That's an interesting idea which could be really easily implemented (I wouldn't even have to update the client). I'll have to think about it though, as it brings the game in a very different direction. This would be absolutely amazing, but I don't think my server could handle this kind of load. Checking the areas, even small ones, would be very resource intensive. Thank you!
Another idea: what if I increased the game over delay if somebody keeps dying without playing? I think it would keep the best of both worlds: empires would remain unsafe, but random players couldn't just spend their time exploding other people just for the fun.
This game is pretty interesting, and had some fun with it today. Is there a way to zoom out on the world map? I would love to see it grow. Also, i joined the clan. Just started out though, so i don't have that many tiles yet. But every small bits help right?
Thanks! Zooming out in the app would be too demanding on the server, but I wrote a small website just for that: http://afewbillion.com/ It's much easier to navigate in a big window on your computer (though it can become a bit slow on a gigantic monitor!). You can navigate around, search for players and view their territories. I'm also storing a snapshot of the world everyday, so that I could build some day some sort of time machine
Sorry, missed that: yes every tile is counted, though it takes a couple minutes for changes to be seen in the ranking. The Touch Arcade clan has made some great progress and is now number 2, congrats! The Pixels clan is still far ahead though, but they had a pretty big head start as it's one of the oldest clans.
Awesome! I marathon gamed this again last night until 4 AM. I REALLY hope this game gets more traction on Touch Arcade and our clan gets even more members so we can catch up to The Pixels.
That sounds quite sensible, if the delay isn't too big and it resets after a while without any errors. Is there any way that you can view a neighbour's clan - e.g. could you show it with their name?
Just tap on the name and you will see the player's stats and clan. If you then tap on the clan name you will be able to join it easily. Yes I'm definitively leaning toward this solution. I will also apply a similar logic for players who just tap randomly in uncharted areas: apparently if you're persistent it's enough to be competitive in the hourly race, but it's a bit unfair to people who play seriously. I had another idea during this little brainstorming this morning. (If you've played in the last couple hours you've probably seen the news already) I don't like ads, I don't like in-app purchases, but it's unfortunately pretty much the only way to monetise a multiplayer game nowadays on the app store. I don't see how I could attract enough players if the game was not free. But I think I found a way to make it so people can play for free without ads: if your empire gets to 300 000 tiles, ads will now automatically disappear . It might sound high, but it's actually not that much: looking at the server stats, it seems that you can get there in 15 to 20 hours. Given how long people have been playing, it seems a reasonable goal. So I will still add the in-app to remove the ads, but if you don't want to pay you can just wait for them to be removed automagically.
That wasn't meant as a question, but i appreciate the quick answers on both either way. I'm getting addicted to this game.
Hey lif, Just thought I'd add an experience I just had. The use of my strategy in this situation might add to you trying to solve the griefers problem. I went way out into the white to start my new island. And I mean way out. I logged off for a while and came back to find some patches that had been popped by another user. I could only chalk this up to them trying to score some sonars. I didnt want them in my kingdom so I found yellows near their tiles to clear them out. It was more of a defensive strategy rather than trolling. It utilizes the same technique trolls have apparently been using in the main, but for a different purpose. I would be fine with the game over penalty however I find myself popping clusters around my island and working out to them. The penalty could be frustrating with using that strategy, but that's also how users rack up quick tiles for the hourly competitions. It seems what I am doing casually other users are abusing. My style of gameplay may contradict your mission as a developer but I thought these experiences might add to your brainstorm. rebishaz
Well if you really went far away, the only chance for a player to pop up next to you would be for him to be a new player being dropped by the server. The poor guy or girl was probably just trying to figure out the game. Dont scare my new players away ! But this is one of the legitimate uses for Wipers: once I tweak the game over delay for abusers, you will still be able to defend yourself with them! Yes I've had many complains from people feeling cheated by this strategy and I can agree with them. But I looked at your island and it's indeed obvious that yours is a building strategy and not a race strategy. I will probably have to take the spread of random pops into account: if it's centred on an island it's probably legitimate, otherwise it's probably somebody trying to cheat the race. I could also look at the number of yellows found: if it's low compared to blues, it's more likely to be a cheater. Thanks, that's definitively helpful! The game is still young and I'm sure we'll see new strategies and behaviours everyday, it's really interesting to watch!
He had a name, and he was hitting tiles in the area around my island. Seemed like something someone who had been playing would do. I'll be nice I promise Any way we can zoom out on your website? Or perhaps input coordinates? How can we create clans?
You can manually edit the following URL to go straight to a pair of coordinates: http://afewbillion.com/?c=-640&r=3133 You can create a clan just by entering the name of a clan which doesn't exist in the Join Clan box.
Ah right, if you were in the top 10 he could have followed you from there too! Indeed! You can also select a specific username like this: http://afewbillion.com/?c=336&r=1785&un=lawrans You can also share the location by email from the bookmark dialog. This will give you the url directly without having to memorise the location.
Found a space invader (I think that's what it is) the other day. Also finished in the top ten in the hour for the first time, WOOT!
This is simply one of the best games I've played on an idevice, which I can probably count on one hand. Great job!
Congrats! I had to squish it a little bit horizontally so that it's recognisable on an iPhone. Otherwise with a full sized one people go right through them without noticing! Btw, if any of you knows of a good online source of *small* 2-bits pixel arts, it would really help me: I try to draw about half a dozen every day, but I'm starting to lack inspiration
I'm #7 on the WW leaderboards! Only spent 6 1/2 hours straight playing yesterday # Keep it up Touch Arcade clan!
Hi lif, Thanks for the really awesome game. I'm a really huge fan of Minesweeper and this really hits that perfect spot that I have been looking for for a few years. I'm running into one really small issue with the bookmarking system. Right now, I'm trying to develop a system to be able to include the coordinates of my bookmarks in the name. What I was hoping to get would be something along the lines of "Site 432A-532B," were A means positive and B means negative. But the issue I'm having is that the system won't allow the use of any non-alphanumeric characters (commas, dashes, colons, etc.). Is this just a bug in the game or is it a built in limit? Thanks for the really awesome game!
