iGotchi Development Blog

I've been pretty quiet on the development of new updates. But I have been working on them. I got side-tracked with some basic changes to the application that needed to get done first. One of the things that I've redone is the navigation system of the UI. Originally there were only a few menus and menu items to choose from. Now with the addition of the Store, the current mode of navigation doesn't make sense any more.

There are a couple of other changes to the program that people will hopefully like. Those are secret for now. I'm hoping to have the update out in the next couple of weeks. I need to get the program out to beta testers (which I'm hoping to do early next week sometime). The next version will be minor point upgrade.

I get a lot of requests about people asking why store items are so expensive, why healthy items cost more than junk food items and if I can lower the prices. 

Answering in reverse order:

1) No. The prices are reasonable given the rate at which one can accrue new Gotchas. If you can own every item without waiting or putting in any effort, what's the point?

2) In the US at least, healthy food simply costs more than junk food. I can get a hamburger for less than the cost of a whole head of lettuce. I suspect many countries are this way (although perhaps not to the same extreme). But those of us used to buying groceries should recognize this trend.

3) The rate that you accrue gotchas is dependent on a number of factors and you'd be surprised how quickly gotchas add up. Also, there are choices you need to make. Spend all of your money on big ticket items, or spend and save. Giving your Gotchi treats from time to time, healthy food and drink items every now and then. And saving money over time to buy the big items (more of which will appear in later updates).

It's about making decisions and thinking carefully about what you are purchasing. Again, if you had unlimited money or everything was so cheap, there'd be little incentive to think about how best to care for your pet.

I've installed a forum module on the website. It's currently not publicly accessible from the main page, but you can get to it from the link below. If you happen to read this and want to participate before it goes official, follow the link and sign up for an account.

There is a bug in the 1.1 release that makes it very, very hard to keep the health of your pet up. I didn't catch this bug until after 1.1 was released to Apple (and then I had to wait for it to approved for sale before I could update the binary again).

Anyway, this is now fixed in the 1.1.1 release. I've sent this off to Apple, and it should appear in the App Store in the next couple of weeks hopefully.

Additionally, there are a few other changes:

1) Reactivation codes are gone in this version. If you are a really bad parent, you won't need a code to reactivate. Be careful though, you can still lose your pet if you neglect it too many times (in which case, the program will simply restart).

2) In version 1.1 it was possible to go into Gotcha debt, especially if you neglected your pet. In version 1.1.1 the lowest amount of Gotchas you can have are 0

3) One new item has been added to the store in the Food section. It's a German dish called Sauerbraten!

4) You can now set the type of giggle you want, either the original or the new version

5) You can now set the maintenance level of your pet. Low, Medium or High. A low maintenance pet uses less resources over time.