter too much if I lose big. I stopped caring… And it seems that I’ve actually been getting busted less lately!


  30. Kerch™
    June 20th, 2009 at 4:04 pm

    Download SD to DL in cydia. I’m not sure if this is the real package name but it skins SweetDeal to make it look like the old DrugLords. Btw you need to be jailbroken to get this.


  31. Colt45
    June 22nd, 2009 at 2:36 am

    If you upgrade to 3.0 you still keep all your stats. Nothing really changes at all.


  32. andrey
    June 22nd, 2009 at 12:06 pm

    Underworld stopped for a quick maintenance. To be back soon! ;)


  33. andrey
    June 22nd, 2009 at 12:26 pm

    Servers are back again! The maintenance has brought one more feature available in exchange for UW points. Going to be published soon.


  34. Envy
    June 22nd, 2009 at 4:39 pm

    When can we expect to see what it is?


  35. A1Yola
    June 22nd, 2009 at 8:35 pm

    So what happened to 1.2?


  36. Bugsy
    June 22nd, 2009 at 9:05 pm

    And what’s happened to lab/junkie changes lately? Seems more like every 12 hours they change now:(


  37. chezk
    June 23rd, 2009 at 12:27 am

    @bugsy. That can be a blessing if the tile has some good junkies. The same can be said about labs. I’ve made as much money selling lab stock to peeps with junkies. Sometimes you just have to figure out how to capitalize on whatever tile you’re dealt. If you’re stuck with mint and gummy junkies and cake and ice cream labs then you might be F####d. Otherwise good coin can typically be made in my experience.


  38. MikeyMike
    June 24th, 2009 at 4:55 am

    Just started! Fun game. In one day I made over 20g’s and went from a level 1 to a level 7. Keep up the good work.

    Sorry for the newb question… What’s jailbroken?


  39. djkrztoff
    June 24th, 2009 at 10:50 pm

    Been crashing my springboard consistently since upgrading to 3.0 and re-jailbreaking. Is anyone else having this problem? I get the unhappy iphone logo and have to restart springboard.


  40. djkrztoff
    June 24th, 2009 at 10:57 pm

    The above behavior only occurs when Underworld is open … forgot to add that important bit :)


  41. -=momsy=-
    June 28th, 2009 at 11:29 am

    I have a jailbroken 3.0 iPhone 3g and underworld ( without druglord Skin) Keeps crashing nearly everytime i Start it. It freezes then i See my springboard ;) i don’t have much installed in cydia Even nö winterboard Active at the Moment.

    Any ideas??


  42. Cocain
    June 28th, 2009 at 11:49 pm

    Using uw 1.1?
    My experiences with 3.0:
    Backgrounder crashes
    Icy instable
    Some cydiainstalls(mostly those changing the system) are crashing iphonr => remove them!


  43. -=momsy=-
    June 29th, 2009 at 1:42 am

    Have just:
    winterboard
    backgrounder (New have it since yesterday)
    themes
    sbsettings
    categories
    terminal App.
    ReallY just Simple things. I even reaktivstes things like winterboard and the other mobile substrate Things in sbsettings.

    I thought bout Testing it without jb 3.0 but i don’t have Time couse lying in clinic :( so i have to ASK others ;)

    thanks and BTW since NOW im on UW:SD 1.2 couse it Came out this night.

    Bye


  44. Sam
    July 1st, 2009 at 12:42 pm

    Hi

    love the game but a bit of a bug - it seems to sporadically chuck me into a different tile. I live in Dorset but last night I was in amersham bucks according to the game. I hadn’t left my house! Today it’s put me in a neighbouring tile and while the pages for each item show I’m back home, when I check the map I’m still in the neighbouring tile!

    Can you fix it?


  45. Paulie45
    July 1st, 2009 at 9:51 pm

    Just checking in but I agree with SAM. I will randomly jump back and forth between tiles. The only reason that I can come up with is that my cell is jumping back and forth between cell tower coverage. This is never happened in the past, however, and so I am assuming that it is a bug. The real reason for my post is to report that we lost another player today. MrFnChkls quit today. The reason he sited was that game play was taking so long that he had become fed up with it. I have to agree with him to a point. I’m at 58mil working toward lvl 21 and it is a long, slow grind. Speeding up game play would definitely help prevent boredom and frustration. If you’re not using UW points, the buy-to-bust ratio just increases the frustration. I’m not complaining! I’m just pointing out some of my observations. Keep up the good work!


  46. Sam
    July 4th, 2009 at 7:29 am

    Hi Paulie

    Glad it’s not just me. I can get moved about 150 miles - which is interesting! Sometimes it works in my favour but often it’s an hour before the tile changes and I’ve stocked up on stuff I’ll only make a slim profit on. I then have the same addicts but they won’t buy from me as I’m in a different tile. I can’t see what the addicts on my tile want either so often end up selling stuff to them real cheap.

    Other than love the game!

    Sam


  47. m00gles
    July 16th, 2009 at 5:17 am

    Just wondering, how do I move my account from one phone to another?
    I upgraded from 3G to 3GS… is the profile linked to the IMEI?

    thx


  48. greg
    July 17th, 2009 at 11:22 pm

    hello
    I have the same problem!
    since the passage of 3g in 3GS I lost my account!
    how can I do to retrieve my account!
    thank you in advance!


  49. Ryan
    August 27th, 2009 at 10:34 am

    I am having many problems with sweetdeal I have problems when scanning area seems to get stuck. I also can’t get my underworld tab to open. I love this game. Is there something I can do to fix these problems? barber


  50. andrey
    August 27th, 2009 at 9:35 pm

    Ryan, the issues you experience aren’t on your side, that’s server issues most likely. In fact, we are dealing with this for the last couple of days and it seems like these aren’t even the stability issues, but a problem with server’s accessibility from various regions. Many people from US are playing without any troubles, when in Europe it’s not that good. We are trying to fix this as fast as we can.


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