Spaceteam 2.5

Spaceteam 2.5 has just been released on iOS and Android!

The big news is that Bluetooth is back, and there's a new connection mode called Internet that you can use if neither Wifi or Bluetooth are working for you. This should help you play Spaceteam wherever in the universe you find yourself.

Livestream and Tournament

In honour of the Buzztime launch, I'll be hosting a livestream event this Thursday where I'll be playing Spaceteam with friends, sharing tips, and chatting with the community (that's you!).

At the same time I'll be running a mini tournament that you can join from wherever you are by entering the Event Code in the Spaceteam app (I'll announce the Event Code on the day of the tournament). The game will record your scores to a special leaderboard and I'll be awarding prizes to the top teams.

Please join us on Thursday April 20th at 6pm EDT on my newly-minted Twitch channel here: https://www.twitch.tv/captainspaceteam

New Buzztime Skin

Buzztime has been working on a new skin to commemorate the event and they have two themes to choose from. Vote on which skin you want to see here: http://www.buzztime.com/spaceteam-fanvote

Version 2.5 will officially be the last major update to the Spaceteam app, as after next week I'll be spending most of my development time on Blabyrinth. Spaceteam will still get bug fixes and minor improvements, but no new features. It's had a fantastic run and there are still a few surprises in store elsewhere in the Spaceteam ecosystem.

Plus I'm always happy to add new languages as long as the community keeps volunteering to translate! Coming up next: Finnish, Serbian, and Esperanto.

I hope to see you online on Thursday.

Space out!

~ Henry (aka Captain Spaceteam)

Spaceteam is now available for a limited time on Buzztime tablets in sports bars, pubs, and restaurants across the US. Check out the official launch page here: http://www.buzztime.com/spaceteam

They have a venue locator so you can find a Buzztime-enabled pub near you if you want to check it out. Most of them are Buffalo Wild Wings but there are some other locations too.

To commemorate the launch we'll also be sharing some exclusive new features! More news about those coming soon.

Buzztime have been around since 1984 running trivia games in pubs but lately they have been branching out into tablet games you can play at your table. This is the first local multiplayer game on Buzztime tablets but it seemed like a great fit so I was happy to partner with them!

After all, Spaceteam is a great game to play while you wait for your food, or even as a drinking game!

I'll be sharing more news and announcing some special events related to the Buzztime promotion in the coming weeks.

Space out!

~ Henry

After a couple of months full-time on Blabyrinth I'm back on Spaceteam maintenance for a few weeks. I want to improve the connection issues, add support for Bluetooth, and a few other things. I don't want to get too sidetracked but I'm being paid for most of this work so it's easier to justify. Although I'm starting to wish I had some kind of 'employee' to help out! Here are my priorities:

Bluetooth

Complicated and boring, but I’ve put it off for too long. It’s time to get my hands dirty. Here’s why it’s difficult:

1. The original Bluetooth code was in Objective-C on iOS, and I don’t have the Android code at all because of reasons. So... I can’t just port it to Unity.
2. Unity’s High-Level Networking API (HLAPI) doesn’t support Bluetooth so... I have to find (or write) a plugin.
3. There is a good Bluetooth plugin for Android that integrates with UNet HLAPI, but... it doesn’t work for iOS.
4. The best iOS plugin I found that supports Bluetooth doesn’t integrate with the HLAPI so... I have to start using the Low-Level API. This requires modifying all the networking code (again) to use simple client/server messages instead of SyncVars, Commands, and ClientRPCs. Complicated, boring, and requires re-testing most of the game.
5. On top of this, the iOS Bluetooth plugin seems to be broken. After further investigation it appears that it might be an Apple bug.
6. At this point I’ve resigned to just writing an equivalent plugin myself. I haven’t written a Unity plugin before and while I’m sure I can figure it out, it’s not very exciting. Luckily I’ll only have to write it for iOS because I have no experience at all writing native Android code.

But once I get it working I'll be done with Bluetooth, I'll have a more flexible low-level networking layer, and I can reuse the code for Blabyrinth and CaptainsMess. It's a worthwhile investment.

Mysterious external project

More details later but a company has licensed Spaceteam in bulk to play in their venues and I’ll be doing some custom work to support it. It seems like a good fit and there is money involved so I think it's worth it!

Upgrading Spaceteam ESL

Spaceteam ESL is still on the older codebase (1.8) so it has the same Android incompatibility issues that plagued regular Spaceteam. It’s time I brought it up to code, but it also allows me to add the next interesting feature...

Internet Play

This will technically allow you to play with people who aren't in the same room, but I don't recommend it (you won't be able to hear each other!). This feature is designed for situations where neither local Wifi or Bluetooth will work, like school classrooms where Spaceteam ESL is primarily used. My plan is to use GameSparks Real-Time for this, but I’m also investigating other options (like Google Play Real Time Multiplayer) since GameSparks has user limits that I might eventually break.

Spaceteam FSL

The next logical step for Spaceteam ESL is to introduce an equivalent version for learning French! Concordia is rustling up some more grant money so I’ll be working on this for a few weeks. Since the code is mostly shared with the ESL version it won’t take too long.

...and One More Thing

The Spaceteam family is getting a little bit bigger... because Admiral Spaceteam and I are having a baby! She's almost 6 months pregnant and the due date is in June.

Space out!

~ Henry