Hello everyone! Team RamRod here, the developers of High Velocity Bowling. Today we break our long silence with an equally long blog post.
To give you some background on the HVB development team, we are a small team who works on several projects. As some of you know, Big Ern has left our neck of the woods (we still miss him). But, the team has since picked up the reins and is now leading a new charge for HVB.
A lot of you have been asking about HVB, and we are here to deliver great news. We are pleased to announce that we putting the finishing touches on a new update for HVB, which will hit the PlayStation Network TOMORROW! Excited? Well, the best part of this is that the new update – all new features included – is FREE! For our brothers and sisters in the north, that means FREE for you, too.
HEAD-TO-HEAD ONLINE PLAY! VOICE CHAT COMMUNICATION! WEEKLY ONLINE LEADERBOARDS!
We can hear you now … “Wait, what? Really? I get online play in the update? Will it support my Playstation Friends List?” YES to all of the above. You will now be able to play with your friends online AND be able to chat with them using a PS3 headset or microphone. Feel free to chat and talk smack after comparing your stats and rankings on the online leaderboards that will be updated weekly.
PSN TROPHIES!
Yup! PSN Trophies – 12 new shiny and purty trophies (7 bronze, 4 silver and 1 gold trophy). The only way to earn these is to play online (fortunately, we added that too, ‘cause we’re awesome!). If you’re worried you don’t have the skills, don’t stress — if you’re persistent enough, you will still be able to earn most, if not all, of these as well. Here’s the list:
BRONZE:
- Score 180 or higher in an online game.
- Achieve an online rating of 1600 or more.
- Knock down a total of 500 pins in online games.
- Get 10 strikes in online games.
- Get 15 spares in online games.
- Win an online game.
- Play 3 online games.
SILVER:
- Score 250 or higher in an online game.
- Knock down a total of 5000 pins in online games.
- Get 25 wins in online games.
- Get 75 strikes in online games.
GOLD:
- Get 150 strikes in online games.
PLAYLISTS WITH IMPROVED AUDIO!
You can access the XMB while in-game for your own custom soundtracks, with support for playlists. We had custom music before, but were not able to incorporate playlists. Now with the new XMB custom music feature, you can bowl while listening to a mix of Beethoven, Frank Zappa, Britney Spears, Weird Al Yankovic, Gregorian Chants and Nirvana! And with the improved audio options, you’ll be able to crank up your tunes, character voices, and ambient sounds, OR turn them off altogether!
MORE TRICK SHOTS!
That’s right, we’ve included a section on the menu to start posting additional trick shot challenges. You’ll be given two new challenges with your update, and additional trick shots will be created for download in the future. These challenges will not only help you earn patches that you missed out on during your normal gameplay, but get you more stars for the leaderboards!
NEW BALL BAGS!
We’ve added a new and more realistic Ball Bag system in HVB. You can only bring four balls with you onto the lane in each bag, so you’ll have to choose wisely. You can name and save up to 24 different ball bags so you don’t have to individually choose four balls every time that you want to play. Be sure to mix and match so that there are some good hooking balls and some good straight rollers in your bag. This way, you’ll be prepared for any oil pattern or pin leave!
ALLEY SELECTION!
You can now choose which lane to play on (as long as you’re not in a tournament). This means that you can play in Spider’s Garage, Tiffany’s Toybox, the Zen Garden, or wherever you want!
NEW ADD-ON CONTENT
We are going to continue to provide new content for HVB. This content will include more sinister Trick Shots, more wacky characters, cool bowling balls and quirkier costumes.
Anxious to get your game on and strike it up? These exciting new features for HVB will truly make your bowling experience fun. We made the extra efforts to make sure we delivered a lot of fun into a whole lot of FREE for our devoted fans! Please make sure you continue to check back here for future updates on HVB. You’ve all waited so patiently for more – we’ll be sure to make it worth your wait!
Until next time!
