Developing new possibilities

New updates for Omegan!

2012-04-26T21:05:00.003+02:00

Spanish version here || Versión en español aquí

Hi all!

First of all I want to apologize. I've not posted anything since now because I've been so busy updating and improving my two android apps, studying for exams etc...

But now I'he some time to post some good news! Omegan for Android has been updated from version 2.3.6 to version 3.1.3, going through versions 2.7.6, 3.0 and 3.0.1. Here you have a list of the features/improvements of each version.

Version 2.7.6

- Queue added! Now you can see what you are building or researching
- Some minor bugfixes

Version 3.0

- Queue improved: classification in categories and overview of the fleets
- Added limit for buildings and researches
- Slider speed improved
- Planet won't change automatically
- Some minor bugfixes

Version 3.0.1

- Trying to solve connection errors

Version 3.1.3

- Galaxy view added!
- Fixed some errors in fleet
- Fixed some elements in queue
- 'Return fleet' option added
- Other minor bugfixes

Thank you all for visiting my blog!

Version 2.3.6 of Omegan for Android!

2012-04-08T00:49:00.001+02:00

Hi all!

Some hours ago I launched a new update of the Omegan app that has some minor improvements and one big improvement!

Version 2.3.6

- The data downloaded is saved in the SD card so that it's not necessary to wait so many times to see the information of the screen.
- Refresh option in the menu to refresh the data manually
- Position digit in fleet fixed
- Fleet translated to English
- Some translate errors fixed
- Added colours depending on the amount of resources.

I hope you will enjoy this new update. If you have any problems you can contact me the way you preffer.

New update for Omegan! Version 2.1

2012-04-01T11:30:00.002+02:00

Spanish version here || Versión en español aquí

Hi all!

Yesterday I launched a new update for Omegan, the version 2.1. It includes some new features, check it out:

- Fleet added (Needs to be translated to English! Sorry!)
- No more eternal 'Updating' dialogs
- Application code improved a lot
- Changed the aesthetic of some buttons
- Button to set maximum number of units in shipyard and defense
- Added coordinates of the planets on the 'change planet' menu
- Galaxy preview (it doesn't work)

Here you have some screenshots of the new features:

Ships Number of ships to send

Info New buttons

That's all! Hope you'll enjoy this new update and stay tuned because I'm working on the Galaxy! Thank you all!

Advertising... Why?!

2012-03-27T22:41:00.002+02:00

¡Versión en Castellano, clic aquí!

Hi all!

Today I'm gonna talk about advertising... yes, that annoying stuff that appears suddenly while you are visiting websites or while you are playing with your favourite smartphone game. Before I became a developer, I thought that advertising is one of the worst things that people created for the Internet. By becoming a developer, I changed my mind. Well... not much.

We all agree that advertising is annoying, but we need to understand both, users and developers points of view, and then decide if advertising is as useless as we all think.

Users point of view:
Yes, I know that I'm not 'all of the users', but I do know what most of people think about it. A lot of users think that adverts = virus. I've heard a lot of times: -"Be careful to not to click that advert! It can be harmful for your computer!". I understand that point of view because lots of adverts are links to virus... but not all!

Moreover, adverts are disturbing: they force you to wait to get access to another website, they appear suddenly and sometimes it's difficult to close them because the close button is hidden, they open themselves in another window of the browser... Summarizing: f*** them!

These are the most important and good reasons why people hate adverts. But, what do developers think about it? Do they want to disturb people with those annoying types of adverts? Why do they want adverts on their websites or apps? Let's take a look at their point of view...

Developers point of view:
When you become a developer and you create a product that people is used to use, you are very happy but... what if you want (or need) to earn some little amount of money? (believe me, so little amount of money) If you work in a company, you get money monthly, but if you are a developer that works only for fun, or works to bring new services or games to people, you won't earn nothing... In this situation is where adverts come into play.

The most used adverts are called 'banners' (see the image at the top). They can be small, big, only text, text with images, dynamic etc... There are lots of other types of adverts, but I'll write about banners because they are the most used. And how do they work?

Most of the adverts only give a little amount of money to the developer when people click on them. This type of adverts are used in a very very high percentage of free smartphone applications and games (Blackberry, iOs, Android, Windows Phone, Bada etc...). The other type of adverts are the most annoying of them. They give money to the developer only when the advert is shown. They are used a lot on the Internet (the typical advert that appears suddenly in full screen mode and forces you to wait X seconds to get access to the page)

Developers usually use adverts to earn some money to the maintenance of the website or server, to contract other employers etc... But why adverts?

