I figured since I've gotten a few e-mails about, and experienced myself, some issues with the weather data in LCARS Interface that I would post about it.
Apparently the weather service (World Weather Online) is experiencing some issues with their servers which is causing hang ups and even complete crashes to the application. Hopefully this is a temporary problem that should be resolved in the next day or so, otherwise we will be looking into some other options for weather service if this one will no longer meet our needs.
I apologize for the inconvenience this is causing some of you. The problem is not actually within our app, but it certainly appears to be when you try and use it. We are working on a solution that will at least keep the app from crashing when the server takes too long to respond, or doesn't respond at all. The problem may not even be with their service, but with whoever is hosting their website and data. Nevertheless, we will work to resolve this issue with them or change to another service if necessary.
Monday, June 24, 2013
Saturday, June 15, 2013
Next Update Submitted to the Windows Store (Update: Approved)
UPDATE 6/19/2013: This update has passed certification and should be available to download sometime today! As mentioned below this release is primarily fixing some small bugs that were found by our users within the past week. More new features are being developed, so look for some content updates in the coming weeks!
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It's been a heck of a week for LCARS Interface on Windows 8. The app continues to be in the featured section of the store and is currently in the #2 spot for the Top Paid in Spotlight! That doesn't mean it's sold more in total than say Angry Birds Star Wars, but it's current rate of sales is higher at the moment.
Of course, adding a significant number of users in a short time has been a bit overwhelming with all of the new feature requests and bug reports! Thankfully there haven't been any serious issues brought to my attention yet, but thousands of users with thousands of usage scenarios will surely come across some things we didn't catch, especially as this app grows more and more complex. We are constantly working on this though, and so the next update will be another mostly maintenance release aimed to fix some of these minor issues that have been reported. As usual we want to make sure the features we do have work properly before moving on to other things. Most of the next release will be under the hood changes that won't make a big difference to you if you haven't come across them, but there is one new feature. I have changed the sound for buttons on the Nemesis theme to more closely match the sounds used in that movie. I noticed when watching it the other day that the button presses were different, so now it should be more accurate.
As usual more updates are always being worked on, but we want to get bug fixes pushed out as quickly as possible even if new features are not ready yet.
Also, we are looking for a graphic artist that might be able to help freshen up things like our tile icon and some promotional images. And maybe also someone to make a demo video that shows how you like to use the app. Please contact us if interested.
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It's been a heck of a week for LCARS Interface on Windows 8. The app continues to be in the featured section of the store and is currently in the #2 spot for the Top Paid in Spotlight! That doesn't mean it's sold more in total than say Angry Birds Star Wars, but it's current rate of sales is higher at the moment.
Of course, adding a significant number of users in a short time has been a bit overwhelming with all of the new feature requests and bug reports! Thankfully there haven't been any serious issues brought to my attention yet, but thousands of users with thousands of usage scenarios will surely come across some things we didn't catch, especially as this app grows more and more complex. We are constantly working on this though, and so the next update will be another mostly maintenance release aimed to fix some of these minor issues that have been reported. As usual we want to make sure the features we do have work properly before moving on to other things. Most of the next release will be under the hood changes that won't make a big difference to you if you haven't come across them, but there is one new feature. I have changed the sound for buttons on the Nemesis theme to more closely match the sounds used in that movie. I noticed when watching it the other day that the button presses were different, so now it should be more accurate.
As usual more updates are always being worked on, but we want to get bug fixes pushed out as quickly as possible even if new features are not ready yet.
Also, we are looking for a graphic artist that might be able to help freshen up things like our tile icon and some promotional images. And maybe also someone to make a demo video that shows how you like to use the app. Please contact us if interested.
Tuesday, June 11, 2013
LCARS Interface reaches #1 in the Entertainment category for Windows 8!