Team RamRod
Also after the “HVB bug” I couldn’t get other games’ trophies. Will this be solved?
Good news everyone!
I’m happy to say that we are very close to completing our testing cycle for the HVB Online Statistics issue. As mentioned in an earlier post, we are preparing to release the server update tomorrow morning (Wednesday Oct 22). Please stay tuned to the Blog, as I will make a formal announcement when the server is updated.
See you in the morning.
Mike
I’m now having the same issue as someone stated here, the game crashes whenever a challenge is accepted. Is it related to the same bug?
I’m interested in seeing if the new update fixes my online issues. I’ve had occasional hiccups in other games (MLB The Show being the main culprit) but never to the extent of HVB.
Looking forward to checking out the update on Wednesday.
I would just like to thank you team RamRod.
I had a problem and commented about it, Within a week you found a solution to that problem and are releasing a patch ASAP.
Great Job, Dedicated Team… Keep up the awesome work!
we get the update today? would be awesome
Good to see a reply to our problems soo quick. Thank you team RamRod…
Any update as to when we get this in Europe?
Thanks Mike!
is the update online yet?
I think the stats are working but in my trophies section HVB is on the top when I play another trophy game like geon. And I can’t get trophies on other games. How will I solve this?
man i need the patch xD when do we get it?
@ Ministry555
There is no patch. It’s just a server side update on their end, just start playing again
Hopefully the update is being loaded now. I attempted to get on and it repeatedly kicked me off the online play.
Yeah atleast we know they look at the posts on the blog.
When I get home at 330pm est I’ll try to see what happens to me when trying to get online
gehen wir zu mcdonalds??
HVB Server Update:
This morning the HVB team deployed the new version of our Online Servers to fix the issue with Online Statistics not being processed correctly. Some of you may notice that your stats were updated, but several players were experiencing connection problems and were unable to connect to HVB Online. As a result, we have had to pull down the server update so online play is accessible to everyone. We are looking into the matter and hope to have more news for you later today.
We apologize for the inconvenience
Mike
That’s a little disappointing :( Love the game, and will be waiting. Back to testing, eh?
Everything seems to be working for me, just picked up my 25 win trophy. It’s 4pm here EST
my stats updated today but have stopped again. It says I have 23 wins and I jut won another 3 games but no trophy, guess I’ll have to wait until it’s fixed again.
good to here a fix is approaching! I can’t wait to get back to playing!
Thanks Team Ramrod!
@Mike re: Connection Issues
I’ve narrowed down my connection issue to challenging other players. I can accept challenges with no problem (so far, my sample size for this is one less than total games bowled) but freeze up on the connecting screen whenever another player accepts my challenge.
rynedee
@ Mike Skinner
I can not get other games’ trophies after HVb bug. It says “you did not earn a trophy” and also when you play a game that supports trophies, on the trophy section on XMB, that game has to be on top of other games. But I have HVB on the top and it never changes to the game I play. Can you help me? I’m afraid to play new games which support trophies because I think my trophies won’t count and theres no turning back from this bug…
I can´t synchronize ever, always hangs, challenging or being challenged. Any updates on resolving this issue?
I’m using 40Gb PAL PS3, HVB US version. it worked during the weekend. Does it have something to do with a corrupted savegame or something? I can’t even copy the savefile.
@jomacho
I’m going to guess that since you are using the US release on a PAL station, that is where your problem lies. This is why there are different releases for each territory.
What’s the problem? i could play during weekend. I always used us games, the store has alot more stuff and earlier.
@rynedee
You’re european too?
Euro versions are different because of 50Hz refresh rate (no longer necessary) and mainly because of different languages. Can’t see the problem of european users on US games.
@jomacho
I’m a Texan living in Idaho.
I’m not a programmer by any stretch, so take this however you wish, but i don’t think your PS3 really cares if you bought the US version of the game. 1s and 0s are universal last time i checked. You might be having issues connecting due to Sony’s routing of the PSN over there tho. The game is looking for servers that aren’t there, i would imagine since the update hasn’t be released over there. That’s pure speculation tho.
rynedee
All Lanes Open!
