I am working on an improved version of Conqueror, my Windows Phone app. It will take advantage of a number of new features available on Windows Phone and will also be available on Windows 8. The app will include many of the same features you had in Conqueror for Windows Phone 7. However, additional features such as the addition of an auto-login feature and in-app games and many more will hopefully make it even more helpful.
Furthermore, I am taking a lot of the input I received for Conqueror into account and games will now be organized by time until your turn as well as a few other requested features. If there is something that you feel you would miss, please let me know and I will attempt to incorporate it into the final app.
The app will also include many other features specific to Windows 8 including Charm integration for Searching and Sharing.
I will be updating this post as the project progresses.
Remember, if their is something you really want, now is the best time to suggest it!
Update 01 [9/9/2012]:
As the screenshot shows, I have added a Game List that allows you to see details about the selected player and their current games. The players current Ranking is shown, though that is not retrieved at the moment and is just filler text. Game data shows the number of players in the game, who's turn it is, what map they are playing on and how much time is left. I have also implemented a menu that shows even more detail about the game and will allow you to open the browser and play the game. More on that later.
Update 02 [9/10/2012]:
Lots got done today. First, the Side Bar Menu's have been refined with a close button instead of selecting an item outside of them. This seems to work far better. Next, I have integrated the map API so that map images can now be displayed when looking at Game Details. This provides a very nice Selected Game Pane that shows all the players, a picture of the map and provides a link to the game as well as a few other details that you will learn of when you use it. Speaking of the webpage. I have added a web browser to the app that allows you to play Conquer Club from within the app, I have also included a Link to open the current page in your web browser of choice for those of you that don't like my implementation. I have also further added eye-candy to the app by implementing a loading bar that circles the Conqueror Logo when it is retrieving information. Many other minor details have also been altered to improve the app and a significant amount of threading has also been used to make the app run smoothly (I have yet to notice any lag from the UI). Finally I have begun work on a Player Details page that will hopefully graph your Ranking and show various details about you, and also an Odds Calculator which will enable you to find the probability of winning and also learn how many troops you can expect to lose in combat. These features are still a very long way away, however, the algorithms have been started.
Update 03 [9/13/2012]:
I was going to put some text here, but a picture is worth a thousand words. See the image for a look at the Welcome Screen that you will see when you start Conqueror. You can't see it, but this has some sick animations behind it and also the Conqueror Website built in so that you can sign up and play without ever leaving the app. Pretty neat huh.
Update 04 [9/27/2012]:
It's been a while since I've updated this. Took a small break to focus on a few exams and to get away from the keyboard for a while. Anyway, I've been working on the odds calculator and the rest of the backend (the stuff you don't see). This has been largely uneventful, though I think I've come up with a way to simulate games without actually rolling dice. This can be applied to the Odds Calculator in order to make it predict actual odds instead of simply simulating a combat. Ah, statistics. I've also been doing some fun stuff with Live Tiles to help improve the Conqueror experience. That is to say that the live tile is now a bit more helpful than just showing you how many games you can play, it shows a list of them. I'm also working on a way to use the map you are playing as the tile so that everything works well. That is to say, instead of showing a simple solid red tile, it will show one of the maps of the game you can currently play. Not sure if that feature will work or if I will include it in the final release, but it's a fun little experiment.
Update 05 [10/14/2012]:
After another prolonged period without an update, heres some news. Most of the app is functional now. I'm working on adding data saving and fixing a few broken things. The only feature that still needs to be done is the odds calculator. Otherwise, the app is on schedule to be released by the release of Windows 8 later this month.
Update 06 [10/18/2012]:
I've completely redone the UI, it looks much nicer now. The base app is now done, a few features have been stripped so I can have it done by Windows 8 release. Be assured they will be added some time in the neat future.
Update 07 [10/22/2012]:
Version 1.0 submitted to Windows 8 App Store. If all goes well it should be available soon for your Windows 8 PC.
