Hi, i am interested in this game, but i want to ask : do you have plans for camera tracking the dolphin's movement? for a lot of video gameplays, i see that when it boosts, it goes off screen. This is the reason why i am sceptical to buy or not. Otherwise, my compliments to the devs because you actually took time to research and implement your study into the game mechanics brilliantly! I would really like to support you, but i'm not so happy with the graceful mammals going offscreen (especially on my small iphone 4s screen).
I think we're definitely going to try and retool the camera a little bit, as we've gotten a lot of feedback that people aren't happy with it as-is. Personally I own a 4S and am quite happy to play the game, but I also made it But yeah, we're going to improve the tracking and find a better balance. Some of you might be wondering here, "what's the big deal? make the camera speed number bigger and that's that." It's not quite that simple, because we try to manage our camera in a way that follows all of the dolphin's motions, slow and fast, smoothly and without causing motion sickness type effects. It's a tricky balance and we have very unusual acceleration curves to drive the tracking. So it takes a little more finesse to get it right.
Awesome! thank you for the quick reply! then i will wait for this update and buy, not so much because i'm crazy about a dolphin game, but because you (the devs) took it so seriously and professionally to develop an animal simulator, much unlike the run of the mill crap animal sims of 99 cents/free. More power to you!
Since everyone's talking about updates, I thought I should chime in on the art front As you know by now, I Am Dolphin features 10 unique fish and sharks, each with their own AI and locomotion. But this is only the tip of the iceberg: I've actually designed and modeled about 30-40 different sharks and fish. The plan was to create a whole ocean full of these guys, but we ended up focusing on a select few to really hone them to perfection. After all, it takes much longer to get the movement right than it does to design and draw them.
Wow, amazing! I see you have a flying fish. It would be cool to see some kind of action going on on the surface of the ocean.
Ok, seeing that drawing above, I now want to play as a narwhal in a sword fight with a swordfish (or any of those fish up there with long, sharp noses). Also, curious to see what you'd do with those eels. Electric?
You'll dig it- and then some - as it is now. The camera is an effect to generate visual entropy- but u wont ever feel out of control. If u dont enjoy it 110% i will mail u 3 bucks.
Yup! DJ Flipper had a post earlier, that's actually planned for an update. Probably involving jumping out of the water to catch and eat flying fish. Or knock seals off ice shelves (my vote ) We did toss around electric eels for a while, even though it's inaccurate Most of these concepts were for a more varied game - as in you wouldn't be fighting most of these guys.
I dunno, you've got a pretty good variety of poisonous snakes in the oceans that could give you varied things. Paralysis, Neurotoxins, etc.
powerups etc We've toyed with the idea of poisonous creatures having an effect upon you in-battle - and each cetacean having a sort of immunity from a particular thing. will have to work with the details and flow - but I want to add more uniqueness to the individual cetaceans to make them more distinguished in-battle. I need to create a "second" indicator alongside the pearls to handle this so you can "earn" the powerups and it doesn't decrease your overall pearl count. On the other had, it would be neat if you can purchase things with the pearls - so you have to be a bit strategic about it.
They coordinate attacks - and are utterly unmatched as a predator in the wild. Their methods are so well thought out it really makes you wonder. They actually rip the fins off of the sharks to immobilize them and then eat. They know the correct pressure points to flip and suspend sharks in a type of trance. They drown whales and dolphins by covering their blowholes. They toss seals around like play-things - and it appears, through careful observation, that they enjoy the torture. There is a reason they are called Killer whales. Zoey of course is much friendlier
It is statements like this, and also your previous "i will come personally to show you how to get better in this game", coupled with your research and implementation, that made me buy I Am Dolphin. I just bought it in the Greece appstore. I have no idea if i will enjoy it or not, it is installing as we speak. But even if i don't enjoy it, please keep my small contribution because i am happy to give 3$ or 2,7 euro to game devs so careful, organised, and passionate like you. Best of luck, and if i enjoy the game, i will consider it a bonus
Please do post your impressions . There are some posts on here if the controls seem difficult - but everyone eventually nails it. Key is don't think about it - just let the dolphin flow with your intent to catch a particular fish or shark. Also, remember not to chase fish on shark levels. Have fun!
Oh that poor seal. Orcas aren't as cute and cuddly when they're hunting cute and cuddly seals. I tend to forget sometimes that nature can be cruel -- humans aren't the only ones (not me, though) who find pleasure in hunting.
Nature This is a profound statement. Humans have to respect nature, before they can love nature. And nature, is no eden. It is essentially a gigantic war zone - where animals have been evolving weapons and defenses for millions of years. The hard part is reconciling the ambivalence of profound beauty and symbiosis with conflict, and understanding our role in the whole thing. Dolphins and whales have a unique curiosity about humans in the wild which makes them very special. But this should always be tempered with the understanding that they are a part of nature. This, for example, just came out today: http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2014/oct/17/experience-i-was-attacked-by-a-dolphin
Allright, so impressions: I dig the graphics. Bandit's personality and "talking" made the child in me smile. The tutorial started, and i was confused by having to move with the right thumb, as i am used to moving with the left - i know the update for this is coming. Then came some seconds of confusion, because i tried to move like in a virtual d-pad (a la Hungry Shark Evolution), resulting in the dolphin twisting this way and that, but not moving. Then i proceeded to swipe, and i was like "A-haaa!" Currently, after 10 or so battles, i am in the intermediate stage where 1 on 1 i usually win ( i just beat my first hammerhead) but 2 or more fish wipe the floor with me as they twist and twirl around Bandit. Is movement only with straight swipes, or curving also? I noticed Bandit sometimes moves in a curved arc, but is this a result of the physics or can i do it with a "curved swipe? How exatly does movement happen? And i am a bit confused how to go into the 3rd dimension, away or toward the camera. Otherwise, i am having so much fun! i caught myself yelling at the screen "I am the Battle Dolphin and i will eat you!" to that hammerhead before biting its head. Truly magical
