Get Info: #wirehang

Wire Hang Redux for 64-bit macOS

by Matt Sephton — Sat, 23 Apr 2022 15:40:00 +0000

I just uploaded a 64-bit macOS version of my 2004 game Wire Hang Redux that I had forgotten all about. So now you can play it on your 64-bit Mac. This version built using BlitzMax. I’ll try to build it for Apple Silicon some time this decade, but no promises!

Read more about the game in the original blog post.

Download: gingerbeardman.itch.io/wire-hang-redux

Found whilst backing up an old PC

by Matt Sephton — Sat, 03 Oct 2020 00:00:00 +0000

Backed up a very old laptop and found a bunch of cool old stuff from 15-20 years ago! #thread

2003-04-25: Custom Fruit Labels for a Zelda: Wind Waker competition (I think in Official Nintendo Magazine?) I sent them a fake plastic pear with one of these these stuck on.

2005-01-18: grid-based music puzzle game called BEAT HIT

2004-12-24: game mockup “Katamari Christmasy” 2D side-scroller

2004-07-11: reverse engineering “Mini Golf” JAVA cell phone game to make custom levels. w/ hyphz

2004-03-10: Atari arcade game Super Sprint themed T-shirt

2004-07-22: source code (Blitz Basic, Windows PC) for my game Wire Hang Redux, which you can still grab and play for free at (gingerbeardman.itch.io/wire-hang-redux)

2004-12-21: various themes for Sony Ericsson K700i cell phone

2002-01-15: source code for my Futurama-themed Robotron clone “Bendertron”

2001-04-24: WIP Mode 7 style kart game “Manga Kart”

2002-03-04: source code for Pang style bouncing ball physics

2003-07-02: beach-themed QIX clone “QUARTZ”

2003-07-02: source code for rainbow block matching puzzler “ROY” - it’s not balanced, or much fun, but it’s still downloadable at (gingerbeardman.com/archive/roy/)

2000-2003: source code for my Sensible Soccer clone “Simple Soccer” (gingerbeardman.com/archive/soccer/)

2002-09-17: source code for aborted attempt at bringing @armyoftrolls mockup “Space Squad 5” to life

2002-08-23: source code for my entry into the BlitzCoder Stupidest Game competition, Summer 2002. “Terra Firma” still available to download and play at (gingerbeardman.com/archive/terraf…)

2002-08-24: source code for my kayaking simulator “yaking”

hurrah! was hoping i’d find this. will rinstate working download ASAP at (gingerbeardman.com/archive/yaking/)

2000-06-10: photos from my first digital camera (a Fujifilm FinePix 1400 Zoom) including some of my first car (a 1972 FIAT 500)

1995-1998: my University Comp Sci directory photos (I was age 18-21)

2002-05-23: original artwork for my Sensible Soccer T-shirt that was sold in River Island stores across the UK (still a shame they didn’t print the lines on the neck and shoulders!)

2000-08-06: email attachment ATT09176.jpeg a photo of forest fire. (Bitterroot National Forest, Montana, on Aug. 6, 2000) (earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/843/bit…)

…plus tons of work files, game screenshots and ROMs, failed prototypes, and random stuff I found interesting. Which goes to show that half a lifetime ago I was exactly the same person I am today. Phew. #end

OK, a couple more…

2003-06-29: me taking photos of a big old widescreen CRT showing the Samsung N504 Virtual Light Machine (VLM-2) - still got it the NUON - no it’s not for sale ;)

2005-09-05: my favourite game at the time was a Japanese skill game called “Pendulumania” (version 1.3 A) still downloadable from (vector.co.jp/magazine/softn…)

2000-10-16: the original Fontographer .fog .fon .ttf files for my font BLOCKOUT (inspired by The Designers Republic but - contrary to their threatening legal letter - actually designed on a completely different grid system!) (flickr.com/photos/emsef/5…)

How to push an update to the App Store without building a new binary

by Matt Sephton — Thu, 19 Jan 2017 00:00:00 +0000

This post details how to easily deal with a request from Apple to update an old app that is still working perfectly—without having to setup a development environment to build it from source.

TL;DR

Bump the version in Info.plist
Create a new .icns icon
Do a fresh codesign on the app bundle
Use Application Loader to get it into iTunes Connect
Submit for approval

Background

There’s an App Store cleanup going on under the banner of “Improving the App Store”. I approve of this, in principle: removing apps that no longer launch, crash or otherwise operate incorrectly is a Good Thing™.

However, I’ve had a request to update an app that still functions perfectly despite not having been updated since 2011. That’s Snow Leopard vintage for all the old timers that are reading!

Next Steps

First thing to know is that you can appeal such a request. You probably won’t have much luck—I didn’t. “Computer says no.”

A much easier way is to take the old, bug-free binary—easily downloaded from the App Store—and repackage it so that it appears to be new. Sounds like a plan!

