Universal Crying Suns (by Alt Shift and Humble Bundle)

Discussion in 'iPhone and iPad Games' started by Talbs, Jun 25, 2020.

  1. Gwarmaxx

    Gwarmaxx Well-Known Member

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    sorry pal, but i don't have any problems to play it even on my old 6S, so i'm glad the developers decide to release the mobile version at first glance... why should i wait months to play it, when this seems like a perfectly optimized version to me?
     
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  2. Talbs

    Talbs Well-Known Member

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    Seriously? All text is tiny even on my Xs Max. It’s like micro. this is possibly the worst text size/icon size in a game for a phone I’ve seen yet.
    You must have 3x optical zoom eyes.
     
  3. Gwarmaxx

    Gwarmaxx Well-Known Member

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    #23 Gwarmaxx, Jun 27, 2020
    Last edited: Jun 27, 2020
    :D no, i have not zoom eyes, just put my glasses on ;)

    anyway, i’ve seen worst texts/UIs in a lot of other games... have you ever played Halcyon6 (btw, another sci-fi strategy masterpiece)?
    can you read the notes below the name of any power up when you beat a boss in Steredenn (and it’s just a shmup, nothing less complex)???
    and many more... come on, honestly, this is not the worst of the bunch.
     
  4. JasonLL

    JasonLL Well-Known Member

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    Judging by the replies so far in this thread the game is not, for the majority of users, perfectly optimized for smaller screens. As an iPad user this doesn’t affect me but I would’ve gladly have waited months to play the game if it meant a better experience for all.

    Crying Suns is an awesome game and why wouldn’t you want every mobile strategy fan to enjoy the game and not have to battle with the UI?
     
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  5. skoptic

    skoptic Well-Known Member

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    I cranked it out on my XSMax last night and was very happy to see my cloud save sync over :)

    It’s gloriously FTL with lashings of extra UI / animation and story. Basically this has kinda hooked me in, having not fired iPhone FTL in a while.

    I work in agile, so I’m more than happy to get the game working fine for a significant user base and maybe UI revisions for smaller screens could be released in due course. At the moment I’m pretty happy on the XSMax but appreciate it’s a bigger phone and my eyes seem to tolerate quite a bit.
     
  6. solarnya

    solarnya Well-Known Member

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    #26 solarnya, Jun 27, 2020
    Last edited: Jun 27, 2020
    I thought this isn't on Japanese AppStore.
    However I looked it up by app name, I've found it.
    Probably it's about publisher thing I guess.
    Instantly bought DLing, looking forward to playing!
     
  7. Gwarmaxx

    Gwarmaxx Well-Known Member

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    wow, this game is wonderful, great sci-fi roguelike with a lot of events, encounters, and strategy to deal with... i knew it was good, but it exceeds my expectations.
     
  8. VirtualBoyFreak

    VirtualBoyFreak Well-Known Member
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    Apr 26, 2011
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    Nice to read :) As for the font size: yes, it's small. I'm 42, don't use glasses and find it small and a bit difficult to read. Nonetheless, I think it's up to the buyer to decide if it's okay with them or not.

    I've always wanted FTL for my phone, but never got it because devs said the game experience wouldn't be good enough. Now, Alt Shift has given me a fantastic alternative (I'm enjoying it even more tbh) and I've bought it without hesitation, accepting the small font as an assumable loss in exchange for being able to play it on the phone. And I'm extremely happy with my purchase.
     
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  9. AltsKev

    AltsKev Well-Known Member

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    This is a true roguelike ? with a true replayability ?
     
  10. Jstorm

    Jstorm Well-Known Member

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    What do you mean by “true”? Such as no permanent power ups that carry on to the next run (Every run is from a fresh start)?
     
  11. AltsKev

    AltsKev Well-Known Member

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    i mean unlimited replayability, like STS or NOTFM.

    What is you finish the story ?
     
  12. Jstorm

    Jstorm Well-Known Member

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    #32 Jstorm, Jun 28, 2020
    Last edited: Jun 28, 2020
    Well, I haven’t finished the story yet, so I cannot really comment on the replayability.

    As far as I know, there are 5 ships that can be unlocked, where each ship is configured to require totally different play style, well, at the least for the first 3 which I unlocked so far. The uniqueness of each ship should be further enhanced with upcoming Advanced Tactics update.

    As of randomness of shop items and events, it’s similar to FTL.

    Just finishing the story would take quite some time. Combined with 5 ships and 3 difficulty levels(normal is quite hard), I’d say the game has quite a play time.
     
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  13. AltsKev

    AltsKev Well-Known Member

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    Thank for your answer :)
     
  14. Talbs

    Talbs Well-Known Member

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  15. Gwarmaxx

    Gwarmaxx Well-Known Member

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    yeah, it’s a pure roguelike like those, but seems more complex to me, much more strategy, a deeper background story, no in game cards, another 4 battleships to unlock and a lot of officers, each with their own skills, to find through the trip, as well as a lot of events and random anomalies... looks like it could last a long time.
     
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  16. JasonLL

    JasonLL Well-Known Member

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    According to the devs on their subreddit the advanced tactics update for mobile is coming soon which is great news.

    “Hi! It should be $8.99 / 9,99€. Expect the UI and some interactions adapted for mobile, the version will be the same as the desktop version in terms of contents, balance and everything else. The Advanced Tactics update (in beta on Steam) will also be on the mobile version shortly after the release by the way.”
     
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  17. anthony78

    anthony78 Well-Known Member

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    I’m intrigued by this but am probably one of the few people that did not care for FTL. I liked the story and events but really didn’t like micromanaging the ship itself.

    This seems more focused on story and combat. Are they really that similar?
     
  18. Jstorm

    Jstorm Well-Known Member

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    Not really. The similarities are that you have a soft time limit for each map, randomized events, store, and crew acquisition.

    Combat is quite different. In FTL, you have to micromanage everything, from firing weapons, crew allocation, opening/closing doors, and even the flow of oxygen, like a captain of a small ship. Crying Suns is controlled from a much higher point of view, where a battleship commander with hundreds of crews should be.

    As you said, Crying Suns have more story and characters provided by the game compared to FTL where dialogs for events are left to your imagination.

    Whether FTL and Crying Suns are similar is somewhat subjective. I’d say no, but some might say that the Crying Suns’ system that you have to travel from one side of a map to the other with randomized events with a soft time limit is enough to call this a FTL clone. Either way, both are great sci-fi games.
     
  19. anthony78

    anthony78 Well-Known Member

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    Decided to pick it up and I like it but still trying to grasp the combat. I’m not quite understanding deployment. I hold to deploy or un-deploy but the map for placing the deployment only showed up once. Never could get it to come up again. Am I missing something?
     
  20. Jstorm

    Jstorm Well-Known Member

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    #40 Jstorm, Jun 29, 2020
    Last edited: Jun 29, 2020
    I understand it is kind of confusing.

    First, when you have an open slot in your hanger, it is shown with a + sign.

    By tapping a + sign, you can bring up the roster of squadrons you have and their status.

    To assign a squadron to a hanger, tap and hold a squadron from your squadron roster. Now you should notice that the + sign is replaced with the squadron you selected.

    To deploy a squadron to the field, tap (not hold) a squadron. You should now see hexes where you can deploy the selected squadron. Simply tap a hex that you want to deploy the squadron. You should see the squadron icon placed at the hex. After a short delay, the squadron will be deployed.

    If a squadron is destroyed or retreated, the hanger that you had the squadron assigned will become open. You need to repeat from assigning a squadron to use the hanger.

    If you want to remove an undeployed squadron from a hanger, tap and hold the hanger.
     
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