Pyrus 1.00… and then 1.01 very quickly
I managed to finish up Pyrus and get it submitted to the App Store. I’ve been thinking about the concept for Pyrus for a very long time, and have done several other projects before getting around to this one, but I’m proud of how it turned out. Pyrus presents the player with five letters and requires you to hold down each letter of a word in their proper order, and then release all fingers to submit the word. Letters that are used in a valid word are instantly replaced with new letters, but a special algorithm makes sure that a five letter word is possible at all times. The whole combination makes for a game that feels faster paced and more dynamic than other word games.
Pyrus rewards words with time to the clock rather than points to the score– in fact, the score in Pyrus is a direct function of how long the game has been in play: it’s all about keeping the game going. Incrementally, you’ll see the level change which means the clock is now ticking away just a touch more quickly. After you’ve played for a bit, you’ll likely be struggling to keep that clock above 0:03 as frantically as you can.
I’m embarrassed that I was just a little too eager to release Pyrus. I left in one line of debug code I was using to test the high score system… it was to make sure I got a high score every time I played so I could quickly tell how the high score system was working. So, for now, high scores don’t work right, but 1.01, with that blasted line commented out, has already been submitted to Apple and should be up in a couple of days.
You can see Pyrus on the App Store here. You can visit the Pyrus page at http://digicide.com/pyrus, which includes the (malfunctioning for now) worldwide high score list.
Here’s a brief video I made to demonstrate the concept– this was made about three weeks before release:
October 31st, 2008 at 11:58 pm
We love it! The music really sets the mood. Great job. Can’t wait to play it.
November 3rd, 2008 at 7:42 am
To be honest I will not buy it, because I HAVE PAID for lexitron and I still wait for you to FIX the bugs in it and give us the old layout!!!
Shame on you!!!
November 9th, 2008 at 9:23 pm
I agree with Lefteris on this one. Although I think I’m a lot less upset about it… I really REALLY need an update to Lexitron with the old graphics, high scores, open main menu from within the game, etc., before I even THINK about buying Pyrus or even telling anyone about Pyrus. No offense to Pyrus, it’s just that when I buy something, I would hope that it would get continued development and this new game coming out with no signs of a Lexitron update is kind of disheartening…
Sorry to seem like a jerk! haha!
November 13th, 2008 at 10:37 am
This game is really addictive. The music is really cool, it makes you feel like you’re playing an instrument while you’re spelling. Although I’m apparently not very coordinated, I sometimes “cheat” and use two hands!
November 20th, 2008 at 12:39 am
OMG guys the game is only two bucks. quit pretending like you made some big investment.
November 20th, 2008 at 12:58 am
It is about RESPECT billybob, not MONEY!
Quit pretending being stupid. (or don’t you?)
November 23rd, 2008 at 10:24 pm
respect? you paid two bucks for what someone spent months and months on and all you can do is complain about it! what kind of respect is that?
November 24th, 2008 at 9:28 am
Well, you are definitely not pretending…
March 4th, 2009 at 11:03 am
Please please please make your apps available for the G1!!!!!
I loved them on my iPhone, but will love them on my G1 even more!
You guys rock