For those who are interested, I was lucky enough to host an interview about this game here: http://forums.toucharcade.com/showthread.php?t=146840 It was a pleasure. It is a bit of a read but there is so much good information in there I really encourage you all to take a trip over there and read it thoroughly. Thanks again!
I didnt read the other 60 or so pages of comments, but I was wondering if the Zenforms die in combat. One of the things that annoyed me about Pokemon was that these wild and powerful creatures never killed the others in a fight in the wild. Now, when in an arena or sanctioned battle, I could understand that a judge could bring battles to an end once a clear victor was seen. Maybe that's why I liked Digimon better as a concept than Pokemon. That sense of finality. Do Zenforms eat? Are there genders? Can you take someone's Zenforms? I have so many questions. After reading the interview I'm excited again for this. And what about playing on the iPad? Will this scale or will it be centered in the screen and require that I hit the 2x button?
I enjoyed doing that interview. I had fun answering those questions. Linebarrel86, there is a great FAQ thread here: http://www.calisprojects.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=60 Check it out. All of the questions have been editing into the first post. But I'll answer what questions you asked here. I love answering the questions. I'd much rather spend a few minutes to answer them, than to have people confused about the game. So feel free to ask any more. But check out www.calisprojects.com/zenforms to fill you in on the basics. ....but I was wondering if the Zenforms die in combat. No, it's like pokemon in that sense. I had them die originally. It was never animated for them dieing, but referenced in the story that they would bio degrade back into the planet (ZENFORMS come from the planet's energy, I'll explain in the new question). But I could never figure out a logical reason for the player's ZENFORMS who were defeated in battle. So now it's just like getting K/O'd. Do Zenforms eat? Are there genders? Can you take someone's Zenforms? ZENFORMS are asexual creatures. They are "born" from the energy emanated by Gaia Crystals- big crystals from the core of the planet. You can't take other ZENFORMS owned by other Protectors or Revolution members. A ZENFORM is attracted to ZENCrystals (shards from the GaiaCrystals used to capture ZENFORMS), which is why they attack you. Once you capture one, they are tied to it's energy unless you release them. And what about playing on the iPad? Will this scale or will it be centered in the screen and require that I hit the 2x button? It's an iPhone game running at 480 by 320 resolution. I personally have an iPad 1 for my testing and it's fine. After 2 seconds, you forget it's a X2 app since the art style is pixel art. I recently answered a question about an iPad version and even posted a screenshot of the iPad version here: http://www.calisprojects.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=113 It explains it is something I'll look into after release, but Version 1.0 will be iPhone native only.
i100, If you go on the official games forums (http://www.calisprojects.com/forum/) there is an exclusive update on the games progress. So as not to deter hits to his website I won't give anything away but the game is another step closer to completion and it is looking good.
Thanks very much for the birthday wishes, I had a great weekend with my friends. Yeah, I posted last weeks update just on the Calis Projects forum. I wanted to reward the few that are always on it. But I've returned here with this weeks update. This is kinda different than my other updates.... Weekly Update: August 17th I've decided this update is more of an air clear, since some people don't get some features in ZENFORMS. That's perfectly fine, it's a new game, and it's compared to pokemon a lot (which can get people really confused), so let me explain something that is different with ZENFORMS (as in the ZENFORMS themselves). I recently posted a wallpaper of the CP Facebook showing the selecting the first ZENFORM pic. I'll link it rather than post the image since it's 1600 by 1000 pixels or so. http://a8.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/547166_10151091078148788_622340831_n.jpg (Calis Projects Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/CalisProjects ) A comment that came up often "Can I catch the starter in the wild" - Yes, all ZENFORMS come from 1 of 3 Newborns (you can see each one in that wallpaper above). The Newborn (which people are calling "starter", thanks to pokemon, but please remove that term from your head with the Newborns) ZENFORMS are actually the MOST COMMON ZENFORM IN THE WILD. In fact, on the first road, you will mostly encounter the Newborns. While your first Newborn you get of Principal Vicar is stronger than nearly all wild Newborns, there is also some other differences. First the move set. While I have said in a previous update that ZENFORMS under the Adult (4th evolution) stage have 3 colors, each color has a different movepool, I should also tell you that even the SAME ZENFORM of the SAME color can have different moves in the wild. While the movepool that you can learn from will be the same (you learn new attacks in the ZENFORM menu, I'll post a shot of that later), the moves a wild ZENFORM may know will be random based on their movepool and the Star Rank (see the stars beside a ZENFORMS name - almost like a level). Check this example out. This was my Rinba's moves in my battle: This was the Rinba's moves I just caught in that battle (taken from the ZENFORM menu and viewing that ZENFORM): So that is the SAME ZENFORM, with the same movepool, but yet, both have different attacks once the player (me) got them. Each movepool has 10 moves by the way. See the "Free slot" above? Touch that, the movepool will pop up, and you can spend SP, Skill Points, on moves to learn them. The stronger the move, the higher the cost to learn it. But you can learn ANY attack in your movepool if you have the points to spend at ANY time. Did you notice that my second Rinba is called "Newb" ? Another question set of questions I get asked a lot is "Can I rename a ZENFORM" or "Is there pokecenter type buildings". The Protector school is the place for this (there will be other locations, but I'll talk about them in updates after release of Version 1.0). Christine, the Admin Protector behind the desk in the school, will handle a lot of this. She can rename your ZENFORM, heal your team, and even handle your storage (using Pokemon terms, the PC that handles all your captured creatures). She is very much a key character, and someone you will visit a lot in the early parts of the game. Again, there will be other places that offer this service, but I'll mention these in updates. Read over this, and I hope this clears things up. I'll most likely be linking people to this post next time they ask Hope you liked this update. Thanks for reading all of it.
