I've submitted a small update to Google Play that changes the minimum Android version to 2.2. It was 4.1 before. This should open the game up to more devices. If there are any issues, let me know.

Update: Fixed a bug on older Android versions.

Published!

I've published the game to Google Play. Apparently it might take a while to appear but I'm really excited at the prospect of people getting to play it. I've put it up as a paid app because I hate adverts and I hate in-app purchases and I really hope it can do ok without needing to use those options.

If you have any problems, comments or suggestions for future features, please let me know.

I hope you enjoy it!

Now, it's on to creating the next set of levels...

Finished! (sort of)

I've finally got to the point where I feel I can release the game! I won't say it's finished because there is so much I still want to add, but it has enough in it to call it a complete game. I want to keep a steady stream of new content coming for as long as people want it, the first update will be a new set of levels with a new theme. Following that I have a list of features I want to add like:

Moving grapple points
Breakable grapple points
New block types e.g. TNT
Animated backgrounds
etc. etc.

Whenever I add a new feature, I'll create a new set of levels using that feature.

Hopefully, if people play the game and like it, I'll get some feedback on what people want adding in the future.

The last thing to do is get it submitted to Google Play. When it's up on the store I think I'll write a full post-mortem of the development process.

This is the promo image I've prepared:

I might simplify the text a bit to make it more readable at smaller sizes.

New Levels

Forgot to mention the theme for the new levels. I don't want to give everything away so here's a clue:

Nearly There...

I've added loads of new stuff - all the sound fx are in, the music is in, tutorial levels, more levels...

After I made the game too easy by making it nearly impossible to fall, and then making it a bit too hard by making it really easy to fall, I had the brainwave that I could use these different approaches as a kind of difficulty level to ease people into the game. So, the game starts with it being nearly impossible to fall-off and then introduces the concept of being able to let go if you want to. It's still pretty tough when you get to the levels where you can fall off, but at least it shouldn't immediately put people off. Since the game is based around swinging and hanging, I thought it would make sense to repeat this theme through the front-end. Everything uses the idea of what I call hangers. You can hang lots of visual elements off them and they're simulated by the physics. Here's how the Level Select screen looks with this approach:

It's more interesting when it's all swinging about.

Here's a screenshot from one of the early tutorial levels:

As you can see, it's got the basic instructions as part of the background.

And here's another later level:

I've gone with a very simple hand drawn style. I found it's important to keep things as simple as possible or the screen can look too busy. This is especially important if you have a small display.

It's nearly done. Just a few more levels to make...

I had a go at making a full level and came to the conclusion that I'd made it too easy. Back when I added the grapple points I thought it was too hard, so I made it so the robot wouldn't let go unless there was a grapple point close enough. That made it virtually impossible to fall off resulting in a lack of challenge. I've changed it now so tapping will make the robot let go and tapping again makes him shoot an arm to the nearest grapple. This makes it much easier to fall off, but also makes it more fun as you have more freedom in how you swing around the level. I'm pleased with the result but I think there is a danger of people being put off too quickly, so I'll need to have some good tutorial levels or some mechanism to keep it simple on earlier levels.

I've also added some enemies that will appear if you hang around in one place too long. They're based on some unusual family allergies.

If you're not swinging quickly enough when one of these collides with you, you'll get knocked off.

I've also added an exit from the levels in the form of a builders rubbish chute. You just have to drop into it to finish the level.

Lots of other bits and pieces have also gone in. The end is in sight now...

Added the sound effects manager. Spent ages trying to work out why it wouldn't play any sounds. Finally discovered the SoundPool is a bit choosy about the format and size of sound files it will play. Changed my sound to .ogg format and crunched it down a bit and it's all working fine now.