Hi

I've been thinking about this for months but I made the decision... I'm not going to be adding big changes or big upgrades to Dogfight any more. I will be working on the next version of Dogfight as a new game, probably Dogfight 2.

And you may ask why not just update the current version as you've done all these years?

Well, although I actually prefer to keep upgrading the current version, it creates several problems.

1) The current version of Dogfight runs on really really really old phones. This means that if I add new stuff like the trees, or storms or much better graphics, an iPhone 6 will display them while an iPhone 3gs will not display any of that. It creates several problems because people see trees and crashes onto them, while others see no tree and fly next to the ground without a problem.

It is also really hard to maintain. I have to refrain from adding new things because I will break on older phones and meanwhile I have to double and triple check everything from old phones and new phones. It's very time consuming.

2) The current system doesn't allow me to add really big changes without a fight. Many times I see requests for very cool stuff that I want to add, or maybe requests to change how the current airplanes behave, or remove x or y plane and replace it with something new. Then, if I do that, I get the other half of the players saying that they are used to the old system and why should I change it when they are already good at it. It creates a bit of a conflict.

Having version 2 of Dogfight, i'm free to add anything because it won't impact in a serious way Dogfight 1, so if people like the older system, they keep playing it, if they prefer the new system, just get the other version of the game.

3) I want to add some pretty cool stuff. I don't want to make public of the changes I have in mind but some things should be pretty cool for everyone. Unfortunately those things won't run on an Samsung Galaxy s2, and adding it on the current version would throw out lot of players that would not be able to update with their current phone. Technology has also advanced significantly and it requires a new version to show it off.

Lastly, I'm sure one question will be: what about subscriptions and existing players?
The idea is that the accounts will be interlinked between different versions of the game so you don't have to register twice but the payment system is always linked by the store to each game. So you pick the game version that you like most, and you subscribe to that one. Some will prefer Dogfight 1, some will prefer Dogfight 2. Up to you. The idea is that Dogfight 2 will have everything on Dogfight 1 plus all improvements and changes.

Obviously Dogfight 1 will continue to be upgraded for a while for any critical bugs that are found, just that the big efforts are going to be directed to the next big upgrade of Dogfight.

When will Dogfight 2 come out? My aim is to have the first release published on mid April. It will be lacking lot of the planed features but it will give you an idea of what's coming.