Pretty impressive, taken from the official blog
http://blog.smallworlds.com
I am particularly impressed with the new pictionary like multiplayer game and the new quiz machine widget. Cant wait to see them
SmallWorlds Blog
Sneak Preview! - 1.2 Release
January 22nd, 2009 by Hilary Jackson
Come and take a look at some of the exciting features weve been cooking up.
Heres a sneak peek at whats in store for the SmallWorlds community; which, as you may have noticed, is growing at a fantastic rate! In synchronistic parallel to this, the number of ideas clanging around in the brains of the team here at SWHQ is making a hellishly noisy racket. As player numbers swell, the flurry of markers on whiteboards is nothing short of a blur. Our artists find themselves drawing new items in the dust on shelves at home; our programmers are writing groundbreaking code in the steam of the bathroom windows after their daily shower (yep, theyre all nice clean lads).
As always, our common goal lies in making your SmallWorlds playing experience better all the time. So, lets take a look at some of whats coming up in our new release (currently scheduled to roll out beginning of February).
The SmallWorlds Chronicle: Find out Whats Hot & Where to Go!
When you log in to SmallWorlds, youll now be taken direct to a new default landing page: The SmallWorlds Chronicle - providing you with a dynamic and ever-changing news service, reporting on cool spaces to visit, new missions, games, events and more! Your default avatar is displayed top right; from here you can either change your avatar or directly enter your default space. Alternatively, you may choose to visit an exciting sounding location or event direct from the Chronicle link.
The SmallWorlds Chronicle provides us with the perfect vehicle to keep you updated with continually updated in-world information, to enhance your SmallWorlds explorations.
Facebook & Bebo Application Integration
Let SmallWorlds bring your Social Network page alive! Now you can embed the full SmallWorlds application directly into your Facebook or Bebo 
page; and even invite more friends into SmallWorlds direct from within Facebook or Bebo.
If you have a Bebo or Facebook profile, a link to your social profile can now be included in your SW avatar information panel. So, when someone clicks on your avatar in-world (if you have selected this option) they will be given a link to your Facebook or Bebo profile page (both if you have them!). We will be adding integration with other social networks very soon.
Three New Payment Options - Gold & VIP Memberships
1 - Buy VIP with SmallWorlds Gold
Now, pay for your VIP membership with SmallWorlds Gold, via our standard purchasing process. Gold you earn through inviting friends, doing Offerpal tasks, or of course purchased Gold, can all be used to pay for your VIP membership.
2 - Zong - Pay with your Mobile Phone!
If you live in the USA, the UK or in Ireland, you can now buy SmallWorlds Gold as well as pay for VIP memberships with your mobile phone!
3 - Auto-Bill Monthly VIP subscriptions
Up until now, we have been only able to offer pre-paid memberships, but we wanted to give you more convenience and flexibility. Now, instead of being limited to just buying a month at a time, our new facility means you can choose to have your Paypal Account or Credit Card debited monthly on an auto-bill basis (both options require a Paypal Account). Just set and forget!
The SmallWorlds Minimap
Theres a party going on in a small corner of an Island youre currently wandering around on that youd never know about till now that is! Our Minimap (not to be confused with the World Map) will provide you with a small size plan view of your current location. Youll be able to see your location, that of other avatars currently in the space, walls, lakes anything thats part of the space (apart from furniture & objects). Explore spaces with ease - just click in the map and your avatar will walk to that location!
New Multiplayer Game - Fast Draw
Latest multiplayer game weve got for you is a pictionary-like drawing game we call Fast Draw. Youll get somewhere between 30 and 60 seconds (still being finalised) to draw a word which is randomly generated by SmallWorlds (finger crossed you dont get something like tachycardia).
You can play Fast Draw with up to 7 other players, and all players will receive Artist XP for playing. The game has multiple turns and the first person to 10 points wins; a successful drawer gets 1 point, and a successful guesser gets 2 points.
Quiz Widget
New Widget Alert!
purchasing our Quiz Widget gives you the power to create fantastic single player quiz games! You set up a quiz in the configuration panel in the same way you set up a Flickr widget. As the quiz owner, you are able to specify both the content and number of questions, question scores and time allowed for answering each one. The quiz widget is also linked up to Flickr, so that users are able to attach images to a question.
For example, a quiz author might ask - Where in the world can you find this landmark? and display a photo with four answer options. Youll also be able to link the quiz up to our interactibles framework - ie: a mission player being required to earn a certain number of points in a quiz before proceeding to the next part of a mission.
Official 1.2 Release Announcement - coming soon!
