That's your choice and prerogative to forgo a great new experience because it's too different for you to retrain yourself, but I think it's unfortunate that your preferred solution is more of the same. You might be surprised at how refreshing truly stepping away from what's already familiar can be, if you really let yourself have the time and mental space to acclimate.
I finished this game before the update was released so I started a new game today and im still really surprised at the level of polish this game is made of. Not even big publishers offer this much polish in most of their games. The new virtual stick is a solid addition/option to the game's controls. Cant wait for Episode 2 to hit the appstore soon.
One important detail still following the tap-to-move model in the virtual joystick option which impairs its efficacy considerably is that the camera's orientation is set to be the joystick's forward, so anytime it's not directly behind Tempus there is awkward haranguing back and forth to reconcile while moving (which was my primary complaint about tap-to-move). Were the joystick's on-screen "up" _always_ directly forward for Tempus himself, the camera would be free to move without changing the effective input. A good example of why not to have the camera reconcile happens in the chapter, "Most Wanted", when he must grapple out of the police's sight: creeping to the foot of the first pillar close enough to activate the grapple mechanic couldn't show it on-screen because the camera levels to use the joystick reticle, then I wound up _too_ close so panning up _couldn't_ show it :-/ I had to guess the range, with attempts at fine control frustrated by the aforementioned tap-to-move fudge zone. A key to this change is the camera's pitch we drag into position prior could be preserved during movement. Without wanting to open a can of worms too far, I feel obligated to reluctantly raise the spectre of dual-thumbstick free-look movement (_not_ for battles). Its utility needs be extremely narrow on touchscreens or you'd have a farcical frenzy of mutlitouch for all but the most basic task...but, _for_ simple exploration...? *shrugging apologetically* I see no reason divvying the screen into halves wouldn't work, but a better option might be simply swipe free-looks anywhere besides the reticle touch, though admit it's a far cry from tap-to-move's seamlessnessIMO still worthwhile for staying fudge-zone-free (the devs' innovative combat scheme avoids fudge-zone issues). At the start of that chapter, a fine point of context: gameplay proper versus exploration, per se, illustrates that while it's usually nice having walk inside and run outside of the reticle, in a sneaking scenario where timing and tight control is critical, the original distinction between single and double-tap reticles would help, because to run moves your finger too far, for instance if you're right-handed moving left, to navigate his trajectory around obstacles your finger obstructs. As a fairly fine point of animation, I recommend a time threshold within which Tempus will about-face instead of slow to a walk, stop, walk, then begin running in the opposite direction if you swipe through the reticle runningmaybe also eliminate its center dead zone for the swipe, or consider tracking it as simply the overall trajectory through the reticle to help make it a smooth gesture for the avatar in case we swerve slightly past the center point to one side... I sincerely hope iOS gamers see our way to supporting the development of Spiral's next 2 episodes! P.S. The new enemy's death anim is pretty goodtheir heart-clutch jitter isn't much until its pacing coupled with their bulk collapse into the final pose at a time and position perfectly appropriate to its stress and their weight's bearing against their own enfeebled frame. P.P.S. I just updated my App Store review, already a bunch of negative ones for this version from people who so don't get how brilliant the combat system is...and one expecting the reticle to be a D-pad...well, even I who want one for exploration don't submit a bad review of such a phenomenal game just for that...! P.P.P.S. My load time is so short now I hardly get to enjoy any of the silhouette exhibition animation, with slightly longer than before for the rest (BTW, what's with the weird crummy-sounding jazz piano transition when you select a chapter or change scenes?!). I notice the loading anim icon jumps sizes and locations between the end of the exhibition and the title screen, which is jarring and un-polished for that quick transition -\ Love the shorter initial load, though, for sure, I dunno how you pulled off such a massive reduction!
Thanks for the feedback! Unfortunately it was still inside our one finger control philosophy to create one virtual stick for movement. Adding another would've forced two fingers to be on the device which was not something we wanted to implement for this episode. But thanks for the ideas. These will be seriously considered for the next instalment.
I have to scope this particularly to handheld, I keep forgetting to do thatfree-look with an iPad using a finger-reticle plus swiping would definitely be less elegant. Another possibility could just be that a 2nd finger free-looks relative to the reticle's own center, so say your thumb is your reticle, and you're rotating your index finger around in front of that for free-look...maybe your touch center instead of the reticle's, since navigating while free-looking could be tricky to pull off smoothly... I will say I'm convinced that controls mapping into the avatar not the camera is key, in any joystick-like control scheme. It's not that I hate what you've done with one-touch, it's great and works well, it's just that the messing with my input aspect drives me batty <:O) (Tap for destination offers less precision at greater distance and I don't fancy confirming my trajectory every few steps.) That's why I keep chipping and hammering away at crafting an alternative... I'm sure I can make it through Episodes 2 & 3 just fine without, though, so wouldn't want to take away from their creative content's devolpment...*scampers into a corner*
Care to elaborate? That's a pretty crappy criticism... Many individuals on this thread have found it took time to get used to the controls and loved playing once they had.
