Yes, I received the update yesterday and boy what an improvement! This game is really fun, the larger sprites/zoom make this game much more akin to the original. I still feel like there needs to be some sort of control adjustment, just not sure what it should be. My main problems are turning around when I want and sometimes the punch button doesn't react to me mashing it. I think the punch button might need to be a little bigger, or at least the touching area increased. As for the directional movement, I'm not sure what can be improved. I pretty much keep my thumb over the buttons and slide it around to move, and for the most part it's ok. I just wish this game had like a analog stick type thing, where you didn't have to touch a specific button to change directions or jump, you would just move your thumb in that direction. It's not the end of the world, the controls are still pretty good. I even fired up the game on Easy after d/l the update and beat the whole thing my first time through, which is far better than I've ever done in this game. I guess I'll have to up the difficulty. As of right now, though, I seem to be way on top on the leaderboard. Is there really not that many people playing this game? Or are the leaderboards regional or something? Anyway, this game is pretty awesome and I'm not mad at all for picking it up for $2. Hopefully you can keep some updates coming and keep on improving it.
I'll spend some time with the next update forcing myself to feel the pain of the virtual d-pad - I'm sure there are some things that can be done to make it better. The new default control scheme (the one shown in appstore screenshots) is by far my favorite, but I think you're right that an analog style stick that reacts to relative movements is worth exploring. No doubt. The easy setting is relatively easy and intentionally so. I adjusted it to accomodate my son, and also to make it accessible to the guy who helped me with art, who is a wizard with a paintbrush, but all thumbs with twitch games. "Normal" is supposed to reflect a typical arcade game's difficulty, and the "Expert" setting should present a nice challenge for almost anyone. It's possible to earn a lot more points on the normal and expert settings. The final clear bonus is 1000 for easy, but 2500 for normal and 5000 for expert. The expert difficulty also feature mid-level bosses, which add variety and let you pile up extra points. Note that in the current release there is a glitch with the 'bonus' tally screen, where it claims you get a bigger health bonus on the easy setting than you actually earn. As far as the leaderboards go, they aren't regional, and I'm pretty sure activity will pick up as the weekend approaches.
So far I'm liking the default control scheme and found no problems with it. The "directional blows" are far better than the contextual attack button provided by the d-pad - once you get used to them, they become a second nature and allow really fast reactions, since you don't have to face the enemies before attacking them. My only concern with the controls is that when you switch between the layouts the game doesn't pause, so you will be very likely hit several times. Overall it is really a nice, challenging game, well worth the price.
Karate Fighter 1.5 submitted to Apple 1.5 updates for the full and lite versions have just been submitted to Apple, and I expect them to make their way through the review process by the end of the month. I'll be making a new YouTube video on July 11th to showcase the update and will add a link to this thread. Changes include: - stick fighter is now visibly rocked when struck - the giant has learned a brutal new technique, where he leaps at you from a distance, shaking the dojo floor with a mighty belly flop. Avoid it or take heavy damage - the ancient master has learned some new tricks: levitation and summoning magic - the midget acrobat now spins through the air when leaping - new sound effects, including evil laughter and other boss vocalizations - lots of new special effects: enemies double over when struck in the belly, and are sent head over heels when kicked in the face - various bug fixes: end-of-level bonus tally, 'continue' button click target made larger - some tweaks for the second stage to make its monsters a little more forgiving. Snakes hesitate before darting after the player. Bombs take a little longer to explode. Points can now be earned when destroying demons or bombs. - I've added a better final screen for the lite version, and opened access to the third stage Phil
Pro Tip: charge $2 when the game is more polished. For the first people buying the game charge $1 so you can build some reviews and allow you to add more content.
Karate Fighter 1.5 is out! Unfortunately, I have not yet had a chance to make a new YouTube video. At least one more major update to Karate Fighter is planned. I won't spoil it until it's fully baked. Take it easy, Phil
Sale! I have mixed feelings about "sales" in the app store. I hate being the guy that paid full price for an app only to see it drop to 99 cents shortly after. And I've purposefully kept Karate Fighter at it's original $1.99 price since its initial release out of respect for the many people that have bought it. That being said, as an experiment, I've finally decided to follow the herd and reduce the price, at least until the 2.0 update is ready to publish. I still think $1.99 is a great price for any fan of the original Kung Fu Master, but given the economy and the many quality 99 cent titles available in the app store, I'd like to lower the barriers for folk that have the lite version but were on the edge over upgrading. In the meantime, as part of a more risky experiment, I've invested essentially all my proceeds to date into hiring a crack team of artists to create high resolution, professionally shaded sprites as replacements for the current player/enemy art (which look blocky ever since the camera angle was tightened), and I'm quite pleased with their work so far. Phil
it gets 5 stars from me with full or sale pricing. i was one of those guys who paid full price, but it doesn't bother me a bit because the core product is worth of the higher price. i'm so looking forward to the update too. i love the retro feel of the current look, but like the original i feel a bit more raw colour wouldn't go amiss
You and I may like the retro feel of the current look, but for the average modern gamer, I suspect chunky pixels are a huge turnoff. In any event, here's a sample showing the old/new art, to give a taste of the upcoming 2.0 release. I'll most likely leave the original art as a user-configurable option.
Quick update: I received and integrated the completed art package, and it looks fantastic! I plan on submitting 2.0 to Apple this weekend, and will post additional screenshots here after it emerges from their review process. In the meantime, here's a list of what's been added so far: - expanded options screen, with ability to enable/disable music, blood, and to select from retro vs. modernized sprites. - game difficulty moved to options screen and now defaults to "normal" - a sprinkling of new sound and graphics effects - control configuration moved to a dedicated subscreen - pause button added in-game - new "endurance challenge" mode. This is my personal favorite of the new additions. Instead of time counting down, time counts up from zero. You're attacked by waves of enemies with difficulty ramping up the longer you survive.
Looks great. I'm a fan of the classic version, but this app has had a place on my device almost since it first came out. Looking forward to see what the changes bring... Good luck!
Stroffolino: I really appreciate all the hard work you put into this game. It was decent fun in it's original form, but this game has grown leaps and bounds since then. And it just gets better and more fun with each update. I really like the look of the new sprites, and I'm glad the classic style will remain as an option. For an indie dev, you've pulled off a game that could easily hang with any "big budget" remake of Kung Fu Master that a big company could make. Your game is fun, challenging, and charming. And with the wonderful support you've shown for it, and a graphic overhaul coming, I'd highly recommend anyone who's interested and who hasn't picked this up yet to do so. You are the perfect example of the types of devs that need to be supported in the app store. And if I recall correctly, you used the profits you've made so far from this game to hire the people to hand draw the new sprites. Instead of being money hungry, striving for that quick app store buck, you're more concerned with making the game the best it can be. Kudos, sir. Great work, and thank you for this game, I can't wait for the update.
Thanks for the kind words, BOARDUMB. Nothing makes me happier than to hear from a pleased fan of the original arcade game! I've updated the support page with some information on the Karate Fighter 2.0 update, which with any luck should be available in the AppStore next week or shortly thereafter. Here's a sample of the new default art in action:
Karate Fighter 2.1 submitted Key changes: - OpenFeint support - realistic looking blood splatter and new impact effects - improvements to 'retro' version of gfx - new deathmatch mode featuring a familiar tune
