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	<title>Noble Master Developer's Blog</title>
	<link>http://blog.noblemaster.com</link>
	<description>Noble Games, Entertainment and More...</description>
	<lastBuildDate>Thu, 02 Sep 2010 08:04:36 +0000</lastBuildDate>
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	<language>en</language>
	
	<item>
		<title>Age of Conquest: Editor &#8211; Beta Release!</title>
		<description><![CDATA[A beta version of the Age of Conquest Map Editor has been released! The editor features the full map editing functionality. The editor also includes and a map upload &#38; download system. Submit your creations now!
Visit the Age of Conquest Modding Discussions &#38; Workshop forum on the Multiplayer Hub for download and information.
]]></description>
		<link>http://blog.noblemaster.com/2010/09/01/age-of-conquest-editor-beta-release/</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>Star Rating Panel for Java Swing</title>
		<description><![CDATA[I couldn&#8217;t find a good star rating component for Java Swing, so I rolled my own. The star rating component displays the current current rating (yellow stars), as well as a &#8220;selected&#8221; rating (reddish stars). The &#8220;selected&#8221; rating can be changed by a user. If the &#8220;selected&#8221; rating is changed, all the listeners will be [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://blog.noblemaster.com/2010/08/31/star-rating-panel-for-java-swing/</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>King of the Hill for Age of Conquest</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Age of Conquest will have a new game type available. King of the Hill will require a player or a team to hold a certain area on the map for a given time to win the game. Target flags will define the zone.
For additional suggestions, please post your ideas here in the blog!
]]></description>
		<link>http://blog.noblemaster.com/2010/08/24/king-of-the-hill-for-age-of-conquest/</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>Color Swatch &amp; Color Selector for Java</title>
		<description><![CDATA[The color selector (JColorChooser) for Java is rather ugly, so I decided to write my own color chooser. The color chooser is made up of two components:

ColorSelector: A button which displays the currently selected color and pops up the ColorSwatch when clicked.
ColorSwatch:  Displays a color swatch with clickable colors. The color swatch expects a two-dimensional [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://blog.noblemaster.com/2010/08/19/color-swatch-color-selector-for-java/</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>PRESS RELEASE: Age of Conquest for iPad</title>
		<description><![CDATA[NOBLE MASTER GAMES RELEASES AGE OF CONQUEST FOR APPLE IPAD
Honolulu, HI – August 17, 2010 &#8212; Noble Master Games releases their medieval strategy game &#8220;Age of Conquest: World Conquest&#8221; for Apple&#8217;s iPad platform.
Age of Conquest a risk-like strategy game where you take the reign of a budding empire and struggle for domination of the world. [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://blog.noblemaster.com/2010/08/16/press-release-age-of-conquest-for-ipad/</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>GUI Components: Slider + Progress Bar</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Age of Conquest III will feature two new GUI components: slider and progress bar. Both components have been designed by Sergey &#8220;Serjio&#8221; Churbanov who created most other graphics for Age of Conquest III as well.
]]></description>
		<link>http://blog.noblemaster.com/2010/08/13/gui-components-slider-progress-bar/</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>Splash Screen &#8211; Noble Master</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Spent some time creating a splash screen&#8230;
]]></description>
		<link>http://blog.noblemaster.com/2010/08/11/splash-screen-noble-master/</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>Age of Conquest Lite for iPad</title>
		<description><![CDATA[An update for Age of Conquest Lite (iOS devices) is now available in Apple&#8217;s iTunes Store. The update features improved graphics as well as improved AI difficulty levels and difficulty in general. The AI difficulty ranges from easy to extreme. Most notable, the game has now full iPad support. See screenshot below for details.
All other [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://blog.noblemaster.com/2010/08/05/age-of-conquest-lite-for-ipad/</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>Age of Conquest: Income &amp; Expenses</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Due to numerous requests, below is a description of income &#038; expenses in Age of Conquest III. The system is up and running on Android already and will come to PC, Macintosh &#038; Linux soon.
The income and expenses for each turn are calculated as follows:
World world = ... // the world including everything
Entity entity = [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://blog.noblemaster.com/2010/07/29/age-of-conquest-income-expenses/</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>Age of Conquest: Menu Screen</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Looks like I am done a lot earlier than anticipated! I uploaded Age of Conquest Lite with iPad support yesterday night to the iTunes store for review. Shouldn&#8217;t be long until it is approved (or rejected). I will release &#8220;World Conquest&#8221; featuring the world map thereafter.
Find below the menu screen layout for the single player [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://blog.noblemaster.com/2010/07/29/age-of-conquest-menu-screen/</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>Latest Screenshots for AoC Version III</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Age of Conquest III for iPad is close to completion. It should take about one week of development, then one or more weeks to get the application approved in the Apple iTunes store. Age of Conquest Lite (map of Europe) will be upgraded first to give existing users the chance to play the game not [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://blog.noblemaster.com/2010/07/28/latest-screenshots-for-aoc-version-iii/</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>Wanted: Concord C1 Quantum Gravity</title>
		<description><![CDATA[I wouldn&#8217;t mind getting my hand on that little precious. The price tag of the Concord C1 Quantum Gravity watch is still at $320&#8242;000, so I&#8217;m going to wait for the moment. I just need a few more customers for Age of Conquest&#8230;
More Information:

