chill out people, it like he said, go to your device's app store, click on 'purchased', search for the game and you'll be able to download it from the mystical cloud.
Read. It's not just about the fact that you can redownload it. It's also about the fact that any updates will be for the new version. And anything you earned in the original doesn't carry over to the new one. Whatever. Not worth continuing to post about it. Just another one of those slaps in the face to original buyers.
I'll be the first one to tell you that we don't really intend for people who bought the original to play this version. The old one is still there, and will still be there for those people to download and compete on the leadersboards with, and we fully expect people who bought it to continue playing that version. We've tested it a lot to make sure it is still compatible with iOS 7, so people aren't losing access to it as long as Apple doesn't drastically change anything in iOS. The content changes certainly don't warrant moving to this version unless the user really feels like playing through the game again. That being said, the large majority of our users are from the two weeks at christmas time the game was free, so we think there's a pretty large amount of people that simply didn't want to pay for the game, and this is the version for them. There's no new content, apart from a new tutorial, so people aren't missing anything by not moving to the new version. Either way, if we patch the old version with the new balancing, we have to clear leaderboards and wipe save data, and that would have gone over worse than simply removing the old one from being purchased. I'm probably going to regret this, but here's our list of balancing changes. You can make of it what you will, but I think the numbers will certainly point towards balancing largely remaining the same, or if anything benefiting new players even more. Either way, there's nothing new here that players of the original wouldn't have already completed. Ship Changes - Upgrade cost totals are levels 1-5. Level 6 (equivalent to final ship level 5) upgrade reduced from 500,000 to 0 ARC Bucks: ARC X18: - Total cost changed from 23,000 to 20,000 ARC Bucks - Lvl 5 damage changed from 34 to 50 - Lvl 5 armor changed from 90 to 100 Cyclone - Total cost changed from 88,000 to 89,000 ARC Bucks - Lvl 5 damage changed from 57 to 100 - Lvl 5 armor changed from 140 to 150 Moonshine - Total cost changed from 249,000 to 235,000 ARC Bucks - Lvl 5 damage changed from 126 to 175 - Lvl 5 armor changed from 235 to 275 Rainmaker - Total cost changed from 483,000 to 516,000 ARC Bucks - Lvl 5 damage changed from 215 to 250 - Lvl 5 armor changed from 330 to 400 Falcon - Total cost changed from 1,135,000 to 1,140,000 ARC Bucks - Lvl 5 damage changed from 360 to 400 - Lvl 5 armor changed from 525 to 600 Z-Fighter - Total cost changed from 2,140,000 to 2,100,000 ARC Bucks - Lvl 5 damage changed from 525 to 650 - Lvl 5 armor changed from 700 to 850 Weapon Changes: - Laser and burst laser removed since the functionality was duplicated in the homing and barrage missile. This effectively removed 93,000 and 390,000 ARC Bucks worth of upgrades that can be spent elsewhere - Homing Missile total cost from 28,000 to 30,000 ARC Bucks - Doppelganger total cost from 66,000 to 42,000 ARC Bucks - Barrage Missile total cost from 171,000 to 69,000 ARC Bucks - Smart Bomb total cost from 255,000 to 120,000 ARC Bucks - Reflective Shield total cost from 315,000 to 168,000 ARC Bucks - Squadron total cost from 472,500 to 210,000 ARC Bucks - Chain Lightning total cost from 660,000 to 315,000 ARC Bucks - Blackhole total cost from 900,000 to 252,000 ARC Bucks Levels - The general idea here was to make the point progression a bit smoother, so it was effectively changed to be 9 difficulties instead of 3. This was the core change that broke save compatibility (as well as leaderboard compatibility) that forced the decision to either replace the iOS build with this one, or simply not put the new version on iOS at all: - Tutorial updated to hopefully be more useful to new players - Asteroid Belt removed from game as it was kind of boring - Panels 1, 4, and 7 now feature slightly weaker enemies with slightly lower rewards - Panels 2, 5, and 8 are the same as the original version - Panels 3, 6, and 9 now feature slightly stronger enemies with slightly higher rewards
Hey dev, since I bought the prior version and barely played it (like killed two bosses), I'd have an smoother game by playin this new version? I didn't find the original too frustrating but yes it could be smoother. So I'm better off starting over with this one since I played so little of the original? Thanks.
