Ahoy there! We’re right in the middle of the Galcon 2 Party and wanted to invite you all to join us! Here’s beta17 for Android, Windows, Mac, and Linux. (iOS TestFlight email will come shortly.) We’re going to be battling it out on the servers for a few hours to celebrate Galcon 2 and check out the newest features!

I want to introduce Kim Derome, who has been working hard on creating the soundtrack for Galcon 2 over the past few months. I’m quite excited to be able to add in 5 original tracks by Kim. They are excellent and I hope you enjoy them!

I was able to get Galcon 2 working on Android, thanks to a helpful internet person! If you have an Android device, please check it out.

I’ve given the Galcon 2 store an overhaul, so now it’s got a more modern grid format. I’ve also added planet styles and colors, both of which I think really add a ton of fun to the game. In addition, I’ve overhauled the interface for betting so it’s just a few taps to set up. Lots of annoying bugs were also fixed.

I’ve also given everyone an additional 10k coins to play with. (Note: we’re still in beta here, so at some point all coins earned / spent / etc will be reset. These are not the coins you paid for.)

Lastly, I’d like to thank Evan Sparano (esparano) for creating documentation for the modding API! This is a huge help, so now when I work on Galcon, I’ll know what everything means. Also, he’s been working on a super secret project which will be fully revealed very soon.

Thanks everyone! Developing this game “in beta” is a most excellent experience!
-Phil

Through a bit of Googling and whatnot, I got in touch with Joe Delgado who was able to provide a patch to fix ENet to work with Marmalade. These are modifications to unix.c. When I am making a Marmalade build of my games, I always have PLATFORM_MARMALADE defined. So you can replace that with whatever you do.

After the #ifdef __APPLE__ segment, add this to set up the correct defines, etc.

#ifdef PLATFORM_MARMALADE
#define SOMAXCONN 128
#undef HAS_POLL
#undef HAS_MSGHDR_FLAGS
#undef HAS_FCNTL
#include <sys/select.h>
#include <sys/uio.h>
#define HAS_SOCKLEN_T
#endif

In enet_socket_send, it turns out the Marmalade sendmsg is broken. So I replace:

    msgHdr.msg_iov = (struct iovec *) buffers;
    msgHdr.msg_iovlen = bufferCount;
    sentLength = sendmsg (socket, & msgHdr, MSG_NOSIGNAL);

With

#ifdef PLATFORM_MARMALADE
    // concatenates buffers together

    ENetBuffer * newBuffers;
    char* d;
    int i, totalSize;

    newBuffers = (ENetBuffer*)malloc(sizeof(ENetBuffer));
    totalSize = 0;
    for (i=0;i<bufferCount;i++) {
        totalSize += (buffers+i)->dataLength;
    }

    newBuffers->data = malloc(totalSize);
    newBuffers->dataLength = totalSize;
    d = (char*)newBuffers->data;
    for (i=0;i<bufferCount;i++) {
        memcpy(d, (buffers+i)->data, (buffers+i)->dataLength);
        d += (buffers+i)->dataLength;
    }

    msgHdr.msg_iov = (struct iovec *) newBuffers;
    msgHdr.msg_iovlen = totalSize;

    sentLength = sendmsg (socket, & msgHdr, MSG_NOSIGNAL);

    free(newBuffers->data);
    free(newBuffers);

#else

    msgHdr.msg_iov = (struct iovec *) buffers;
    msgHdr.msg_iovlen = bufferCount;
    sentLength = sendmsg (socket, & msgHdr, MSG_NOSIGNAL);

#endif

And that seems to get ENet working 100% with Marmalade. I applied this patch to ENet 1.3.6 … The original patch was written for ENet 1.3.3, and I suspect it would work for the latest version of ENet. I built this with Marmalade 6.3.2. I’ve passed on a request to the Marmalade team to fix sendmsg so that the larger chunk of the code would no longer be necessary.

-Phil

Ahoy there, this is a mini-update! There’s no new game to download, this update is only on my server. I’ve just added the ability to earn coins by playing the game .. as well as the ability to gamble them away! So sign on and check it out. These are the new commands:

/bet N
/match
/cancel
/pot

The game takes a cut of each bet to go towards the trophy that is awarded. You can’t see the trophies yet, but you can see a total of your recent winnings in the players list in the lobby. I’ll be online for about an hour if anyone wants to try it out with me!

Have fun!
-Phil

Ahoy there, beta15 is live! Get it for Windows, Mac, Linux. Testflight for iOS will be emailed shortly!

It’s been about 3 weeks since the last beta, and a TON has happened. Lots of improvements to the modding system (ask me on the forums if you want to know more!) Added some really nice scrolling enhancement to the lobby, as well as fixed the balance of several classes. A MAJOR overhaul of the MMO server codebase. Added a frenzy mode, now each star has its own mode, so find the frenzy star and check it out! And lastly, added the Galcon store! You can buy classes and cosmetic ship shapes there.

A few comments on the store – I’ve given everyone 10k Galcoins. These are not the Galcoins you paid for in the Kickstarter, these are just beta coins. Which means, for the next beta or so I’ll probably be resetting how many you have spent, what you bought, how you earn new coins, how many coins equal one dollar etc. (Right now you can’t earn coins. Nor can you buy more coins.) I’m eager to hear feedback about this on the forums. It’s important to me to do a good job with the coins system.

For those who have been patiently waiting for their physical rewards, thank you! It’s definitely more difficult than we thought to get these things made, but we made a big step forward this past week, as we got the posters printed and the wrap for the box printed. Delivery of the poster tier will commence as soon as we can!

