Gains! (in efficiency)

By Jack Basford
Last updated: Fri, 10 Jul 2015 20:57

Our current work in all areas has revolved around efficiency gains, an area in which we have made huge improvements with the new platform. (If you're wondering why Arnie is accompanying this article, 'Gains' is a bodybuilding term for muscle growth or strength).

Web and mobile app gains

The new web app runs extremely well in mobile browsers, especially on devices running Android 4.4+ or iOS8. The default browser in Android 4.3 below uses a less efficient rendering engine, so I’ve spent a lot of my time recently optimising the experience on those devices, with great results. My personal phone is using Android 4.3 (a Samsung S3 – I really should upgrade) and it runs well on there.

That performance didn’t come without a lot of hard work, though. There are so many quirks to making a website run well in older mobile browsers. It reminds me of the days when websites had to be built to run in Internet Explorer 6 on desktops (website developers will know what I mean). Supporting a wide range of devices with different screen sizes, operating systems and rendering engines is a challenge, but one we are relishing in developing the new web app and mobile app.

Pings and loading times

In the spirit of motorsport, we’ve been working to shave every millisecond off of loading times. As a result, on desktops pages load without delay. We've rewritten the networking code behind the service to reduce instances of lag to a minimum. After successful patches for preventing downtime several months ago, these new updates will improve pings across the service and reduce the chances of experiencing any lag during a live race. We’ve also improved the CPU / RAM performance of the service behind iGP Manager by 20% in the last few weeks alone (which means we’ll be able to support more live races).

Service changes

What will be most noticeable though, are the major gameplay changes coming in these updates. We are still targeting the release of the web app on igpmanager.com by October, followed by a mobile app release later in the year. There will also be some dramatic changes to the gameplay experience in these updates, particularly for free users. This will make it much easier to introduce friends, family and colleagues to iGP and keep them engaged.

More will be published on that and the coming gameplay changes nearer to launch. I appreciate that most people will want more details on gameplay changes now. But we’ve learned from experience that it is best not to go making announcements too far in advance of finalising everything. We also would like these updates to be a nice surprise for everyone who has supported us over the years. Feel free to speculate in the comments!

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iGP Developer Blog

The latest news about technical and gameplay developments on iGP Manager
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Jamie R 8 years 205 days ago
Screen shots?? Its time for releases :D

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Ignatius Corleone 8 years 215 days ago
Awesome news
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iGP Staff Jack Basford 8 years 215 days ago
Hopefully. I'd like to include more screenshots in the next blog post and some things need a little polish before they can be captured.
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Ignatius Corleone 8 years 218 days ago
Another blog post coming soon yes ? :D
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iGP Staff Jack Basford 8 years 242 days ago
Practice laps should be included in the big update, Ryder. We are aiming to include them.
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Ryder Smith 8 years 243 days ago
Just waiting to see when the practice laps Simulation comes in hand.
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iGP Staff Jack Basford 8 years 260 days ago
@Alex - I prefer not to go back, and forget that browser ever existed! :D
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iGP Staff Jack Basford 8 years 260 days ago
@Tohru - the app won't require use of the camera, so you should be safe. Out of interest, which device is that?
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Alex Gillon 8 years 262 days ago
Oh god, IE6... It's always hilarious going back now and seeing a completely different website to the one you built!! xD
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Tohru Rokuno 8 years 262 days ago
Please don't make the app require cameras. I have an inexpensive Android tablet that can't use a lot of apps because it lacks a rear-facing camera.
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