What’s new in Fractal Combat 1.1

We’ve finally submitted the 1.1 of Fractal Combat to Apple and, with some luck, the update will be out in about a week from now.

This is a bigger update than initially planned. We’ve listened to requests and complaints out there and tried to put in the most requested features and fixes.

Here is a list of the major changes:

New, badder and angrier bosses

The original 7 bosses (one for each world) have mutated, and there are now 3 mutation for each type of alien, for a total of 21 different baddies!

Mutated bosses are faster, more powerful, bigger and, frankly, uglier.

The new bosses have individual characters, making them swing between bold frontal attacks and unnerving cat-and-mouse behavior (who’s the mouse ?).

These new bosses are able to launch multiple missiles at once, so they are a lot deadlier, especially in the later missions.

Energy pull

The energy coming from a downed enemy is now automatically attracted to the player ship, up to a certain distance.
This makes it easier to replenish the shield (first line of defense against attacks) and it’s especially useful since the game is more intense now.

Improved interface

The main screen is now somewhat simpler and features an info button on top right. This button leads to a menu with game credits, links to oyatsukai.com, Twitter, Facebook and the option to rate the game ;)

There is also a nicer mission selection screen with a more detailed briefing, better showing the bosses populating a certain area, their strength and the prize for taking them down.

Flight Practice

Sometimes one just wants to fly around the scenarios. Or may want to get acquainted with a new ship (the “heli” types can be challenging to manoeuvre!)

“Flight Practice” allows just that: flying with no purpose, enemies or missiles.

Better graphics

Textures for the player ships have been redone. They are now a lot more detailed and somewhat grittier.

The sky setting in the worlds has also improved: you can now spot some nearby planets right in the middle of the sky.

The result, we think, is a nice improvement to the general look of the game.

Improved Controls and display

The controls have been generally much well received! However, the placement of some of the touch buttons wasn’t ideal on the iPad.

We tweaked around the placement and size of those buttons and it’s now easier to press them while holding the iPad in a comfortable position.

We also reduced some of the trembling noticed by some users when controlling the ship via accelerometer with an iPad.

On the display side, only enemy missiles are show in the Radar now. They are red as before but somewhat larger, for improved visibility. So, there is no more confusion on which red dots are good and which are bad. They are all bad, and you should try to shake them!

And more…

Faster initial loading time
Fixed the bug not allowing the “500 enemies down” achievement
Generally improved enemies’ AI
Skippable mission debriefing (just touch the debrief area)
New, more colorful icon
Reduced memory usage (but please, don’t keep too many apps open while playing, especially on iPhone 3GS and iPad 1).

What’s next

We’re already working on a new update that will introduce more interesting features. We’re considering: much larger enemy bases, different game modes, more game context, new weapons and ships, new worlds.

If you have a feature request or something that you think should be fixed, then please, let us know with comments here, or from the contacts page (use the form or the email).

In the meantime, remember that the future of the game relies very much on users’ feedback on the App Store. So, if you like the game, rate the game to let others know, and that will help us to keep the updates coming.

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