Tiny Tower Update 1.2.1

Tiny Tower has released its new update yesterday. This new update has provided a few more perks for the Tiny Tower players. The most obvious one is to increase the probability that lift riders tip Bux for the players. Well by now the Tiny Tower players will have known the importance of Bux to the game play - increase coins, instant sock re-stock, find new Bitizens etc.

But there are also other useful perks from Tiny Tower 1.2.1. The ability to sort Bitizens will make it a lot easier for re-assignment of Bitizens to the correct shops. Often, when we get new Bitizens, we have to compare their usefulness before we decide to keep or evict them. Now these comparisons can be made wih a touch of the button, and the Bitizens will be sort according to their rank points in each of the category, or according to their 'happiness'.

Just in case this has not occur to the players of Tiny Tower, the ability to rename shops will actually take away some pain for players when they need to find a particular Bitizen. Often times, the similarity of looks between Bitizens consume much precious time to find them. Now, players can just rename the shops, e.g. use the initials of the 3 Bitizens manning the shops (or other short forms) and viola, the Bitizens can be found, even when they are 'hiding' by the right side of the shops.

I was sort of hoping that Nimblebits can improve the interactivity between players of Tiny Tower in its updates. Perhaps there could be some form of competition (other than achievements and rankings) or even collaboration (e.g. can I lend coins to other Tiny Tower players, in exchange for interest?) that will encourage me to add friends to the Tiny Tower game. Well next time I guess.

Related posts:

- Tiny Tower Achievements

- iPhone Tiny Tower - Shops & Stocks
- Tiny Tower - Diary of a Bitizen

Tiny Tower Achievements

One of the fun part of playing a 'farming' game like Tiny Tower is the list of 'Achievements' within the game. From the Game Centre, there is a list of about 47 Tiny Tower Achievements (see list below). I've only had 6 achievements in Tiny Tower so far.

1. Triskaidekaphobia: Build 13 floors. (10 pts)  Done
2. First Quarter: Build 25 floors. (30 pts)  Done
3. Five Oh: Build 50 floors. (50 pts) Done 20 July
   
4. Cloud Topper: Build 100 floors. (100 pts)

1. Tiny Village: Have 15 residents. (10 pts)  Done
2. Tiny Town: Have 50 residents. (30 pts)  Done
3. Tiny City: Have 100 residents. (50 pts) Done
   

1. Pizza Roll: Fully stock a Pizza Place & Bakery. (10 pts)
2. Funny Money: Fully stock a Comedy Club & Bank. (10 pts)
3. Sub Par: Fully stock a Sub Shop & Mini Golf. (10 pts)
4. Say Cheese: Fully stock a Dentists Office & Photo Studio. (10 pts)
5. iGlass: Fully stock a Mapple Store & Glass Studio. (10 pts)
6. Dance Fever: Fully stock a Night Club & Doctors Office. (10 pts)
7. Book Worm: Fully stock a Book Store & Plant Nursery. (10 pts)
8. Field Trip: Fully stock a Tutoring Center & Museum. (10 pts)
9. Fish Tacos: Fully stock an Aquarium & Mexican Food. (10 pts)
10. Blockbuster: Fully stock a Cineplex & Video Rental. (10 pts)
11. Keep Rollin: Fully stock a Bike Shop & Bowling Alley. (10 pts)
12. Something's Brewin: Fully stock a Coffee House & Soda Brewery. (10 pts) Done (11 July)
    
13. Bar Fight: Fully stock a Pub & Martial Arts. (10 pts)
14. Fortune Cookie: Fully stock a Fortune Teller & Asian Cuisine. (10 pts)  Done
15. Decked Out: Fully stock a Mens Fashion & Hat Shop. (10 pts)
16. Fashionista: Fully stock a Fashion Studio & Womens Fashion. (10 pts)
17. Nerd Alert: Fully stock a Comic Store & Arcade. (10 pts)
18. Stellar Record: Fully stock a Planetarium & Record Shop. (10 pts)
19. Dirty Laundry: Fully stock a Laundromat & Private Eye. (10 pts)
20. Desserted: Fully stock a Cake Studio & Scoops. (10 pts)
21. Cold Medicine: Fully stock a Frozen Yogurt & Pharmacy. (10 pts)
22. Spike in Sales: Fully stock a Volleyball Club & Ad Agency. (10 pts)
23. Fat Quarter: Fully stock a Health Club & Fabric Shop. (10 pts)
24. Cut an Album: Fully stock a Barber Shop & Recording Studio. (10 pts)
25. Bet the Pot: Fully stock a Casino & Pottery Studio. (10 pts)
26. Printer Ink: Fully stock a Print & Ship & Tattoo Parlor. (10 pts)
27. Green Screen: Fully stock a Vegan Food & Film Studio. (10 pts)
28. Joystick Junkie: Fully stock a Game Studio & Game Store. (10 pts)
29. R&R: Fully stock a Day Spa & Travel Agency. (10 pts) Done (11 July)
    
