LCARS Simulator for Windows Phone 8 Has Been Released!

Well those of you waiting for a Windows Phone version of LCARS Interface can finally get it! At least part of it.  The Tactical Simulator from LCARS Interface is now available in the Windows Phone Store!

Check it out at: http://www.windowsphone.com/s?appid=8a788d12-bd8f-479f-9b4e-02f98477f767

I hope to start on a companion app bringing more features from LCARS Interface (and some new ones specific to the phone platform) to Windows Phone soon. The simulator seemed like a good first step to bring something fully functional to the phone and make sure all of my controls and other code framework are working properly.

I apologize for the delay of Release 16 of LCARS Interface for Windows 8. Microsoft apparently has some issues they need to sort out, as the release has been certified and has been sitting in the "Signing and Publishing" phase for over 30 hours now. Usually that goes through in less than one hour. I'm hoping that update will show up for you all soon.

LCARS Interface Release 16 is now Available!

Well, finally Microsoft decided to approve my fairly trivial update, so that should start showing up in the store for you all sometime today. Their signing process has been slow lately so it may be later today. The changes are primarily described in my previous post so I won't reiterate them here, but there aren't any major changes for this update, but it does fix a few things and prepare the app for changes that will be coming next.  Finding time to work on this stuff has been harder lately, but it's still being updated! I need to figure out the next big feature that I need to work on adding. If you have an idea for what that should be, let me know! It can either be a fun thing or a productivity thing.

Still waiting for the LCARS Simulator app for Windows Phone to be approved. Hopefully that will be soon...

Windows 8 Store, Windows Phone Store Submissions

It's been a week of insanity dealing with the 2 Windows stores and it's been frustrating to say the least. Usually the Windows 8 Store certifies my updates very quickly but I'm currently still waiting on the one I submitted last Saturday. That's the longest it's ever taken to date. I really hope this isn't the new normal...this update is fairly minor too so it's extra annoying that it takes this long to get a couple bug fixes in. Also new in this update will be a different screen on initial startup. This became necessary due to how much stuff LCARS Interface is actually able to do, and having to initialize quite a few things on startup was pushing the limits of startup times for low power Windows RT devices.  This change should lead to a better experience for all devices. It will also give me more options in the future for expanding the app beyond the main screen that used to appear on startup, which was becoming rather crowded with all of the new functionality!

On the Windows Phone front I've been battling some certification failures for various reasons that I chalk up to the learning process associated with building for a new platform. Nevertheless, I FINALLY got that all sorted out and the initial release of the LCARS Simulator for Window Phone should be ready as soon as they certify it, which I hope is not too long. I know at least a few of you have been waiting for that, and I apologize for the delays in making it happen!

So sit tight LCARS fans, new stuff is coming as quickly as Microsoft will allow it! I'm also still figuring out my next set of updates for the Windows 8 app, and also starting to design the LCARS Interface app that will eventually make it to Windows Phone.

As always, keep your suggestions coming, as you never know if your idea may get wrapped into the next update! I also need suggestions on functionality for the phone app now as well.

Next updates coming soon

Sorry for the lack of activity recently. I have gotten some good feedback on the latest update to the logs, so I'm happy to hear that people are using and enjoying that.

I've got another update for the Windows 8 LCARS Interface app set to be submitted sometime this weekend, depending on when I can finish it up. Nothing too major this time, as my efforts have been somewhat redirected towards the Windows Phone 8 app lately. That should hopefully be hitting the Windows Phone store sometime soon. The process for those is surprisingly different than the Windows 8 Store, so the first submission is a bit of a learning process for me there.

As I start developing more for Windows Phone (if the response to the first app warrants continued development), this blog will be somewhat restructured to accommodate the different LCARS apps that are being worked on.

The loose roadmap is as follows:

Windows 8: LCARS Interface will continue to be as "all in one" as I can make it, and updates will continue for the current app until there is sufficient reason to branch it off.

