Hi there, I'm working on my first iPhone game, which is going to be in the music rhythm genre (think Tap Tap revenge, Guitar Tour, Rock Band/Guitar Hero etc.) Unfortunately at this time I can't give more details than that until it gets further along. However, I was thinking since I still am earlier on in development, I may have time to incorporate some things people wished they could see in a music rhythm game or things in existing games they'd like changed. I have a pretty full plate right now, but worst case I may be able to apply things to future updates. 1) What kinds of things do you look for in music games? Large library of songs? Variety of song genres? (World music/rap/techno/rock/etc) A large set of features? (online scores, multiple game modes, difficulty levels, etc.) High quality graphics? (animated backgrounds, flashy effects, etc..) All of the above? 2) What would you change in existing music games? Any features you feel that they are missing? Thanks much!
All of the above. also I would love to see different skins to put on the game. like different themes for certain songs.
1. all of the above more emphasis on gameplay modes and large amount of songs than good graphics. 2. hmmm, more gameplay modes. what would be AMAZING is if the game could use your personal songs from your music library.
One thing you should make sure of is to have some kind of visual or audio cue when you hit a note, like how Guitar hero plays the music when you get the notes right, or DDR has the <PERFECT!!> things. Taptap does't have any cues and it kinda makes it tougher unnecessarily.
While this may not apply to Tap Tap 2 (didnt get a chance to play it yet) I will say something about the first one, that might apply to your game. 1. There needs to be more of a clear indication when you've correctly hit a note. Often I'd be pressing the patterns and not really know how accurate I am. 2. Offer a calibration for presses. One thing that varies in users is the size of their thumbs and fingers. Us with fat thumbs definitely need a bit of leeway when pressing notes. This is especially true when it comes to interface buttons, like the info button, which is nearly impossible to press on a number of apps, due to a very small hit region. Hope this helps! Shoot me a PM sometime when you're ready to have early testers, I'm always happy to offer advice and feedback. Edit: It seems i'm not the only one who had issues with the feedback on notes.
If you want your game to sell well you're probably going to have to have a differenet prensentation in gameplay rather then the classic and practical "tap the bulbs coming down the screen in one of the three areas." I mean if it is just the same as TapTap Revenge1/2 or GuitarRockTour what is going to make sure I go out of my way to spend money on the same game genre. I say make sure the music reflects your game and is just good overall, basically just be creative with your game. Also I have a question, what music are you going to use? Are you a music artist or do you have a friend or a team which does music? I was just wondering if you knew that you can't put just anybodies songs without getting a liscence or an okay from the artist first. If you didn't know just throwing you out a heads up...
Excellent, thanks for the feedback.. I believe I have these two issues already handled.. I'm a "fat thumber" myself, so I hope my solution is acceptable. I'll give you a PM at some point when I'm looking for testers.
Oz, thanks for the feedback. Totally agree with the need to be different than just tapping, otherwise I'll just get crushed by TapTap, etc. I believe I have a difference that is unique enough to hopefully stand out myself from what's already out there. Or at least a unique enough combination of gameplay elements. As for music, I've found some indie bands looking for exposure, as well as music from some that just like to create music as more of a hobby. I have to say that I'm extremely happy with my track list so far. I honestly thought this was going to be one of my weak points at the start (since I'm not a musician) but it's actually turning out to be a strength, IMHO. I have a license to use the music from all of the artists, so thanks for the heads up anyway.
I think all of the above, BUT!!! get a good varity of genres cuasen if rockband was all country music only people that like country would buy it etc....
I think a wide variety of music is a must. And also, you could do something no one has seen before and have like, 4 buttons to tap on compared to Tap Tap's 3. The 4 would be quite a challenge to say the least!
yeah i agree with everything everyone said but i deffinitly think that you should make it so that you have to beat a set of songs to unlock more. Cuz with the tap tap games (atleast the free ones) you get all of them from the beginning and then you really never get any sense of accomplishment. I love being able to say i beat a game. Deffinilty throw in star ratings on the songs (like guitar hero) and mabe a store to customize stuff (also like guitar hero) yes i am a big guitar hero fan.
This sounds cool...I'll definitely buy your game if you're taking suggestions! I think we can all agree on this one: No motion controls. The little arrows in Tap Tap can be awkward and disorienting. And yes, I think four highways for notes would make for a fun challenge, if you do choose the note highway route. Another option would be to go the Elite Beat Agents route, as that Saturday Night Fever game did. If you can think of something that would require the player to move his/her fingers in a new way and present a new challenge though, go for it! Also I don't know about you guys, but I like to unlock songs as I go, and I like the threat of failure in a rhythm game. I think what's most important to me: No motion controls mixed in with the touch gameplay Stylized graphics, not 3D, not flashy and disorienting like Tap Tap Revenge 2 NO LAG--All the Tap Tap games lag, which is horrible for a rhythm game! Expert mode should be very difficult; I shouldn't get 97% on a song my first try playing Expert
Thanks Mhans, I'm a big Guitar Hero fan (Actually a big Rock Band 2 fan at the moment) so I'm definitely taking those games as an inspiration.
Thanks deathinacan, definitely taking Rock Band and Guitar Hero as an inspiration here.. like RB + GH, I'd like Expert mode to be something you really work hard to have to beat. And like RB + GH have their really crazy hard expert song (Green Grass and High Tides in Rock Band), I'd like to do something similar. Something that makes people think, "Wow, this guy beat that song?!!?!"
BTW, also taking suggestions for music groups to include as well.. if you know of any small indie bands looking to get exposure, feel free to forward them on. I'd prefer them to be unsigned just to be able to not have to work through a record label. This is just a one person dev shop so I don't have the horsepower to sign up U2 or Led Zeppelin. Or, also, failing any specific artist recommendations, I'm also interested in gauging what types of music people are into.. I know that's a wide open subject.. but if there's a particular style of music you feel is under-represented on the App Store, I'd welcome suggestions there as well. Thanks in advance!
When you set up the control scheme, have it make the player feel as if he/she were actually playing the music. Some of TTR1 and TTR2's songs suck at this. And have there be a couple of complex but really satisfying moves. Something that makes you think to yourself, "Yeeeeaaah! I'm a beast!!!" even though you really aren't
I know exactly what you're saying there.. there are times in Rock Band where I play through a section and think how awesome it felt to nail it.. I think/hope I've come up with a control scheme that will emulate that to some extent. I look forward to everyone here getting their hands on it and letting me know what they think. I'm definitely going to be working on refining this game over time based on forum feedback and not just releasing it to sit on the App Store. I'm a big fan of music games, so this is a bit of a labor of love for me.
Select songs (or all songs) have their own specific theme. Same game, but the theme fits the song both genre wise and overall feel. ie techo song might have static and pulsating glows, but a folk song would be more smooth and the background would be more faded and blurry with warm color tones.
you should use more alternative folk songs (like alexi murdoch, feist, belle and sebastian,) and calmer music and use something like they did in phase where you have a stream of flowing notes where you slide back and forth. That would be a great new idea to enter the app store.