Thanks for supporting Galcon 2. Have fun checking out beta15! I’ll be online for the next hour or so, so sign in and tell me what you think!!!

-Phil

Our other Galcon Goat, Nibbles (from my Nan’s goat bath video) had her kid just a few days ago! Her name is Nubbin! Goats are fun!

And, there’s a new beta out for all the backers! Windows, Mac, Linux. TestFlight iOS testers will be emailed shortly.

beta14 includes a ton of great stuff:

– Major overhaul of the iOS game interface. Please give it another go and tell me if I got it right yet.

– Some deep bug fixing. There have been quite a few Windows 7 crash complaints, please tell me if I fixed them. I’ve been unable to reproduce them on my own computer, so it’s a bit of shooting in the dark.

– And .. CLASSES! Now when you sign onto a server click on the Class name and change your class and try out the different options. I’m really excited to see how some of these play out. They are 100% unbalanced, so it’ll definitely be a raw experience.

As always, please post your comments to the forums. I read everything!!

Thanks for being part of Galcon 2! I’ll be online for a bit, so pop in and play!

-Phil

Hey, a ton has happened in the past two weeks. The most important being, my first baby goat “Petunia” was born! Here’s a pic, of me in my office. At the bottom right corner you can see some notes I was making about what database backend I was going to use for Galcon 2.

Also, I made a new beta of Galcon, this time with the Galaxy Map integrated with servers and leaderboards! So get out there and be the first Grand Admiral of Galcon 2!!* Backers can download it for Windows, Mac, Linux. TestFlight / iOS will get email notifications shortly.

Here’s a picture of the new lobby system on a screen size that’s smaller than an iPhone:

Have fun!
-Phil

* Leaderboards subject to reset without notice. Also, leaderboard algorithm is going to be changed over time. That’s why it’s called a “beta”. Though, let’s be honest, this is more of an “alpha”.

Get ready – beta12 is now available for backers on Windows, Mac, and Linux. iOS TestFlight people can go to TestFlight and grab the latest build in a few minutes.

The thing I’m most excited about in this build is the addition of the Galaxy Map. It’s in prototype stage right now, so you can’t join servers, or do anything – really, but you can play with the interface a bit.

I had a lot of fun working on this, and I’m hoping to make it connect to servers very soon! So give it a try and tell me what you think.

I also fixed a million bugs. If you are an iOS player, a lot of the stuff you reported got fixed. Chat works considerably better. Be sure to keep re-reporting bugs to the forums as you come across them though!

Thanks for playing! Have fun!
-Phil

Ahoy there, beta11 is ready for backers to download! Get it for Windows, Mac, or Linux. TestFlight users will get an email shortly with the latest build.

This build includes a ton of bug fixes for your favorite bugs, as well as the Ultracon mod by medeman and a Bricks mod by me. I’m getting close to being able to put together a rough edition of the Galaxy Map / MMO portions of Galcon 2, and the Bricks mod was a way for me to test out the basic code I need to add more interactive “menus” / “mini-games” to Galcon 2.

We were able to sent out some of the magnet sets this week! We’ve already gotten some pictures back in! International orders will take longer, and higher tiers are being shipped a bit later so we can combine on shipping. Here’s Kyle’s fridge:

If you want to test the game out with me, I’ll be on the g2s1 server for an hour or so

Thanks!
-Phil

Ahoy there, another build is ready for backers on Windows, Mac, Linux. TestFlight folks will get emails shortly with a new build too!

Particularly cool additions are left-handed mode, and real portrait orientation support! Some options like “color-blind mode” and “multi-touch mode” are listed in the Controls, but they aren’t implemented yet. Please check out the Settings / Controls and try out settings and find your favorite!

Funny dev bug:

This build largely fixes a ton of iOS related issues and overhauls the in-game user interface. I tried to fix most of the issues reported! Please give it a whirl, I’ll be online for a bit on the server if anyone wants to hang out! Please post on the forums if you have any comments.

Also, the magnet sets are all pretty much packaged and shipping will begin to all the $25 backers next week! I’m holding off on higher tiers because we’re going to try and combine shipping with the box sets. Thanks for your patience!

Cheers!
-Phil

Hey there! Another swell Galcon 2 beta is available for Kickstarter backers on Windows, Mac, Linux (Ubuntu 12.04), and for a select few, iOS!

I’ve set up a server for Galcon 2 finally, you can try out multiplayer by clicking Play, then Client, then “Quick Join g2s1″ . Other players are hosting modded servers as well, and you can get info about those in the forums.

Linux users who have an Ubuntu 12.04 compatible OS can check it out finally! Also, if you want to run a server on any OS you can now run Galcon 2 with the command line options “-headless -mod path/to/mod_server.lua” to start up a headless server.

I’ve added a ton of new options to the Controls tab in Settings. Check them out and customize your Galcon 2 controls to your preference. Be sure to stop by the forums and tell me which settings you like the best.

And on the Kickstarter reward front, Nan has started packing the fridge magnet sets! Watch for a survey in the mail to fill in your address. To save on shipping, we’re packing the box set with the magnets, so those will be delayed a bit (I hope that’s okay! It means more of the KS funds will be used for the game instead of just for postage.) Here’s a packaging action shot:

P.S. If you want to join in on the iOS beta, keep checking these announcements, and in the Galcon 2 forums. I’ll be inviting a second wave of beta testers sometime in the future.