Rovio released v1.2.6 of Angry Birds Star Wars II today for iOS and Android, which features some miscellaneous bug fixes behind the scenes. But more significant is a quick screen that appears on the front screen of the app once it finishes loading: You are signed in as: Guest.
We have known for a while in private conversations that Rovio has been working on expanding it’s Cloud Sync System (Rovio Accounts) to all Angry Birds apps, including the initial release of Angry Birds Go a few weeks ago.
At first glance, this easily could have been another false go-live (it happened twice with ABo). But @PJng dug a little further and noticed that a new achievement was added to ABSW2: Galactic Network — Sign into Rovio Account.
This achievement also appears in iOS’s GameCenter, which means it cannot be removed. Therefore, we believe this is a true go-live of the Rovio Accounts! Unfortunately, the sign-in button seems to have been lost along the way, so there is currently no way of signing in to the system. We expect such technical details to be ironed out shortly.
Update (9 Jan.): According to Rovio, they are starting the release by soft-launch, presumably by region. Assuming no major programming or server issues, we should see this soft-launch expand toward a worldwide launch in time.
@AMslimfordy We're bringing Rovio account to the game, but start with a soft launch to make sure everything works fine :)
— Red (@AngryBirds) January 9, 2014
Cloud City
We explain how Rovio Accounts work in tremendous detail in our ABo release post, so definitely take a look at that before going whole-hog into Star Wars 2’s system when it’s fixed. But we want to briefly highlight a few tips.
Manually Backup First
Even geniuses like Rovio’s technical employees can make mistakes. It’s just part of life. Therefore, backup via any and all means possible before you create or sign into a Rovio Account. Some platforms are easier than others, but it’s worth it. Use iTunes and/or our Ultimate Backup Tutorial.
We always encourage you to backup a minimum two files: highscores.lua and settings.lua. But if you have a Rovio Account, you should also backup highscores_<hash>.lua and settings_<hash>.lua. These are the Cloud files, where “<hash>” is an Account-unique hexidecimal value. If your data doesn’t transfer when you sign into your Account, we may be able to help you. Please drop us a line before you proceed on your own.
Signing In
In general, we’ll assume you’ve already registered with a Rovio Account from the original Angry Birds app. Once the sign-in button is added to SW2, you should be good to go! Click the button, enter your email address and password, and you should be well protected against device crashes with Cloud storage. (Forget your email or password? Open ABo to figure out which email you used, or use the “Forgot Password” feature!)
The first time you sign-in on a device, you’ll likely be asked if you want to upload that device’s data to the Cloud. Doing this on multiple devices should store the highest score on a given level from any of your devices, allowing you to compile your scores in the best way possible.
Active Project
Rovio Accounts are not perfect, but we (AngryBirdsNest) are trying to work with Rovio to improve the system. At this time, we have the following major request pending:
As the system currently works, any gameplay done while signed into a Rovio Account is not stored locally on the device. This is likely a purposeful design, allowing multiple users to maintain separate Accounts on the same device without overlapping progress. However, it is also a design flaw in that if a user is offline (e.g., on an airplane without WiFi) all of their progress goes missing. We propose the work-around of adding two buttons to the Rovio Account page: A force-download button (which will download all Cloud data to local device storage) and a force-upload button (which will manually upload all local device data to the Cloud). Additionally, a third “toggle” button could be added asking whether the user wants all online-gameplay saved locally as well.
While we may be a bit biased, we truly believe that Rovio is one of the better companies out there in terms of listening to its customer feedback. A Cloud Sync was a user-requested feature from years ago and Rovio is actively working on making it happen everywhere. So if you have an idea on how Rovio Accounts could be improved, drop them (or us) a line!
Note 3, Android, Rovio Account is working fine :)
@kooop same device, no rovio account after update @AMslimfordy maybe country specific
It’s not on Galaxy SIII. I thought I’d check, since they are both Samsung devices.
I’m wavering on Cloud Sync, because so many places in Maine have no cell towers or wifi. It’s always such a disappointment when I can’t play ABO because it requires internet now that I have synced.
Thanks for posting this – I hadn’t realised that once you’ve enabled Cloud Sync you then must have internet access to play the game. In that case, I won’t bother with it because I always make sure I have internet access disabled whilst playing any Angry Birds game to avoid the ridiculous adverts. It’s a good job I read this as I’d been planning to enable Rovio Sync to get 200 points for the achievment.
Thanks ABN staff. All previous questions answered after the iPad update this morning.
One may speculate as to when the sign-in icon will appear. Hopefully by the end of the week. The “guest” pop up does wear out it welcome after a few game starts.
OK, maybe a bit of wishful thinking on the sign in icons.
You guys have fun testing that feature. I’ll be watching from a safe distance.
Great speculation @PJng! Weird that they have the achievement and not the button. Might come in one of those “minor issues” updates.
Would be helpful with those three buttons @AMslimfordy. Like you said, Rovio is good with feedback. And it, again, might be in a minor issues update.
After experiencing problems with Rovio’s account in ABO I would hesitate to use it any other game. Your idea of saving cloud data on devices is thing they need to do and I hope it is tehnicly possible.
I hope Rovio’s account will available PC soon.
ok i wondered why my absw2 was doing that as is angry birds go…..i have no idea of how to sync or any of that but at least i know im not the only one who got this so thanks again abn for answering my question without even having to ask :)
Hey all,
Anyone know where the achievement went:
Galactic Empire
Launch 10,000 attacks
???
