Digital documentation

Introduction
Welcome to the User Assistance Guide for the whack-a-mole game, version 0.1.3.
In this guide we will be going over some points that will help explain to you what the game is all about. We will go over specifications, features, Future content and the development software used to create the final package.
As it stands, the game is essentailly kept as close to the original as we could get it. We wanted to develop the game so that people would recognise key features in the game they know from childhood fairground trips. Once this underlying theme was established, we decided to add certian features that we felt would increase our fanbase and ultimately profit margines.

Specifications
As it stands, this game will initially be released for the iPhone. We hope to have it ready for distribution by late january. Upon its release we will monitor the sales over a 6 month period and if the data comes back as a success, we will look into developing this game further for other phone operating systems, and possibly other game platforms, such as the Nintendo DS, negotiations will begin upon the evaluation of the data we collect. There is also the prospect of developing the game further and making it more indepth.
Currently we are developing this game to work with version 3.0 of the iPhone OS, but it will be compatible with all future releases of the iPhone operating system, such as version 3.1 which has already been released.

Features
We looked for inspiration in existing games and noticed that some of the popular games had 'power-ups' and 'power downs' We took this onboard and created a small story as to why these extra items would be used. In short, the game revolves around a collection of moles who have invaded a farmers land, and began stealing some of his posessions. There is a random chance, some lower than others, of these items popping out of a hole in the place of a mole. Hitting these objects will either reduce, or increase your time, score or any other variable we implement in future. In addition to this we have implimented a high scores system, where the game aranges your scores in ascending order. This will surely spark healthy competition between friends and further grow our fanbase. Further more, we have included a system where an animated cursor changes between different tools that you select prior to playing the game. This is a really interesting and unique addition, because while conducting our research we did not encounter a game with a similar system. Finally, we have included a difficulty setting, to introduce a more challenging aspect to the game, and encourage players to push themselves further.

Progression
With regards to the game as it stands, even though it currently has alot of fun and unique features, we feel the finished product should have so much more. And for this, we plan on implimenting several extra features to keep the player gripped into the game. For starters, we plan on introducing alot more key animations and 'power' items into the game, just to make it more asthetically interesting. Also an option to change sounsd that are in the game is being looked at. For example, we could even allow the players themselves to record a sound and attatch it into the game. We really want to push for the idea of multiplayer gaming, a head to head competition as such. We believe that getting more people involved this way would enrich the gaming experience for all players. This can be done via Wi-fi that the iPhone has built in. Another interesting feature that we want to include is an Online database for the high scores. This feature would be very interesting because we believe that a high score table on your phone can only push competitive players so far. If there was a permanent online record for submitted scores, we believe we could again generate a bigger fanbase. Also, currently the difficulty setting is just temporary. As it stands, it simply decreases your total time allowed playing, and reduces it in bigger amounts, as it gets harder. The final version will have this, but also award more points and harsher penalties as the difficulty rises. The items/moles will also jump up at faster incriments, and more numerously. We are doing this to encourage people to work towards a goal, and award the more skilful players with a greater challenge. There is so much we want to do for this and we feel that it would be a very successful adition to the game industry.

Development kit
The software that will be used to develop the final product will be the iPhone SDK(Software Development Kit). It is used for a variety of applications that the iPhone uses. It was released in 2008, and allowed thrid party developers to create applications for the iphone and ipod touch. The SDK is free for developing software and testing it in a working environment, but to distribute the application to actual devices, developers will need to pay a fee. Developers are then able to set any price for their software via the apps store, above a set minimum, and will recieve 70% of the sale price. There is also an option to release the software as freeware, but still requires a membership fee to host the program. In addition to this, there are no hosting or marketing fees for your software.
The SDK is to be used on any Mac computer, and there are also several official Development resources accessable via the Apple website.
The tools that come with the SDK are as follows.

Xcode - The underlying programming tool in which you build your applications from.

iPhone simulator - This is an emulation tool where you are able to test the finished product in its entirety. A powerful tool for testing and debugging your programs.

Instruments - This tool is used to collect and compare preformance data in real time for your application development.

Interface builder - Exactly what it sais on the tin. This tool is used for building user interfaces. Working in a similar way to Dreamweaver, simple drag and drop assebly.