I'm no fan of freemium games but at the end of the day 'perhaps' the dev didnt make as much on the game as they thought they would. He said they had tons of installations the second the game went free, if these people had bought the game in the first place then i'm sure none of this would have happened with the 'Redux' version As much as i hate to admit it way too many people are cheapskates and wont buy games, they love everything to be free. Stupidly when a games freemium they think its free yet still buy lots of IAP's (Why dont they simply buy the game in the first place !). I dont blame devs when they explain it like this, its not like the guy is being greedy, he (and his developers) need to survive. I would rather see Arc Squadron II in the future if that meant they do well because of this freemium game. Looking at those stats above it seems that the game isnt a 'traditional' freemium 'give us your money', if anything it seems you get better ships so hats off to the dev for not purposely making it more difficult to get more people buying IAP's This is a great game, to me this is the best 'Rogue Squadron' game on iOS which i had been after forever till this game appeared. I hope the dev does well, if that means freemium so be it, i would rather that then another dev disappearing due to lack of profits. You want less freemium, buy games on launch.
Hard to say either way. I'm having trouble thinking of a description other than saying that the difficulty progression is smoother. Before the difficulty jumped really fast in panels 1, 4, and 7, then was too easy by panels 3, 6, and 9. Now it's a bit smoother of a transition with smaller difficulty jumps between each panel. I'm not sure I'd say it made things easier, but it is more consistent in its challenge level. That said, the bosses didn't particularly change, so those are still just as challenging as they were before.
Yeah I can't say it bothers me, developers are under no obligation to keep adding new features to games. I'm just glad they left the original alone and released this separately. There's been a lot of that lately and by developers I wouldn't have expected it from, good to see someone try to do right by their customers. One thing I will say though, if you make a paid game free then of course your downloads will go up.
I'm just stunned when people simply dont buy a game when its a dollar or two. Its horrible seeing all the people begging for promo codes or competitions in the other section, if i release mutant baby watches paint dry simulator i'll get 5 star reviews from users if i wave 'write me a review to be in with a chance of winning 50c' etc This is a quality game, its one of those i show to my mates to prove that iOS isnt just Angry Bird rubbish. Problem is when a game is over a dollar so many people wait for price drops/to be free, its ruining gaming.
I don't really want to incite a riot with some people with the rest of your post p), so I'll avoid making known my feelings in general on freemium titles, but this is an interesting thing here. One of the things that I've generally learned in this process is that it's a lot harder to convince people it's worth spending $3 on your game than it is convincing them to try your game, then buy a $3 IAP to reward the developer for making a good game. In general, I think that it's probably next to suicide for independent developers without other revenue to do anything but free titles on mobile, but I think there's ways to do free without being dicks about it, and I'm kind of hoping people recognize we're not trying to do F2P in the same way as some other unnamed companies.
I've had the original Arc Squadron on my iPod Touch since I bought it, so I'll stick with that one for now. Plus, the old icon is sexier. Best of luck with this one though.
I wholeheartedly agree. I blame consumers and developers equally though, the good thing about iOS (or more so to a greater extent was) the ease of entry for Indy developers and ability to compete, but it was also double edged due to the undercutting, free promotions and so on to get noticed due to lack of marketing budgets, it has set an expectancy with the average consumer that if they wait a game will go free or be dropped into a sale. It's a tactic which has bit both legit consumers and developers in the butt in the long run. Making some consumers distrustful in dropping the launch dosh, and leaving developers scratching their heads when they can't turn over the volume they expected, even though their game is solid. I'm a buyer so I get exactly where you're coming from, it's just a pity that developers in general set the pricing bar so low initially, it tends to make the whole process cyclic.