Windows Phone 8:

• LCARS Simulator will be hitting the store first and will be kept parallel with the Windows 8 version of the simulator, with interface adjustments as necessary to accommodate the different form factor. The initial release of this app has been submitted to the Windows Phone store already.

• LCARS Interface will also eventually have a Windows Phone 8 version. This app will contain some portions of the Windows 8 version, as well as some different functionality. It really depends on what makes sense for the platform. The tricky part is that Windows 8 tablets generally have the same sensors, cameras, etc as the phones, but the tablet app has to share space with the desktop/laptops as well. The game plan for this one hasn't been completely figured out yet, and this also is not a guarantee this app will actually be produced.

So that's all the latest news for now. I will update you all again when either the phone app is released or I submit the next Windows 8 version update.

LCARS Simulator for Windows Phone

So after making the quick interface for the teaser image below, I got some testing help and finished building the rest of it! I submitted it to the Windows Phone Store this morning so we will see if Microsoft approves it in a timely manner. The play of the simulator is identical to the one in the Windows 8 app, and the interface is very similar save for some adjustments that had to be made for the smaller form factor, mainly in the sensors and the computer. I also fixed a couple bugs that need to also be fixed in the Windows 8 version in the next update.

Special thanks for Scott for helping me test it! Without his motivation this would still just be an idea. Here is a picture from him of the LCARS Interface simulator running on a Windows 8 tablet and LCARS Simulator running on Windows Phone 8!

So for now this is your new teaser image! I will post again when the app is available in the Windows Phone store.

Here's a teaser for you Windows Phone fans...

I have no estimate on when you might see a finished application, but I started playing with the layout of the GUI a little bit (this screen isn't done). It doesn't seem like the port from Windows 8 to Windows Phone 8 is going to be that bad, as my framework and controls seem to all work after a couple days of modifications. I just need to get some extra time to play with it more! I don't want to neglect updates to the Windows 8 app, but I know a lot of people have asked for this so I'm going to give it a shot...eventually.

LCARS Interface Release 15 available in Windows 8 Store!

Update: I guess I did good, Release 15 passed certification already and will be available in the store shortly!

Well I finally sat down and actually finished up this update tonight. I would have liked if I had gotten it done a day or two ago since Microsoft seems to take longer to approve things on the weekend than during the week, but it will have to do.  It only took about 4 hours for them to approve it.

So what's in this update? I've talked about it a little already, but look past the break or in the Version History for the complete change log.

Windows Phone 8 and Windows 8 Updates

It's been a little crazy around here the past couple weeks, but I do have some news that a lot of you should enjoy. I have officially started the port of my LCARS controls to the Windows Phone 8 platform! I have no time estimates for when anything will be completed on that front, but the framework is there now and I think my first project will be to port the Tactical Simulator from the Windows 8 app to the phone. My resources for real phone devices to test with are extremely limited at this point, and I hate relying only on emulators, but it is what it is right now. If Microsoft did their job correctly I should be able to make it work without a real phone to test on.

Apart from that side project, I have also been working on the next update to the Windows 8 Store LCARS Interface, which will include a couple of fixes discussed in my previous post, as well as some new functionality. This update is taking longer than I would have liked, but it's just limited to whatever free time I have. Rest assured though, I am still working on it and will have new features available soon! I am enjoying reading the reviews from the Windows Store from around the world and those of you that e-mail me directly also help guide my updates to the app. I get most of the new functionality ideas from your feedback, since you all know what you want to do with it better than I do. Please keep feedback of any type coming and this app will keep improving within the bounds of what is possible with a Windows Store app!

Well, I guess I'll fix that, then...

Those of you that received the latest update may have noticed the new Clock module. I had been working on it for a couple weeks, I even bought some software specifically for the purpose of being able to make the computer voices with a variety of voice packs since I can't use the real computer voice here. Interestingly enough the closest one I found was one of the new Microsoft voices. Hopefully I will find more uses for it as well in future functionality. More development blogging after the break if you care to read it, but the short version is that I fixed the computer talking over itself and hope to have it and more features in a new update submitted this weekend.