On the Internet there are only two ways to earn money: forcing the user to pay for a product or giving for free that product but adding adverts. If you create a new app or website from zero, you want to get as users as possible to promote the product. That's why there are lots and lots of free apps. The problem is that giving the product for free, you don't earn anything, so the most used option in this cases in to add adverts.

So, what's the problem between the two points of view?
Developers want/need money and use adverts to reach their goal but users don't click them because they think adverts will be harmful for their computers or smartphones. And what do we 'win' with this bad combination? Developers use more aggressive adverts and people get angry because of those annoying, aggressive and tiring adverts.

To finish, I'll let you know my personal point of view: If you enjoy a website or a game or app for smartphone, help the developer by clicking the adverts. This way, the developer can pay his expenses and give support to the application, and the user will only waste 10 seconds of his time and he will be able to continue enjoying the application or website.

I've written this post because a lot of people think that adverts are something created only to disturb, and that's not the truth.

Thank you all for reading what I think about this topic. If you have any question, you can leave a comment just below.

P.S: Sorry for my bad English but I'm a Spanish student and I don't still have a good written English (neither spoken).

Omegan for Android working again!

2012-03-22T23:20:00.000+01:00

Hi all! I'm really happy to announce you that the android version of Omegan is already working! We apologize for the inconveniences and hope there won't be any other problems related to this. The fleet for android phones is almost done. We just have to add some maths formulas and we will upload it to the market. Thank you all!

New server working!

2012-03-22T11:05:00.002+01:00

Hi all!

We finally have working our new server! Thank you to all the people who donated some money!

Now the browsing is faster (thing that is appreciated). We have contracted this server:

- Intel Core i5-2400 with Turbo Boost Technology
- 4x3.1+ GHz
- 6MB L2 - QPI 5GT/sec
- 64 bits system (linux)
- RAM 16GB DDR3
- 120GB SSD
- Net: 100Mbps
- etc...

It's awesome! I hope you'll enjoy this server as much as I.

But there's bad news too... The new server has changed all the files needed to connect the mobile version, so it's not working... Moreover, has changed something of the data base and the Trade isn't working either. But we are working hard to solve all of this problems.

I'm also working on the fleet of the mobile version... I'm having sweat and tears to have it working!

That's all, thank you all for visiting my blog!

www.omegan.es

New server but no money...

2012-03-18T23:52:00.000+01:00

Hi all!

Today I'm gonna write about our economic situation and what we (the Omegan team) want to do.

Yesterday, the server where Omegan is located went down. We had some minor problems with the website and we disabled the access to the game. The server went down because of the amount of people that were playing online. Omegan's server is free, so its capacity is so reduced.

We have found a dedicated server that theoretically works like a charm, good specifications etc...

This server will guarantee:
- Faster access connection
- More disk space
- More processing power
- Better stability
- Daily backups to save the data
- Unlimited traffic
- etc...

So it worth to make the change and buy this server. The bad news is that this server costs 80€/month (amount that is impossible to pay for us), so we need your help to buy this server (this is the best quality/price server we found).

That's the reason why we added some adverts to the Android application and to this blog, because each click helps us with a little amount of money. But this isn't enough, so we've added the possibility to contribute by sending us a little amount of money through PayPal.

You can send some money by clicking the following link (it is a direct link to PayPal): http://goo.gl/IxQ0L

Thank you very much for your help. We just want to offer the best user experience.

Fleet under construction

2012-03-16T16:02:00.003+01:00

Hi all!

I think that you'll be happy to know that the design of the fleet screen is finished. I've attempted to make it as practical as possible, with the information shown clearly.

The new update of the application will include the fleet with all of the functions that it has on the web site , but due to the work that it will take doing this part, I cannot give you a specific date for the new version launch.

I'll keep you up to date.

If you have any suggestion, you can post a comment right here on this blog.

Thank you!

Off Topic: My new inline video

2012-03-14T09:10:00.000+01:00

Hi all!

Today I'm gonna talk about something different: my sport. Yes I know, it's rare that a developer has other hobbies, but I love sport (not football x_x)

I'm inline skater since I'm 4 years old. I go to skate every week I can and always improving my style and adding new tricks to my repertoire.

Yesterday I was editing a new video to look for sponsor, and here's the result of two days of work:

I hope you all enjoy my video :)

Thank you for watching it!

Version 1.5 of Omegan android app!

2012-03-13T20:24:00.002+01:00

Hi everyone!