30. Oakinawa: Fully stock a Wood Shop & Sushi Bar. (10 pts) Done (20 July)
    
31. Tea Square: Fully stock a Tea House & Architect Office. (10 pts)
32. Code Freeze: Fully stock a Software Studio & Smoothie Shop. (10 pts)
33. Please Be Seated: Fully stock a Theatre & Wedding Chapel. (10 pts)
34. An Eye for Art: Fully stock a Optometrist & Art Studio. (10 pts)
35. Burger Bytes: Fully stock a Sky Burger & Cyber Cafe. (10 pts)
36. Designer Shoes: Fully stock a Graphic Design & Shoe Store. (10 pts)  Done
37. Musical Chairs: Fully stock a Music Store & Furniture Store. (10 pts)
38. Nice Shot: Fully stock a Paintball Arena & Racquetball. (10 pts)
39. Rags to Riches: Fully stock a Diner & Fancy Cuisine. (10 pts)
40. Amusements: Fully stock a Toy Store & Tech Store. (10 pts)

Judging from the list, that means I can build about 80 different stores? That means I will need 80 x 3 Bitizens which translate to 48 (80 x 3 / 5) floors of Residential levels. So I guess it is Tiny Tower - Game Complete upon hitting a total of 1 Lobby + 48 Residentials + 80 Stores = 129 levels. Wow, 129 levels in Tiny Tower!

See also:

- iPhone Tiny Tower - Shops & Stocks
- Tiny Tower Update 1.2.1
- Tiny Tower - Diary of a Bitizen 

iPhone Tiny Tower - Shops & Stocks

Tiny Tower is a big hit on the iPhone apps store, and I am sure many gamers out there have already read reviews or even try the game out. Well, an addictive game is what one would expect from NimbleBit, who developed the Pocket Frogs.

For those gamers who are playing Tiny Tower, I've compiled a list of the shops (non exhaustive), and more importantly, the snapshots of the stocks in the shops. By now, those who are playing the game would know the importance of the stocks (stocking time and quantity) on coins and level  / VIP management. Using a Big Spender VIP on shops with a large quantity of stocks will help to earn coins much faster. .

Food - Asian Cuisine, Coffee House, Scoops, Sub Shop, Sushi Bar

Service - Barber Shop, Day Spa, Fortune Teller, Health Club, Laundromat,

Recreation - Arcade, Bowling Alley, Comedy Club, Night Club, Planetarium, Racquetball

Retail - Bike Shop, Furniture Store, Game Store, Hat Shop, Shoe Store, Toy Store

Creative - Graphic Design, Photo Studio, Soda Brewery

I'm not sure how many different stores there are in Tiny Tower, but gauging from the unsatisfied dream jobs of the Bitizens, I'm quite sure there are many other shops. Well, when I have more levels in Tiny Tower with more shops, perhaps I can update this blog post again.

See also:
- Tiny Tower Achievements
- Tiny Tower Update 1.2.1
- Tiny Tower - Diary of a Bitizen 

ICANN - Singapore & New Domain Names

The ICANN meeting had ended in Singapore last week, and the decisions made in this little island nation would have great impact on our global village.

The biggest impact is the introduction of new domain names, both the internationalised versions and more importantly the new gTLDs (generic Top Level Domains). Currently there are about 22 gTLDs, which include .com, .net, .org, .gov etc. Internet users are well used to such gTLDs in additional to country specific TLDs, e.g. .sg, .uk and so on.

The introduction of new gTLDs will have great consequences for Internet users. Primarily the concerns will be:

Confusion & Security Issues

Internet users will need to be accustomed with the new gTLDs when websites offer their services under the new gTLDs. There will be confusion. For example, should Yahoo obtain their own .yahoo domain, should an Yahoo email user in Singapore give his email as xxx@yahoo.com.sg (which is the current situation) or xxx@yahoo or would there be new variants e.g. xxx@mail.yahoo? These different variants will create possibilities for phishing scams if the websites do not manage their consumer education properly.

Intellectual Property - Trademark & such

Beyond security, there will be trademark issues between websites with confusingly similar names. While this issue exists currently, the magnitude is amplified when companies in different countries have to 'fight' for their trademark in the new gTLDs arena. These companies may be contented with their current country specific domain names, but they will have issues when the gTLDs are introduced. Don't believe me? Try typing in flower.com, flower.com.sg, flower.com.my, flower.co.uk and you will go to websites of different companies. If they are all fighting for the .flower gTLDs, who should ICANN give this domain to? 

Thus, would ICANN be the WIPO equivalent for Internet domain names, i.e. setting trademark equivalent framework for domain names? Interesting...

Costs for the new gTLDs

Of course, the issues above will not be apparent for the next couple of years. The reason is simple - cost. ICANN has set very high entry barrier for anyone to apply for the new gTLDs. The first step for ICANN to evaluate the application of gTLDs will be a whopping USD$185,000. Anyone who want their own new gTLDs will of course have to spend more than that amount overall. Thus I believe only limited number of companies will embark on this new route within the next few years. By 'limited' on a global basis, perhaps we are looking at a few hundreds in year 1.

