Assassin Dev Blog

Longtail Message Board is now LIVE

2009-04-13T13:06:00.001-07:00

Psst... hey you... yeah you, in the inconspicuous looking trench coat...

Check out Longtail's newly launched message board HERE. There's a whole section dedicated to Assassin so you can post join codes, discuss the game with other assassins, suggest ideas for product updates, and find new people to play with.

Tell them McLindsey from Hell's Kitchen sent you... they'll know what you mean.

Assassin v1.1 in iTunes App Store

2009-04-07T13:44:00.000-07:00

What's New in 1.1?

* Public Join Codes

We listened to your feedback, and we've made it easier for you to invite your friends to join your Assassin game sessions.

Starting with version 1.1, every time you create a game you will receive a public join code. Give this code to your friends, have them enter it in the Pending Invites screen, and they're in! We're working on more ways to improve the usability of Assassin, and we hope this is a good first step. Enjoy!

*E-Mail Server Fixes

On occasion, account confirmation and game invite e-mails were not being sent out due to issues with our server host's settings. The settings have been modified and this issue should now be fixed. If you continue to experience problems receiving any e-mails, please contact us at assassin@longtailstudios.com so we can manually activate your account.

So what are you waiting for? Head on over to the iTunes App Store and get your free update now!

Servers Are Back Up

2009-03-30T14:21:00.001-07:00

Nothing to see here... move along.

Performing Quick Server Update

2009-03-30T13:20:00.001-07:00

Please hold while we upgrade our live server... your call is very important to us.

*insert elevator music here*

When QA goes wrong

2009-03-25T13:16:00.000-07:00

Ok... i have to admit it... even if the QA staff is working day and night to deliver you a perfect product, it may happen that we let a bug going through. Assassin is a really immersive game and we thought at QA that it was part of the game. So far only one person died from our mistake so lets hope that it will stay like that. Oh and for those who wonder what was our mistake ...

Read this ...

This Battlestation Is Fully Operational

2009-03-19T15:46:00.000-07:00

OK everyone, the servers are back up. Game on!

It's amazing how one equal sign can kneecap and entire project...

Server Down

2009-03-19T14:26:00.001-07:00

It appears that our server host is down... we're looking into this and will get it back up and running ASAP.

Sorry for the inconvenience.

By The Numbers: Week 1

2009-03-18T11:34:00.000-07:00

So... Assassin's been out for just over a week, and we've gathered some very interesting usage data based on its first few days out in the wild.

See, there's this handy tool called Flurry -- not to be confused with Furry -- that iPhone developers can embed in their apps. Flurry tracks how many people have fired up Assassin on the iPhone, including how many are launching it for the first time, and what geographic regions they belong to. For all of you conspiracy theorists out there, there is no need to worry... we can't use Flurry to access your personal data (as far as we know.. yet... bwahahaHAHAH!).

Let's look at some graphs from Week 1... 'cause who doesn't love graphs? Keep in mind these stats don't track Facebook App usage, which by the way, GET IT if you haven't done so yet =)

Fig. one-point-oh: 3,688 New Users Week 1

So here's a bit of good news! It seems like our new user numbers were steady all week. Let's hope this keeps up, as most iPhone app downloads drop sharply after their first few days on the market. We're counting on the fact that Assassin is a social app so people will want their friends to download it and play along. *cough* spread the word! *cough*

Fig. one-point-one: 9,939 Sessions Week 1

This is the number of times Assassin has been launched, regardless of the number of users. So we have, let's see, carry the 1... just under 3 sessions per download (2.7 to be exact). Not too shabby, but we could probably do better.

Fig. one-point-two: Regional Usage

As you can see from the graph above, North Americans and Europeans have the biggest urge to stalk others with their camera phones. Latin American numbers seem low... maybe it's time to start thinking about a Spanish localization? "Policía? Ayuda! Alguien me quiere asesinar con su teléfono!"

Oh, and WAKE UP, ANTARCTICA!!

We've also been studying usage stats tracked on our internal servers, for example how many games have been created versus how many have actually been started, and it seems that most people are getting stuck in the "game invite" process. Although quite a few games have been created, we'd like to see more games actually get started. We're working on ways of making it easier for you to invite your friends to play along... more details on this soon.

