We recently brought you the story of iOS hit Snuggle Truck's strange journey to the App Store, but now that the cute physics-based animal-transporting game has safely arrived on iPhones and iPads, that doesn't mean developer Owlchemy Labs is resting on its laurels. Quite the opposite, actually, as the studio recently revealed that its long-promised level creation and sharing features will soon be added to the game via a hefty v1.5 update, which should pass approval later this month.
The level editor offers a fairly robust, but easy-to-use way to create your own challenges in a snap and make them freely available to all other users. It's similar to what's available in the PlayStation 3 favorite LittleBigPlanet, in that you can quickly whip up a playable stage and upload it to the servers, though die-hard maestros can no doubt spend hours perfectly manicuring their creations. Alex Schwartz, founder of Owlchemy Labs, tells us that the update was originally intended only for the iPad version of the app, due to the constraints of the iPhone and iPod touch screen sizes. However, he says they "received a flood of emails requesting the level editor on the iPod/iPhone," and found a way to make it work on all supported iOS devices.
As demonstrated in the embedded video, Snuggle Truck's creation tools give you full control over the look and feel of a stage, including the ability to place and transform items along the side-scrolling paths, as well as determine how quickly runs must be completed to earn medals. And once your level is complete, you can name and describe it, then simply tap a button to upload it to the public servers. Created stages are quickly found from the main menu and can be searched for or sorted via available categories, and it seems likely that this update will make thousands of new playable stages available in the weeks and months following its release.
The v1.5 update also tweaks the interface to ensure that essential on-screen elements aren't hidden by hands and fingers during play, and lets you activate power-ups through an optional double-tap of the screen (instead of shaking the device). Additionally, it adds five new Game Center achievements, replaces some of the previous low-resolution artwork with higher-quality images, and makes various other optimizations and bug fixes.
The update is underdoing final testing now and will be submitted within days, making an end-of-month App Store release likely for both the iPhone/iPod touch and iPad versions of the game. And the v1.5 update will also launch simultaneously for the Mac and PC versions of the game, as well, which also includes the original Smuggle Truck experience alongside the rejiggered Snuggle Truck version.
