Thanks Mamalovesyou I have to give credit to Unity's Asset Store. It's kind of like having a bunch of artists work with you. As long as you have a strong art direction it's pretty straightforward to bring together all the different characters, models and vegetation into a matching vision. Update 1.1 which was released yesterday focused on adding iPad support, sharper textures and speed optimizations. Update 1.2 and 1.3 are being worked on now and I'm bringing some new mechanics and Quests in these updates, wrapped in a more visible overarching story. I hope you'll stay tuned
Downloading already keep it up folks. P.S The art style looks incredible too considering it's an open world that's quite an achievement,clearly a lot of work has been put into the game.
I'm looking forward to those updates with some quests. Although what you've already given us is more than what you priced the game at. It's very reasonable. As Mamalovesyou said people like you are doing this when big companies are making crap because they think that's all the ipod/pad is good for. We need more people like you with the skill and vision to do the platform justice!
Finally had time to check the new graphics, and looks great! Totally seconding bigjack66 regarding the price: When you have the quests added, you should raise it. If you want to keep it accessible, maybe shrink down the available area and either offer a free lite version, or a lite version with a single IAP purchase to unlock everything? Brightridge definitely deserves all the love it can get, and your wallet deservers some bolstering in return
Great job on the optimizations, Dev. I honestly didn't expected it running that good on the Mini 2. Would you mind to teach on how to optimize a game for A7 devices to the big companies out there? Thanks, hah.
I TOTALLY agree!! I've been wondering the same thing for a long time now. It's like these big game developers, with almost unlimited resources, can barely come up with a "time waster" with a major label in the title, but iOS indie devs are constantly pushing the envelope on what's possible in mobile gaming. It just blows my mind. That being said, keep up the great work, Robert!! I'd LOVE to see this turn into a mobile version of Oblivion!!
Ubisoft,Ea have done jack shit on ios,just piles upon piles of worthless games that none cares about.It's about time they started putting some time and money on their mobile games or rather leave it to the indies like these guys. I mean just look at the scale and graphics they dwarf everything I've seen from big names like Ea,Epic,Gameloft,Ubisoft(although rayman is pretty good) and the likes,They should learn a thing or two about making games from these guys with a fraction of a budget. P.S still can't believe how incredible the draw distance is you can literally look miles ahead with zero fogging and incredible lod,the textures and foilage and impeccable as well.THIS is console quality not the lousy modern combat 5.
What you said about the price is very encouraging. It makes me feel like there's some value there Those are some interesting ideas about free lite versions with an IAP. It might be a good way to offer the exploration part free and if you like it then get the full thing for a single, simple in app purchase. Im not crazy about IAP when i encounter them so no million micro payments, just one to unlock all. It's something I'll think about -thanks for bringing it up. I'm working on a handful of quests now and the best technical approach to add them so that i have maximum flexibility adding more content. v1.2 and 1.3 will focus on this and a few new mechanics (i REALLY want to get jumping in there) I'm glad you like the new graphics - me too! It's all thanks to everyone who asked me to optimize it for A5 devices. The optimization left even more headroom on the A6 and ups, and i was able to use the full texture resolutions. Someone asked me on Facebook to increase the resolution too on the iPad air and im going to try it. Sometimes as a game designer for mobile I hedge my bets and purposely underdesign so it will reach the lowest common denominator, this is something i learned fro a decasde working in flash games. But then i forget to try and push the boundaries after the fact, so as I optimize ill also see what i can add to the app and what additional value more powerful devices can offer
Lol - thanks Nekku The best way to encourage others to optimize is the same thing that pushed me to do it - getting angry emails about it crashing. It was super stressful at the start because i didnt think it was possible, but it was and it was listening to the voices of users that pushed me to do it. Right now mobile has been sold as for casual etc and thats probably because those sell more, and because at these low prices companies dont want to invest in making anything more than a simple, profitable quickies. But in the last 2 years power has skyrocketed and as soon as people REALIZE what you can do on mobile everyone will be all over it. Im convinced they'll announce a Skyrim type game at the iPhone6 launch next month
For showcasing you need both low-end and high-end: Lowend for "yeah yeah, I'm supporting your stoneage Flintstones thingie, and it looks ok" And highend for the "now THAT's what it really looks like; awesome stuff, innit?" showoff screenshots, videos and whatnot. Not to mention that folks with the latest devices want to be "rewarded" for it. To use an analogy from PC gaming: Would you buy a high-end graphics card that runs 4K at 60fps smoothly for 1k+ , when all you get is 4-color CGA? And please, hell take me: STOP playing yourself down. When you say things like "It makes me feel like there's some value there" , I inwardly cringe everytime. I know where you are coming from, as I'm pretty much the same: I constantly undervalue my work - and I *am* damn good at what I do - because I have extremely high standards. And measuring myself against those I come out "yeah, I'm ok, not great". Sometimes you have to take a step back, look at everyone else's standards and realise that you are hitting the bar with flying colors. I'm not a museum person, but I can imagine Brightridge being on display in a "digital art" museum or such.