Problems Registering?

2009-03-12T07:08:00.001-07:00

We have isolated reports of people not receiving their account activation e-mails. We suspect there are some Internet Service Providers (ISPs) that are automatically blocking our e-mails, and we're still trying to figure out why... we're not Nigerian and we don't have $1.5MM to offer you, we promise!

If you are experiencing this problem, send an e-mail to assassin@longtailstudios.com from the same e-mail address you entered as your username, and we will manually activate your account.

Pop the Cristal!

2009-03-11T15:17:00.000-07:00

I can't believe I forgot to post this on Monday =)

Assassin Facebook and iPhone: BFFs at Last!

2009-03-11T12:24:00.000-07:00

Remember that pesky bug we reported a couple of days ago? You know, the one that would make the user database cry every time someone tried to link their Assassin iPhone account to their Facebook app? We're happy to report that *crossing fingers* another bug bites the dust.

Code ninja Dom has made some updates to the server code, Jean-Christophe in QA has given it the thumbs up, and we have re-added the ability to merge your existing iPhone and Facebook accounts.

In order to link your accounts:

1. Open the Facebook application (http://apps.facebook.com/assassinfb)
1. Select Account, then Link Your Account
3. Enter the e-mail address of the iPhone account you would like to link to your Facebook account.

That's it! You should be good to go. Don't forget to contact us at assassin@longtailstudios.com if you run into any problems.

Never Take Styling Tips From a Russian Wrestler

2009-03-11T11:08:00.000-07:00

Brandon: "Maybe I should cut my hair like Zangief."

Judges?

"Plan B" Titles for Assassin

2009-03-10T12:56:00.000-07:00

Back in December, we faced the grim prospect that the title "Assassin" would be taken either in the iTunes App Store or on Facebook by the time we released.

Being the Planny McPlanningtons that we are, the team held a brainstorming session (OK, we just started spamming each other via e-mail) so that we wouldn't be caught off guard in case the unthinkable happened.

Some suggestions were great, some were... OK... and some were just silly. But that's the nature of brainstorming: there is no such thing as a bad idea.

So without further ado, here's the list of potential titles we came up with:

Assassin Cam
Assassinate
Assassins Club
Assassins Guild
Assassin Society
Dial A For Assassin
iAssassin
Cam Assassin
Phone Assassin
Snap Shot
Say Cheese and Die
Hunted
Photo Hunted
The Kill
Assassins Local 137
When Assassins Attack
Hey, remember that movie from the 80’s ‘Gotcha’ it’s sort of like that, but with an iPhone
Last Assassin Standing
Assassin’s Challenge
Tournament of Assassins
Got Assassins?
The Contract
Xtreme Assassin: Do the Dew
Assassin’s Order
What’s that, I can’t hear you, ‘cuz you’re dead
Assassin’s Paradise
Contract Killer
Last Man Standing
The Hit
Say Cheese

In case you're curious, we decided to go with Assassins Club.

What would you have called Assassin instead? Leave a comment.

"Remember that movie Gotcha! from the '80s?"

2009-03-10T10:56:00.000-07:00

According to Brandon, Assassin "...is kind of like that, but with cameras." And he's absolutely right.

The 1985 classic, starring Anthony Edwards (Revenge of the Nerds, E.R.) and helmed by Nerds director Jeff Kanew, featured a group of college students playing a variation of Assassin called... you guessed it... Gotcha!

Assassin has been a popular live-action role playing game (or LARP) in college campuses for decades. According to the all-knowing Wikipedia entry:

Assassin (also Gotcha, Assassins, Juggernaut, Battle Royale, Paranoia, Killer, Tag, Elimination, or Circle of Death) is a live-action roleplaying game. Players try to eliminate each other from the game using mock weapons in an effort to become the last surviving player.

Assassin is particularly popular on college campuses; several universities have a dedicated "Assassins' Guild" society which organizes games for their members. Assassin is lifestyle-invading. Game-play occurs at all hours and in all places. Since an elimination attempt could occur at any time, successful players are obliged to develop a healthy degree of watchful paranoia.

