Hope you all had a great holiday season? At JAW we had a fantastic holiday, and we owe it all to you guys for showing your support for Gravity Crash; your appreciation and feedback has reminded us all why we’ve been working so hard over the past 18 months, and it’s nice to see that so many of you guys think like we do – there truly is something special about retro inspired arcade blasting! And hopefully we’ll see a bunch of new creations soon, because Gravity Crash is currently on sale for half-off, only $4.99. You have to hurry, though, since the sale ends tomorrow.

Something I specifically wanted to thank you for is the levels you guys have been making. So far we’ve seen over 1,400 levels and there are some real gems out there! Shining brighter than most I’ve seen are the levels by “E-T-E-C” and “RubiconAlpha”. Their levels are exceptional and I would highly recommend you check them out. They are clever, challenging and enjoyable in equal measure, and perhaps they’ll spark your imagination and inspire you to create a new level yourself – who knows, it could even lead to your efforts earning a mention in my next post!

I’d also like to thank you all for the feedback you’ve given about the game so far, and give you a heads up on a patch we’ve been working on to improve the game based on your comments and suggestions. One thing that came up regularly was that it wasn’t entirely obvious that you can rate another players level (which is a shame considering how good a lot of them are), so we’ve made a change to this and added the “Vote for Creator” option to the post mission screen. Now, when you finish playing the level, you can cast your vote right there, and hopefully more of those amazing levels you dedicate a lot of time to will get the recognition and the credit that they deserve.

The v1.02 update, which will be released soon, also features the following changes and improvements:

• More intuitive voting for user created levels
• Improved menu navigation
• Fixes to sound fx playback
• Hi-scores can no longer be posted from the Trial version
• The hidden level “Umbria” is now correctly unlocked in the Campaign
• Polish language now available

Another thing we’ve heard a lot of you asking for over the past few weeks is information on the upcoming Gravity Crash for the PSP, so here you go…

• Same exciting retro gameplay as the PS3 version
• 35 challenging levels in campaign mode, each with unique objectives
• All new Survivor mode exclusive for PSP, offering even more gameplay
• Create and share your own levels with others

As well as all of the above, we are still working hard away on some things which we’ll reveal more on a little closer to the time, so keep an eye open for more blog updates from us in the near future!

Thanks again for your ongoing support; we hope you will continue to enjoy Gravity Crash and we are looking forward to seeing even more high-quality levels from you in-game. Please continue to share your feedback, thoughts and suggestions about the game with us, and feel free to give your favorite creators the recognition they deserve in the comments and on the forum, too – we’d love to give some of them a shout out next time! And if you haven’t picked the game up yet, now’s your chance to get in on the action because it’s half-off for one more day!

Just to give you a little background info, Gravity Crash combines vintage arcade shooter gameplay with striking HD vector graphics running in 1080p at 60 frames per second. Piloting a small craft armed with an arsenal of main and special weapons, a rechargeable shield and a carefully watched fuel gauge, players battle gravity and inertia through 35 levels that each feature environmental dangers, enemies and other obstacles. Along the way, players will encounter volcanic eruptions, winding caverns and bodies of water in their pursuit to complete their mission.

But wait, there’s more. You can create your own levels and share them with friends! Here to talk to you more about it is my colleague, Stewart Gilray, CEO of the development studio, Just Add Water, to give you the low-down.

Hi everyone, how are you guys doing?

What started for us as an idea almost three years ago is now about to invade your lives. Gravity Crash for PlayStation 3 will launch on the PlayStation Store today!

When we started working with Sony on this project we were certain we had a great idea for a game, and I have to say we are incredibly proud of what we’ve created and we can’t wait to see what you guys think when you get hold of it.

When you download the Trial edition of Gravity Crash you will get access to 4 levels from the 35 single-player and 12 multiplayer planets. You will also get full access to the game editor, where you will be able to design and create your own levels straight away, however only when you buy the game will you be able to challenge the world by publishing your creations on PlayStation Network.