I myself don't care for the out-of-battle controls but they're nothing like a game-breaker for me when there's a masterful touch battle system, decent story and art, wide gameplay variety from stealth to puzzle to immersive cinematic scenarios like the hovercopter sequences (a personal fav), and animation to rival a major studio release by essentially one guy, Dave, on Pixel Hero's primary team of all of 7 individuals who had the chutzpah to create a pioneering control system specifically for multi-touch (well, to be fleshed out into _multi_-touch, where and how appropriate). That's a good game, to me, even if I chafe somewhat at the controls between battles. Having the guts to admit to yourself the caliber of talent behind a game like this is evidently anathema to many, causing them to attack the idea of its merit, grasping at straws like their professed affection for it proving they should refuse to buy it since it has no sequels *giggling derisively* (I even got lambastedmost of it so viciously the moderators have deleted their attacks upon me, so you won't see it anymore back in this thread's history!for suggesting its rating shouldn't suffer because people could down-mod their reviews, as though their words should dominate when their actual rating would stand anyway no matter what their review's prominence (or lack thereof) not to mention the type to down-mod substantive reviews at the drop of a hat probably's too lazy to submit their own so the game would be supported despite them if its self-professed _"fans"_ actually bothered!...besides, they presumed no one _looks_ for substantive reviews, I mean, who worth their salt would ignore an interesting game based on a bunch of one-liner reviews, anyway?!), when for iOS to see this kind of presentation much thrive its intention of sequels to those who recognize its talents displayed prove that any gaps in the initial release already are incorporated into their approach to designing for the platform but cannot be addressed by their first project in an otherwise than cost-prohibitive fashion for them at the time of development should instead extend them credit towards future releases. The whole point, IMO, is to care about good games, rather than trying to make the _way_ to care about good ones some kind of rule for how to approach _any_ game on the platform... To do that, you have to recognize good games...*shrug* not just ones you happen to like, necessarily, like I said way, way earlier in this thread about not particularly liking Bioshock and the whole Art Nouveau, Euro thing, but refusing to let slip its gem of a combat system, stellar animation, and gameplay mixture with innovative cinematic sequences... I will say in fairness that they've made basic 1-touch navigation as good as I can imagine it gets; the fudge zone engendered by actually using it remains a brick wall assassinating immersion, for me
I bought this game on the trust of the hype here in the forums, haven't had the time to dig in yet but did play through the initial train fight scene and it felt like something special was waiting for me. The piracy talk is chilling, not sure how many people remember the 'Rune' fiasco - one of the most horrific and heinous acts in videogame history. I can tell you one way to combat piracy on iOS - constant meaningful updates. This is a tricky double edged sword that can cut both ways, but...
I always get backed into a wall, with the camera facing down, and I can't get away fast enough. Plus, tapping to hit is not at all good combat. As occasionally the infected will refuse to attack, and I get stuck in combat mode.
I've enumerated my own criticisms of a cornered camera here, but scoped to out-of-combat; your criticism leaves unclear quite to what you refer...combat camera against a wall happens sometimes with 3rd-person, because there are often these pesky things called walls. Swinging the camera to face them from afar puts you in the background, and facing the enemy near the ground between you and the wall shows a fraction of the battlefield's lateral range. An extreme fisheye effect is the closest I can imagine to solving your whin-, er, I mean criticism, and I highly doubt you'll take well to that given your reaction to milder changes improving the action formula already in-place with Spiral. Could it angle outward a bit? Maybe, but unless you lose sight of (and therefore, with touch, access to) enemies between you and the wall, you're talking fisheye, again, and I doubt its dynamically warping perspective would help targeting with touch as the camera continues to move... Tapping to hit "not at all good", hmm. That's interesting. *guffaw* Care to intimate as to W-H-Y, at all? OK, the 2nd and 3rd sentences taken together make no sense, and the 3rd statement, an elliptic fragment, is utterly vague. Enemies failing to attack you strands you somehow in combat...? You meant _your_ attacks miss _them_? Yes, the controls take getting used to. I played for a couple of _weeks_ before nailing enemies routinely became second-nature. Touch carries some imprecision right now with the technology and software recognition's overall state of development... If you want a tougher hero, and a more conventional combat scheme, might I direct your attention to 3 decades of videogames on yesterday's platforms. Thank you. I would add that stylistic choices like Dante cartoonishly running with his shoulders at an incline, or Tempus walking "like a tool" could only irritate those insecure enough to feel a need to identify with videogame characters and obnoxiously arrogant enough to insist others (real or virtual) reflect one's own tastes and projections upon them about theirs regarding themselves (insecurity, again, as some kind of read on yourself, and/or ignorance of their distinct uniqueness relative to you), which is neither any of your business nor right. State what you will, but own your sentiment as yours alone, and stop treating failure to appeal to you as offensive. Dislike his walk animation so much you'll discount the entire game? Your loss. Could it be better? That's a matter of taste: I'm not a huge fan of the run animation's pose. I'm not about to knock the animation artist for it because their talent is clear as daylight in the scenes demanding real subtlety and communication (e.g. the first at Elaina's bar), and also in action/combat. You can see it cleanly in the loading animation's silhouette: his torso never bobs but stays perfectly stationary above the ground, with his legs like pistons grazing the ground, obvious artifacts of little departure from a 3D animation program's default rig, failing to reflect momentum, weight shifting left-to-right, etc., classic signs of having spared it little time, which was all it deserved in this game the way they prioritized the content for entertainment on a tight budget for a new IP with an innovative combat system. It's a boring, utilitarian animation for a boring, utilitarian action and remains perfectly serviceable without detracting from the game's creative content, so it's nothing like a hang-up for me even though I find it probably less appealing than do you the walk animation, and use/see it more. *shrug* Using all-or-nothing thinking to decide how you as a gamer help shape a game's fate is just ridiculous, to me.
Did anybody try running this game under ioS 7? It stutters and lags unplayable for some reason. An update should be in order.
Okay that's good to know. The lag is quite annoying on iOS 7. You can ignore the email I just sent to PixelHero then.
ok i found the answer myself well special tnx to dev team for their helping!!!! thats enough,they even couldn't answer to ur questions..not only for above question but also for all my previous questions this is the first time i bought a game and devs are ignoring me,im so mad why i purchased this game now and why supporting them ok i wont buy the second E.P good luck
It's been a week since the dev rep last commented. The game is still stuttery and next to unplayable. Could we get an update as to when the game might be patched?
