On sale for $2.99. That price more than makes up for the lack of online multiplayer, but I must warn that the AI is somewhat weak - even on 'hard' - unless you're playing against more than one cpu opponent (as long as you use the 'info mode' to reread the cards). The AI will still catch me off guard whenever I fail to account 100% for initiative modifiers and effects of other modules, so it wouldn't be fair to say it's a pushover. Exceptional board game overall. (edit: my opinion of the AI is based solely on the yellow and blue cards - I've read but haven't yet played as the other forces; so far I've skipped the manual, but like NH! enough to consider reading it once I start losing).
The hard AI generally makes fewer obvious mistakes (pointing a piece in the worst possible direction, attaching modules that will obviously be blown away, etc.), but still won't be too difficult for an experienced NH player. I think the developers have the right idea, though, since it appears that their AI is programmed not to overwhelm newcomers right off the bat. And, down the road, it can always be improved, if more players start clamoring for such a thing.
Neuroshima Hex Puzzle - 100 scenarios for Neuroshima Hex (Universal, Retina, GC) We happily announce that a new Neuroshima Hex based game will hit the AppStore in March 2011. Neuroshima Hex Puzzle is a set of 100 tactical scenarios (also known as Hex-aches) solving of which will guarantee long hours of exciting fun! More info on the Neuroshima Hex Puzzle page. And a few screenshots to whet your appetite:
Sweet! Still desperately need some multiplayer in the original, but this should hold me over till then. Keep up the good work.
This upcoming, separate app is no substitute for the inferior AI that should be fixed in the first app. People should avoid that app until either the AI in this one is improved, or online multiplayer is added. In many cases, the AI will rotate and place a module so that the arrows are pointing away from the board, which is an error that no beginner would make under the same circumstances.
Absurd. The game is not meant to be played only by a handful of NH experts; it's meant to be enjoyed by as many people as possible. With that in mind, the AI is just about right, with the Easy setting harmless enough not to overwhelm newcomers and the Hard setting still a reasonable challenge for veteran players. Down the road, I wouldn't mind seeing some minor updates to the AI, and I'm reasonably confident the NH developers will offer some updates later in 2011 or maybe 2012. But to say the game should be "avoided" is not only flat-out wrong, it's the very definition of hyperbole.
With the latest version I've been gettin my butt kicked a lot more. Im not an expert of the game for sure. But while I used to beat the AI on hard before, now they're actually a challenge. So AI is fine for me
That's my contention - that the Hard setting is not a reasonable challenge unless the AI is playing Moloch, which has two tiles in its arsenal capable of wiping out many units at once. Thus it makes no sense to pursue a new app about the same board game, which is analogous to a collection of prearranged chess puzzles, when substantial opponent-opponent challenge (either in the form of strong AI or online multiplayer) is still lacking. Who wants to just face a series of pre-fab challenges on a platform capable of handling the online multiplayer requirements of a game like this with ease, when so many ipad/iphone games already provide real human competition?
One explanation about the AI. We're really at the edge of iPhone's (or iPad's) performance, so the AI on hard is no uber AI and we're fully aware of that. We can't implement an AI that would compute all of the possible moves and always made the briliant one. I mean, we could but even now on slower devices (iPod 1G, iPhone 3G) sometimes AI thinks for over 10 seconds, so it would take few minutes to make a great move every time. If we will ever port this game to Mac or PC (and I hope we will at some point) we will add a mega-turbo-super-AI, but it's just impossible to add this on an iDevice. Sorry.
I think the Hard AI is pretty decent. Would you guys reconsider the mega-turbo-super-AI mode for the next generation iPhone ( which, given Apple product cycles, should boost the processing prowess of the phone considerably )?
That new game looks amazing! I'm beyond hooked already. If multiplayer ever becomes available I'll never get anything done.
@trystero, I think Apple is mostly boosting the GPUs, not the CPUs, but we may give it a try if the next generation iPhone will be fast enough. @NotYou, that's one thing we didn't ever consider - if we keep making new games, people may just stop doing whatever they were doing and just keep on playing! Our company may be the biggest thread for the world's economy! And seriously, thanks for the warm words, guys
Bills need to be paid and the pre-fab puzzles might be fun for some but, I have to agree, improving the AI and getting in some IAPs for the main game would mean a lot more for me. Hey, here's an idea... How about an even tougher AI (if possible) that is only available as an IAP and comes with a HUGE warning that it won't work well on stuff below a iPhone 3GS/iPod Touch 3G, and even then, may take several seconds to contemplate its moves. I know that I would more than happily fork over a buck or two for this! Not knowing crap about IAPs, I have no clue if some aspect this fundamental to the game can just be something optionally toggled on and off reasonably.
Of course we're not forgeting about new armies. As for the uber AI as another IAP - sounds like an interesting idea I'm not saying we'll make it, but we're gonna discus it for sure.
A lot of chess apps allow you to tweak the AI for different time thresholds...I don't know if that would be possible here, but letting players set the limits for how long the AI can "think" seems like it could be a possible solution, maybe?
dude you are wrong. this happens very very seldom since the last ai patch. tileplacement by the ai is very often very intelligent.
No schedules, yet, but we're working on a multiplayer solution for our games and it will make it to NH after the next update with expansions as IAPs.
Because of a funny story involving one funnt guy fro TA forums we came up with an idea of starting the "I want SALE!" action. Click "Like" next to the post about this action on our facebook page and after 100 likes we're gonna start the sale! More info here: http://www.neuroshimahex.com/810/i-want-sale-facebook-action-started/
