Well I played some more and the crashing seems to have resolved, although I still have some pretty big hiccups with the framerate on my iPT 2G, latest firmware. I can see why some people are enthused about the game, and I feel like I should like it because I love both dungeon crawlers, especially ones with randomly generating dungeons, and dual-stick shooters, but unfortunately the dungeons and enemies don't have much variety early in the game to capture my attention and the actual gameplay just feels so slow to me while I am not comfortable with what I perceive as somewhat unresponsive controls. Although I am not enjoying myself, I do see the game seems to have pretty good depth in terms of adjustable skills and powers, as well as items. Maybe the slow gameplay and character movement is intended and, well, maybe the mage is an old guy and can't get around too well. I guess that logically that makes sense. Anyway thanks to the dev for putting it out on the cheap so I could give it a try for only 99 cents. Maybe I'll revisit it later if there is a substantial update.
I am liking it so far The slowdown you experience after you level up and chose your upgrade I believe is deliberate. I had one freeze, and had to quit the program. However, to my surpise, it returns right at where I was before frozed.
Well, i'm loving the game myself. And i've never been a big fan of duel sticks. Very easy controls once ya get the hang of it. And if i can do it, anyone can. I had that freeze once too, and it also brought me right back to where i was..(in the middle of a fight surrounded by hordes.. but i got thru still alive.)
Game Impressions I'm more and more impressed by this the more I play. The way the skill building has been implemented, and the balancing is just genius. Tough decisions need to be made each time you level. Every skill is useful, and yet, any combination of skills still allows progress AND can significantly alter playstyle. The game keeps throwing up challenges and surprises. With randomly generated dungeons, I can see myself replaying this many, many times.
I thought I'd paste a few tips here, for effective play. We're still having trouble duplicating this "freeze up" bug, but I will say that the game is fairly robust in recovering itself, so even if you do get a crash like that, the odds are excellent that it will put you right back where you left off. Some tips! 1. The three main skills in the game roughly indicate the game's difficulty (barring random chance): Magic Missile: Easy Lightning: Medium Fireball: Hard 2. The big mana-eaters in the game are the area effect spells (More Missiles, Chaining, and Explode). If you're going to use these, you will want to invest points into Battle Mage and Channel Mana any chance you get. 3. When you start the game, it's wise to look at what skills the yellow wizard can improve, and what skills the purple wizard's items can improve before choosing the path you're going to take. If he can improve either Battle Mage or Channel Mana, you can make an area effect build with impunity. 4. The purple wizard's shop remains constant throughout the game, so you can bank on a staff of +2 Magic Missile still being there later, when you need it. Also, anything you sell remains in the shop. The only things that change are potions. 5. Lightning starts out very weak, but becomes devastating when pumped. When lightning is weak, small rooms are dangerous (remember to hold your finger down when firing lightning, as it is a constant-effect spell). 6. Fireball has to be aimed, which makes it a little harder to use. 7. Getting an item that can pull mana/life orbs from a distance, or getting the telekinesis skill, can substitute for pumping your mana skills, since you will pull mana orbs from all over the screen. 8. Going without at least one life potion in your pack is RISKY. If you die, you'll start over wherever you entered the floor. Knowing this, it's possible to use the dimension door (from the magic key) as a "save game." 9. A fun way to play is to pump only the offensive secondary skills. It's possible to win the game this way, as long as you get Mental Focus to improve their recharge time. 10. Cheating: If you get a levelup and you don't like the three skill choices, if you exit the program and pop back in, it'll level up immediately with three new random choices. But doing this makes you feel dirty. Hope you enjoy! Oh, and a note: Yes, the game is supposed to play a little slower than most dual-stick games. The idea is to give the player more of a chance to play strategically.
Thanks for the tips. This has quickly become my favorite dungeon crawler game on the platform. Congratulations on releasing such a great game.
I've played a bit more and really love this game! Definately worth much more than a dollar. Just out of curiosity for the developer, do you plan on any content updates (new dungeons, new levels etc..)? I always like to know what games will be getting updates so I can decide what apps to keep and remove when cleaning up my phone. Thanks again for such a great game!
Thank YOU... Here's the current plan... we're going to fix any and all bugs, and then see how the game sells. If it doesn't vanish into obscurity, we will put out an archer and a warrior version fairly quickly, with whole new skill trees. If THOSE do well, we'll do some esoteric classes, like Paladin, Druid, or Necromancer. But if you're looking for more quests, more locations, etc, it'll have to wait for the Win/Mac/iPad version, because right now the game is right around the edge of the memory limits (we had actually planned one more boss monster, but the extra textures threw us into memory overload). We're also going to put out the lite version soon, so people can try it without buying. And somewhere in there we have to get Hoggy's Lost Levels out too.
Very cool, so I'm assuming the warrior and archer versions would be separate apps? Assuming they are similar to this game, that would be an instant buy for me.
I've got a weird issue where all of the wizards in town have each dialogue option twice... I restarted my iPhone and it's still there. Started a new game, still there. It's not game-breaking but it's weird... Also, I'm highly in favor of in-app purchase options for the added classes, I really don't want to have to sacrifice some 5 or 6 icon spots on my phone for this game.
Solomon's Keep really does look fun - I just discovered it on appshopper.com under new apps. Wishe they had a lite version. the raptisoft site says to click for lite but its not in the US app store. Still at only .99 cents I guess its worth the try. And aleays hoping for online leader boards in open faint.
Hey Rapti I found a bug what happens is that both sticks get stuck. What I did apparently was hold the the joystick and I checked my inventory at the same time. When I returned my shooting stick was permanently set to the right, i tried it again with my analog and the same thing happened. Thanks for the Great game anyway!
Had it on my wishlist since I first saw it. With everybodys description, I just bought it and am downloading it now.
OpenFeint would ruin the experience, as would any other Social Network, Achievement system. This game is FAR to beautiful.
I just bought it. From what I saw in the upcoming thread and what everyone has to say here, this is a no brainer. Catacombs is fun, but this has randomization and equipment
Lite will be coming soon... look for an update with bug fixes in a few days, and when that's looking solid we'll put out a lite version (your quest in the lite version will just be to destroy Charles the Hammer). Thanks all for the bug reports detailed here... we'll see what we can do to get a new version up in a few days, plus Apple's approval time. Oh, and we'd love to be able to make the warrior/archer in-app purchases, but we've got so many graphics packed into this that the only way we'll have room will be to replace the wizard graphics with a new player. So yeah, it'll have to be seperate apps. Doesn't make us any happier than you, because it's a pain to maintain several apps with the same code and only slight differences. Get a bug in one, fix 'em all.
I'm confused as to why you would have lack of room to include graphics for a warrior and archer in the current app?
