Thanks for the info! I just recall there being some requests for multiple profiles back when Rogue Touch was introduced. So many people were sharing devices back then, but I bet lots of them have their own device now... nearly 100 million of them out there, and some of them have to be "hand me downs"! I think every developer has their own opinion on what firmware to support, so it's the opinions of you guys and girls, the core audience for this type of game, that are more important We definitely don't want to leave out first generation devices! Spirit Hunter Mineko will be optimized to play well even on those "dinosaurs" of three+ years ago. That said, the only compelling change between 3.0 and 3.1.0-3.1.3 is the addition of CADisplayLink, to sync screen drawing to the refresh update of the device. Even without that, my current code runs fine, so I'm not going to sweat it. I do auto-enable it if the firmware is new enough to support it anyway
Yes, absolutely. I am the only who plays my iPod at home, but I let my nephew play whenever I see him. Also, some might like playing 2 or 3 different runs concurrently. Speaking about snow - I loved how in PC game Commandos it was possible to hide in the snow. If you ever use snow in any of your future games - wouldn't it be great if both the PC and certain monsters could hide in it (ambush!)? In case of the PC, the pursuing monster would lose the track and possibly wander away. If monsters had facing, then bursting out of the snow behind them might give the PC a sneak attack bonus, too. I liked the perfume = auras idea. When dealing with multiple monsters, auras could be very helpful indeed.
Well, Rogue Touch was not an issue for most people since a single game lasted a maximum of a few hours. Spirit Hunter Mineko's individual games will last longer, AND the story/other conditions will advance after each death. That means you'd possibly miss or lose something important if someone else played "your game". That reason makes multiple user profiles very attractive here... Keep in mind, its not so much "multiple save slots" as it is a single slot for each of three possible players. Good to see another confirmation of multiple profile slots, I think it's the right way to go then! Like I said before, perfume has a strange attraction since it ties into my concept of monsters "hunting by scent", it could show up in many varieties, and get used in multiple ways (on yourself, on a monster, or on a wall/square of the dungeon). Not to mention it is something that Mineko may have some special interest in as well Cool ideas (pun intended!) for snow scenarios! I definitely can see the sequel utilizing some of these... a couple of my current monsters are "cold climate" types, so it might be natural to visit them on their own turf someday
will there be armor set bonuses? and will the character's outer appearance change due to different equips?
Another thought - in RT at the deeper levels I often found myself in a situation where I had some unknown scrolls and potions, but couldn't remember which of either I have already identified on this run, so couldn't really make a good guess about what still remains unknown and how much risk I would be taking by trying them. I don't know how feasible it would be - but maybe the game could keep track of what has been already identified on a given run? In addition to general in-game resource on beasts and equipement, that is.
So, as a recent roguelike convert, I have played and completed Sword of Fargoal and Cavern. I've just about given up on ever completing Rogue Touch and 100 Rogues due to the difficulty, though I've loved playing them. As I wait for Spirit Hunter Mineko, are there any other Roguelikes you all suggest playing? Any gaming system, doesn't matter how old. You all seem very knowledgable about the genre, and I'd love to have some ideas to tide me over until this comes out. Also: I've played Nethack before. I'm willing to give it another try, but it's just so daunting in scope!
On the computer, you've got your pick of the litter. Angband, Omega, NetHack, Moria, and Larn probably make up most of the "major" RogueLikes. All of them are ASCII-based, but some (such as NetHack) have large fanbases that have made very nice open-source Rogue Touch-like graphical overlays. If you're feeling intrepid, make your way down this list of Roguelikes. On the iPhone, there's also The Isle of 8-Bit Treasures, which is a pretty good bite-sized Roguelike with a distinct anime styling.
