@WL: Do you have any specific teams in mind that you want to see played? @all other testers: I'd really like to hear your thoughts on the game difficulty so far. Definitely need input from others to compare my own impressions to.
New version has been submitted to Apple. This version probably won't modify difficulty immensely. There is a new scaling formula for XP / Level gains so that might make things tougher. However, the final vision has yet to be realized in this version but is hopefully a step in the right direction. 32 patrol levels in total so please do play lots of patrols in your play through. The quest levels haven't changed much. In fact, there are some lighting changes in my game engine which might make some of the quest levels a bit weird until I redo the lighting for those levels. There are also new high-definition graphics options in the options menu ... these seem to work fine on an iPhone 5 so please check those as well. @Nullzone: No concerns really ... go nuts and choose whatever you want in terms of a team.
Apple were taking ages to even start their review so I did some more work and uploaded a new version yesterday. Added several goblin spells and abilities. Playing through it now with a new team: - Illusionist - Half Giant - Centaur - Elf Ranger - Storm Seer - Assassin Seems pretty solid. Level 4 is way too hard but only because of a small bug which I've fixed in my local version. Otherwise difficulty for the first chapter is pretty good. I'm losing 2 or 3 heroes per level and with the new formula, I'm noticing faster level ups initially but I believe that will slow down for later levels. The new abilities on the sides are really fun and do make the first boss a bit more challenging. Getting into the goblin levels now. In level 1, I had to stop the main quest once and play a couple of patrol levels to rise up in level to finish it. Seems about right. One quick note, if you guys play the patrol level where the goblins ambush a dwarf patrol .... I went a bit overboard on the number of enemies on that level. Not sure why ... but there are almost 40 enemies plus some really tough monsters. I've toned that down on my local version too but if any of you can actually beat that level as is with a early level team, I'll be very impressed.
It's been a while since I've posted any screenshots so here goes. Here's one of the new patrol levels ... the afore-mentioend goblin ambush. Can you spot any units? Screen Shot 2015-06-26 at 8.03.20 AM by Rajpreet Dhillon, on Flickr
Looks good. Do I see some nice new stuff in there, like a Cyclops ? And what's with the blond dwarf in the center? Escaped from an 80s Hair Metal band?
Soon ... getting closer. I want to do 8 more patrol levels, clean up some sounds / audio clips, add a tutorial, go through a play through and adjust levels for difficulty and then update the credits page. That should be it ... anything else can be updated post release. But just remember, the longer the wait, the better the end product. Regarding improvements, I finally figured out why the AI often hugs walls and wall corners for no apparent reason. It has to do with the fact that I built levels with walls and level edges as cover positions. I made some adjustments to one level and it leads to much more logical AI behaviour. As such, I'll go through the levels and make those corrections. Only 65 levels to do that in... Also, I now have the characters saying something appropriate when they try to cast an ability and it fails. So if a wizard tries to cast a fireball and it fails, he basically says "oops" or something to that effect.
Yep ... that's a Cyclops. He exists only in a patrol level so you'll have to work a bit to actually find him. The rest are various humans that will be added in later chapters. I wanted to test my new tools for creating mobile-friendly models from complex 3d models and so created a bunch of new units. The process seems to work really well so future chapters will have lots of new characters. My old process took way longer so this is really good for me.
$2.99 ... with all updates being free after that. However, major updates will raise the price gradually to $4.99. That's the plan anyway ... if that fails, I guess I'll make it free and add loads of IAP gems or something. (just kidding )
Just finished another patrol level. It came out looking pretty cool so I thought I'd share it. Screen Shot 2015-06-26 at 1.07.22 PM by Rajpreet Dhillon, on Flickr It's a fight against lots of Demons ... who all appear to be busy with some evil looking menhir that they've erected. Otherwise, looks like Apple are still taking their sweet time to review the next play test build. So might be a bit more of a wait. If anyone wants to jump into the beta, just send me a PM.
The Menhir looks gorgeous, very well done! And 2.99? You're selling yourself under value. Don't know how that will affect overall sales numbers, what with the well-known unwillingness of iOS users to pay premium for premium content. But my "value radar" says at least 4.99 would be a very reasonable intro price. And 10€ for the final version. Oh wait, what's that on the left edge? Winged Beholders?
It's our first real game so trying not to be overly aggressive on pricing. To be honest, because I still have the day job to pay the bills ... it won't be the end of the world if it doesn't make a lot. With the game engine built, I'm hoping the wife and I can release one of these a year and that'll make enough for her to quit her dead-end job.
Indeed they are ... though I have to be careful because Beholders are a Wizard of the Coast Trademark. So these kind of look like a cross between Beholders and Fish. Kind of cool though as they glide through the air as if they were swimming through water. There are also flying skull demons too in the background. Bonus points for the first person that can find the Undead Paladin with glowing energy sword.
The next version is finally in review with Apple. So hopefully they'll release it before they go home for the weekend.
Final preview picture for the day. This is a shot showing the main troops / soldiery of the human faction that will play big role in upcoming chapters of the story. Screen Shot 2015-06-26 at 4.17.00 PM by Rajpreet Dhillon, on Flickr I need a good name for the medieval human kingdom that these guys call home. I was thinking of the following: Aurthurian / High Fantasy stye: 1 - Lyonesse 2 - Alansyia Saxon: 1 - Aelderland 2 - Aelderwood 3 - Mercia 4 - Farenburg Or perhaps anything else? I could go for something non Anglo Saxon ... perhaps Polish, Germanic or a Russian sounding kingdom? Would welcome any thoughts.
And for the astute among you ... yes, that is a giant Steel Golem in the background. The player encounters a massive guardian style golem in one of the bonus levels and wakes it up.
