Hello everybody, I'd like to announce my first game, Cavernaut. I've been working on it for more than three years, and in a few days it will be available in the App Store! Cavernaut is a cave flyer, inspired by classic titles like Lunar Lander, Thrust, or Solar Jetman. Your goal: Pilot a spaceship from a launch pad deep within an alien planet through a maze of caves to the planet's surface. You'll have to avoid hazards like lasers, mines, or spiked walls, and find landing pads to refill your tanks before you run out of fuel. On your way, you pick up luminum crystals that can be traded for ship upgrades, and perhaps you can discover the fragments of relics from an ancient alien civilization that are scattered throughout the caves. The ship is steered with tilt & touch controls. You'll have to make it through 5 levels with increasing difficulty, which are semi-randomly generated every time you play, so no two caves are alike. Do you have the skill to make it to the surface? Check out the trailer and some screenshots: Subscribe to the TouchArcade YouTube channel What do you think? All comments and feedback is much appreciated! The game will be available for iOS on September 22 for an introductory price of $0.99/€0.99 during the first week after it's release. After that, the regular price is $1.99/€1.99. An Android version will be available a few weeks after the iOS release. If you want to learn more about the game, or want to contact me, here are some links: Game website Twitter: @EinheitB indieDB page GamingSOON page Update: It's finally available on the App Store: http://itunes.apple.com/app/cavernaut/id972481169?mt=8
Looks good! Nice trailer. I would recommend you have ambient music in this game if you don't already (similar to Mines of Mars).
Thanks vectorarchitect! The music in the game actually is more ambient-ish, compared to the music from the trailer. Not sure if it's anything like the one from Mines of Mars, but I have two tracks from the game on Soundcloud, so you can listen to them here and find out: https://soundcloud.com/schoenepauck/cavern-ambience https://soundcloud.com/schoenepauck/waiting-for-launch Cheers, Jan
Just a quick update: I had to submit a new binary to apple; while playtesting yesterday I discovered a nasty bug that had managed to evade detection until now. It was one of those that only get noticed very rarely, but when it does, it's very embarrassing Good news, It is fixed now, but the downside is we will probably have to wait a bit longer until Apple reviews the game.
Cavernaut has a release date now: September 22 Thanks! And here is an update for you: Apple has finally (after what felt like the longest wait in my life ever) approved the game, so I have set a release date for Cavernaut: It will hit the App Store September 22. To celebrate this I have created a (slightly) updated trailer, see the first post!
Thanks guys! Danke! This is totally awesome. I have a few promo codes to spare, so you can get a sneak peek before the official launch. Please leave a message if you take one, and tell me what you think of the game. All feedback is welcome! 9XA6R4JX7NMH 7L7HKXMWRAN3 6AANHT93JRYX 947RNJ4TTHWK MJXLF6EJJLRX
Thanks for 947RNJ4TTHWK, and sorry for not looking further as the great video, done by a single Dev! I didn't realize this is going to be a paid game, but when i see a cave related game, mostly i can't hold my horse (=download finger). Cheers and good luck from a friendly swiss neighbor.
Hey nice game, pretty much on the same path as you are, I wish you the best . How long did it takes Apple to review and approve it? Was it approved on the first attempt? Cheers, Eric
Some quick imps and let's start with... Unfortunately, there is some important (for me) atmosphere missing, due to almost no sfx sounds to be heard (except the coins and hitting a wall). I hardly hear the thruster and maybe some cave typical sounds. I know, it's a space cave, so what should we supposed to hear? Maybe some "whosh and zish" here and there, whatever this translates to some more noisy atmospheric sfx sounds. Of course, this should come with two volume sliders for the music and sfx (some folks realize that i'm repeating this wish in many threads), oh, and the ships' final explosion could definitely use some more love...and BOOM. The music is genious. Period. The controls might shake off some tilt-haters (as usual) but they work great here combined with the ships weight and thrust ability. Precise manoeuvres are easy done with some tilt and the ships' momentum. I really love your controls, and i'm not a tilt lover, either. (Get prepared for the people's wish for an alternative control option, i.e. left/right buttons) The music is amazing. Period. Thank god, or Dev, there is an invert option for the ships' movement. Default is the wrong one for me, tilting left - going right. The random generated levels are always (i guess) a welcomed way to keep a game longer fresh and interesting. Well done. Did i say how awesome the music is? Area/cave1 is rather slow paced, concerning traps (lasers and bombs) and the easy challenge, and you'll find enough fuel stations on your way up. I could see this getting a bit tedious before the difficulty ramps up in area2...
Hi Eric, thanks! All the best for your game, too! Apple review took 9 days. Reviews seem to take a little longer currently, maybe the iOS 9 release has kept the Apple staff busy. It was approved on the first attempt, if you don't count the one I pulled from review myself because I had found a huge bug after I already submitted it. @Qwertz555: Merci, thanks for the detailed feedback. Separate volume sliders were on my list, but I didn't want to delay the release much longer, so I'll probably add those with the first update. As for the alternate controls, yeah, I definitely expect that request. But for me the tilt control is a core element, and I'm afraid the navigation could never be as fluid with buttons. And hearing that you like the music -- that is the most awesomest thing ever: Those are the first real tracks I made, like, ever
Game is great. Only problem I have is tilting the phone because I can't make the precise turns I need as you can't see the path correctly because of the tilting of the phone. But that's all in the strategy of the game. The weight of the craft plus throttle and tilt all have to happen perfectly making this game challenging and fun. Also you added a "currency" to collect to make upgrades which make the game worth coming back to and playing over and over . If it were a "high score" type of game I wouldn't keep coming back but since their are things to collect and upgrade I'll be playing this for awhile. Great job on this game
