Just discovered this game for myself. It is obvious from the attention to detail and intricate options that there has been a lot of love put into this app. I'm going to try and blog about it my iOS Board Games blog. The one thing it seems to lack is an asynchronous feature for the online game. It would be great to suspend a game with a friend and come back to finish it later. Any plans for async?
Cheers blindspot - it's great to hear people appreciating the effort that has gone into this game. Async play is something that I also think would be great for this game. If Game Center gets a turn-based-async feature then Lead Wars will be the first to implement it - you can be sure of that! Implementing async play requires your own costly database servers that need constant maintenance (if the server go down, the game goes down). Unfortunately this isn't really feasible for a one-man-studio, not until I get established with a couple of successful titles can I realistically look to implement this. More people should really be trying the game online over Game Center - a lot of people are missing out on the game's best feature. It's a right laugh playing someone real time as you see exactly where they're looking/zooming and watch them tilt the pencil and take their shot - this live action tension would be lost if it was all asynchronous. I think people are worried that games take too long but you can shorten them with smaller maps / less units. If anyone reading this is still undecided then note that Lead Wars is having a rare sale (the only previous sale was in November last year) so now is the perfect time to pick it up!
Just an update to say what's coming in the next update, v1.2, due out later this month! I think this screenshot should give a couple of hints as to what's new... yep, rise up through the Army ranks in an all-new Single Player Campaign - you didn't think I was just leaving you stuck at Private First Class did you? Also includes improvements to the AI, and the camera zooming and the Map Editor thanks to feedback from you guys here on TA!
No work has been done on any new units, although I have thought about how themes could be added code-wise. I want to add helicopters mainly because I can do a really good heli rotor sound effect (for those that don't know all the sounds are verbal, just like when you play the real life pencil and paper version!)
So Apple just announced the Game Center update, including support for turn-based multiplayer games... are they referring to async?
It does very strongly suggest they meant async (as they showed a word game). Lead Wars would have to send/store more data than your average word game (as you can potentially do up to 10 move/shot actions per turn) but hopefully it will allow more than just the few bytes needed in a word game. If so, Lead Wars will support this on day 1, be assured of that!
That is awesome to hear! Been really meaning to find the time to try out the realtime online play for this, but async would mean I could do it just whenever. Glad to hear you are on board for it. Could you let us know when you find out exactly what Game Center will support in this regard? Thanks!
Yep - all move, firing and explosion sound effects were me making verbal noises into my iPhone (recorded with Voice Memos and edited with Audacity on Mac). This gives authentic sounds exactly like you get when playing the actual pencil+paper game which it is simulating ;-)
I made a video which shows Lead Wars' mechanic playing out in real life! It should help explain the crazy mechanic that the game simulates, and show why it isn't just a simple path-drawing game! I have a low-res version of this video that I am adding to the actual game too, as part of the tutorial system. It is MUCH harder in real life, and near impossible to do curve shots - I slowed it down for the game to make it easier and more fun, and added the visual 'MoveAid' system (which I recommend turning off!). btw v1.2 (adding single-player Campaign mode) should be submitted in just a few days!
Update v1.2 has just been submitted to Apple! Over 70 mini-missions of Single-Player Campaign awaits, letting you rise up through the Army ranks! It also adds two new standard maps (to the new "Battle" mode), and big improvements to the Map Editor and the AI. Enjoy
Update v1.3 has just been submitted to Apple. This update adds asynchronous turn-based online play (using the new turn-based gaming feature of iOS 5). Live online is still supported for those who like to see where their opponent is looking or like to be committed to an outcome in that session (or to play against someone who isn't on iOS 5). Other improvements include: Made it much easier to shoot through gaps in walls, and reduced the chances of getting ditched in water when moving along near a curved bit of river; Changes to open up a couple of those frustratingly narrow-gap Campaign maps; Now highlights the campaign / game / map you're running in yellow (making missions restarts much easier), and highlights online games where it's your turn in green; Big optimisations - now is super smooth 60fps on old devices (iPhone 3G / iPod 2G) as well as all the later ones; music restarts properly in the front-end now; Live online games differentiate between opponent surrendering and a connection issue; + lots more
Never came across this game before. Good to see the dev still supporting it and updating it with asynchronous support for iOS 5. Purchased and downloading now
