Houston we have lift off! Meghan’s Memory Game 1st Grade received final approval from Apple this morning indicating that our app was “Ready for Sale”. So, it took only 7 days from the time we submitted our application until approval. That’s not so bad, considering how many apps they are reported to be reviewing each day. It will be interesting to see what kind of downloads and feedback we recieve. Hopefully it will be all good!
Posts Tagged Software
Let the animation begin…
Mar 23
Over the past couple of development sessions RatCat has been able to “animate” the intro splash screen of Meghan’s Memory Game for the iPhone and iPod Touch. The animation is on the very simple side, however it’s a start. The overall process is kind of simple, you create the animation frames in Photoshop then sequence them in a loop with a timer in the application. Besides the addition of animation, we have revamped the games appearance, added the ability to turn off the sound, added a second level and a new splash screen when completing the level 1 and 2 and added over 350 first grade level spelling words (After all it is an Educational Game!).
We have decided that we will be targeting first grade students with this version and we have plans to release a second and third grade versions shortly after a successful release of this version. To finish up Meghan’s Memory Game 1st Grade, we need to complete the voice recordings of each word then prepare the marketing material and meta data for the RatCat Software web site and for the iTunes App Store. It looks like we are actually ahead of schedule, though I’m sure that we will need all the time we can get to actually make a May 1st release!
One of the components of a great game is sound and we hope that the sounds in Meghan’s Memory Game are no exception. Today we made our initial recordings. Meghan was recorded saying phrases like “Great Job” and “Way to Go” to be played when the game player chooses the correct match and phrases like “You Can Do It” and “Sorry” for missed attempts. This has been a way cool way to incorporate a six year old into the game development process and I know when the team starts the next round of testing they will be thrilled with the new phrases. The development of Meghan’s Memory Game for the iPhone and iPod Touch is moving along and our deadline of May 1st for an initial release to the App Store at iTunes seems reasonable. The next phase of development is to revamp the graphics and add three levels with increasingly difficult words.
Yep, you can say you heard it here first.
RatCat Software is making progress in the development of its first educational game for the iPhone and iPod Touch. Although the games design is not complete, there is now a working beta version that has been placed into the hands of the testing team (see previous post for team description). Their approval is pending and they want to see some changes… changes that need to be made before this game becomes worthy of being the RatCats first release to be uploaded to the iTunes App Store.
So back to coding we will go, hopeful to one day have a product worth sharing.
A cause to celebrate?
Mar 5
We think so. RatCat heard from Apple yesterday and our application has been approved. We are now officially members of the developer community. That opens up the door to allow our work to be published into the iTunes Apps Store. It also lets us install our creations on our in-house test devices (currently a single iPod Touch). So the fun can now really begin! Remember, RatCat Software wants to entertain and educate, and our applications must pass the test of our in-house testing team (12, 6 and 4 year old girls and a 3 year old boy). What we have found out so far is that one device for a crew this large is forcing the team some valuable lessons in sharing. They really have taken to the iPod Touch. Much more then they had to Nintendo DS or any similar devices. And parents, think about it… no little plastic cartridges to lose. Just download the apps and enjoy. I definitely see some more “test” devices coming into our future!
