Universal Saturday Morning RPG - (by Joystick Labs, LLC)

Discussion in 'iPhone and iPad Games' started by Sanuku, Apr 4, 2012.

  1. oooooomonkey

    oooooomonkey Well-Known Member

    Jan 15, 2011
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    Forge World
    Haha sweet. I'll have to pick this up and check it out. :)
     
  2. MarkHerm

    MarkHerm Well-Known Member

    Jun 4, 2009
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    Germany
    So what's up with this game? I really liked the first two episodes but now it's been lacking new content for a very long time.

    Is this becoming the usual "there-will-be-updates-for-sure-promised!" game that will never be updated? If so, very sad as it is a lovely game.
     
  3. oooooomonkey

    oooooomonkey Well-Known Member

    Jan 15, 2011
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    Forge World
    From what I heard episode 3 got delayed a bit because of low sales some of their staff jumped ship but (dont quote me on this) I think they said it would be coming in July.
    I seriously can't wait for it too.
     
  4. undeadcow

    undeadcow Well-Known Member

    Dec 4, 2010
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    I am also wondering about this, I'm hopeful the developers keep after it for a while. Sales might be slow at first but continued updates and work on SMRPG will help build a name for developer in future projects/updates.
     
  5. oooooomonkey

    oooooomonkey Well-Known Member

    Jan 15, 2011
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    Just checked their twitter page and it says they've been moving into a new office and didn't have Internet until today. So maybe we will get a progress update soon.
     
  6. MightyRabbitJosh

    MightyRabbitJosh Well-Known Member

    Nov 16, 2011
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    Programmer and Designer at Mighty Rabbit Studios
    Holly Springs, NC
    Hey guys! Sorry for the lack of progress updates.

    Yes, sales have not been fantastic. We've been downloaded over 105,000 times from the App Store (60,000+ times from Cydia and other stores as well) - but the percentage of players buying anything is incredibly low. In order to keep our doors open, we've had to go back to contract work which has noticeably slowed progress on SMRPG. We also lost my co-founder, who had to go back to his old job to pay his mortgage. It's been difficult, but we are pressing forward with SMRPG because we love it as much as you guys do!

    That said, we're counting on our PC and Android launch to turn the ship around. The game has been well-received and I definitely think it can be successful, I just don't think we hit the right business model at launch. We're still committed to five episodes and we'll still do more than that if the game generates enough cashflow to warrant it. I'm also wanting to do a free Holiday Special for December.

    Episode 3 is progressing well, but we had to hire new artists to finish up our 2D and 3D art. Those artists didn't start until the beginning of this month, so we haven't seen too many fruits from their labor yet. I'm posting a full preview of the episode later today. Much of the art is still not final, so bear with me on the screenshots!

    We haven't been releasing updates to the actual game because we don't believe in releasing tiny incremental updates. We'd like each update to be substantial, the one that brings Episode 3 is going to be huge and well worth the wait! I think you guys will be happy with what we've made.

    For Episode 4 and 5, we'll be doing our best to keep scope lower so that we can get them out to you faster. Since Episode 3 featured downtown Shadow Valley (our hub area), we had a lot more stuff we had to create to get this one out. Future episodes all incorporate downtown in some manner, so it is a huge amount of work to have out of the way.

    Anyways, I'll be posting the Episode 3 preview later. I hope you guys enjoy what we've got in store!
     
  7. MarkHerm

    MarkHerm Well-Known Member

    Jun 4, 2009
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    Thanks for the update. It is a great game and definitely deserves to be a success.

    Unfortunately I believe you are right with that assessment.
     
  8. MightyRabbitJosh

    MightyRabbitJosh Well-Known Member

    Nov 16, 2011
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    Programmer and Designer at Mighty Rabbit Studios
    Holly Springs, NC
    Hi everyone, I just got done with my preview of Episode 3. It's still heavily in development, but hopefully this preview will tide you over until release.

