Hi all! We (Octane Technologies) are excited to announce our upcoming strategy game, City Cops. Our game features two dedicated cops sworn to uphold the law, one clever robber determined to break it and a fast-paced chase across miles of tracks! In this challenging strategy game, you control two cops whose mission is to keep the city safe by capturing the robber before the timer runs out. Use trains to travel between stations and strategize routes for both of your cops to team up to capture the robber. You'll also have fun power-ups to help you outmaneuver and outsmart the robber but he has a few surprises for you too! Subscribe to the TouchArcade YouTube channel This game may look easy, but believe us when we say it is VERY challenging. It will test your ability to make quick strategic decisions under pressure. Game Features: • Master your strategic skills on multiple subway maps and levels with a variety of challenges • Defeat the cunning robber who is driven by AI that gets smarter and smarter • Use tactical power-ups to skillfully maneuver the robber right where you want him • Focus on your strategy with an intuitive routing system • Set the scene for your ingenious strategic plans to unfold on sleek and colourful maps • Try to conquer the frenetic boss level to put your skills to the ultimate test We are currently looking for enthusiastic iOS gamers who would like to participate in our beta test and help us to improve various aspects of the game. If interested, please fill out the sign-up form linked below: https://goo.gl/forms/K3UxU6oRkcpijRFn1 Once you register with your e-mail, you’ll get an invitation link at that address to test the game through TestFlight. Thanks in advance for your help and we'll see you on the tracks!
VERY challenging is right! So much so I have yet to complete level 2. First of all, some time is needed to study the map and work out a strategy. Then there can be a long wait before trains arrive to take the cops to their chosen stations. Before I get anywhere near catching the robber the 2 minute time limit has usually expired. Sometimes I get close to catching him but he then uses his cloaking ability to escape. The cops have limited cloaking ability, but it doesn't help much as the robber seems to have unlimited cloaking. After numerous failed attempts at level 2 I gave up in disgruntlement.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts. We agree that for newer players, the Cloak power-up is hard to learn to use effectively. We're going to move it to later in the game, rebalance it a little, and introduce another power-up that's easier to learn earlier in the game. Did you use the Cloak power-up and then reach the lose/win screen or did you quit the game before the timer ran out? Did you find that you became more familiar the maps as you played the levels repeatedly (3-4 times) or were you still hoping for time to study the maps? We're trying to maintain City Cops as a strategy game with action elements so we intentionally limited the frequency of the trains. We want players to anticipate and strategize around the arrival of trains at their stations and the robber's station. We can consider extending the time limit, though we also think that some players prefer to just start a new match after a couple of minutes in the hopes of achieving a higher star rating (which is based on the total match time). Please let us know your answers to the questions above and we'll also hope to hear from more players soon. We'll also post an update on this forum when we've improved the game.
Thanks for your reply. I did just write a further long report but it got lost. Will write it again tomorrow.
I finally completed level 2, but that was more by being lucky with the trains than by using a planned strategy. It does seem sometimes that it is impossible to catch the robber at some stations as the trains appear to be timed to his advantage. I wouldnt say I become more familiar with the maps through replays as so far they are not that complex. It is more a matter of trying to become familiar with the train timings. That is not so easy due to each restart being from different locations. I was playing on level 3 today and sent a cloaked cop to a the robbers station. He still escaped though, suggesting the cloak was not effective. Another time a robber used cloak to escape even though I couldnt see a train for him to escape on. Overall, I like the design and intended strategy of the game, but the initial learning curve is extremely steep. Having to keep restarting becomes tiresome, and I can rarely use what I learned from the previous run as the starting position always changes. It may well be Im just no good at the game and others could be finding it easier to progress. Ill have another go when the next update is live.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts. The train timings should be completely randomized so we were trying to figure out why it appeared to you that the trains were timed to the robber’s advantage. Unless there is a bug that we’re not aware of, our best guess is that you are experiencing the following: in many levels, a lot of trains pass through the busier stations where the robber likes to hide. As a result, he often has a train to escape on just before you arrive so perhaps that is making it feel that they are timed to his advantage (though we swear they’re not!). We’ll try to provide information in the game to help players understand that the train timing is random. However, you’re correct that monitoring the random train timing as you’re about to execute a capture attempt is a key to success. We want to keep the constantly changing starting positions so that players can have new and different experiences every time they play the same level. We may try to slow down the level start sequence, though, to give players a little more time to get comfortable with the level layout and starting positions. We’re also going to consider extending the match times a little. The game is designed such that a cloaked robber has to have a train to escape on but we’ll keep an eye out in our testing to make sure that there’s no bug that we’ve missed. We’re really happy to hear that you liked the game overall. We agree that the initial learning curve is a little steep for some players though we’ve also seen some other players advance as far as level 5 very quickly. We have a number of ideas on how to both make the game a little easier as well as provide players with more tips on strategy to help them enjoy the game more. We’re going to close this first beta test now and ask users to fill out a survey. Next, we’re going to take that feedback, make a number of changes, and then provide an updated and hopefully improved build soon.
