Friday 20 September 2013

Android 4.3 Sound Bug

We've been experiencing some issues with sounds stopping on some 4.3 systems. These are caused by a bug in the Android system:
http://www.androidpolice.com/2013/08/14/bug-watch-android-4-3-automatic-looping-of-sounds-with-soundpool-is-broken-may-cause-some-games-and-apps-to-be-eerily-quiet/
It will be fixed in next system update. I'm trying to find a workaround to make it work before that.

For now, here are things you can do if you are affected:

  • Use Android version 4.2.2 for now.
  • Upgrade to latest custom 4.3 (quite complicated).
  • Wait for us to find a workaround.
  • Wait for google to release official update (should be soon, you can check for it in Settings->About device->System update menu)

6 comments:

  1. Hello Train Driver delevopers!

    I recently bought Train Driver 1.5 from the Amazon app store. Your game is excellent! Unlike other train games, your game is perfectly balanced. It's not too simple and not too complicated. Your app deserves to be a big success.

    I particularly like that new games are randomly generated. That's a really nice feature.

    But I must tell you that if I were to rate the game today, I'd only give it 3 stars out of 5.

    And that's why I'm writing you. I didn't want to put a review on Amazon because a 3 out of 5 rating might give people the wrong impression about this fine game.

    For me, the game loses one star because of speed limit issues. The game mentions a maximum speed but does not say what that speed is. And even after doing the tutorial, I still find the speed limit signs confusing.

    Please consider either using European style signs (a number in a circle) or include a help window where a player can quickly review what the signs mean.

    For me, the game loses another star because I feel the game is a little too difficult. Unless the driver does everything near-perfectly, the train is late. That's no fun. Please consider loosening up the timetables a bit. Or perhaps have an Easy timetables option and a Challenging timetables option.

    While I'm at it, may I offer some suggestions for future versions?

    1) Include an option for night runs.
    2) Put a few vehicles at railroad crossings.
    3) Put some trees and bushes near the houses.
    4) Require bell-ringing when moving at a station.
    5) Include a penalty for horn use at the wrong time.
    6) Include the maximum in the player's final score. For example, if the final score is 60 and the maximum was 100, say 60 out of 100. That would give the player a better idea of how he/she did overall.

    Again, let me say how impressed I am with your game. Keep up the good work. And I apologize for such a long comment.


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  2. Hi Roger, thanks for contacting us!

    No worries about the long comment, we really appreciate it, since it helps us make the game better, and it's always great to hear from fans of the game.

    We're pleased you're enjoying the game. It's a shame you didn't get it from Google play, we have a small group of Beta testers there and we'd love to invite you there. We'll investigate if the Amazon store has something similar. In the mean time feel free to post here :)

    Speed limits: We will be writing a proper instruction manual which can be accessed through the pause menu (when we implement it) as well as the online. Currently, we're using Polish speed limit signs (they're a little annoying for me also). We will look at displaying the current speed limit for the next section of track at all times as well. We will eventually be introducing regionalisation of the signs also, starting with New Zealand (where we're based) then branching out to other regions.

    Timetable: We're already beginning to ease the timetable, that was something we overlooked in the last update, and we apologise. We'll add some difficulty settings and keep the current values for the challenging difficulty.

    Night runs - we'll be looking into this when we implement lighting for the train's spotlights. We're also looking at different seasons and weather types. The main constraint will be our desire to have the game continue to run on lower end devices (mobiles rather than tablets), but we'll see what we can do in future updates.

    Vehicles at crossings - I was actually supposed to include these in 1.5, but I got bogged down in assignments (I'm a uni student).

    Trees near houses - the town sections will be getting an overhaul in the update around xmas. There will be new house models (rather than the hard-coded ones we have now) as well as more trees, even parks, proper road crossings etc

    Bell-Ringing, while moving at a station? Like you ring a bell as you move off from the station?

    Incorrect horn use penalty: We'll see. Do you know anywhere where overzealous horn use is frown upon?

    Max score display: sure, we can do that :)

    Whew! that's a lot. But yes, keep your eyes peeled in future updates :) Great to hear from you and we're glad you enjoy playing

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  3. Hello Jakhajay,

    To clarify my previous post, I mentioned bell-ringing because many railroads require that when an engine is moving through a rail yard or a station. It is a safety requirement much like using the horn at a road crossing.

    And I mentioned a penalty for incorrect use of the horn because I came across that in an engineer's manual. The manual said that inappropriate use of the horn and bell was forbidden. Perhaps the company had been getting complaints from people who lived near the tracks!

    And I sure would enjoy being a beta tester. if that's possible, let me know here. I'll check back.

    Regards,
    Victor

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  4. Hi Victor,
    That's in the USA, yes? we'll find out more policies from various countries too. Could you point us to some good resources about rail signals in the US?
    Fair enough about the horn, we'll see what we can do.
    It seems we can't do beta testing through Amazon... may need to look into it further.
    Cheers,
    Tegan

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  5. Mam parę propozycji co do gry i pytanie
    1 dodajcie pociągi towarowe i więcej modeli osobowych
    2 dodajcie kable elektryczne nad torami
    3 dodajcie czekanie na stacji aż przejedzie inny pociąg
    4 dodajcie że jeśli przejedziemy na czerwonym świetle może dojść do zderzenia dwóch pociągów
    5 dodajcie tryb nocy
    6 dodajcie warunki pogodowe
    7dodajcie auta na przejeździe kolejowym
    8 zmieńcie i dodajcie nowe obiektu przy torach
    9 dodajcie pociągi które mijają nas z wagonami
    10 dodajcie znaki informujące na jaką stacje wjeżdżamy
    Oczywiście nie każe wam tego dodawać i mama pytanie kiedy kolejna aktualizacja.

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  6. Mam Parę propozycji co do gry i Pytanie
    1 dodajcie Pociągi Towarowych i więcej modeli Osobowych
    2 dodajcie Kable elektryczne nad torami
    3 dodajcie czekanie na Stacji AŻ przejedzie inny pociąg
    4 dodajcie Ze jeśli przejedziemy na Czerwonym ŚWIETLE moze dojść do zderzenia dwoch pociągów
    5 dodajcie Tryb Nocy
    6 dodajcie warunki pogodowe
    7dodajcie auta na przejeździe kolejowym
    8 zmień i dodajcie nowy obiekt przy torach
    9 dodajcie pociągi, które mijają nas z wagonami
    10 dodajcie znaki informujące o tym na jaką stacje wjeżdżamy
    11dodajcie więcej ker np: z kabiny pociągu.
    Nie musisz tego dodawać wszystkiego i mam pytanie kiedy kolejna aktualizacja

    ReplyDelete