I never really got into pokemon but only because I used to spend all my money on console games rather than handhelds, but I could always see the appeal. This looks great, and sooo much work! you deserve all the success I'm sure you'll have.
I am glad there's some promising battle monster games coming to iOS such as this one. I loved Mino Monsters but taking it from an open world concept to static environments killed a lot of its charm.
I posted a guide on learning attacks in ZENFORMS on the CP forum, I thought I'd share it with you all. I'm also trying to get the CP facebook page up to 600 likes, so if you haven't already, show your support for this original take on the monster catching genre and like the page. http://www.facebook.com/CalisProjects Any ways, here is that guide. If you have any questions on it, feel free to ask. Guide: How to learn and manage new attacks Learning attacks in ZENFORMS is different to other games in the monster catching genre. Since there is no "levels" in ZENFORMS, it can be confusing for people to understand how you actually learn an attack. This will teach you how to not only learn attacks, but to manage your attacks and forget attacks. Like evolving, or increasing stats, learning attack is done by spending Skill Points in the ZENFORM menu. Skill Points are the points earned after battles, completing side quests (not in Version 1.0), and by reaching certain parts in the game's storyline. Attacks will have various costs, based on the attack power, effects, and balance. Stronger attacks will cost more Skill Points (SP) than weaker attacks. (Note: As of writing this tutorial, I just finished the UI for learning attacks, so this will have new media) Open the main (press the menu button) and touch on the "Team" icon. When in the ZENFORM menu, touch on the ZENFORM you want to learn and manage attacks with. Now, touch the "View Attacks" text/button to view that ZENFORMS attacks. You can touch on an attack to view a pop up with information or forget that attack (more on that later), but if you see "FREE SLOT" you can touch that to view your ZENFORM movepool. Each movepool has 10 attacks (most ZENFORMS have 1 of 3 movepools, which is indicated by the color of the ZENFORM). You can see 5 attacks right away, or touch on "More Attacks" to view the next 5. The UI for learning attacks matches closely using attacks in battle. The bar shows various information at a glance such as the FP (Focus Points, energy used to attack) in big font, the element if there is one, and more. To view even more information on a specific attack, click the "i" icon. If you do not a specific attack in an attack slot, a button for learning the attack, along with the SP cost is displayed. You can see if you have the points since your SP points is above. If you know the attack, it's simple, the option won't be there. If you view an attack you already know, you will be given the option to forget it. If you forget the attack you will need to spend the SP to learn it again.... But don't worry, you will be given the option to confirm forgetting an attack just incase you pressed the button by mistake
I could see the game being one step closer every time Nice concept of costing sp for certain effectiveness of a move. In pokemon, just recharging the pokemon move sp and using stronger moves for every pokemon you see was too simple. Managing between sp would certainly have an effect through out the game unless gathering sp is unbalanced.
It almost looks like a direct port of Pokemon. There are a lot of those who claim that they are "like pokemon" but this one is pretty spot on
Tonyzorz, this system is just for learning attacks, not for using them in battle. When using attacks in battle, you use your ZENFORMS FP, Focus Points. See the blue bar up top there? The big number at the start of the attack bar is the FP cost to use the attack in battle. Learning attacks use Skill Points which are awarded after battle and so on. Skill Points are for the overall player rather than a specific ZENFORM like FP is. You can use Skill Points in battle when attacking to do a "Gamble" attack which you will play a quick mini game with a chance to double your attack power.
