@Big ideas - thanks for your detailed feedback and ideas and glad to hear your enthusiasm about it. I did experiment with tilt controls but it didn't really work. The game is just a simple one touch control - touch anywhere on the screen and Corbee goes higher. Release and he drops. Yeah, the game character is really small, which is good for the gameplay. I know what you mean about wanting to see him bigger - all the art assets look really nice close up. As they are hand drawn and hand coloured the textures are really good when zoomed in. You don't see it in the video (as it's not finished yet!) but in the story/dialogue segments you see Corbee and the other bee characters bigger. That + the title screens should give you a better sense of who they are. (Quite like how the designer of of Another World/Out of this World, the old Amiga game, explained that the only time you see a close up of the supporting character is when you first meet him. And that will stay in the players imagination for the rest of the game when he has no facial detail.) Yeah, there's a story mode where you find out about colony collapse (which is a real world problem - bees dying out in huge numbers globally) and can unlock facts relating to the central theme. There's also an endless mode which should suite people who like trying to get high scores and beating their mates' scores on leaderboards. I think for the initial release we'll stick to two modes, but for updates, more gameplay variety is definitely something to think about. I'm really impatient to get this thing released! It's easy to want to add more and more stuff. Which is what I've been doing for a while. I like the idea of having some kind of meta game. But at this point I'm trying to make myself not add stuff! I'm finding it hard to gauge the right balance of simplicity and depth. Perhaps cos I've played games since I was a kid but think a lot of the people potentially playing this game will want simplicity and will be turned off/confused by too many details. At the moment I'm making the first few levels a bit easier. It seems like I'm so used to playing it that I've made the curve a bit too steep for casual players. So your suggestions for a smart bomb of some kind might be quite good. I'll have to think about that one a bit more. Yeah, I'm happy with the music so won't be changing it. Cheers!
I like the music and it seems enough dynamic for me to be happy, gameplay itself might not be for me (to simple), but that is a personal preference. An interesting fact is that I'm currently working on a game featuring dynamic (but not as dynamic as this) music with the player controlling a robotic bee, don't worry though the gameplay is pretty far from this
@kakburk - Robot bees? Maybe we could make a cross over game where the robotic bees battle the genetic bees in the future... and one robotic bee gets sent back to the past to kill the queen bee who will be mother to the leader of the genetic bee army. I'm sure that kind of idea hasn't been done before
I really like the musical work you've done here, though like others I think the artwork is ultimately lacking in execution (though not necessarily concept).
@Promit - What is it about the artwork that you think doesn't work? So far most people seem to like it but a couple people on this forum have said something similar to you but didn't provide any details. Personally I like the artwork but I'd be interested to hear from anyone who disagrees and can say why they disagree and what changes they would make. Sometimes a few suggestions can help - another dev suggested I add a bit of drop shadow to the foreground objects. That worked out well - it wasn't hard to add but makes a nice difference. Cheers
Good effort. I like the music. I would probably get bored pretty quickly tho as most ADD folks do today, so maybe a break for a mini-game, something a bit different for a while ... maybe you could control the music a little more, tap leaves and flowers and stuff.
For me I think itÂ’s that both the color scheme and art direction as a whole is too naturalistic. I think it would work a lot better with a more "cartoony" feel to it. The main character is kind of in the right ballpark but everything else looks a bit like someone has illustrated their science-project.
Would love help but it looks great. Really like natural look to it all. Plus I think the honeybee deserves a bit of recognition! any idea on the release date?
Looks good, Sounds really good. i must say though, that some of the elements in this game like the honey bird and flowers, seem a little life-less. I think its because of the Oil-Painting style you guys adapted. But still, looks awesome!
Ok, so BigEyeGuy and Nick seem to be saying some similar things - thanks for the feedback. We wanted to go with a 'natural' feel for the art direction. Although I don't do it much at the moment I like being outside where there are trees and grass. So the art style is trying to get that kind of feel. Also its a semi educational game so its fits with that. So I'm just gonna have to accept that not everyone will love that style! Yeah, the bee characters are the only ones which are humanised/cartoonised. So hopefully, as you follow the story, those characters become likeable and the player cares if they live or die... that's the plan anyway @MoxyDave - ADD? Attention deficit disorder? Yeah I have been wondering if the gameplay is too narrow. But then again playing it is different from watching it... ...Just started beta testing so if anyone wants to test out the gameplay let me know. @Smithy - Cheers - I saw you posted on our 'upcoming games' thread too. Quite random that you're actually interested in bees already. Do you have a few thousand friends who have the same interests by any chance? Hoping for an early June release.
Hi everyone. I am the other half of honey tribe studios and the one responsible for the artwork. I have been illustrating for many years and am obviously always looking to improve my craft. Thanks to everyone who has given feedback. So far it has been overwhelmingly positive. I would reiterate what Shaz has said in as much as the naturalistic feel really ties in with the atmosphere were trying to create. I think the style offers something really different to the gaming arena. I am unsure what promit and mr ugly mean by the word execution? Do you mean you think it's rubbish? I know how to execute a perfect forward somersault! thank you for the feedback regarding the bird. Shaz and I have been looking at ways to animate it more. Were also looking at more expressions for corbee, the main character, before he takes the world by storm! Any ideas? Thanks again and keep the feedback coming.
Thanks for the reply. Yeah I've actually got the hive ready. Just looking at locations and researching ways to get started. Love the naturalistic style. Maybe it's because I'm a kind of an outdoors type person. Keep up the good work
The dynamic music is interesting. One thing that bugs me is how the flower just disappears when your character touches it. Maybe have it fade and drop away. Or react like it was struck, etc.
@dreadwench, @Sinecure Industries, @Smithy - Glad you all like it. Will be great to finally release this game. Playtest feedback on gameplay is very good so we're quietly confident that the reaction will be good. @swiftest - Yeah I can see what you mean. I might have a play with a few different things and see what works (and doesn't impact the frame rate).
We're now looking for people to test the game. If you're curious how it plays just let me know and I'll email you the latest build.
Here's a screenshot of what I added to the game today: The endless mode now has unlockable content. Will probably add more unlockable stuff in the first update, but won't add too much stuff straight away. I'm getting more impatient to release this game but still want to make sure that it's as good as I want it to be.
I'm working on finishing the script for the story mode today. I've been putting it off for a while. But now that I'm sat down and am back into it I'm starting to have fun with it. I'm developing the characters so they have individual and consistent personalities. At the moment I'm most enjoying writing the lines for the character Sting. While Corbee, the first playable character, is off trying to save the hive Sting stays at home being pessimistic and offering an alternate viewpoint to the other characters. The game has a friendly and innocent aesthetic so I'm liking that we have a character who is a contrast to that. At many times I've felt daunted by how much work in needed to finish this game so that it's as content-rich and professional as I want it to be. But today I was thinking 'I can write anything I want - it's my game!' So just enjoying the creative freedom to do what ever I want with it.
Somehow i thought you already released with some gfx revamp, because the style of the bee and theme looked similar handdrawn http://forums.toucharcade.com/showthread.php?t=96699 Maybe worth checking out for you.