Thanks macatron I think it comes down to money. Because this is made out of my own pocket in my spare time i have the luxury of trying things that might not look so good on a profit sheet. BUT at the same time i'm pretty much broke and the real payoff for making games is sharing a hopefully enjoyable experience with my fellow humans. What those companies do have is great profits and the real benefits that come from working together with a team (i admire that) BUT sometimes they have to sacrifice creativity because they need to follow the bottom line. Both approaches have benefits - my dream is to be able to make a fraction of what those big companies make (that would be enough for me, im a modest liver and I want just enough to be able to make great games without distraction - better games) so that i could balance making a living with creative design and staying flexible. Anyways im actually pretty optimistic - im making sure to stay positive and not let negative ideas, competition etc stop me from working on what i love. I think if i continue to listen and upgrade, listen and upgrade, the help from everyone's advice combined with dedication (with time off, ive also learned health comes first) will be rewarded. We'll see
It IS pretty cool I have to credit Unity and Apple for the great devices (as well as some clever programming. It's really a great time for developers because the devices are here, the software is here, the digital stores are here, and we can use them. My biggest fear is a large company swooping in and pushing me out of the market, so what i have to try and remember and focus on is that I have a large world ive spent years developing because I WANT to do it, because im passionate about creating, and because of some hard times when i was younger I want people who are having a hard time, a bad day, whatever to be able to access and share a minute of imagination that takes them somewhere else and hopefully helps them to feel better. (I sound like a digital drug dealer I have to say that I do respect a lot of what the larger companies achieve. Beyond good and evil, shadow of the colossus, fable, remember me.. i mean these people blow my mind and a big part of the learning process for me is not only playing game after game but watching how they work, how they market their games and how they transform their passion (because many game companies are filled with passionate people) into great games.
Just a small request please? In one of your updates could you raise the camera up a bit? It's a bit low. Other than that excellent work. I agree about updates you could charge a bit extra thru iaps this is definitely worth the money and indie developers like yourself deserve to be paid for all your hard work. This was definitely worth every penny! And it was pennies where I come from (UK). Oh and if you're a digital drug dealer, then I'm hooked. I look forward to seeing more of the story. Will the area expand?
@bigjack: a few pages back Protopop wrote that he wants to do a few more updates, and then work on the second part of Nimian Legends. Even further back he wrote that the game originally was four times the current size (or more) , but that he had to break it down due to filesize. Camera: Hhmm, maybe a slider for camera height, if a variable height is feasible? Slide two fingers up/down to adjust? In some places you have that great effect that you cannot see anything except waving grass/plants, because they are so large. Wouldn't want that to get lost in the process.
@protopop: Almost forgot. You wrote that you are almost broke. If you are looking for a job in that area of expertise, go check out Gamasutra. Just today, I saw several job ads for Visual Effects (Firaxis) and UI (Turbine) Artists.
I agree! I mean the camera hight is adjustable manually I know that. It's just when you're running along it would be nice to see a bit more in front. All you see at the moment are plants and some sky. Just needs to go up to about head height.
Nice idea, but then you're too high up and moving too quickly. Although there are certain areas that can only be reached by raven. I'm not complaining, at least it works now. It didn't before.
I cant believe i just read 24 pages of this thread ( yeah i actually did lol ) I dont know what to say first off Protopop i really really admire your passion and hardwork i could literally feel your passion and energy as i read through the whole thread. I just had to buy the game out of respect even if im backlogged with so many games . I was like dude this guy is really really working hard listening to feedback seems chill and humble im super impressed ! So i bought it im a fan now and im totally looking forward to your future updates and games we appreciate people like you in the ios gaming world. Thank you for your hardwork and keep it up ! do get some rest tho sometimes lol oh and everyone else on this thread is super cool too