I hope CommanderData doesn't mind me jumping in here (I'm looking forward to Mineko, but not much of a forum poster). You will not find a better roguelike than Dungeon Crawl: Stone Soup on PC. It's generally regarded as the current king of the genre and is probably the most played. Download the graphical tiles version. Like most roguelikes on PC it is brutally tough and has a bewildering amount of depth, but it has a very nice UI with some great convenience features (and a built in tutorial) that make it a lot more approachable for a newcomer to get started. The latest thread for the game on the SA forums has a wealth of discussion on strategy, tactics and is a great source for further information: http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3285755
I've been tardy with responses here again! Sorry, been a rough week trying to sort out what iOS 4 has done to gameplay speed in Rogue Touch, and why Mineko looks blurry on an iPhone 4. Fortunately I came up with workarounds for both problems- Rogue Touch will be seeing its first update since April 2009 next week, and my Mineko tech demos are now super crisp and sharp looking on the iPhone 4! There will be equipment "sets" you will find piece by piece, it might actually take a number of tries to get a complete set. Each piece alone will have special features, and yes, when worn the full set should provide additional benefits (at a minimum, increasing the effects of each individual piece). That is a very interesting idea, and it could help simplify the learning curve for new users. I'm all for in-game access to a bestiary and equipment if done properly. Rather than needing to pull up a different screen and read through stuff you could get relevant info right on the item screen itself? Monsters, perhaps you could tap them to bring up some help info? That info could be "unknown" if you have never fought one before, or worse, misleading in some way. Once you engage in combat with one and kill it, you'd learn the correct details, and remember them on future play-throughs (barring a potion of amnesia or something). Sound intriguing? Online Multiplayer: No Leaderboards & Achievements: Yes Other online components: 1) I am considering a custom dungeon "challenge" mode, where you can specify conditions of a mini-dungeon (type, number of floors, monsters, reward) and send it to a friend... This probably won't make it into the first release, but if Mineko proves popular I will work hard to implement it. 2) Also in consideration is "item sharing". As pointed out above, full "special/epic" equipment sets may be extremely tough to put together, but it might be cool if you could trade items between friends. For example, say I have a pair of elemental boots I don't need because I'm building a set of dragonslayer gear, and you need those boots... you could propose an item to give me in exchange for the boots, and make the trade via my server!
Ooh, this sounds great - "Well, it's got fir, so it looks like fire might hurt it more" or "Man it's eyes look creepy!" for things you haven't identified yet. If you really wanted to push this, you could give minimal information if a creature has been attacked, and full information after killing one. I'd say full info after having eaten said monster, but it doesn't look like we'll be doing much corpse eating in this game! I think the ideas of challenges and trading equipment sounds fun - perhaps a bit of both? i.e. you put up a piece of equipment, which the challenger gets if they beat your challenge? Or just put it in the level as a drop for the last monster killed...
A joke perhaps? Obviously the majority of the games in the app store are single player and still have leaderboards that work. Rogue Touch is a good example of a dungeon crawler with leaderboards: everyone's playing the same game and has the same goals, so it is very easy to measure your performance against others. How much gold did you collect, what was the highest "floor" you reached, how many monsters have you killed? All of these combine to make up your score, and in the case of Rogue Touch also allowed lots of sub-category boards. My new boards will be more advanced, using Plus+ and/or GameCenter, but you can check the Rogue Touch leaderboards for an idea what I mean
Mindfield, NuclearWinter, and Starcat have interesting suggestions for you of course! In addition to those that they recommended, you absolutely should try out these: 1) Mystery Dungeon: Shiren The Wanderer- Nintendo DS (and SNES) 2) Desktop Dungeons (PC only at the present) 3) Dwarf Fortress Beyond these, there are many, many more if you follow Mindfields links! The iPhone itself will be hosting several more roguelike/dungeon crawlers in the coming months alongside Spirit Hunter Mineko... watch for Dungeon Delver (working name), and a game based on the Dungeons of Doom (a Mac Classic game). Been talking to both of these developers and seeing neat things from them
Sorry to say but I never played Rogue Touch and I'm new to roguelikes in general. What about the achievements part can you tell us what are some of the rewards you have in mind?
Not a problem at all, I am glad to know that Minkeo has enough appeal to interest you even though you've never played a roguelike game before! There are a bunch of achievements that will remain "classified" for the moment due to their relation to other secrets I'm not ready to reveal... Needless to say there will be a lot of them, from simple obvious ones like "Beat the main quest" and "Beat the post-game dungeon", to ones for collecting a complete "epic" equipment set, killing 100 or 1000 monsters in a game, acquiring 10K, 100K, 1 million gold, etc. The final achievement list will be quite large, and of course points awarded for the achievements will be weighted based on the difficulty of performing the feat.
