Firstlight has been approved by Apple, and it now has a launch date: Friday 13 November on iPhone and iPad. Hopefully not an unlucky one.
It will be £1.99, with a launch price of £0.99 for the first two weeks, until 27 November. As before, there are no ads, no in-app purchases and nothing to sign up for. You pay once and the whole game is yours.
What's changed since the beta
A huge thank you to everyone who played the TestFlight beta. Your feedback shaped the version that's launching:
- Starting tips. New players get a short set of optional first steps, with the specks to use circled on screen. If you skip them, you can bring them back any time from Menu → Help.
- Whispers. If you go a couple of minutes without making anything new, a quiet hint suggests what to try next. It's there for when you're stuck, not to tell you the answers. You can turn whispers off.
- A bigger universe. Pinch to zoom out. The void is now larger than your screen, and arrows at the edge point to systems out of view.
- Weight. Settled solar systems are heavy. Their worlds, age and peoples hold them in place, so a stray flick won't send a civilisation flying off into the dark.
- Text size. A new setting in the menu goes up to 200%.
- Clearer at a glance. Orbits and shields now use shapes and labels as well as colour, so they're easier to read for everyone.
- iCloud. Your discoveries, endings and stats now follow you between your iPhone and iPad.
If you'd still like to try it before launch, the TestFlight beta stays open until the 13th, and the opening of the game is free to play in your browser at casualfridays.co.uk.
Coming to Android
Firstlight is also coming to Android phones and tablets. Before Google lets a new developer release a game, it has to pass a closed test: at least 12 people need to have it installed for 14 days in a row. That's where I could use your help.
If you have an Android device and a few minutes:
1. Join the tester group: Firstlight testers
2. Open this link on your device and tap Become a tester.
3. Ask me for a free code in the group (privately) or at admin@casualfridays.co.uk. Firstlight is a paid game, so the code is what makes it free for testers.
4. Install it, have a play, and keep it installed for two weeks.
You don't need to play every day. Just keep it on your device, and tell me about anything that looks wrong, crashes, or leaves you unsure what to do. Once the test is done, I'll set an Android release date and post it here.
See you on the 13th
I'll post again on launch day with the App Store link. If you play it, I'd love to hear which ending you found first, and a rating or review goes a long way for a small game like this.
Thanks for following along.