I like a lot of things in this game, the gameplay especially and all the ways to achieve a level. But.. i'm'playing on ipad, and it's really ugly.. Weird to say that, but it's like playing on an old computer, like an atari st or a 286, and the vga resolution. It reminds me old times, so it's not a real problem, but i have to admit visuals are not easy to admire. It could better if we could have a better resolution and something more polished. It's like you've decided to concentrate on everything but the visuals. Characters are ok, but why such a low-res? Maybe you'll improve that in the next updates? It would be so great. Maybe it's less terrible on a phone. Anyway, the game itself is a real pleasure, for now i'm trying "play mod", after finishing tutorials. Not so easy, but each time i discover a new strategy. Thanks for your hard work!
Took me a bit to get into this game. Finally decided to sit down and spend a little time on it on the Shinkansen commute and absolutely lovd it. Amazing game! Is it too much to ask for iCloud support and Game Centre?
We do plan to add leaderboards and that kind of stuff, hopefully within the next couple months. I think we're going to do that alongside the PC port, which is definitely happening! Glad you got over the hump. Now it's time to BUMP!
Lead artist here. iPad right now has a bit of an issue because it's slightly stretched on the x axis by about 2 pixels on each side(well, two pixels in Auro's native res). We will be fixing that soon. But it sounds to me like pixel art just isn't your thing. I chose low resolution pixel art quite on purpose. We started dev on this 4 years ago, back when screens were smaller, and back when I had more of a romance for pixel art than I do today. That said, while pixel art may not be your speed, I assure you that tremendous work and care went into the art and animation. Take a close look at these couple assets if you like/are interested in the process. Every single pixel was placed by hand. It's a very time consuming process not unlike the impressionistic technique pointilism. It's unfortunate that in Auro, you don't get to see the walls as much as I'd like. Also, this asset is from Story mode, which was unfortunately cut, but for good reason. Argo's chamber, pictured here, was made with I think under 15 colors. Pixel art challenges me to use colors efficiently and hint at depth and form under those limitations. These portraits fly in once in a while, but if you look close, they were pretty worked to death in terms of detailing. I sort o f draw inspiration from zelda and Pixar, then combine sensibilities from both. Finally, the animation. No paper dolls. No vector short cuts. It's old fashioned, brass tacks animation. Just like mom used to make =]. A little guy like this can take 20-40 hours, depending on the complexity/frame count/etc. We animators are gluttons for punishment. Especially us indies, because this kind of work is usually done on an assembly line, but I'm the one-man art department for Dinofarm. Anyway, sorry if you're disappointed by the art, but maybe a little mini tour of pixel art will at least garner an appreciation for the form, even if it's not your bag. Most importantly, thanks for playing the game and keep on bumpin'!
I usually like this type of game but really couldn't get into Nightmare Cooperative... Which may not be that similar. I do really like 868 Hack however as there are many ways to dispatch your enemies. I'm going to read all of this thread now but I wonder if I would enjoy this? I know... Dumb question to ask others ☺️
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fkqi3f_IhNE Check out the official video tutorial! By the end, you'll know exactly what Auro is. But in short, I can tell you it's fast-paced, turn based tactical action all about bumping monsters into the water! Match length is anywhere from 8-15 minutes. Infinitely replayable. I'm confident it'll be very rewarding for anyone who takes a bit to get the ropes. That's speaking as a fan first, developer second.
Yeah I saw the video and it looks great. Having all those spells available has got to be a blast... Even when you lose. I was under the mistaken impression that this was more a pure " avoid the enemies" kinda game. Can't wait to try it... Thanks!
I love how when I scrolled to this post, this little dude was dancing to the beat of the music I was listening too. The animations have a wonderful kinetic feel.
I'm sure that the art took a lot of effort to produce, but unfortunately my enjoyment of something isn't tied to how hard it is to do. Still, the art is satisfactory, but on modern higher resolution devices I think something more realistic looks better (and is probably *easier* to make).
I personally LOVE the art in this game! I cant wait to see what else you guys have in store for this. In gunna keep making my way up the ranks, masters here I come !
@Blake Reynolds : Sorry, maybe i've been a bit rude, i do a lot of mistakes and my words aren't those i would have chosen in french. I agree with you, it's a tremendous work and i can see it in each part of the game. As i say, probably with bad words, i think it's mainly the resolution on ipad. I'm a great fan of pixel-art, i've bought "combo-queen" recently because of the art. Sword and sorcery is a chef-d'oeuvre, and there are a lot of recent games which are too. I assure you i like the animations, the colors, the design. Too bad it seems to be ruined by the low-res. i hope you'll fix the problem you've described about the pixels. I go back in the game!
Thanks for giving us a behind the scenes look on all of that Blake I loved the art to begin with, but now I'm especially impressed!
Huge letdown for me. Expected RPG mchanics, but none found. This is 100% a puzzle which just expects the player to jump through hoops. "Do exactly this, or it's game over." No customization, no random RPG elements, eg. skills, loot, traits, encounters. Solid gameplay still, but wouldn't recommend unless you are looking for a puzzle game in sense of Sudoku, Chess or Solitaire. 2/5.
Sorry you didn't like the game, but for the sake of anyone who might read this, Auro is nothing like a puzzle. Puzzles are designed to be solved. And once they're solved, they're a "dead system." Like a jigsaw or crossword. Games, by contrast, are designed never to be solved. If a game is solved, it is very bad and essentially kills the game. Tic tac toe is a "solved game" and I'm sure we can all agree that is bad for the system of tic tac toe. On the other hand, if, say, a crossword, jigsaw or a level of portal were impossible to solve, it would be bad for those systems. They would be failed puzzles. Anyway, there are almost no examples of "do this one thing or you're dead" in auro. The only time that happens is when you're down to one health and you happen to only have one option left to keep you alive. But the magic of auro is, you PUT yourself in that position by a deep, emergent Web of dynamic, creative decision making that are different every single game, for thousands and thousands of matches. The better you get at the system, the more you will learn creativity and ingenuity to press your advantage. This is never the case with a puzzle. In a jigsaw, you are simply finding a piece to move the puzzle in a static and binary way towards the completion state, which renders the jigsaw dead, and many times, thrown away, afterwards. Auro was carefully designed over the course of years to be as far from a puzzle as you can get. This may just be semantic if you also consider chess a puzzle. I think nearly 100% of the world will disagree with you if you do. Ironically, most rpgs are far more "solved" and therefore "puzzle-like" than Auro will ever be. In many, there is often one spell or one ability or strategy to grind up to that completely steamrolls the whole game by pressing A until you win every battle. Basically like "knowing the answer to a math problem" that takes you 10 hours to input. anyway, again this is for anyone else who may be reading. And we're sorry you didn't like our game but if you stick with it, maybe you'll fall in love after all. We hope you do!
neither is mine. I was responding to the specific claim that the least effort went into the art. I was also sure to reiterate that ,"this may still not be [his] thing," but the claim about the effort was what I was addressing. As to your aesthetic preferences, I have a lot of reasons why I wouldn't go realism even if I were making high res assets. But that's a matter of taste and sensibilities, and another topic for another day. most importantly thanks so much for playing!
Thanks for posting on these boards! Love hearing from developers and it keeps the creative juices flowing (imo)