I was up to around 82%, but didn’t bother finishing it off (tedious). Now, after this update, I see the new sign on achievement but “Galactic Empire” appears to be gone.
Anyone else notice this? I am playing on Android on an Acer A100 tablet…
Thanks,
sutekh137
It still appears in iOS’s GameCenter, so perhaps it’s just checking in the background.
Ah, good info, thanks!
I Was interested in finishing that achievement now because I want the cash for it (was something like 600 credits). That would put me at 820, just 5 shy of buying Hologram Darth Sidious (the only character I have yet to unlock). Once sign in is available, the 200 credits for that would let me grab enough of HDS to finish him off…(though one needs 600,000 pts with him — YIKES! Not sure I can do that with ten of him…)
Hope the Galactic Empire achievement is still back there somewhere!
Thanks,
sutekh137
It worked for me, the credits for signing in raised my credits enough to buy Holo Darth Sidious. The 600,000 are achievable relatively easily in level P2-1. Just launch into the middle of the level and zap the center platform. It takes out the left platform as well and sometimes even the one on the right. That consistently gets around 70000 points, then finish the level with Darth Mauls to make the points count.
I now have all existing characters unlocked without buying any with real world money :-)
Phone is Galaxy S4 Active, region is Germany.
Good info about where to score big for completing these bought characters!
For the Bird Side I tend to use B2-20 to swap in a purchased character and take the first shot. If you wait for a little cruiser to come along the bottom, you can get around 60,000 by simply sabering/shoving/shooting the top-left vehicle.
For the Pork Side, my go-to level is undoubtedly P2-19, assuming you are using something that can shoot a missile or laser. Just do the same thing you would usually do with your fist guy (shooting the chain in back near its left anchor) and watch the points rack up. You’ll almost always get 100,000 points or so and be able to clean up the rest of the level with the remaining default pigs (if you get lucky and one shot clears the level, you’ll score 130,000+ with one pig). Most other character abilities can at least score you in the 60,000 – 70,000 range (per pig) on that screen.
I still need a few more credits before I can afford Hologram Darth Sidious, and then hopefully I can join you in unlocking all characters with no cash input!
Thanks,
sutekh137
But the percentage should be back, @amslimfordy. Was really useful.
In case you contact Rovio anyway, maybe you can tell them. Otherwise I will contact them.
And also the reward for launching 10000 attacks should be back!
So, one more quick question:
If one syncs to the cloud by creating an account and logging in (once available), can one UNsync later to make all saves local again?
In other words, can I log in just to get the achievement (and the 200 credits) then immediately log out again (return to “Guest”) so that I can play seamlessly offline?
Thanks!
sutekh137
Yes, logging in doesn’t erase your local data.
When logged in, any new data usually is saved to the cloud, not locally.
Cool I hope all iOS AB Apps get this as well.
I definitely want this cloud system to be in all games, but my problem with it is, that you have to stay online to be able to use your cloud data. And that means ads (ABO and ABS on Android has no version without ads atm so it’s bit annoying to be forced to play online) :-/
Same for me. So I prefer to play without account for now. I’m not always online to login to account…
@amslisfordy the button of the rovio account not apears in TVE game. Only says loggined es as: guest
Per the post:
The button apears in chile – antofagasta?
I don’t understand.
Is Rovio Accounts available in Malaysia? Or is not yet available for SII?
RovioMaster (@chiiyuen0109) We don’t have a list of which countries have the functionality. Rovio might.
Thanks. Its funny since my device is on v1.2.6 .
Rovio Accounts works, login is not a problem. SE Xperia Arc S, region: Poland.
At ABN website we are able to login by Nick, at new Account by mail and real name. Could it be simplified (using shorter Nick + password)?
Sorry @Bird-Tester I don’t understand. ABN is not connected with Rovio Accounts.
Rovio Account works great in Thailand. But it works differently than the one implemented in Angry Birds (original).
1. The original Angry Birds only sync progress, while the Star Wars II also sync purchased items. When first signing in to Rovio Account, it will ask “Do you want to transfer credits, characters and add scores, stars and achievements from this device to your account?”. If you choose yes, your credits and characters will be wipe from the device, and add to your Rovio Account. The purchased credits and characters will be available across all devices signed in to the same account.
2. Airplane mode. Previously without Internet access, all the progress goes missing because the app will sign you out of Rovio Account. Now in Airplane mode, the app will still keep your previous signed in status, everything is working as normal, progress, scores, characters, credits, etc.
This improvement is also found in the latest version of the Angry Birds (original).
My scores for all ABSW2 levels in Game Center are gone. They were there a few weeks ago.
The Leaderboards all say, “Not ranked”. My scores are listed in my Rovio Account along with the stars and metals achieved. My total was 18,062,480 points.
I cleared my browsers, shut down, logged back in but no change.
I signed out and then back into my Rovio account but no change.
I also deleted the ABSW2 game and reloaded it from Game Center but no change.
Interesting development.
Any advice on where they went and how to get them back into Game Center?
I have created a rovio account, but I typed the password careless, and couldn’t log in, i guess I made a typo. I have deleted my account, and made another, but I’ve lost all my money earned earlier (like 2200gold). Is there any way I could get it back?
I was wondering if you could please send me the instructions for transferring data from the Guest Account in Star Wars 2 to my personal account. The data did not update automatically upon sign-in. Thank you!
The characters and coins didn’t transfer from my iPhone to my Kindle when I sign into my account for angry birds star wars 2.
Rovio Accounts sync scores.
Nice app