I've launched a new version of the Omegan android application! This version includes some new features that some users were asking for and some others to improve the user experience using this application. Here you have a list of all of them:

1- Added progress dialogs while the user interface is loading.
Why? Because I realized that if you attempt to change the planet before was all loaded, you couldn't
access them.

2- Added the time required to be able to build whatever. I mean, if you do not have enough resources, you aren't able to build anything, so this time shows you when you'll be able to build that thing.
   Why? Because this time is available at the webpage and the android app isn't less :P

3- I've improved the method of selection of the units in shipyard and defenses. Now you can introduce numbers manually.
   Why? Because this way, users that are able to build A LOT of units, can build them all at once.

4- You can now see some extra information of some buildings: the extra energy required, the current storage etc...
   Why? Because a user asked me for it, and here he has the function :)

5- The app will be automatically installed at the SD Card.
   Why? Some smartphones have not enough storage to install a lot of apps.

I hope you'll enjoy all of this new features. If you have questions, you can contact me.

You can download it by following this link: http://goo.gl/GHQtE

Thank you all!

Omegan for Android now available!

2012-03-07T15:47:00.000+01:00

Hi all!

I'm really happy to tell you that my new Android application called Omegan is out!

What is this?

My friend Rafael Arquero Gimeno has developed from zero a new game for web browsers called Omegan. His goal was to pick an existing game (Ogame) and improve it.

Omegan has a lot of improvements like graphics, more options, profiles for users etc... and it's free!

Now I've developed the Android version so that you can be connected to the game and make changes to your empire even if you're not in front of your computer.

This is the first version, so if you have any problem with the application, you can contact be sending me an email at this direction: carl.fri.fer.dev@gmail.com

Screenshots and download

Main Screen Log In

Research Screen Ion Tech

Here you have the download link for Android Devices: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=carl.fri.fer.omegan

You can also go to the web version: www.omegan.es

If you like the web version, follow it, like it and +1! And if you like the Android version, please, rate it and comment it with your opinion! But please, if you have problems, before rating contact me!

Thank you very much!

This week Omegan will be available at the Android Market!

2012-03-04T16:36:00.000+01:00

Hi everyone!

I would like you to know that the launch of the Android version of Omegan is imminent! One day this week, Omegan for Android will be available at the Android Market!

I remind you that it is a beta version, so there's some functions to improve and others to add.

Thank you very much for your patience!

Omegan: It's Ogame but better!

2012-02-29T23:03:00.000+01:00

Hi all!

I'm thinking about the official Omegan application launch. Omegan is almost the same as Ogame but it has a lot of improvements and it is FREE! You are not forced to pay to get dark matter.

Both the Android app and the webpage are still Beta versions, so there might be some bugs but don't worry, you can play perfectly.

I hope you'll enjoy both the Android app and the web versions.

I'll launch the Android version as soon as possible.

Thank you all!

King of the Spot for iOS is coming!

2012-02-28T21:06:00.001+01:00

Hi everyone!

Good news! Thanks to Trick On I'll be able to develop the iOS app! Even so, I ask for patience, it's not easy to develop an application!

I'll keep you up to date!

King of the Spot: The new rider's application powered by Grindhouse

2012-02-19T21:51:00.000+01:00

Hi everyone,

I introduce you the new rider's application: King of the Spot. This application is only useful for people who practices skateboarding or inline skating (in the future I'll add some other sports like BMX).

Ok, what is it about?
Riders usually play a game that consist in a mini competition. Playing to this game, the players can learn new movements or tricks, and practice those which they don't do very well. Every time that a player fail the trick, a letter is added to it, for example, Player 1 fails first trick, so he receive the first letter, the letter B. The player who get all the letters of the word BLADE, is automatically out of the competition.

Appearance of the application

Main screen List of players with their letters

You can choose the word You can also choose the sport

In short
As you can see, this application is only for people who practices skateboarding and inline skating. It's supported by Android 2.1 up to 4.0.3, it is possible to move it to the SD card, it is multilingual: English, German, French and Spanish (Italian soon), it is also possible to add filters to hide some tricks for beginner skaters... And it is powered by Grindhouse, the best Aggressive Inline Skate Clothing company.

You can download it by following this link.
You can also download it by scanning the QR code with your smartphone

Thank you very much for visiting my site.

Carlos Frias Ferrer

Welcome to my developing world

2012-02-19T21:07:00.000+01:00

Hi everyone,

This is my first blog, and here is where I'll post about my application updates, new projects that I've started or I have on mind to start... I hope you'll enjoy it and if you download the applications just for curiosity, you can comment what I can improve or add.

Thank you all for visiting my site.

Carlos Frias Ferrer