    Check the preview out here:

    http://www.mightyrabbitstudios.com/?p=466
     
  9. oooooomonkey

    oooooomonkey Well-Known Member

    Jan 15, 2011
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    OMFG! I just read all of that info on episode 3 "I can't wait" it sounds even more awesome than the first two episodes.

    That alone sounds brilliant.
    The pricing I think maybe you should have charged 69p/99c for episode 1 and then the £1.49 etc for future episodes. Judging by the iTunes reviews people are expecting the whole thing for free after getting episode 1 free (because there most probably hobo's) but anyway live and learn I suppose.

    Personally I think you should aim for xbla/psn as I'd buy it in a flash. You could release the future episodes as updates or dlc.

    Well all this talk of SMRPG has me hungry for more I'm going to go play episode 1&2 again. =)
     
  10. MightyRabbitJosh

    MightyRabbitJosh Well-Known Member

    Nov 16, 2011
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    Programmer and Designer at Mighty Rabbit Studios
    Holly Springs, NC
    Yeah, we definitely feel like we should have charged $0.99 for the first episode. I feel like we would have been much better off had we made that decision.

    Unfortunately, due to the cost of development kits it just isn't possible for us to hit 360 or PS3. There's a small possibility we could hit Xbox Live Indie Games, but it would require a massive amount of work. We've got some opportunities to hit other platforms, and I hope I can share that info with all of you in the future when plans are more solid.

    We are planning to hit Android with the launch of Episode 3, and we're going to try for Steam after that. We'll see how all of that goes! We're also planning to be a launch title on the Ouya console, not sure how that will turn out but I'm pretty excited to see what happens.
     
  11. TheStark

    TheStark Well-Known Member

    Dec 27, 2011
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    You should definitely try with Steam, but don't forget about Desura (www.desura.com)!
     
  12. MightyRabbitJosh

    MightyRabbitJosh Well-Known Member

    Nov 16, 2011
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    Programmer and Designer at Mighty Rabbit Studios
    Holly Springs, NC
    We're keeping Desura in mind and definitely want to be on there. Just have to be sure that Steam won't require exclusivity before we commit to anything, though.
     
  13. MightyRabbitJosh

    MightyRabbitJosh Well-Known Member

    Nov 16, 2011
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    Programmer and Designer at Mighty Rabbit Studios
    Holly Springs, NC
  14. MightyRabbitJosh

    MightyRabbitJosh Well-Known Member

    Nov 16, 2011
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    Programmer and Designer at Mighty Rabbit Studios
    Holly Springs, NC
    Oooooomonkey has been asking for a high-res wallpaper since April and now we've finally delivered. If anyone wants an awesome picture on the background of their iPhone/iPod, here you go:

    [​IMG]
     
  15. oooooomonkey

    oooooomonkey Well-Known Member

    Jan 15, 2011
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    Forge World
    Woohoo thanks a lot! Now I can decorate my iPod with a worthy 80's catoon tribute game wallpaper. :D
     
  16. picohero

    picohero Well-Known Member

    Jul 16, 2012
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    This game is the bomb, can't wait for episode 3!
     
  17. undeadcow

    undeadcow Well-Known Member

    Dec 4, 2010
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    Houston, TX
    What is estimate time of arrive for episode 3 these days?
     
  18. TimEggers

    TimEggers Well-Known Member

    Nov 11, 2011
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    Tiskilwa, IL
    This game is STILL one of my all time favorite iOS titles. Just finished catching up in this thread and still really hoping SMRPG becomes the success it should be.

    Might Rabbit Studios ROCKS!
     
  19. MightyRabbitJosh

    MightyRabbitJosh Well-Known Member

    Nov 16, 2011
    363
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    Programmer and Designer at Mighty Rabbit Studios
    Holly Springs, NC
  20. sabin1981

    sabin1981 Well-Known Member

    Mar 12, 2012
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    Engineer
    Norway
    You've got my vote, Josh! LOVE the game (especially since the new updates allowing different methods of combat, rather than finger-bruising tapping :D) and I'll happily buy a Steam copy too. Good luck!
     

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