It's been quite a weekend for LCARS Interface for Windows 8! I was browsing the Windows Store when I noticed that LCARS Interface was now the top featured app for the Entertainment category! We never did submit any promotional images for this app, but apparently Microsoft thought it was good enough to feature and made their own! Since then we've been getting tons of great feedback on the app and lots of great new feature requests.
Upon looking in the Windows Store tonight, LCARS Interface is now the top app in the Entertainment category, and #12 in the Windows Store Top Paid apps overall!
Thank you everyone for your support and feedback, and we look forward to making LCARS Interface, as well as our other current and upcoming apps, even better in the coming months! We also thank those of you who have given us so many great 5 star reviews! Knowing that people love this app as much as we do gives lots of motivation to continue improving it. This app has come a very long way since its initial release, and it's not done yet!
Upon looking in the Windows Store tonight, LCARS Interface is now the top app in the Entertainment category, and #12 in the Windows Store Top Paid apps overall!
Thank you everyone for your support and feedback, and we look forward to making LCARS Interface, as well as our other current and upcoming apps, even better in the coming months! We also thank those of you who have given us so many great 5 star reviews! Knowing that people love this app as much as we do gives lots of motivation to continue improving it. This app has come a very long way since its initial release, and it's not done yet!
Thursday, June 6, 2013
LCARS Interface Release 22 [Windows 8] Has Been Released!
The next update for LCARS Interface for Windows 8 has now passed certification! This update brings a few more bug fixes, and also a new module on the entertainment side of this...the Conn! Building off of the feedback I have gotten for things like the Warp Core module, I decided to make another module that was interactive and will respond to your inputs. As with the warp core module, this one doesn't actually do much besides give visual updates, but there actually is a good amount of math behind it. The locations of the star systems are based on actual information from the shows about where they are located relative to each other. The starting point is Sol (our solar system). If you go to say, the Deneb system where Farpoint Station is, you can see it is very far away and will take a while to get there. Obviously travel times have been scaled down to make it reasonable to where most places take a few minutes to get there. Currently there is nothing besides coordinate updates to actually show where you are. The external view is somewhat experimental still and I may try to add planets to it when you arrive at destinations eventually. Technically you are just travelling to star systems and not individual planets though, so not having planets on the external view isn't too unrealistic.
Designing this module took a bit of effort, as the "real" Conn station looks like this: Enterprise D Conn Station. That image serves as the starting point and primary inspiration for this module. That design obviously had to be modified for a few reasons. One was that the set prop for that station is like 3 feet wide, and I had to make it fit on something that can be as small as 8 inches diagonally for tablets. Another issue was, as you can see, there are only a few actual buttons on there and none of them are labeled anything that makes sense, so I had to take some liberties on that to make it functional. Overall I think it came out very nice and hopefully you all have some fun with it! I plan to add a few additional features to it in the next update. Possibly showing how long it will take to get somewhere before actually heading there. The operation of this module is very simple. Select a destination, select a speed, and hit Engage! I suggest not using impulse speed to travel to other star systems or you may actually be waiting days to get there! Impulse speeds can be used without setting a course.
Every release has lots of small changes that never get mentioned, but see the version history page for the largest ones. You should start seeing the update available to download in the next few hours.
Designing this module took a bit of effort, as the "real" Conn station looks like this: Enterprise D Conn Station. That image serves as the starting point and primary inspiration for this module. That design obviously had to be modified for a few reasons. One was that the set prop for that station is like 3 feet wide, and I had to make it fit on something that can be as small as 8 inches diagonally for tablets. Another issue was, as you can see, there are only a few actual buttons on there and none of them are labeled anything that makes sense, so I had to take some liberties on that to make it functional. Overall I think it came out very nice and hopefully you all have some fun with it! I plan to add a few additional features to it in the next update. Possibly showing how long it will take to get somewhere before actually heading there. The operation of this module is very simple. Select a destination, select a speed, and hit Engage! I suggest not using impulse speed to travel to other star systems or you may actually be waiting days to get there! Impulse speeds can be used without setting a course.