Official Site for Quantum Gravity
Want More? Concord C1 External Gravity



]]></description>
		<link>http://blog.noblemaster.com/2010/07/20/wanted-concord-c1-quantum-gravity/</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>Age of Conquest Progress Report</title>
		<description><![CDATA[After taking things easy for a few weeks, I am ready to re-start game development for Age of Conquest. I just received another set of graphics from the artist (Sergey). This is the final batch including about 30 icons.
I already started developing the various iPad screens. All that was missing were the graphics. Now, that [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://blog.noblemaster.com/2010/07/13/age-of-conquest-progress-report/</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>Winner&#8217;s Podium for Age of Conquest III</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Things for Age of Conquest III are progressing slowly. I am currently waiting for all the graphics to come in to finally get started with full-time development on the next installment of Age of Conquest for PC, Macintosh &#38; Linux computers.
See below for the latest graphics (Winner&#8217;s Podium).
]]></description>
		<link>http://blog.noblemaster.com/2010/06/30/winners-podium-for-age-of-conquest-iii/</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>Pandemic Wars Prototype</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Below a first prototype for Pandemic Wars. The goal is to spread a disease by changing the disease parameters including infectivity, mortality, restistance, transmission modi etc. Or optionally, the goal could be to stop the spread of a disease. It will be possible to have more than one disease at the same time battling for [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://blog.noblemaster.com/2010/06/16/pandemic-wars-prototype/</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>Play Hydorah</title>
		<description><![CDATA[I am lately addicted to Hydorah. Hydorah is a free side-scrolling shooter. The game features great graphics and music and is quite a challenge to play.
If you fought the Bydo and shooted the Bacterians in the core, you are ready for the war against the evil god Hydorah. Choose the path to follow and fight [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://blog.noblemaster.com/2010/06/07/play-hydorah/</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>Oregon Trail Requests???</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Every couple month someone emails me to port Oregon Trail to Android. It&#8217;s a different person every time. It&#8217;s just a short message such as:
&#8220;I challenge you to port Oregon Trail!&#8221;
&#8220;Oregon Trail!!!!&#8221;
&#8220;Hey, you should port Oregon Trail to Android!&#8221;
It&#8217;s puzzling? Why me, I don&#8217;t own the rights to Oregon Trail? I wouldn&#8217;t mind doing it, [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://blog.noblemaster.com/2010/06/02/oregon-trail-requests/</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>User Interface DRAFT</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Below is an early draft for the user interface for the menu screens in Age of Conquest III. It&#8217;s still a work in progress, so things will be moved around/adjusted as needed.
]]></description>
		<link>http://blog.noblemaster.com/2010/05/31/user-interface-draft/</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>Age of Conquest III: Empire Screen</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Age of Conquest Version III will have a slightly modified tax and spending screen compare to Version II. The new empire adjustment screen will allow adjusting tax rate and both military and economy spending.

