These days I’m working on a better implementation of AI for my game Gomoku, and found that when performing pure math & logic calculations, iPhone simulator is vastly faster than real device, maybe 10x times! I implemented a new way to calculate next move for computer in the board name, it took few seconds to calculate inside simulator, but more than 30 seconds on real device. Interesting. I need to put more work on my algorithm, definitely!

Finally got the contract set up with Apple. So my little app appears to be “Ready for Sale” in iTunes Connect, but when I go to search it in App Store, no result matched.

It seems a lot developers are experiencing the same problem here:

http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1607276&tstart=60

Is this related to a slow updating rate of search index of iTunes Store? I can’t get my app showing up in iTunes Link Maker either.

But it’s possible to reach the app detail page in iTunes via direct link:

http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=294454696

You can make your own direct link if you’re experiencing the same problem that app not showing up in search or link maker, just replace the id part in URL with your own app id, you can get it in app details in iTunes Connect.

IMHO, it does take too long time for solo developers on all those non-tech issues. You may not know that I planned to release my app in August! But now it’s November!

Anyway, perhaps what I’ve got is the best I can get, so now I can focus more on tech things to make my app more polished.

Update: AppShopper.com has a page for Gomoku now: http://appshopper.com/games/gomoku

(Thanks Robin Lu!)

An abstract strategy game for iPhone / iPod Touch

Gomoku is a very old game, it originated in China and developed in Japan. I started to port it to iPhone in August 2008 and finally got a working version in the beginning of September 2008. During the development, I also tried to purchase iPhone Developer Program from Apple China (because I’m living in China), as the game is getting more and more mature, I still cannot receive my iDP, this is a frustrated story I’ll cover later.

However, then I decided to release the game for free via Cydia, I just wish more people would enjoy the game sooner. So, add http://apt.shinra-core.com/ to Cydia sources, and you’ll find Gomoku under Games section. One more reason to jailbreak your iPhone / iPod touch, huh. :D

Update on November: Gomoku is now available on iTunes Store. Download it here.

If you find any bugs, welcome to notify me via comments below and I’ll fix.

Wikipedia has got more on this game: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gomoku

Gomoku has a professional variant called Renju, it’s the rule used by World Championship every 2 years. I do plan to support it. Hope you like the game. :)

SHINRA-CORE is the studio name for games and apps developed by me and my friends, I’ll write more on it later.

p.s. There is another iPhone app provided in http://apt.shinra-core.com/, it’s a client for a SNS site in China, still in early stage. Feel free to try if you can read Chinese.