Actually, I’d like to geek out for a moment and tell you about one of the little things we included in the Trial edition which, as far as we are aware, no one else has done before: at the end of the demo we have a dynamic “Published Levels” counter that tells you how many custom-made levels have been published to PSN. Personally I can’t wait to watch that number get bigger and bigger over the coming months!

I suppose that you’d also like to know how much all of this will cost.

$9.99 of your Earth money, will buy you:

• 35 Single-player levels, including hidden and boss levels
• 12 Multiplayer levels
• 3 Multiplayer modes
• Different player ships
• Special weapons
• Weapon power-ups
• 20 devious Trophies
• Leaderboards
• Over 200 editor items

Speaking of the editor, just to reiterate what I said in my previous update, EVERY level in the game has been built with the same game editor, and you will have full access to it in the game. Here’s a little development diary from us at Just Add Water showing a bit of the editor in action!

And finally, during December we will be releasing a few extras to the PlayStation Store, so keep a look out for Gravity Crash wallpapers and themes. So all I’ve got left to say is thanks to everyone for your support since the game was announced. We hope you enjoy it and we can’t wait to see what you guys can create with the Editor!

Earlier this year, we unveiled one of the newest additions to the PSN line-up, Gravity Crash for PS3, and were thrilled with all the positive responses it received. So, you can only imagine how excited we were to make the announcement during GamesCom in Cologne that we will be releasing this retro-chic title on the PSP as well!

Please take a look at a brand new Blog post from Stewart from JAW — developers of Gravity Crash — for a closer look at how both titles came about and what you can expect to see in both versions of Gravity Crash.

Hi folks.

This is Stewart at JAW, developers of PSN and PSP super-retro title Gravity Crash. The guys at SCEE asked me kindly to write a post about the game, so here it is.

Back in 07, myself and Dave Parsons (project lead) were sat in a coffee shop and a long conversation ensued on all the things we loved about gaming in the 80s.

Pixel perfect collision detection, that sense of tactile movement, simple controls, the richness of things to do but with less buttons needed to do it, memorable and distinctive musical scores. During the conversation Dave showed me something he’d been working on. A vector-based old-skool shooter that takes me back to days of Jetpac, Asteroids, Defender and my favourate features from many other classics, all refined and rolled into one.

I instantly fell in love with it and we began building it into what you now see as Gravity Crash. Think of Gravity Crash as our love letter to 80s classic shooter gaming and you’ll have a rough idea of what we’re building.

In aim of displaying a modern day vision of our retro love, we decided that since we’re on PS3, we should probably tap into its ‘flash stuff’ powers.

As a result of this, we have the game running at 1080p and 60 frames a second. You’ll also notice very subtle visual FX using FX Shaders to give us the object glow, and other such effects throughout the game.

An original Gravity Crash screenshot

The same level today

We’ve also got a full-featured level builder and editor as part of the package and you’ll be happy to know all the game’s levels were built using this tool, so there’s (almost) nothing we’ve built that you can’t build yourself.

There are A LOT more surprises coming that we’re yet to announce, but for now, that’s your lot. We’re very happy with how the game is shaping up and the press have been quite warm and flattering in their reception of it thus far.

We’re approaching the end of development and we can’t wait to get the game in your hands. Till the next update, enjoy the screens and no doubt as we get closer to release we’ll be back with more riveting conversation ;-)

ANNOUNCED FEATURES LIST (more details to come)

PS3:

• 40 Single player levels (Inc secret ones)
• 5 Major Boss Battles
• 4 Special weapons
• 3 weapon upgrades
• 3 Multiplayer modes (details to come)
• 12 Multiplayer maps
• Build and share levels over PSN, using our level editor.

Soundtrack by CoLD SToRAGE, famed for his work on Wipeout/Lemmings etc.

PSP:

• 40 Single player levels (Inc secret ones)
• 5 Major Boss Battles
• 4 Special weapons
• 3 weapon upgrades
• Extra single player modes – TBA
• And other surprises – TBA

Make sure you continue to check back here for more updates on both Gravity Crash for the PS3 and Gravity Crash PSP. Talk to you soon!