Widget, take (dot) two

The second beta of Subsume is now available.  It mainly enhances the widget experience.  Separate work is being done on the server side to allow more than 2 player games, but it’s not yet ready.  The plan is start rolling those features out on the web site itself, making it work (sans game elements) sort of like a social networking site with a spatial component.

Also, an order for an XO laptop was put in on the first day of the offer.  We have been notified to expect shipment before the end of the year, so further updates to the game interface itself will wait for and target compatibility on that.  If there are any teachers out there who would like to collaborate on a lesson plan that relates to any aspect of Subsume in an educational setting, please contact us!  Otherwise, we would very much like to hear anyone on how we can further improve the game.

At last, the widget

We finally stopped sitting on it and shoved the widget out the door. Just stop by the Subsume game site and see for yourself. It was written in such a way that the same files can be used as both the web app and the widget. I’m not sure if we can keep up that policy, but I’m going to do everything I can to avoid a lot of back porting or forking for multiple versions.

I was sorely tempted to add a lot of new features and/or make the widget extra pretty, but it is still a beta and right now I want to make sure the fundamentals are there before it gets fancy. Other than getting everything to work with Dashboard, the only other visible change is to use the player unit to progress through phases instead of the red circled x. It’s a much larger target, and allows for some feedback like a progress bar. I also added an FAQ to the documentation, so now is the time to pipe up if anything about the game is confusing you!

A beta for all seasons

After getting sidetracked on higher priority items, I’m finally getting the Subsume beta out there for everyone to try. Network support at this point amounts to being able to play a 2 player game with the standard rule set. If you didn’t have someone nearby and eager to play for as long as you kept the window open, now you can find someone around the world (or maybe just two cubes over!) to play with and we’ll keep the game state on our servers. The only caveat is that if nobody makes a move in over a day we’ll delete the game, so no slacking off over the weekend!

If you don’t know anyone who is a big board gamer, feel free to start a game and post the name here for a pickup match. I’ll even get the ball rolling with “fcfs” (as in first-come-first-served), and I’m most likely to be actively playing 12-02 UTC. A day after the first game is over it will also expire, of course, so there is no guarantee that if you use it in the future it will still be me! Keep in mind that it might also take a while for someone to find your new game, so play it like the casual game it’s intended to be and don’t constantly stare at the window waiting for it to ding when it’s your turn.

Next on the agenda is probably the Dashboard widget. It’s fairly obvious that something designed to work on the iPhone would also work better as a widget than a web page. I think having a widget will also reinforce the casual nature of the game. Until then, unless I find something interesting to write about, enjoy!

Last update for the week

As per the previous post, the Subsume game site has been updated with a more iPhone-friendly interface. It basically amounted to making a few calls as soon as possible instead of waiting for the mouse to hover over a square before doing validation. There are also a few little bug fixes. Give it a try and let us know what you think or if we missed anything. The next major update, by next Friday or that weekend, should finally allow network play. It’s still unlikely it will be tested on an actual iPhone before release.

Alpha children wear grey

Anyone who wondered what a game called Subsume might end up being didn’t need to look much farther than the Subsume Technologies trademark or the resulting screen saver. The deep mathematical roots of the initial design pay off once again by leading directly to this game.

Yes, it’s a very rough cut at this point, but the foundations are there to turn this into the first Massively Multiplayer Online Board Game. As such, it will be able to go places that a regular MMOG can’t. It is non-violent, so your kids can play it. It exercises the mind, so your parents can play it. It doesn’t require constant attention, so you can play it at work! I could go into all the ways we’ve planned to grow Subsume, but that is really best left to be part of the upcoming documentation.

No, the purpose of this site is for me to hear what you like and, most importantly, don’t like about Subsume. I really don’t expect a lot of feedback in these pre-iPhone alpha stages, so I will be extra appreciative about any that I get. Feel free to use this as a starting point for any comments you have on Subsume and I’ll either reply as fast as I can, or start a new topic to address any big issues. Thanks for your interest!