Good evening HVB fans. A short time ago we upgraded the HVB Online servers. All player statistics and player ranking should now be processing normally. The best news is that all stats from your previous games are being serviced retroactively. This also means that any PSN Trophy that should be unlocked will open up once you complete your next online game.
Team RamRod would like to thank everyone for their patience through this process.
We hope you enjoy High Velocity Bowling Online as must as we do.
Have fun tonight!
Mike
yeah workin fine now
Not for me, still crashing.
maybe the problem is ur ps3, why should it work for some ppl and not for other ?
Only a few slight things…
The stats are / did update – Thanks :)
BUT, I have gotten “Your network connection has become unstable” and booted back to the main menu of the game
ALSO, I have gotten this: “A connection to the playstation network cannot be established at this time”… I get this message after I get the connection unstable message.
My connections are the network are both working fine.
This is few and far between but still…
Thanks for the great update and hard work!
@Mike Skinner
My stats are working but my trophy system is still not working.
PSN ID: Ninjaselo
Can you have a look at it please? I don’t want to create a new account and try to get all the Uncharted, Warhawk, Buzz, HVB, Geon, Burnout, Wipeout, S.A.R.P.B.C., PAIN, SSHD, Eden and Maniichi Issho trophies again from the beginning…
@Mike: Any date for Europe? You’re killing me here with all the goodness I’m NOT getting :P
That’s what i wanted to ask for, too.
Online playing, trophy gaining stuff would be enjoed in europe, too, i think. :)
I don’t care about trophies though, but online: yay :)
@ Ninjaselo
He won’t be able to help you out with your trophy system on PS3. Go play the other games and see if it corrects the issue, if not, Team RamRod won’t be able to take a look at your PS3’s trophy system and figure out the problem.
But i’m still wondering, why we don’t have the 2nd character avaliable for download in europe. This ugly women…. :)
So i expect the “online update” not as soon as i wish it would be.
What really bugs me is that I have my ps3 set to english, I don’t give a rats ass about local translations, just give me the game for the love of god!
I too am having trouble when my ps3 frezing when i accept or send a challenge. Freezes when screen says syncronizing game. I have to turn off ps3 on console. Whats up?
@ jomacho
I am having similar issue, however i do not have a pal ps3. Wierd but seem to only be able to play 1 game a day. Have you got any feedback on the issue?
@anglemyerc
There isn’t a fix for this. I do know i can’t sync any game at my home during the week. On weekends, i live on another place, and there it works fine. Doesn’t seem to be a region issue, maybe the isp (mine are different). Weekend – ADSL with a Thomson TG787 (wich can’t seem to be able to use NAT2, tried everything)
Weekdays – Cable ISP, with ISP modem connected to a linksys router (NAT2).
It’s a bug, it’s the only game i can’t play there. Maybe the developers can figure it out.
@ rynedee
i am still having the same problem. i am able to play 1 game, however when i try to play another game it freezes up at challenge confirmed screen, music still plays, screen just freezes up. i have left going now for 20 minutes to see if anything would happen, but to no prevail. guess i have to wait a few hours and try again. could we get some feedback on this issue please? thx.
can you return this game i only bought it for trophies and it freezes everytime i accept a challenge i want a refund .
yehjust bring the gane to europe but in english first because the american version is english so can u just port that to the european verison because im starting to get a little frustrated thanks
@ himura2006
How are you going to return a digital copy of a game? Besides don’t you read anything at the time of your purchase? Funds added to the wallet are NON-REFUNDABLE! It’s your game, get it fixed. I for one, have no issues with the game
I’m pretty sure America, Europe and Australia are as culturally diverse as each other, so I don’t see why there would be a delay due to language translations or whatever. Hope Aussies and Europeans get the patch soon, I want to play online.