Update from Lazy 8 Wow. You guys and gals are awesome. I apologize for not checking this thread for a while. I definitely owe everyone, so how about some exclusive insights into the imminent release of Cogs. Yup, you heard it here first. The plan was to submit the app to Apple today, but we had a few minor details to iron out. So we're now on schedule for Chillingo to submit it to Apple on Friday afternoon (GMT). Rumor has it that apps are currently working their way through Apple's queue in 2-3 working days, but there's always the possibility that it could get sent back to us for revisions if there's anything they don't like. There are a few things that you'll see in Cogs for the iPhone that are different from the PC version. We had to cut down the polygon count and material complexity, but I think we still managed to get it looking pretty darn nice on the iPhone. You can see a whole bucket of screenshots at the Lazy 8 Studios site. We scaled up a lot of the interface elements to make it easier to interact with the game. One experiment that I think worked really well is to add a subtle little spark when you touch the screen. It gives some feedback and helps you improve your click accuracy. To improve the frame rate I implemented entirely new frustum and occlusion culling subsystems that were so successfully, I've already back-ported them into the PC code base and will be releasing a patch on Steam soon. There's one new puzzle on the iPhone that isn't on the PC and it's the second puzzle you'll encounter. We added it to get players into 3D as soon as possible and also smooth out the learning curve a bit. There are minor tweaks to other puzzles, but they're mostly the same. Testers had a hard time winning gold time awards (myself included), so I increased the time threshold by about 10% for most puzzles. As for pricing, we're selling the first 10 puzzles for a buck and every ten puzzles after that for another buck. I know that some players are going to hate that and feel like they're being nickeled and dimed, but my thinking is that Cogs is a hard game. Notoriously hard. That's exactly why a lot of fans love it, but it's not for everyone. With the pay-for-what-you-play approach, you can try out the easier levels for the cost of a Coke. And if you really love it, you can get the whole shebang for the price of a sandwich. A really cheap pre-packaged grocery store sandwich. If your aim is to win all 816 stars and every achivement, I figure it takes about 10-15 hours of gameplay, which I think is quite a bit more than most mobile games. About three hours ago, Eli from TouchArcade uploaded the brand spankin' new Cogs for iPhone trailer to YouTube, so go check it out Needless to say, I'll be tweeting once the game is live, so that's probably the best place to get the news first. - Rob Founder (and programmer and level designer), Lazy 8 Studios
51. The way we've set it up, you have to earn your way through the first 10 puzzles, just like on the PC. For each additional puzzle pack, the 10 puzzles will be instantly available. The last puzzle pack has 11 puzzles, including the credits puzzle, which will be locked until you earn 300 stars.
ok so the whole package is $5 Sounds good. I'll just get all the packs from the beginning except the last one.
Rob is too modest to mention that Cogs is a finalist for IGF! http://www.igf.com/02finalists.html#cogs Yay for Lazy 8 Studios! I know, I know, Cogs is going up against Enviro-Bear, but Rob is such a sweet guy and an amazing indie dev, so I'm rooting for him.
Thanks, lfg_grace! One of the nice thing about the indie dev scene is that we all figured out a long time ago that we're not really in competition with each other. Nobody ever says, "I can't afford Enviro-Bear AND Cogs. That would be like... three dollars!" It's way better when we stick together. Enviro-Bear looks freakin' hilarious! I hope it's a smash hit. And congratulations on being a finalist for the Nuovo Award!
Dang so many good games coming out, I need to get this, ACII, Mirror's Edge, Guerrilla Bob, Phoenix Wright, and a ton of other games. I'm excited that it's submitted