The team has had a great time putting together all these features for you. And - remember we said this was just a taster theres more to tell you about in the official 1.2 Release, coming soon!
http://blog.smallworlds.com
I am particularly impressed with the new pictionary like multiplayer game and the new quiz machine widget. Cant wait to see them
SmallWorlds Blog
Sneak Preview! - 1.2 Release
January 22nd, 2009 by Hilary Jackson
Come and take a look at some of the exciting features weve been cooking up.Heres a sneak peek at whats in store for the SmallWorlds community; which, as you may have noticed, is growing at a fantastic rate! In synchronistic parallel to this, the number of ideas clanging around in the brains of the team here at SWHQ is making a hellishly noisy racket. As player numbers swell, the flurry of markers on whiteboards is nothing short of a blur. Our artists find themselves drawing new items in the dust on shelves at home; our programmers are writing groundbreaking code in the steam of the bathroom windows after their daily shower (yep, theyre all nice clean lads).
As always, our common goal lies in making your SmallWorlds playing experience better all the time. So, lets take a look at some of whats coming up in our new release (currently scheduled to roll out beginning of February).
The SmallWorlds Chronicle: Find out Whats Hot & Where to Go!
When you log in to SmallWorlds, youll now be taken direct to a new default landing page: The SmallWorlds Chronicle - providing you with a dynamic and ever-changing news service, reporting on cool spaces to visit, new missions, games, events and more! Your default avatar is displayed top right; from here you can either change your avatar or directly enter your default space. Alternatively, you may choose to visit an exciting sounding location or event direct from the Chronicle link.
The SmallWorlds Chronicle provides us with the perfect vehicle to keep you updated with continually updated in-world information, to enhance your SmallWorlds explorations.
Facebook & Bebo Application Integration
Let SmallWorlds bring your Social Network page alive! Now you can embed the full SmallWorlds application directly into your Facebook or Bebo 
page; and even invite more friends into SmallWorlds direct from within Facebook or Bebo.If you have a Bebo or Facebook profile, a link to your social profile can now be included in your SW avatar information panel. So, when someone clicks on your avatar in-world (if you have selected this option) they will be given a link to your Facebook or Bebo profile page (both if you have them!). We will be adding integration with other social networks very soon.
Three New Payment Options - Gold & VIP Memberships
1 - Buy VIP with SmallWorlds Gold
2 - Zong - Pay with your Mobile Phone!
If you live in the USA, the UK or in Ireland, you can now buy SmallWorlds Gold as well as pay for VIP memberships with your mobile phone!3 - Auto-Bill Monthly VIP subscriptions
Up until now, we have been only able to offer pre-paid memberships, but we wanted to give you more convenience and flexibility. Now, instead of being limited to just buying a month at a time, our new facility means you can choose to have your Paypal Account or Credit Card debited monthly on an auto-bill basis (both options require a Paypal Account). Just set and forget!The SmallWorlds Minimap
Theres a party going on in a small corner of an Island youre currently wandering around on that youd never know about till now that is! Our Minimap (not to be confused with the World Map) will provide you with a small size plan view of your current location. Youll be able to see your location, that of other avatars currently in the space, walls, lakes anything thats part of the space (apart from furniture & objects). Explore spaces with ease - just click in the map and your avatar will walk to that location!
New Multiplayer Game - Fast Draw
Latest multiplayer game weve got for you is a pictionary-like drawing game we call Fast Draw. Youll get somewhere between 30 and 60 seconds (still being finalised) to draw a word which is randomly generated by SmallWorlds (finger crossed you dont get something like tachycardia).
You can play Fast Draw with up to 7 other players, and all players will receive Artist XP for playing. The game has multiple turns and the first person to 10 points wins; a successful drawer gets 1 point, and a successful guesser gets 2 points.
Quiz Widget
New Widget Alert!
purchasing our Quiz Widget gives you the power to create fantastic single player quiz games! You set up a quiz in the configuration panel in the same way you set up a Flickr widget. As the quiz owner, you are able to specify both the content and number of questions, question scores and time allowed for answering each one. The quiz widget is also linked up to Flickr, so that users are able to attach images to a question.
For example, a quiz author might ask - Where in the world can you find this landmark? and display a photo with four answer options. Youll also be able to link the quiz up to our interactibles framework - ie: a mission player being required to earn a certain number of points in a quiz before proceeding to the next part of a mission.
Official 1.2 Release Announcement - coming soon!
The team has had a great time putting together all these features for you. And - remember we said this was just a taster theres more to tell you about in the official 1.2 Release, coming soon!
