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
Thank you for adding content to this game. I got it during the cyber sale over the summer and played for a while but recently I have been focused on getting some trophies. Now I can do both. And best of all thanks for making this a free update!! I love free:)
And sorry but by releasing this and even announcing it like you have with no response as to whether it was released in the EU or not until after the update. Doing that is forgetting the EU. You completely ignored one of your largest markets. I hope you are all happy you got money off another sucker expecting what was stated!
Is there a time when this update will be available? Or is it gonna be in the store when it updates later today?? cant wait
I’m still waiting Hmmm! Just like HOME !!
Thank you Team RamRod!!! This is exactly what this game needed! Looking forward to online play with all my buds!
Hi team,
I don’t know if you’ll read all the posts up to this point but if you do, you will be pleased to know that you’ve earned by money with this effort.
I like bowling games but didn’t want to bite on HVB because I thought it just didn’t have enough. That has changed…kudos to your team!
May I suggest releasing a demo as well, they really help sell games IMO. Give people a taste :)
Sorry, but SCE treat PAL gamers like complete crap, day in, day out. We pay more for everything. We buy more of everything. We are the PS3’s most successful region. And yet we wait for everything.
You could have held back the US release (no-one would have known) until all versions of the update were ready. Or you could easily release it in English-speaking countries only. The least you could have done was post the SCEA-only point in the original post.
We waited six months after the US for the game in the first place. Please don’t repeat that mistake.
It isn’t an excuse that HVB in EU can’t be released at the same time as US because of multiple languages? Updates like burnout, warhawk etc came the same time as US version.
Not impressed
Woo hoo! It’s up and running!
I keep getting stuck when I start a online game , it freezes with Challenge accepted!
Help ?
For the third time now , it just don’t let me play online. Could it be because I’m from EU ?
Remember, guys, it’s not just the spoken language that poses a problem, but also coding and standards for other nations and their online issues.
Such as with websites you can’t expect it to look and act the same across the world. You have to take time to tweak it for each part of the world for it to do what it’s supposed to do, for everyone!
Oops, Also . . .
So is the update out yet . . . ? haha I was expecting another blog announcing it :)
Oops again, sheesh, they need an edit button. Nevermind I see it’s out ;)
Jamtastic! this game is great but I did all there was to do in it, now I have a reason to go back!
also love it as a party game, hope to see more updates!
It’d be great to get an in depth character creation mode for this game, it’d push it over the edge into pure awesomeness.
Hi, I don’t get prompted to download the patch :'( Is it because I live in Australia?
Gawd! The patch is awesome! And this time custom soundtrack is accessible through the XMB. I think this is the first game that utilizes that feature. You need to turn off voice chat though.
@ all you overseas gamers (EU, AUS, Etc.)
You shouldn’t complain so much about getting updates late. You should know by now that’s the way things work. We wait forever for games to come here from Japan and sometimes games get released in the EU sooner than the US. That’s just the way things work. If some companies are able to make it happen good for them but you can’t expect every company to have the same capabilities.
And by the way this issue was addressed in post 106. I know its not the answer you were expecting but you guys are definately not being ignored.
Thank god an update and a dam good update at that I think you guys should create a High Velocity Home space.
@flexito
why can’t we complain? We deserve to get everything at the same time as you lot do, especially game updates. I can understand things being a week later over here – but some games take months to arrive for no reason at all (SCEE say it’s translation, but they may not have noticed we speak the same language).
I expect this update soon, as I cant think of a reason why we cant have it!
Like a previous poster, online play seems to be broken for me. I continue to hang up once i’ve accepted a challenge. I was able to connect for my first game, but now have to restart my system. My stats bear this out as i’ve forfeited four or five matches now.
Great update, but I seem to be having problems.
Once my PS3 froze up when playing online.
Another time I was swinging my arm for my last frame bowl and I got a message that popped up, “You network connection is unstable” That made me SO MAD!
Lastly, I don’t think the stats are updating correctly. I checked my stats and they said I had bowled 10 games (I know I have bowled way more than that online) I played one game and checked that stats again… It stiil said I had bowled 10 games.
Please fix this!
Thanks for the free update – online play should be a great addition to the title.
The one feature I’d really like to see, though, is support for more than 1 axis of the ps3 pad’s motion detection. It would be so much more fun to be able to control the ball’s spin by twisting your hand whilst bowling rather than having to use the finger buttons.
Is there any chance of another patch to add this feature? (It seems like this should be a pretty easy change to make, and you could make it optional for those who prefer the existing method).
Cheers,
DD
Masterted11,
This is happening to me as well. My stats are not updating. I have easily played multiple games, more than 5. And I have gotten more than 10 strikes. It’s really frustrating when you play to increase your rating only to find you’re stuck at 1500.
Please tell me that someone is aware of this issue and is looking into a solution.
Just double checked to make sure and I am 110% sure my stats are not updating and everything is stuck at where its at!
How the hell can I get all of the trophy’s if my stats won’t update!!!
Hello everyone,
After reviewing your posts, we are currently investigating the issue with HVB Stats not being updated. At this time we do not know the exact cause, or if it is affecting everyone.
