Ahhh, I had forgotten about this, but so glad you are going to be showing a trailer soon. This is actually one of the most anticipated games on my list. Cheers.
Just noticed that I missed this question earlier (in my defense, it was 5am when I posted and I had yet to go to sleep ). As I mentioned earlier in the thread, touchscreen controls are under consideration and are actually already working (kinda..) in the game. However, it does seem like a much inferior control method and, in several instances, actually makes certain puzzles far more difficult. I wouldn't rule it out completely though, as it may be included in a later update (after some more tweaking/gameplay testing) if there is still interest. That said, I do actually agree with you, in that tilt controls have often been somewhat hit-and-miss with 3d ball rollers on the platform (2d games have fared a bit better) and I can understand your aversion to them. However, a remarkably amount of time has been spent on Aerox's controls, and I genuinely feel like the game handles tilt controls far better than any other 3d ball roller game on iPhone... a strong statement I know, but I'm prepared to stand by it Hopefully you'll agree when you get a chance to play it, anyway! Hmm! Really not sure if zombies would fit in the game tbh.... we might possibly consider the slight possibility of sneaking in a ragdoll somewhere as a hidden bonus though... maybe Lastly, just for funsies, here's a screengrab of the fluffy white clouds from the Title/Attract screen...
Great to hear that it's close to submission. This is going to be one of those I'm just going to have to try on the first day. The planned pricing sounds like a great deal, too. I'd use $1.99 as an introductory price and bump it to $2.99 after opening weekend or week, but that's just me. I think at the very least this has the visuals to command it. I've been there far more times that I'd care to recall, so I can only feign indignity at skipping my other question. I hope that will suffice. 2D (or top-down 3D) ball rollers are fine, but 3D/isometric games can be hit or miss, as you mentioned. Games like Super Marble Roll or Marble Blast worked fairly well except in the latter case where the camera swung around and you were constantly having to reorient your tilt direction. It was manageable, but games that pit the controls against the camera have always rubbed me the wrong way. Even Switchball had this problem, but you had the option to switch manual camera, which I did. Of course, with Switchball you had a keyboard you could use for movement while the mouse was left for camera movement and action buttons. However, on an all-touchscreen platform an auto-camera with manual swipe controls I think would possibly be a little better than auto-camera with tilt controls simply because tilt controls are "always on" -- you're always moving somewhere and it's actually difficult to stop (since you have to think about where level is relative to your position). With swipes you're only accelerating as long as you're swiping, so you can swipe with more accuracy to send the ball in the direction you want it to go regardless of the camera, because you don't have to swipe while the camera is moving, thus allowing your momentum in the direction of your last swipe to continue. Just my thoughts on the subject. I'll still be picking this up and trying it with the tilt controls; I'm not completely against them and am willing to try anything, but the option would be nice even if just to compare and contrast accuracy, speed, and ease of use.
Ah, swipe-to-look is already in and has been for a while actually! However, I've noticed that the current testers have rarely actually used it, outside of the tutorial level (which shows how to use it), which I think bodes well hopefully. Interesting I don't really want to be one to make unncessarily disparaging comments about other developers' games, but those two particular games were actually a significant inspiration in how NOT to do 3d tilt controls on the platform . Marble Blast was great on PC/Xbox and I think the iPhone port was a pretty decent attempt to replicate the game on the device, but it often felt like you were spending too much time micro-managing the camera. The game was still fairly enjoyable though, despite these issues. Super Marble Roll, on the other hand, seemed plagued with design issues though imho... e.g the fixed camera that was facing in exactly the opposite direction to which the ball was rolling... umm wtf? That, coupled with the no-saving-and-always-restarting-from-the-very-first-level just seemed like a poor attempt at covering up a lack of content imho.... You've namedropped Switchball a couple of times I noticed btw... I agree with you there, its a great game You seem to be quite a ball-rolling fan... we're planning to send a couple of preview builds out in the next week or so to a few select sites, and I'm quite tempted to send you a copy just to get your feedback... PM me your udid if you're interested Its coming, its coming! Footage is being chopped and spliced as we speak...
That could be a good thing, yeah. If they didn't feel the need to use it then perhaps the feel of the controls is good enough without it. But I'd leave it in there anyway. Some of us like sightseeing. I agree that the camera aspects were quite annoying, but I kinda liked the game nevertheless so perhaps I was able to forgive it its camera issues to some degree. Super Marble Roll was indeed the worst of the two but you could manually move the camera if you needed to -- it just wasn't implemented in a nice way. But I tend to be willing to put up with some amount of frustration if the game entertains me enough. Ever since Marble Madness and Spindizzy got me hooked back in the day, yes, I've had a thing for ball rolling maze games/obstacle courses. I don't know what it is, they're both entertaining and zen at the same time. Spindizzy especially got me hooked, especially when Spindizzy Worlds came out on the 16-bitters. Ballance got me back into more modern ball rollers with a unique take on the genre, and then Switchball took the concept and made it all pretty with some fantastic scenery and great physics puzzles. Now that is an offer I can't refuse. You'll probably have gotten my PM by the time you read this.
Ahhhh I'm addicted already. Watched the trailer a few times. Any estimate on when you guys are planning to submit!
WOW! Amazing trailer. Graphics look classy and stunning. Very impressed by the range of interaction in the level shown. I particularly loved the wall running haha! Very much looking forward to release. Fantastic job with the trailer.
Well this looks really nice! one thing though, the ground texture wuality there is really totally awful.