So there you have it. Assassin has been around since the dawn of teen comedies. We just packaged "watchful paranoia" in digital form. You're welcome.

Day 1: Attack of the Bugs!

2009-03-10T07:19:00.000-07:00

Thanks to everyone who has checked out Assassin so far. As is common with multiplayer games, we came across a couple of issues on Day 1 that we are working hard to resolve.

Several people have reported problems when they try to link their iPhone accounts to the Facebook app. This is happening pretty frequently, so fixing this has become our #1 priority. Hang tight... we plan on having this issue fixed and tested by the end of the day. In the meantime, we have disabled the ability to link your iPhone account to Facebook, to prevent any of you from losing your accounts.

We've also received reports of the iPhone app crashing occasionally when taking a photo. This generally seems to happen to people who have been running multiple applications prior to launching Assassin. We're looking into a fix, but in the meantime it might be a good idea to restart your iPhone (to clear memory usage) if Assassin crashes during the picture taking process.

If you'd like to report any other bugs, please use the Contact Us box on this page or e-mail assassin@longtailstudios.com.

Game On!

Become the #1

2009-03-09T11:05:00.000-07:00

For those who wonder how to play an Assassin game; here is your answer.

1.Create a game and invite your target ... I mean... friends.

2. Upon creation, a target will be assigned to you.

3. According to the game rules you must find a way to take a picture of your target. In that case the type of the game was "No Witnesses".

GOOD :

WRONG :

4. Leave the crime scene and send the shot to your target so he can approve or reject the kill.

5. Eliminate everyone until you are the last assassin standing and enjoy your life as the number one assassin in the safest way possible.

Assassin Public Bug Database Coming Soon

2009-03-09T10:11:00.000-07:00

Hello assassins!

My name is Jay and I've been working on Assassin for the last month or so from the Quebec City office and I just wanted to talk to you about one of the things we're going to be bringing to you all very shortly.

Everyone that works on our Social Apps team believes in the power and openness of using social networking - not just for promoting, but for listening to you, our players. We're all about keeping an open and clear line of communication between us so that you can always come to us and let us know what you think about our games, your criticisms, feature requests and ideas.

Because we believe in being open, we're going to be opening a public bug database for Assassin in the day or two. The idea behind doing this is to make sure that you get a bug-free, fun experience and that if you do find a bug, you can submit it directly to us with all the info we need and we'll stomp it dead as fast as possible.

I'll be posting a link along with some simple instructions for how to use the bug database when it goes live... and if you aren't sure how to use it, just let us know by leaving a comment here on the blog and we'll help you out with everything.

I'd say more, but I see one of my targets across the street... >:D

"It's Kind of Like Hockey Beard..."

2009-03-09T08:59:00.000-07:00

Ever heard of hockey beards or playoff beards? Well, the New York branch of the Assassin development team decided we'd try something similar during our three-week QA process.

The rule? We weren't allowed to shave until we submitted the iPhone App to Apple on February 27.

The result?

Brandon (software engineer)

Miguel (project manager)

Brandon wins.

The Hunt Begins

2009-03-09T07:56:00.000-07:00

"Assassin's Journal, March 9th, 2009"... sorry, looks like someone saw the Watchmen this past weekend.

If you ended up here, you've more than likely picked up Assassin for Facebook or iPhone. Congratulations, and thanks for supporting us!

As you may quickly come to realize, Assassin relies on a cirlce of friends all playing together. We suggest that you find other players who you see regularly... this could be in your office, school, neighborhood, or city.

Chances are most of your friends don't have an iPhone... yet :) In that case, you can invite them to install the Assassin App for Facebook (by visiting http://apps.facebook.com/assassinfb/) so they can play along.

Please help us make Assassin better. If you'd like to report any bugs or suggest features for our product updates, please e-mail assassin@longtailstudios.com, or use the Contact Us box on this page.

The dev team will pop up here occasionally to let you know what we've been up to, and also to keep you updated on any improvements to Assassin.

So, what are you waiting for? Spread the word and get all your friends to pick up Assassin. It's FREE!

Oh, and watch your back... looks like someone is tailing you...