The development of Buster’s Catch is almost complete! I’d say that the game is about 80-85% finished. Most of the main features have been implemented, tested, tweaked, and polished up. Among the things left to finish up are the in-game music and one or two more bonus games to add to the ones already implemented in the game.

Today I wanted to preview two features implemented in the game that I am excited about. The first is feature is the leaderboard page. As you play and rank up in the game, your scored and stats are saved and tracked. In Buster’s Flight and Number Jumper, only your top score was ever saved within the game. This meant that you were always trying to beat your best score and nothing more. This goal all changes in Buster’s Catch! As you can see in this screenshot, your top 10 scores are now saved and tracked. And instead of simply keeping track of the score, you can now battle with friends and family on your iPhone and iPad to try and beat each other!



Next is an extension of the leaderboard within Buster’s Catch. One of the features that I wanted to place into Buster’s Flight was a global leaderboard. However, the way the game was built, this wasn’t possible. That’s all been taken care of in the new game! Now, every game you play is tracked by the global leaderboard. Not only do you get to see your own personal bests, but the scores of the best around the world.



With the leaderboard implemented and tracking correctly, the next feature I would like to talk about is the marketplace. Mentioned in the first preview of the game, the marketplace is where you get to truly customize the look and feel of Buster’s Catch. Within the marketplace, you get to customize Buster’s outfit and basket. As well, you get to unlock a higher score multiplier, a brand new setting to play in, and even more that I want to keep secret until you play the game. Check out how the marketplace looks:




When you are finished customizing the look of your game, simply start a new game and check out how your changes take effect:



The great thing about the marketplace is that the possibilities are endless. There is already a good core set of styles to unlock in Buster’s Catch, but there will be more styles available in future, FREE updates to the game.

Hopefully that’s another good preview of what to expect in Buster’s Catch. The game is still on track for a March release in the iPhone App Store. Let me know here on TIG or on twitter what you think!

Buster’s Catch Preview #1 – Description and Gameplay
website
iOS Game

Buster’s Catch, the new release from 306 Designs, is heading into its final stages of development. Time to release some information!

Buster’s Catch sees the return of Buster, our loveable bird character introduced in Buster’s Flight from 306 Designs. Also previewed in Buster’s Flight (if you made it that far!) was Bandit, evil brother of Buster. The two birds have been enemies since childhood with Buster always doing the right thing and Bandit taking the evil approach.

Buster’s Catch finds Bandit on a mission to cause havoc and destroy all of the bird eggs across the land! It is Buster who steps in to try and save the day, strapping on his basket and making sure that Bandit doesn’t have the last laugh.

Featuring an unlimited number of increasingly difficult levels, Buster’s Catch is much more than a simple egg-catch game. In addition to regular game play, which will be previewed in depth below, the game also contains multiple bonus games, a unique ranking system, and a marketplace that allows you to unlock new costumes, settings, multipliers, and other things for Buster to help you on your journey!

Think you are completely alone on your journey in Buster’s Catch? Not a chance! The game features a global leaderboard that allows you to see how the best players from around the world are doing in the game. As well, there is a global egg counter in the game that keeps track of how many total eggs Buster has caught around the world!

Stay tuned for in-depth updates to all of the features listed above! Buster’s Catch is scheduled for release in March 2012.

Here are some images showing some of the game play features for Buster’s Catch:
[Developers note: Feedback about the game would be great. I want to take input and ideas from friends, fans, and developers and make the Buster’s Catch the best game it can be. I am going to preview a lot of the features over the next week. Right now I am trying to think of different kinds of bonus games I could include in the game. Perhaps 10-20 second mini-games that allow a switchup for the player. Cheers]

Hey everyone,

I am offering a unique advertising/promotion opportunity for everybody here on TIG. I am gearing up for the release of my new iPhone game, Buster's Catch, and I am selling advertising space within it through fiverr.com. For just $5, you can have an ad banner promoting your website/app/business. The ad will stay there forever and be seen by everyone who downloads the app. This is probably one of the cheapest advertising opportunities you'll ever have and spaces are limited. Good or bad idea do you think?

Thanks everyone. Check out more info below:

http://fiverr.com/designs306/place-a-permanent-advertisement-of-your-company-in-my-new-iphone-game-that-will-be-seen-my-millions-of-people-in-the-app-store

Nice I like games like this. I am a fan of the graphics too, though the background is pretty busy and in your face which is good and bad

Hey everyone,

I'm not sure how much everyone is aware of fiverr.com, but it is a site where you can buy and sell services for exactly $5. 306 Designs has jumped into that market by offering to market a persons game. Services include multiple plugs on the 306 Designs twitter account (@306Designs), a game recommendation on 306designs.com (currently receiving about 25-40 unique visitors per day), support on any forums you've advertised on (engaging threads regarding your game), a 5 star rating in the App Store, and anything else the user needs. The focus has been on doing all this for mobile apps in the iOS app store, but I am willing to advertise for HTML games and other apps as well. If you have any questions, don't be afraid to message me.

http://fiverr.com/designs306/post-a-game-recommendation-on-my-site-advertise-on-twitter-support-you-on-forums-and-other-advertising-for-iphone-games-you-have-made

So far since we've posted the offer 4 days ago, two people have hired us. The first was an iOS game called "Blocks Hurt!", which received back its $5 in profit from our advertising in the first day and the momentum has since carried it to a profit well worth the $4. The second was a free app "AppTones", which is a free custom text messaging app. Since the app is free and ad supported, results are indirect, but our extra advertising bumped downloads by a couple hundred the day after.

Like I said, check it out and don't be afraid to ask me questions. There is no guarantees of course, but the cost for the amount of marketing I can do for you is well worth the consideration.

So this is randomly generated like that? Very nice. Ideally you could generate an infinite combination

Nice work, I just checked it out

Damn this looks really cool. Keep it up

This is a true success story (Y) Toppin' the charts

The cooperative play is definitely intriguing, but I hope that doesn't hurt your potential sales!

Great work on this game. Did you design every aspect of the game yourself? I am impressed with all the different objectives to complete, it feels like you are playing 4-5 mini games all at once. Cosign x1000

I would do phpbb but thats just personal preference. vBulletin will forever be the king but it's about $200 for startup I believe.

Great writeup. It is very hard to get attention as an indie developer, but the success is all yours and you don't get that working for a company

Interesting, it's only 6 hours away from me

Hey all,

My name is Ryan and I'm an independent game developer for the iPhone/iPad. I have released 2 games so far, Buster's Flight and Number Jumper and I am working on my 3rd title which I'm putting special care into. I run my design website, 306designs.com, as an apple news/rumors blog and App recommendations center to keep it active while I develop. Nice to meet everyone