Every release has lots of small changes that never get mentioned, but see the version history page for the largest ones. You should start seeing the update available to download in the next few hours.
Sunday, June 2, 2013
A Few Announcements...
It's been a crazy week here in the world of Davstar Apps! We want to thank those of you who have given us some great 5 star reviews, and we also want to thank those of you who update your reviews after your issues or concerns are addressed! Any issue with our software, no matter how minor, is a top priority for us and if you contact us with a problem, we will figure out a way to work it out for you. We have the best users in the world!
Speaking of around the world, the past few days have been killing it in downloads from Germany! Can anyone tell us what happened over there which made LCARS Interface for Windows 8 so popular all of a sudden? I'm glad to see many of you are liking the app so far, and more updates are on the way! The Conn module is nearing completion and just need a bit more testing and a few tweaks and enhancements. Hopefully this update will be submitted for certification within the next week.
In other news, we are happy to announce that Davstar Apps will be partnering with Totus Tuus Apps for a joint project! Many of you have been enjoying the various LCARS apps we provide for Windows 8 and for Windows Phone 7/8. Our new project will be more for entertainment and will be a space game based loosely on Star Trek. More details will be coming eventually, but we recommend you check out their current 3D games which are available in the Apple App Store, Amazon AppStore, Google Play, and the Windows 8 store! Our LCARS design and coding experience paired with their experience with 3D games will allow us to provide the project to you all on nearly every platform! We plan to support Windows 8, Windows Phone 8, Android (Google Play Store and Amazon AppStore), and Apple iOS!
Check out their newest game, Soaring Balloons Popper 3D:
Sales from their apps and our apps will go towards supporting this next big project! This should give you a basic idea of the quality of graphics you will see for the upcoming game! Of course we will all be working to make it the best game possible and will keep you updated on new developments. This won't be just another ordinary space shooter. We are very excited to be working on this.
And one last piece of news, Dave will be eventually working with the team of people to restore a bridge set from the Enterprise D! The bridge set will be updated from backlit non-functioning LCARS panels to having real working touch screens and it will run a full simulator allowing control of every system on the ship! Check out their page at the link below, and please consider supporting this great fan project!
Enterprise D Bridge Restoration Project
Speaking of around the world, the past few days have been killing it in downloads from Germany! Can anyone tell us what happened over there which made LCARS Interface for Windows 8 so popular all of a sudden? I'm glad to see many of you are liking the app so far, and more updates are on the way! The Conn module is nearing completion and just need a bit more testing and a few tweaks and enhancements. Hopefully this update will be submitted for certification within the next week.
In other news, we are happy to announce that Davstar Apps will be partnering with Totus Tuus Apps for a joint project! Many of you have been enjoying the various LCARS apps we provide for Windows 8 and for Windows Phone 7/8. Our new project will be more for entertainment and will be a space game based loosely on Star Trek. More details will be coming eventually, but we recommend you check out their current 3D games which are available in the Apple App Store, Amazon AppStore, Google Play, and the Windows 8 store! Our LCARS design and coding experience paired with their experience with 3D games will allow us to provide the project to you all on nearly every platform! We plan to support Windows 8, Windows Phone 8, Android (Google Play Store and Amazon AppStore), and Apple iOS!
Check out their newest game, Soaring Balloons Popper 3D:
Sales from their apps and our apps will go towards supporting this next big project! This should give you a basic idea of the quality of graphics you will see for the upcoming game! Of course we will all be working to make it the best game possible and will keep you updated on new developments. This won't be just another ordinary space shooter. We are very excited to be working on this.
And one last piece of news, Dave will be eventually working with the team of people to restore a bridge set from the Enterprise D! The bridge set will be updated from backlit non-functioning LCARS panels to having real working touch screens and it will run a full simulator allowing control of every system on the ship! Check out their page at the link below, and please consider supporting this great fan project!
Enterprise D Bridge Restoration Project
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