Must admit, 2010 wasn’t very fruitful on the updates for the game fans. It’s not because we forgot about it, but because we had to focus on a few work-for-hire projects. But even then we did our best providing the game with fixes and running the ‘always-there-for-you’ user support.

In 2011, we’re aimed to roll out an update for both Android and iPhone versions as soon as possible. Not only we will take into account all the suggestions and ideas received from players during the year, we also have a few major new features designed and waiting to be implemented.

Thanks for staying with us and enjoying the game.
Stay tuned and see ya in 2011!

Amazing photo by cewil.

]]> http://uw.a-steroids.com/2010/12/happy-new-year-2011/feed/ http://uw.a-steroids.com/2010/10/no-more-uw-point-packs-in-the-appstore/ http://uw.a-steroids.com/2010/10/no-more-uw-point-packs-in-the-appstore/#comments Fri, 22 Oct 2010 15:41:57 +0000 andrey http://uw.a-steroids.com/?p=368 Apple contacted us recently, saying they are cleaning the AppStore from ‘point packs’ of different kinds.

Seems like this is a new global policy of the AppStore. Which means UW Points have to go. From now on, if you need protection, additional carry space or any other boost, please use in-app purchase instead of UW points.

For those who still have some points left on hand — no worries, you can still spend them as you did before. Stay tuned, folks!

A thorough bug fix took us much longer than we expected. On the bright side, here’s what has been done in the update;

• Full compatibility with Android 2.2 Froyo;
• Full support of all previous versions of Android 1.6 — 2.1;
• Correct work with all possible screen sizes from smallest 240×320 to gigantic 480×854;
• Fixed all known bugs and other issues;
• Two AdMob banners have been added to the Profile and Money screens to help us earn some revenue to continue supporting Underworld for Android;

Please keep up reporting bugs and suggestions: here in comments, on the forum or in twitter. It helps us improve the game greatly and we’ll try to react as soon as possible.

It’s not easy to predict the bug-fixing process, but believe us we’re working hard to get it done as soon as possible. Fingers crossed, it won’t take longer than a couple more days.

As many of Android players have noticed, the currently existing version of the game isn’t compatible with the latest version of Android software: OS 2.2, codename Froyo. Due to few changes in the OS subsystems, the game has lost the ability to communicate with the server properly. Sorry, everybody, for not getting back to the problem earlier: the past few months were hectic and we had very little time to commit to improving things in Underworld.

Better late than never though. We have finally freed up enough time to fix the incompatibility with Froyo and few other annoying bugs. An estimate on delivering the update is September 27, if not earlier.

The game will be temporary removed from Android Market until we roll out the shiny updated version. Stay tuned, folks!

Everyone who plays Underworld on the iPhone/iPod/iPad definitely noticed push notifications not working for more than two last weeks. Really sorry for inconvenience caused, guys. A reason for this outage was a problem with server-side certificates, required to communicate with Apple’s push servers.

We have now fixed the problem, so you can get back to receiving up-to-date notifications about your sales. Moreover, in addition to just resolving this crisis, we have implemented new monitoring tools in the UW control center to keep an eye on the push status. So it looks like this time we’ve fixed it for good, at least on our side.

Although it may sound as a minor patch, we have fixed plenty of annoying bugs (like the one with 1 million mark!) and added HTC Tattoo support.

Visit the Android Market to get the new version now.

Happy to announce that Underworld is finally ready for Android users! If you are one of them, just stop reading this, search the Market on your device for ‘Underworld’ and join the underground of street trade right away!

OK, so what’s noteworthy about the Android version of the game?

Original game theme. After more than a year since Underworld was first submitted to the AppStore (and then rejected after unreasonably long reviewing period) we are finally proud to present the game in its original theme of the grey trade. Yep. Real controlled substances instead of gummy bears and lollipops! Sorry AppStore folks, we did what we could.

Shared game world. As we promised before, the Android players have joined the current world that exists for iPhone/iPod Touch dealers. We think it’s totally OK considering how many of SweetDeal players already use the SD2DL re-skin plug-in bringing the original grey theme to the AppStore version of the game.

UW Points to boost your performance. Many iPhone/iPod Touch players have already forgotten the UW Points and switched to in-app purchase mechanics. Unfortunately, Android Market doesn’t support micro-transactions. Not sure if it will at all. So, if you want to boost your rising to the top of the Cream of the Crop, there are plenty of UW Point packs to use. Tap the U-shaped icon in the game to get to know more.

 *  *  *

The great thing about opening Underworld to new platforms is new players. Which not only make the game more interesting (rule #1 of MMO gaming), but also give a lot of feedback. Visit About section to submit bug reports or interesting ideas and don’t forget to become a member of Underworld forum!

Download the new version and let’s see what’s new.

Delivery Jobs

It’s the feature that was voted to top of the Open Roadmap in the very early days of Underworld. So, what’s the drill? Choose a job, buy the required amount of merchandize and bring it to the destination tile in time. If you succeed, extra cash is granted. In some cases that’s millions! However, you definitely don’t wanna fail the job: these guys always know where to find you and the punishment will be bad.

There are six types of delivery jobs. With the simplest Local delivery, the only thing you have to do is to find the merchandize, ‘cause the destination tile is the same tile where you get the job. Piece of cake! Starting with a Neighborhood delivery, you have to move around physically to get the job done. Follow the map and don’t forget about the time limit!

There are also two very special jobs: International and Super Cargo.

With an International delivery there is no actual destination spot: just take the commodity as far as you can. The twist is that the reward is only good if the travelled distance is hundreds of miles. So if you’re going on vacation or to a business trip, consider smuggling some stuff for a good reward!

Super Cargo delivery differs in a size of a parcel: the amount of commodity you have to deliver is HUGE! Sometimes it’s not even enough to have the max level of Carry Space. So visit Underworld to get some boost. Yep, that’s hard, but on the other side — the payment is awesome! Your choice.

New ranks

With the Delivery Jobs, you now have a whole new category of Equipment upgrades, which means there are 5 new ranks to compete in the Cream of the Crop.

By the way, we have adjusted upgrade costs recently so the step between #20 and #21 is even now.

Ignore List

If you have a stalker or just a dealer you don’t want to hear from, you can add him/her to your Ignore List. Use wisely as the communication is very important for your business!

  *  *  *

We want to say thanks to everyone who helped to bring this update by giving a lot of fruitful feedback. We appreciate it big time! Please keep up letting us know what you think, there are plenty of ways to do that. Leave comments, follow us in Twitter, open discussions on the Forum and don’t forget about the suggestion/bug report tools in the game itself.

Here is a little teaser of what’s hitting Underworld soon.

Oh, and to answer the most popular question: we are submitting it TODAY!