I played this version I checked to make sure I didn't buy anything because this does not feel freemium with the largest extent of the word it's really, really fun. I'm buying some IAP just because this is the least freemium game ever (that's free) so I'd recommend you guys calm down and just appreciate the game.
Thanks, PsyonixDan for your explanations. I understand why devs go freemium due to sales. And I respect that you didn't just change the game that at least some of us paid for directly to freemium. It was just a strange way to go about it. I was happy to see a separate game being launched freemium because that is the better way to do these things. I was just caught off guard by the decision to take the old app off the store. That just essentially makes us owners of abandonware, meaning that if you ever do add new missions or something else "cool", the new free version will get those updates. Not the one we paid for. I work in software so I understand the pain of maintaining two versions of something, but sometimes it's necessary to keep our customers happy. Anyway, good luck with your new version. Hope it brings in more money because you are talented and deserve support. My frustration is showing it's ugly head over the many other times when this wasn't handled right in the past. Unfortunately, that's the way of the AppStore these days.
I get your point but the original ARC Squadron works fine on ios7, seems to still play well. Yes theres a chance of a possible update on the freemium version but for my couple of quid last year i've had a ton of fun. I'm not someone to expect updates for the rest of my life. The dev has to make money, by either creating a freemium or a new game then i can understand that. Not saying you but sometimes people expect updates for the next 5 years or they'll be upset by their 'abandonware'. I've had a lot of fun with the game, because of this thread ironically i'll be playing the original more as its gathered a bit of dust recently (just so many apps)
Back in my day you paid $40 for a disc in a box and you took it home and installed it and played it and were done with it. Any updates came in another $40 game with a "2" in the title...
Not that you need this to survive the day, but thank you for reaffirming my faith in you as a decent, honest guy trying to figure out how to make games and still eat. It's been said more than once in this thread, but the backlash isn't about you, it's about a looong year of ups-and-downs with the App Store. Sadly, the other side of that coin is the seemingly endless stream of [redacted] that essentially want to see how far they can ride the, "Free Stuff Train," and they're not going anywhere, so we'll all need to deal with the repercussions as best we can... I renew my promise to give you a kidney, should the need ever arise. DBC
If you bought it, you can find it in your purchase history to re-download. Actually came to the thread to apologize for overreacting last night. I guess there's been many other (more) shady things going on with devs -- not just small ones but the big guys too -- that makes me more and more cynical. Lots of things have been done out of greed without taking into consideration the supporters who got you there. I know you didn't have any ill intentions with this change. It's sad that devs even have to resort to changing business practices to a freemium model. DBC mentioned those wanting to take the "Free Stuff Train" as far as they can. I'm the opposite of that. I want to support devs and want to pay premium prices for games. Unfortunately, those free riders are the ones that will make freemium never go away (and I'm ok with freemium when it's fairly implemented so you can support a developer without having to throw away hundreds of dollars to get through a game, but that's another topic). Best of luck with the new version.
I agree. I don't know if the market will ever evolve over that. I had this phase 3 years back when I had just joined the iOS bandwagon... at first I bought selectively few games at full price. Then I realized there were too many sales happening, so I started waiting for price drops and eventually ended up having a gazillion free on 99c games which I never played because I didn't have enough time to play through them all. Now, because my gaming is quite limited by time, I don't buy a lot of games. Whatever I buy, I get at whatever price. $10 or $5 is affordable for me as my quantity of game buying has reduced. And I don't feel too burnt if that game drops in price, because let's face it... I wouldn't be all that richer if I saved a $ or 2. Of course this approach wouldn't work for someone who buys 5 games a week. Also, the trouble is I rarely ever download anything freemium. So I end up missing some good games, But I will probably get this one, as it does look cool.
