Thanks - you rock. Yesterday I was reading your postmortem on the Adobe site, and your latest developer blog post and by all means, keep it coming I ended up playing a single-player match at the end of the work day, and I happened to kick the AI's butt - I killed their Hero immediately and then moved on to take care of the rest. Had a fantastic time - I hadn't had much time to play in the past few weeks, and it was a refreshing thing to do Cheers, and thanks. Paulo
How important is the ability to chat for asynchronous multiplayer? Do people use it a lot? Is it worth delaying the async release of Hero Mages for/
I don't think it's worth delaying over. However, a popular solution to this is for each turn you are able to submit a single chat message. So no chatting between turns; the chat string submitted is just an additional piece of data submitted for the turn.
Limiting to one message per turn is a good idea. Maybe I could even *trash* the chat log after each round once players have had a chance to read it. I'm concerned about storing chat logs for a couple reasons: size and privacy. While I imagine chat usually wouldn't cause a size issue, every KB of data adds to the load time of the game on mobile phones (some with limited connection speeds). What happens in an 8-player game if people or if people are spamming messages just because? All chat would also be stored on the database, and no-one likes the feeling of "big brother" watching over you. Still, chat is important- especially for team games where you want to coordinate strategies. For the time being, I'll plan to hold off on async chat support for future release. Let me know what other thoughts and ideas you guys have.
Will single player content also be coming to Hero Mages? I noticed that option won out on the poll, forgive me if I overlooked a plan earlier in the thread.
The next major update will include asynchronous multiplayer, in-app purchases for expansion content, bug fixes, and a number of other requested improvements. I am hoping to have this released before the end of this month. Next, I will be considering ideas to add more to the single player - perhaps mini-campaigns or SP missions available via periodic content updates. A proper single player experience demands story, additional artwork, exploration, and character advancement. There's nothing worse than gameplay that feels "tacked on". When I do deliver the single player, rest assured it will be an awesome and unforgettable experience.
Finally got around to picking this up, I knew I would eventually. I'm kicking myself that I took so long as I'm having heaps of fun with it. You can add me into the category of eagerly awaiting further single player options/campaigns. I'm a bit of a loner when it comes to gaming, as multiplayer doesn't really interest me at all, (and I know I'm not alone) it's just that sometimes you get crucified on here for mentioning disinterest in multiplayer options. Thanks for a great game, I definately see the love you've put into Hero Mages and I for one fully appreciate all your obvious hard work.
The latest and greatest update on the asynchronous multiplayer development: Matchmaking! Check out my developer article for screenshots and how the system works (very in depth): http://www.indieflashblog.com/how-to-create-async-part4-html.html I'll try and get a video demo posted soon.
I was rather ambitious with my goal and indeed unable to complete final release before the end of July. But! I am strongly committed to getting it released as soon as possible. Last night I updated the live server-side code and added the database changes necessary to support v1.8.0. Asynchronous playlists are now fully supported in my release candidate (the ability to jump seamlessly from one async game to another after you complete your turn). All that's left on the plate is integrating the extensions for in-app purchases and push notifications. The web release will launch first since I can directly control when the update occurs. Android will follow next (updates usually post within a few hours), followed by iOS and then Amazon/Nook. These markets require approximately a week or so in review time, so hopefully everything checks out. I'm very confident that the release should hit market before the end of August. Thank you for your continuing interest and for keeping up on me about the release.
Just bought this game, got all excited playing through the tutorial.... and then what a freaking disappointment that I can't even play with half the characters. WTF, how do I get access to these??
Excellent question. Additional characters will be available as In-App purchases in the next update scheduled to release by the end of August. Characters come in predetermined army sets similar to Hero Academy. The difference with Hero Mages is that you can mix the characters from different armies to form your own custom party. As the game continues to expand, new characters, levels, and more will be available. Hero Mages is more than a game, it's a game service whose direction is driven by the player community.
Also, please do not rate the app so harshly on the basis of what the game doesn't currently have. Hero Mages was designed as a multiplayer tactics/skirmish game that can be played infinitely like chess. The game never promises a full story campaign, but it does deliver the 6 missions as described in the app description. I'm a sole developer creating this game. 1 star reviews severely hurt my ability to expand on the game and deliver new features like a story campaign. If you have requests, you can email me or post on the forums here or on Hero Mages site and I will gladly address them. Touch arcade community has been wonderful with expressing their needs and async multiplayer will soon release as the result of their feedback.
I'm still impressed at how much this nails the feeling of a tabletop board game. Can't wait for the new IAP. It's as close to a warhammer style game for IOS as I've found. There's really nothing I can say that I haven't already said.... This is pretty much a perfect game with near infinite replayabiltiy.
On the android verison, if I want all of the characters, it costs $23 ($3 base plus two $10 expansion packs). Will the IAP be priced similarly, or hopefully cheaper than that?
Woah I'm hoping it will be a bit cheaper. I'm wanting new characters but I'm not sure how many people will be willing to pay $20? That's more than any game I've bought on iOS. For instance outwitters I payed £1.99 for the character pack or hero academy it was £1.49.
The plan for the IAP is $1.99 per expansion/army (the same pricing model used in Hero Academy). Note: Hero Academy is a free-app while Hero Mages is a paid app for $2.99 with the ability to expand using the same pricing model as Hero Academy. The reason for the $2.99 up front price is that, unlike Hero Academy, Hero Mages includes a full-fledged offline play mode including scripted missions and infinite re-playability vs. a very challenging AI. You can even create games with up to 8 players and divide the teams to your liking to increase the challenge. Also note that Hero Mages is already "free-to-play" online multiplayer via web browser at www.heromages.com. Finally, all IAP purchases are tied to your account, NOT your device. This means that your characters will be available on all versions of the game (web, Android, iOS, Kindle Fire, Nook, etc.) Purchases characters work both in multiplayer and single player.
Greetings all! I'm very pleased to announce that v1.8.0 is very near completion. I'll be uploading the binary this weekend, so we may see v1.8.0 go live in time for the end of PAX. I couldn't get Push Notifications working for this iteration, mainly because I couldn't determine how to get my server to send the notification messages. So, for the time being, good ol' email notifications will have to suffice. This also works well for those playing in the browser and don't have access to push. Native In-App purchases are fully supported and all expansions will be sold in iTunes for the low price of $1.99USD. Some of you expressed interest in beta testing, and I wouldn't mind a few players taking a scrutinous look at the new version to try and detect any last minute issues. If you're interested, please PM me your UDID so I can create a provisioning file for you. Have these to me before 5:00PM CT and I'll try and get an prerelease IPA to you by early Friday evening. You're going to flip when you realize the extent of what this update includes