New Beta Test Build! Hi everyone, Weve been improving the game build for past few weeks based on the feedback received from some of you. The new features and changes include: 1. Four new Police Academy levels to allow players to practice with unlimited power-ups 2. Over 25 tips to help players improve their strategies 3. Reduced difficulty for the early levels 4. A new sequence for power-ups 5. An easier-to-navigate level selection screen 6. A display of the robbers power-ups in the HUD 7. Bug fixes We plan to release the new build by the beginning of next week and hope that all of our testers from Beta Test 1 will join us to see all of the improvements. You should be receiving a TestFlight invitation when the new build is released. We also want to encourage new players reading this post to sign-up for the next round of our Beta Test: https://goo.gl/forms/K3UxU6oRkcpijRFn1 Thank you in advance for your help! The Octane Team
Is it just me or does it seem like the robber is always able to catch a tain that usually leaves slower than the other trains. Also it seems to know what my next moves are. I do find the controls to be a bit condusing at times - a lot of tomes I end up sending the wrong cop - perhaps change the colors of the steps between the two cops so I know which one will take which step. Also, I can't find a quick way to abort the moves. By the time I've x'ed out the additional steps, it's already on the move.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts. Watching which trains are coming into the station and then adjusting one’s timing is an important strategy for both the cops and the robber in City Cops. The robber AI is fairly good at analyzing the timing of the trains which makes him a worthy opponent. The robber AI is programmed to not actually know what you are going to do, though it does make guesses as to what you might do and then takes appropriate evasive action. Is there a specific situation in which you feel that the robber knows your path in advance? One strategy that you might try is to force the robber to move to a corner station, block his escape routes with both of your cops, and then execute a timed approach to him with one of your cops; check to make sure that no trains on his escape route can arrive in time to save him before you reach his station. Many weeks ago, we did try your suggestion of showing both of the cops’ routes at the same time and using different colors to differentiate them. Unfortunately, players got confused when the paths overlapped and were overwhelmed by the amount of visual information on-screen so now, we’re only showing the selected cop’s path. Based on your feedback, we’re thinking we need to do more to indicate which cop is selected. Right now, the selected cop has a white border around him but we’re going to consider making the selected cop icon larger. Would you please clarify your confusion with cancelling moves? The game rules do not allow you to cancel an upcoming station in your path if you have already left the preceding station; for example, if you have left station B for station C, you can no longer cancel station C; you can cancel station C before you leave station B (i.e. before or while traveling from station A to B). Does that help? We’ll look forward to hearing your thoughts on the above – thanks! The Octane Team
Let me see if I can explain it, if the robber is at point D and the cop is at point A, and I program ABCD in (assume these are all on one continuous line and a connection is not necessary), the robber seems to start moving by the time I get to B. However in the same situation, if I only put in ABC, the robber doesn't move from D. As for the cancelling, I find it really difficult to abort a complete trip in time (say ABCD) even though the train has not even arrived at A yet. by the time I get from DC, it's already too late to cancel B.
We reviewed our AI algorithms again and we can confirm the robber does not know with certainty what route you have plotted. He only knows where both of the cops are, how far they are from him, and he makes some good guesses on what they might do next. What we think might be happening in your example is that in the first case (ABCD route for Cop #1), Cop #2 may have started moving in from a different part of the map closer to the robber so that the robber felt unsafe (before Cop #1 arrived at B). In the second case (ABC route for Cop #1), perhaps Cop #2 did not move close enough to make the robber feel unsafe. Out of curiosity, do you happen to remember the specific level number and positions of the cops and robbers when you saw this? If not, it’s fine – we were just wondering. Regarding the cancelling of routes, we think it should be easy to cancel nearly a complete route. To take your example, let’s say you’ve plotted a route comprised of ABCD. If you already are on your way from A to B, it is too late to cancel B; however, if you cancel C by hitting the “X” on C, then D will also get cancelled. In other words, you don’t have to cancel D and then C to cancel the remainder of the route; you just have to cancel the earliest station on the route that you are not en route to already. Does that help? We appreciate our feedback and look forward to more. What is the highest level you’ve reached so far? How are you enjoying the power-ups?