Well, what will the new domain names be? For a start I believe Google, Yahoo, Apple, Nokia, IBM and other companies in the technology space will clamour for the new bragging rights. We will all know by 2012, when ICANN opens the application period (Jan to Apr 2012) for the new gTLDs.

Trade Nations - Building a Citadel without using Magic Beans

The Citadel is the latest 'castle' building in the Trade Nations game. It is also the most resource consuming building to build in the game so far! The option to build the Citadel is made available once the player reaches level 30 in the Trade Nations. However, it took me a long period (about 3 game levels) to accumulate the resources sufficient to build this enormous building.

A player will need 500,000 gold, 50,000 lumber, 75000 cut stones and 30,000 cloth to build the citadel. Of course, there is much satisfaction (and also experience to level up in Trade Nations) once the Citadel is built. I leveled up to 34 immediately upon building the Citadel. It is fun to see the little red Citadel icon when I logged into the Trade Nations.

I built the citadel without using any magic beans, and the solution is quite simple actually. Just build a lot of 'Large Stockpile' to store all the necessary resources. Whenever there are any excesses, just sell them (when the price is right) in the market. Activate the magic tower to accelerate the resource accumulation in the mean time. 

So yupz, the Citadel is yours to have soon enough in Trade Nations. Hopefully they don't introduce yet another mega building - I need time to replenish my resources and complete the other interesting buildings.

See also:

- iPad - Trade Nations: Review & Guide Part 1

- iPad - Trade Nations: Review & Guide Part 2
- Trade Nations 3.3 - Far East Additions

World IPv6 Day - 8 June 2011

The news reported that World IPv6 Day (8 June 2011) passed without too much problems (Facebook has a short glitch I heard). I guess it's not so for me, despite the fact that  there is no participants from my country.  Not sure how the glitch for me came about. At 3am (GMT + 8 timing), my Internet access was lost and I couldn't get it up. Of course I went to sleep shortly after.

Guess whatever problems there might have been had been resolved and Internet access is fine now.

For those who are interested in the entire day event for World IPv6 Day, Ars Technica has a good writeup about it.

iPad - Trade Nations: Review & Guide Part 2

After Part 1 of the iPad Trade Nations Guide, here is the Part 2:

Build Menu

Under the Build menu, i.e. the hammer icon, a player can choose to build buildings, decorations, castle or to expand his land. Various description and information of the buildings / deco are available by clicking the small little 'i' circle. There are decorations which add to the gold and experience gained. Often these additions are in small amount, i.e. <1% to a few %. Some decorations, especially those purchased with magic beans, can have much more pronounced effect.

Shops come in different varieties. Some shops, e.g. the stalls selling fruits, meat etc need a villager to man it and no resources are required (wonder how they get their fruits and fishes). Other shops, e.g. Pubs, Carpenter, Baker do not need villagers as staff, but they will consume resources instead.

Personally I don't think the percentage boost is not as critical as managing the different goods production, i.e. a player in Trade Nations can level up and gain gold more easily by managing the goods production in his shops.

The keep / castle buildings are often the most expensive to build. For example, the current most expensive Citadel will need 500,000 gold, 50,000 lumber, 30,000 cloth, and 75,000 cut stones! These expensive advancements are needed in order to build other buildings.

The other expensive item to 'build' is the land expansion option. At some point players in Trade Nations will run out of space to put new buildings and decorations. There are current 9 land expansion stages. Resources are not needed for land expansion but he gold required is significantly more than the Keep / Castle selections. For example, 'Increase Land 8' option will cost the players 1.5 million gold!

Among the newer buildings and decorations available, those in the Carnival category are interesting. Trade Nations introduced them as a mean to liven up those little towns and villages that players are building. So players can have Theatre, clown, Big Top and many little carnival tents. These buildings seem to add more gold and experience faster than the traditional shops.

 

Market & Trade

Last but not least, Trade Nations has an innovative world wide 'market' function. When players produced too many resources to keep in the storage, it is profitable to sell them at the market. Click on the picture below to get a sense of the buying and selling prices of the different resources.

Here's a personal tip: buying and selling of resources from the market can yield great golds for the smart players in Trade Nations. For example, cut stones can be bought from as low as 220 gold for 100 cut stones, but it can be sold subsequently for near to 300 gold! So if a player has more space for storage, buying and selling of these resources will be worth the effort. 

The trade cycle in the market is not refreshed in real time, i.e. prices do not change instantly. Thus this means that when prices are high or low, the player could sell or buy respectively in infinite amount, barring the capacity of the storage.

Trade Nations is a fun game on the iPad platform. It is somewhat therapeutic to see the little villagers moving about in the town you created. Decorations and the buildings help to keep a flavour that reminded me of the story of Jack and Beanstalk somehow. The amount of time spent for Trade Nations is not all consuming, unlike other games with conquest elements. Thus overall Trade Nations is one of those games that keep the players coming back, and is worth your time to give it a try (if you have not).

See also:
- iPad - Trade Nations: Review & Guide Part 1
- Trade Nations - Building a Citadel without using Magic Beans
- Trade Nations 3.3 - Far East Additions