Tax Rate: The tax rate affects morale. A tax rate of 10% will keep morale stable. Morale is a multiplier for tax [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://blog.noblemaster.com/2010/05/28/age-of-conquest-iii-empire-screen/</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>Medievil Total Wart</title>
		<description><![CDATA[So I was checking the traffic rank and search queries for the MultiplayerHub on Alexa.com&#8230;
Reference: http://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/multiplayerhub.com#
]]></description>
		<link>http://blog.noblemaster.com/2010/05/26/medievil-total-wart/</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>URGENT: Doomsday Agents Wanted!</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Noble Master Games has been approached by Dr. Lazarus, a time traveler from the future. Under Dr. Lazarus&#8217;s leadership, we have setup a global network to monitor and deactivate doomsday events. We are in urgent need of agents. Please download the Doomsday Deactivator from the Android Market to save the planet from ultimate destruction.
Yours Sincerely,
Dr. [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://blog.noblemaster.com/2010/05/24/urgent-doomsday-agents-wanted/</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>Map Modding: Nice Province Borders</title>
		<description><![CDATA[This is a Photoshop tutorial on how to create nice-looking 3D borders for map provinces. The instructions are actually quite simple as long as you keep borders in a separate layer.

Make sure all the borders are located in a separate Photoshop layer. The border lines are preferably black and 1px wide. Please note that the [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://blog.noblemaster.com/2010/05/21/map-modding-nice-province-borders/</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>Age of Conquest in Taiwan</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Age of Conquest has been released in the S Mart Store in Taiwan for Android devices. The game has been translated to Chinese by my friend Alex.
I was going to post a direct link to the game in the store, unfortunately that is not possible as the site only uses HTTP POST to link pages. [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://blog.noblemaster.com/2010/05/19/age-of-conquest-in-taiwan/</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>Anniversary: 10 Year of Age of Conquest</title>
		<description><![CDATA[It&#8217;s May 17, 2010 &#8211; It&#8217;s the 10 year anniversary of Age of Conquest. The game started its humble origins ten years ago to the day (yes, I checked the database). Age of Conquest has been online most of the time since 2000 and managed to obtain a small group of followers over the years. [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://blog.noblemaster.com/2010/05/17/anniversary-10-year-of-age-of-conquest/</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>World Map Preview</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Another world map preview which includes the latest unit and structure graphics for Age of Conquest III. The map is scheduled for release on iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch next.
Graphics:  Robert Altbauer
Map &#38; Modding: Travis Bowling
]]></description>
		<link>http://blog.noblemaster.com/2010/05/13/world-map-preview/</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>Old vs New (AoC Graphics)</title>
		<description><![CDATA[I am staring at it for too long. Do the new graphics make a difference or is it better to keep the status quo?
]]></description>
		<link>http://blog.noblemaster.com/2010/05/11/old-vs-new-aoc-graphics/</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>Where is Bill Gates?</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Out of curiosity, I went to check; the founder of Microsoft has left the company rudderless and is doing full-time work at the Bill &#38; Melinda Gates Foundation. The foundation doesn&#8217;t offer anything new from other non-profit organizations with the exception of $30 billion in funding.
The world needs the leader of the biggest enterprise back [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://blog.noblemaster.com/2010/05/06/where-is-bill-gates/</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>Live Coding Session</title>
		<description><![CDATA[So, I am going to do a live screencast of a coding session for Age of Conquest. I have initially looked into LiveStream but I am not impressed with the quality of the live video feed. Instead, I&#8217;ll use Microsoft SharedView. The application is free, so simply download and install it. I&#8217;ll post the session [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://blog.noblemaster.com/2010/05/03/live-coding-session/</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>Noble Avatar on eCribbage</title>
		<description><![CDATA[We are proud to announce the integration of Noble Avatar into eCribbage (this actually happened a while ago). eCribbage is the largest, most comprehensive collection of free online cribbage games on the web. See below for a depiction of the winners podium after a game has ended.
If you like cribbage, definitely give the game a [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://blog.noblemaster.com/2010/04/29/noble-avatar-on-ecribbage/</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>Age of Conquest in Android Market</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Age of Conquest is doing pretty well in the Android Market. The Lite version has been downloaded over 200&#8242;000 times. That is actual very close to Noble Fart downloads with a little over 350&#8242;000. Conversion rate from Lite downloads to sales is a little under 10%.
]]></description>
		<link>http://blog.noblemaster.com/2010/04/28/age-of-conquest-in-android-market/</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>AoC III Splash Screen</title>
		<description><![CDATA[I spent some time reworking the splash screen! Here we go&#8230;
]]></description>
		<link>http://blog.noblemaster.com/2010/04/26/aoc-iii-splash-screen/</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>Icons for Age of Conquest III</title>
		<description><![CDATA[I got some of the icons ready for Age of Conquest III. Sergey our artist is drawing all the graphics for the upcoming installment of the game. So far, he is doing an excellent job.
In regards to coding; I am currently porting Age of Conquest from iPod/iPhone to the iPad. I am creating an Universal [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://blog.noblemaster.com/2010/04/23/icons-for-age-of-conquest-iii/</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>Visitor Statistics for Age of Conquest</title>
		<description><![CDATA[The graph below denotes the visitor statistics for the domain AgeOfConquest.com for April 21, 2009 &#8211; April 20, 2010. Please note the increase around November/December time frame. The increase happens during the time the Droid phone is started to be sold in the United States.
Also note there is a higher number of users from Android [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://blog.noblemaster.com/2010/04/21/visitor-statistics-for-age-of-conquest/</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>Age of Conquest in Korean T-Store</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Age of Conquest has been released in Korea for a little over a month. It appears both Age of Conquest Asia as well as Age of Conquest Europe have been well received with ratings of 4.4/5 and higher.
Age of Conquest is available in SKT&#8217;s T-Store. The game is published by JoyMoa. SKT is SKTelecom, one [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://blog.noblemaster.com/2010/04/19/age-of-conquest-in-korean-t-store/</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>Vassalage (Age of Conquest)</title>
		<description><![CDATA[I completed implementation of vassalage for Age of Conquest ONLINE on Android. A vassal is depicted with diagonal stripes:

Duke/Duchess: thick stripes
Count/Countess: thin stripes

Each empire can have one or more vassal. Each vassal can have exactly one liege. Vassals will pay 10% of their tax income to their liege. For the standard type game, goal points [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://blog.noblemaster.com/2010/04/16/vassalization-age-of-conquest/</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>Population Growth, Migration &amp; Economy</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Each turn, the following updates are applied to the ecosystem of Age of Conquest. Updates include population growth, population migration and economy changes.
    // population: constant growth
    for (int i = 0; i &#60; provinceList.size(); i++) {
      Province province = provinceList.get(i);
    [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://blog.noblemaster.com/2010/04/14/population-growth-migration-economy/</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>Private Messaging</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Age of Conquest III is equipped with a private messaging system. Messages can be sent to any of the players of the game without them having to give away their email address. You can be notified of new messages by email if desired. In addition there is a friend list to manage friends and foes.
The [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://blog.noblemaster.com/2010/04/13/private-messaging/</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>Profile Popup Window and Friend System</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Age of Conquest III will feature profile popup windows that display user information. The popup window will be made available by simply clicking on a username.
The popup window displays ratings, rankings and awards. Furthermore, it provides quick access to write private messages as well as adding and removing a contact from the personal friend list. [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://blog.noblemaster.com/2010/04/12/profile-popup-window-and-friend-system/</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>Animated Units for Age of Conquest III</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Age of Conquest III will get a graphics overhaul. The goal is to add graphical depictions of armies as well as structures to give it a more game-like look &#38; feel. The fortification display (currently checker board) will be replaced with an actual wall. The units will be displayed using actual icons of soldiers. Attacks [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://blog.noblemaster.com/2010/04/09/animated-units-for-age-of-conquest-iii/</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>Downtime Detection /w Automated Restart</title>
		<description><![CDATA[In order to prevent a future downtime, the next server release will contain code to monitor itself. A separate thread will poll the server every 30 seconds. If the server does not respond for 7 consequitive times, the server will be considered down and automatically restarted.
Possible reasons for a downtime include: running out of memory, [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://blog.noblemaster.com/2010/04/07/downtime-detection-w-automated-restart/</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>The Business of Running a Game Server</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Business should be replaced by &#8220;woes&#8221;; the woes of running a game server. Given my estimates, it takes about 4x as much time to implement and run an online game compared to a single player game. Costs (=time investments)  include implementing a server, implementing client-server communication, setting up a server and database. An online game [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://blog.noblemaster.com/2010/04/06/the-business-of-running-a-game-server/</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>Age of Conquest: World Map</title>
		<description><![CDATA[The world map for Age of Conquest has come back from the artist! The map dimensions are currently set at 4000x2222 pixels. There will be a lower resolution version for smartphones, but the PC, Macintosh &#38; Linux version slated for later this year will take full advantage of size. Please note that Europe has been [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://blog.noblemaster.com/2010/03/31/age-of-conquest-world-map/</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>Review: Crusader Kings Deus Vult</title>