The HVB team would like to apologize for the inconvenience, and we hope to have this issue resolved as soon as possible.
Thank you for your patience.
Mike
Yeah, I too am having the stats problem! Any ETA for a fix? I am re-addicted to HVB! My son and I have been battling each other since the new patch came out! GREAT JOB Team RamRod, I’d like a large Farva.
Mr. Skinner, if it helps I have multiple accounts on my PS3. 1 of them the stats have froze after the 1st online session. The other is fine and stats update fine. Just to let you know it seems to be random PSN ids and not related to certain consoles that downloaded the patch.
BTW, we do appreciate you guys keeping an old game alive, it’s one of the few family friendly games out there that is a blast to play. Also, a rematch option for online play would be great, thanks.
Hey Mike, any word on when the update will be coming to Australia and other places?
Hey. was wondering when or if the update for HVB will arive in europe? anyone know enything about this?
yeah my online stats don’t save either, sucks that all the trophies are for online play.
No doubt. I just bought the game yesterday and it’s not updating anything for me either. This is another reason digital downloads will never replace physical media. No refunds.
great game and a great update, but…
I just want to add to the list of stats not updating. I’ve tried at various times and various plays (if the other player had a rank or not. If the player had a higher ranking than I, or not), but still no updates to my stats. Which kind of stinks, I would have all the trophies by now.
Not trying to complain, just hoping that hopefully some of this information may help. Oh and BTW, I’m using an 80gb MGS bundle PS3.
I have been playing the game lately and it has not been adding my stats to my profile and i was just wandering whats going on because im not getting my wins,strikes,or my pins knocked down and i cant get the trophies with out them. Please let me know something soon because i love this game.
Could you give us fellow europeans an update on our patch,and will it come this or next month?
Thank-You great update,
Now if only saves weren’t copy prohibited then I would have lost switching PS3’s. Why of why do game dev’s make saves I can’t backup. Its cruel, mean, and sinister. Not much disappoints me when buying a good game with replay value and unlocks then being unable to backup and transfer save data between my multiple PS3’s.
Those of us that work for a company that works 24/7/365 all have these kind of weekends. I’m sure you guys will walk in Monday after working all weekend and finally be able to resolve the problem.
It is a huge problem. I got 7 trophies on Friday night. Stats have not updated Sat. or Sun. nights.
Good Luck! We’re all patiently waiting!
@Mike
I just want to reiterate that my PS3 freezes when attempting to connect to another player. Specifically, it occurs on the screen after a challenge being accepted by both parties. I know the game has frozen once the bowling balls stop moving across the graphic. My only option at this point is to press the power ‘button’ for several seconds until the system shuts down. This pretty much ruins my HVB online experience.
I’m running a first generation PS3 (60g) with the current system software (2.5something) and am on a wifi connection.
Thanks for reading.
rynedee
Yeah. Also noticed my rank not updating througout the weekend and have not been able to move off Rank 1600. I hope it’s sorted out soon. :)
Stats are not updating for me either. I just downloaded this yesterday, BTW, and love it. Great use of $10
Still stuck at 1385….no stat updating for me too….
Stats are not updating for me … :(
no stat updates for me either. may not be the best player on here but I should have had a few more trophies by now.
just wondering what is happening….
I have also been experiencing a problem with stat tracking. I played 3 or 4 games on Saturday, then played another game yesterday. At the end of each game, it says my rating should be somewhere around 1660, but when I check the stats it’s frozen at 1500. Oddly enough, I’ve got the trophy for getting an over 1600 rating, but the rating itself doesn’t reflect this. I’ve also got the “win 1 game” and “score 180 or higher” trophies…and that’s it. I should have all of the bronze trophies by now, but I don’t.
There are people on my friends list who do have all of the bronze trophies, so it seems to be working for certain people.
If it helps, I have a 60 GB PS3 from November 2006, firmware 2.50, Wi-Fi connection, with only one user account that’s ever been on the system.
I just played three straight games online but didn’t get the trophy. Is there something I’m not doing correctly?
Hello HVB fans,
As most of our readers know by now, the statistics tracking for online HVB games seem to have stopped updating for many of you. Team RamRod is taking this very seriously, and we have been grinding away trying to pin down the problem. Late this afternoon, things started to look up, and we believe we have found the problem on our servers. We are currently preparing a new update that should resolve the issue, but we will need at least another day to test it internally before we can let it loose. If all goes well on Tuesday, we might be able to host the update as early as Wednesday morning.
On behalf of Team RamRod, I just want to thank everyone for being so patient while we resolve some of these HVB online growing pains. Hopefully we will have everything back to normal within a few days, and we can all continue to enjoy an evening on the lanes!
Thank you.
Mike
Don’t worry! Thanks for your rapidity! I just wait this update to continue to play online!
Thanks!
@ Mike Skinner,
Thanks for the update!
I’m really digging the online play. So much replay value.
I think it would be great to be able to invite people from Home who may not have the Game. Kind of like the Game sharing on the PSP.
It would be great to get others into the Game. Even if it was limited access since I know Sony would obviously like to sell the game.
I think this should also be done for Little Big Planet. Have a Level or two that you can invite people from Home or the XMB in for a Sample of LBP, which is my new obsession.