A new icon

The old icon was made before Retina displays existed, and even before multiple images in .icns files was enforced. So I had to make a new one. However, Apple has removed Icon Composer from their Developer Tools because it doesn’t support the 1024px icons required for the latest Retina displays. This makes things a little trickier.

As of today there are two options to create a valid Retina compatible .icns:

On the command line from a folder full of correctly named PNG files: iconutil -c icns <foldername> (see man page)
Using the the third-party, open-source app Icon Composer 2x which is almost a drop-in replacement for the old Apple app. Nice work Lemon Mojo!

Final packaging shell script:

So, what exactly are we doing here?

Bash shebang (see wiki)
Set DATE to a formatted date string, eg. 20170119164510
Set CFBundleVersion string in .plist to $DATE string
Copy .plist into app
Copy .icns into app
Touch app to set modified date
Prune the resource fork, Finder information, and similar detritus
Codesign app bundle with my current certificates
Package app as installer .pkg
Assess/test installer .pkg (see docs)

Application Loader

Uploading to iTunes Connect outside of Xcode requires Application Loader. I tried using the version that comes with the latest Xcode, but it was giving me some nonsensical, badly written error messages:

Some Googling found a StackOverflow post that recommended using Application Loader 3.0. After downloading this older version (interestingly it’s the one Apple link to from iTunes Connect) everything went smoothly!

Re-submission

After these simple changes you can resubmit. But what to write in the version change log? I tried the following:

A new build with no changes because Apple asked for it, despite the game still working perfectly after all these years!

I was bitter. Metadata Rejected.

New build required due to the App Store Improvements process.

I was perfectly honest. Metadata Rejected.

Improvements for Retina displays.

Got to love that new icon. Application Approved!

That’s all folks

Hopefully you can get your app back on the App Store without too much effort. Of course, you should only do this for apps that you know are functioning correctly. Good luck!

Final thanks to Mark Sibly of Blitz Research for making a tool that produces game binaries that stand the test of time! I can’t believe those binaries still run without error all these years later.

A note to Apple Developer Relations

Rather than drawing an arbitrary line by date, how about investing in automated testing of apps? Developers would appreciate Apple taking on that burden, rather than asking developers to do new builds of apps that don’t really need it. Thanks for reading.

2022 update

Wire Hang Redux, the game I did this for, is no longer listed on the Mac App Store. The reason being that I didn’t have a 64-bit version ready-to-go for the 2017 deadline Apple set for removal of 32-bit-only apps.

Since then I’ve been selling it elsewhere with better results. You can grab it from itch.io.

I’m republishing this article to help developers dealing with similar requests from Apple over 5 years later.

Wire Hang Redux: update

by Matt Sephton — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 14:54:00 +0000

An update to Wire Hang Redux my version of the Java game Wire Hang, with improved controls and graphics. This version was built using BlitzMax.

Read more about the game in the original blog post.

Download: gingerbeardman.itch.io/wire-hang-redux

Wire Hang Redux

by Matt Sephton — Sun, 20 Jun 2004 00:34:00 +0000

I made a new game! It’s a from-scratch remake of an original Java game, Wire Hang, by Masaki Kobayashi (D2AC) who went on to become part of the Gran Turismo team.

I had a pretty underpowered laptop at the time, and writing my own version of the game was the only way I was able to play it comfortably.

My version of the game, Wire Hang Redux—made with Kobayshi-san’s blessing—went onto to receive over one million downloads from early download sites like Tucows, Version Tracker, Download.com, Mac Update, Home of the Underdogs, Game Hippo, Hyper Jeff, Windows Forest (Japan), and even a little website called Apple.com—back when it had a download section! It was featured in computer magazines all around the world.

Archived web page: gingerbeardman.com/archive/wirehang/

Download: gingerbeardman.itch.io/wire-hang-redux

Circuit Heat

by Matt Sephton — Thu, 23 Jan 2003 12:00:00 +0000

I made a prototype of a game called Circuit Heat. It is a version of the classic network completion puzzle (aka Pipes, FreeNet, Net, NetWalk, etc). The graphics remind me a little of the Atari Lynx classic puzzler Chip’s Challenge.

Notes:

At this time, long before iPhone, I was playing Java games on a (Sagem?) cell phone so many of my concepts around this time were targeted at that sort of platform
The game was was later featured on PC Format 161 (May 2004) cover disc

Get Info: #wirehang

Wire Hang Redux for 64-bit macOS

Found whilst backing up an old PC

How to push an update to the App Store without building a new binary

TL;DR

Background

Next Steps

A new icon

Application Loader

Re-submission

That’s all folks

A note to Apple Developer Relations

2022 update

Wire Hang Redux: update

Wire Hang Redux

Circuit Heat

Screenshots