The Ra update (1.4) is available on the app store, but you may need to search for it and then download it that way. It's not showing up as an update yet. Anyway, I have 1.4 installed and want to test this out with anyone up for testing it out who also has (or gets) 1.4! I'm user "crunc" on OpenFeint. Send me a game request, or PM me here and we'll coordinate.
The out of the gate impression hasn't exactly been positive. Two invites received, two accepted. Both times Ra crashed back to the springboard. It did seem to work - when I started it back up the games were ready. Also the game icon doesn't get badged, which is a problem. The game Disc Drivin' has the same issue and it leads to ongoing games getting forgotten. EDIT: another issue. If a game is "Waiting for Start", if you tap the "View" button, Ra hangs. I had to force it to quit and then was able to repeat the problem.
It appears there is still a glaring issue with the online. I have verified with a couple people on 1.4 as well as myself and we are still failing to get anywhere with multi player. 1st time it failed at end of first Epoch. 2nd time it failed on setting up new game and now it failed in a 3 person game after we each took 2 turns in the first epoch.
Reiner Knizia's Ra-ten? It is apparent that someone, somewhere, does not understand the significance of the hand-rays in Egyptian mythology. As one of the main symbols of Aten, they really have nothing to do with Ra. "Prince of Egypt" (the movie) made the same mistake. Well, that's my pet peeve out of the way. I liked Samurai so I think I shall get this one.
We're still working on GameCenter support, but needed to fix some of the other issues first (accidentally broke OS 3.1.3 support, etc.) The continued OF multiplayer issues are baffling and frustrating. We tested the hell out of the update and yet people are reporting issues right away again. We're looking at whether this might have to do with an incompatibility with the last version or some problem with not really starting with a "fresh" game. Hopefully most of you will have the good results we've had in testing, and our apologies for any remaining issues. The other options we are looking at are switching completely to GameCenter multiplayer (since we're already adding support anyway) or developing our own multiplayer system. We thought the latter would take time away from bringing more games out, but so far OF has been way more trouble than it has been worth. As always, we keep learning, improving, and striving to bring you the best possible games. Thanks for your patience and support.
I have verified that my opponent had 1.4 as do I and that I have deleted the app, reinstalled, reverified and started fresh game. Still having issues getting anywhere in the multiplayer. Its random issues too. This time it was the 3rd round of the first epoch and it ended the turn took my tiles as if its the end of the epoch then told me it was my turn again over and over.
I've been wondering if the problems we're having are OF related. Like when testing it works fine because you're the only ones using it, then when opened up to the world maybe all hell breaks loose. Pure, uneducated speculation, of course. I don't know, but I vote for dumping OF anyway. Gamecenter or your own system. Also, the game will really benefit from having in-game chat. Having to go into the OF screens just to type a message is a major nuisance. Plus the darn thing doesn't support auto-correct/capitalization. I know auto-correct gets a lot of flack, but I find typing without it to be a major pain in the arse. The occasional mis-correction is no comparison to the aggravation of trying to type without it. Of course this is secondary to getting a working online system, but should be developed into it at the same time I'm sure.
Work-around? We think this lingering issue may be related to having the in-game status messages on. Those are the ones that say things like "You may bid on the tiles." We always have these turned off now to speed up testing and playing, but that obviously was a mistake! If you are having problems, please try turning those messages off from the Options menu. If you still have problems, let us know. In the meantime, we will continue working on a solution for what we hope will really be the last of the problems with OpenFeint multiplayer!
Anyone here still playing this? Is the online multiplayer fixed? I'd love to get a game going with forum members if it is. I'm Nafkert on OpenFeint.
I own the actual board game and it is awesome but I honestly haven't played this in ages. I just wish they would update it with Game Center support, I don't understand if games like Carcassonne, Samurai, or Ascension can nail online so well they can't get half decent online in Ra. If this had good online not only would I be playing it far more but I'd recommend it constantly.
I believe Ascension and Carcassonne both use GC for friends lists, though. Not sure how that integrates with their online solution. I know in Carcassonne I have both GC friends and friends pre-GC.
Version 1.5 was approved yesterday, switching to Game Center for online multiplayer (at last, full support for 2 to 5 players!), leaderboards, and achievements. Happy holidays and happy gaming!