		<description><![CDATA[I spent some time playing Crusader Kings Deus Vult by Paradox Entertainment for the sake of fun as well as spying on the competition. I was close to putting the game away after spending half an hour trying to &#8220;play&#8221; it. There is no tutorial or anything to help explain things. The tooltips were helpful, [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://blog.noblemaster.com/2010/03/30/review-crusader-kings-deus-vult/</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>Phone Give Away(s) by Google</title>
		<description><![CDATA[
So, I finally received my Nexus One in the mail. Google is giving away a free phone to every finalist (N. American Conquest)  in the Android Developer Challenge. In other news, Google is also giving away a free phone for developers that have an application with rating 3.5 or higher in the Android Market. So, [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://blog.noblemaster.com/2010/03/25/phone-give-aways-by-google/</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>Development Timeline for 2010+</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Titles/Updates in Production for 2010:
Q2/2010 Complete Age of Conquest ONLINE Development for Android
Q2/2010 Noble Fart for Symbian (to evaluate the Symbian platform)
Q4/2010 Age of Conquest Standalone Single Player for Desktop (PC, Mac, Linux)
Q4/2010 Age of Conquest V3 Multiplayer for Desktop (PC, Mac, Linux)
Q1/2011 Age of Conquest Online Tournaments
Q3/2011 Age of Conquest AI Bot Competitions
Titles in [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://blog.noblemaster.com/2010/03/24/development-timeline-for-2010/</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>Age of Conquest ONLINE (Android) is Live!</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Age of Conquest ONLINE has finally been released for Android phones. The game is compatible with all Android phones running Android OS 1.5 or higher. The game is available in the Android Market now!
The application and maps (currently Europe only) will be made available for free. You will need a paid subscription to join and [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://blog.noblemaster.com/2010/02/25/age-of-conquest-online-android-is-live/</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>PRESS RELEASE: World Empires Live Released</title>
		<description><![CDATA[ONLINE STRATEGY GAME WORLD EMPIRES LIVE RELEASED FOR WINDOWS
Honolulu, HI – January 5, 2010 &#8212; Firepower Entertainment and Noble Master Games release World Empires Live, a medieval online strategy game, for Windows computers.
World Empires Live (WEL) is an empire building game played on a large map of Earth. You start the game as one of [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://blog.noblemaster.com/2010/01/05/press-release-world-empires-live-released/</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>Noble Avatar for Android Compatible Phones</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Noble Avatar has been release for Android compatible phones! Noble Avatar allows creation of customized avatar images from over 2 trillion possibilities. Pick gender, hair style, accessories and much more and assign the avatar images to your contacts.
Check the Android Market for the latest release. There is a &#8220;Lite&#8221; version that can be tried for [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://blog.noblemaster.com/2009/11/23/noble-avatar-for-android-compatible-phones/</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>Multiplayer Engine &#8211; Website OPEN</title>
		<description><![CDATA[The web site for the Multiplayer Engine is officially open.
The Multiplayer Engine is an industry leading network software product for cross-platform multiplayer and online computer game development. The Multiplayer Engine offers a complete solution that can directly be plugged into your client software, such as your game. The engine handles everything from user registration and [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://blog.noblemaster.com/2009/10/31/multiplayer-engine-website-open/</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>Aevum Obscurum becomes Age of Conquest</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Aevum Obscurum is now officially known as Age of Conquest. The name change is in effect starting immediately.
The following single player versions of the game are available for mobile devices (Android and iPhone). The multiplayer version is currently in development:

Age of Conquest Lite (free)
Age of Conquest: Europe
Age of Conquest: South America

The multiplayer version for desktop [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://blog.noblemaster.com/2009/10/14/aevum-obscurum-becomes-age-of-conquest/</link>
			</item>
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