Hi All,

As we're getting ready to roll out a major content update, we thought we'd put up a web beta so those of you without Windows 8 get a chance to play, and we can hopefully catch any issues before we go live.

This update contains a new world theme, 24 new levels, multiple mortars and smashable stuff, plus zooming and panning.

This will be taken down when the Windows 8 version goes live!

<font size="5"><strike>Play Mortar Melon Web Beta!</strike> Web build is now offline - thanks to everyone who tested! You can play the update on Windows 8 here: Mortar Melon</font>

Please try and break the game and let us know where you got bored or lost interest.

More info about Mortar Melon since launch:

• Over 300,000 downloads on Windows 8.
• 4-star average user rating.
• Top #5 free game and featured in many countries.
• Recently picked up by a big mobile publisher for multiple platforms.
• Featured in numerous high profile publications including Develop Magazine (print) and PocketGamer.
• 1st-place in the Scirra competition and 2nd-place in the Power-up awards.

If anyone has any questions, please let me know! All feedback welcome!

Thanks again to Ashley again for implementing some of my suggestions, making this next release possible!

On the iPhone 4S with over a hundred objects, including tens of physics objects we're getting 30fps+. On the iPhone 5 we're getting a solid 60fps.

Have you been testing on a device from the beginning of development as recommended?

There's a community effort for translation of common game terminology. May be worth getting involved: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0Al1cNCkGdEJfdF8xX0dsaHl6ZVpzMDF2OW9JaWVWMVE#gid=0

Thanks for the effort :)

Hi all, sorry about the lack of updates. We've been consumed by going massively over schedule with our Mortar Melon update. We should be pushing it out tomorrow, then all focus is back on the Windows Phone plugin.

Ashley I only just saw you'd tagged me - didn't notify me for some reason. I've added this to my investigate list. I noticed it works correctly in the Microsoft sample so something's amiss.

Damn they've sold out twice in one day. I was able to get one in the end :)

This was when publishing through Microsoft as an Xbox LIVE game. This was the coverage required:

Commercial General Liability (Occurrence Form) including product liability, Workers� Compensation (statutory limits), and Employer�s Liability.

Professional Liability/Errors & Omissions Liability insurance with policy limits of not less than Two Million Dollars ($2,000,000 USD) each claim. The insurance will include coverage for infringement of third party proprietary rights (including, for example, copyright, and trademark) to the extent reasonably commercially available.

Hi all,

Thought you guys might like to know the Firefox OS Developer Preview devices are shipping. You can pick them up here: http://shop.geeksphone.com/en/

For those that don't know, it's a fully open HTML5 mobile platform. We plan on supporting it with Mortar Melon ASAP.

It's not WebGL but performance is good.

Bear in mind this isn't quite as accessible / indie friendly as it's made out to be. To be able to get a dev kit you need to have people in your team that have released a notable non-mobile game. PC, Xbox and PS3 only.

The worst thing that isn't mentioned, and I only thought to ask because my experiences with Microsoft, is the requirement of insurance. The coverage is the same that we had with Microsoft and costs around $3k p/y.

The eShop environment is meant to be as painless for devs as possible, offering a robust array of options with no hidden fees. Pretty much the only thing needed to become licensed is business entity status, which costs less than $200 in the US.

This seems to be an outright lie based on what Nintendo execs have said to me. I'm going to send a follow-up email and find out more.

Yann that makes a lot of sense, awesome thanks :D

Yann excellent, that works a treat! Thanks again for the work on this plugin!

I am now however getting errors in the physics demo. Not sure if that's related?

Yann oops doesn't look like it's updated?