Universal Steampunk Panic (by Eat the Moon)

Yay! Glad to have some input on that.

Oh snap! YES! That needs to happen!

This is, sadly, the one situation I didn't think of in regards to the offline mode. I'll put in a way to ensure that you can access all modes if bought the IAP, but it will still require you to connect at least once to the server when the change happens, as it will provide special credentials to allow it to recognize this. This might not make it into the version 1.1.1 update on Monday, as I need to make sure it's secure in the correct ways, so it can't be abused.

Yup. That is definitely a crash, due to there not being enough jars to finish "x100". A very silly oversight on my part and I just fixed it in code. I think I saw that crash roll into my crash reporting dashboard, so there is at least one other person possibly who is going over x99 and that blows my mind. But I'll still need to decide want to keep it (fixed correctly) locked at 99, and what that might look like in-game (So you still get multiplier buttons appearing, for example?)

 

I'm all for providing new features or content that are locked behind small IAP in other games, but this is the type of game where that just wouldn't work, nor do I want to do that. I would need to have leaderboards separated by buttons purchased or "expansions" and, ugh, that just sounds awful for everyone involved.

I could see theme or skin packs working as a thing for this type of game to be purchased, but some theme art might make it easier for someone to notice differences or button types and then we almost have a pay-to-win situation. So, that probably won't be happening either.

So, in the end, the only IAP I want to and plan to have is to disable ads It's an easy way to support me and provide a small quality-of-life upgrade to not need to watch an ad to continue, or watch an ad every couple games. Even player names, within reason, could be changed just by contacting support, instead of being an IAP.

I'm very pleased with the leaderboard progress. Some of the expert scores are getting pretty high, to the point that I might not be able to compete with that as much as I thought. I tried last night and just couldn't hit the #2 spot. I think I can do Easy and Hard modes though, so I'm still waiting a little while longer before I jump on officially

You're welcome!

 

Upcoming 1.1.1 Notes

Version 1.1.1 is almost wrapped up. I'm doing more tests and finishing one of two of these as I type. I hope to have it submitted soon and hopefully finished with review today or tomorrow, then released! Here's a list of what's happening:

Change log:

- Added: Tutorials now remember what part you were on if you restart the app
Although the tutorials are quick, you could easily complete a couple and then restart the app later. This resulted in starting over and that was a drag. Now, you'll be able to continue where you left off! This only affects new players, as the Tutorial button on the main menu will not have this behavior.

- Added: "Skip" button added to tutorials if started from the main menu.
I still want new players to go through all tutorials, as they are quick. However, if you want to redo the tutorials or accidentally tap the tutorial button again, you can skip some or all of them.

- Changed: Multiplier can now max out at 999, but I doubt anyone can reach this.
There is no reason to limit the multiplier at 99, other than to keep that "x" in the jar. Now, if you go over 99, the "x" is removed and you can have a 3 digit multiplier. This will allow for larger multiplier and larger scores!

- Changed: Multipliers increase the speed of the game more slowly
The original speed would ramp up too quickly, making multipliers really punishing too early. You will be able to get roughly 4x the multiplier in most situations to get the same speed boost, so you can earn higher scores a little easier. However, this comes at a cost ...

- Changed: Max game speed has been increased, to adjust for larger multipliers.
The game calculates the timer speed from a combination of how many taps have happened and how large your multiplier is. Using this information, it then ensures the game doesn't go past a max speed. This max speed would be hit really quickly with a small multiplier value with the old values, but now it takes a little longer. But now we can get 3 digit multipliers, so there is more risk/reward for keeping a high multiplier, as the game will get much faster than before. Once you find your sweet spot on speed, you'll want to manage your multiplier!

- Changed: Reset Multiplier button can no longer spawn without another valid button
Sometimes when you're in the zone, you want to keep your multiplier high. If the red Reset Multiplier button appears and all other buttons are darkened, it's a real bummer to be forced to reset your multiplier. Now, you can make a choice!

- Fixed: Blurred background no longer sticks around sometimes when closing a dialog.
This was a bug, and it was terrible.

- Fixed: Earning higher than x99 for your multiplier no longer breaks the game.
Again, bugs are terrible.



I don't think I'll be able to get the Hard and Expert modes unlocked in offline mode for those who paid to disable ads in this update, but it is high on my list for version 1.1.2!

 

That's the plan with Easy mode, as it would really last a long time in its current state. Once you plateau, and it feels too easy or not really doing it for the reaction speed aspect, you've leveled up and can go to the next mode. But, Expert is pretty harsh currently. It will get a little bit of a nerf with the upcoming changes, but the game in general will be getting faster with higher multipliers.

 

Maaaaaaybe ... *shifty eyes*

To be honest, I have at least 5 more button types designed "on paper" and need to be tested to see if they work. The problem will eventually turn into running out of colors and icons that help tell these things apart. I have to start locking down color meanings, as well as iconography.

The original function of the combo button was boring and completely different in the early builds of the game. The one we have now was put in a few days before release. I wanted the combo to be max out and feel good when that happened, so this one was born, along with the combo rewards idea. When you complete the combo and you are presented with a choice of a reward in the form of buttons to tap, it was a cool feeling and opened up new ideas of what I can do with the buttons.

It's funny, because almost every person who I was able to watch while playing the game, when they complete the combo, they always get hit with that reward button group and they either get stuck and slow down to try and figure out what they can pick, or they smile and make audible sounds of excitement at the choices. It was such a simple effect, but it appears to have been a hit.

... also when people miss the combo and get sad, I ... kinda take pleasure in that because I do the same thing and it's nice to know we all share in that disappointment, haha!

 

Update is finished and was sent off to Apple an hour ago! Review process can be pretty quick, so I'm hoping for a release tomorrow!

I also decided to just leave the "Skip" button on the tutorial screens, even for new players, to see what happens.

Also addressed another issue with asking for players to rate/review the app ... it was spamming a lot more than I wanted it to, so I am sorry if it was asking you every other game to do so until you tapped the button. Totally not intentional

 

Hey everyone, great news!

Version 1.1.1 was approved this morning and pushed out live to the app store!

It will take a few hours to hit all territories, so keep an eye out! It looks like it is live in parts of the US store, so just look at the version number in the store and if it's 1.1.1, you're good to go!

You will be able to play on the 1.1 or the 1.1.1 servers for right now. Once the 1.1.1 update is live everywhere for a day or so, I'll take down the 1.1 server and you'll be forced to update when you connect online with an old version of the game.

I'll also be pushing the Android build live in a few minutes, so I'll be fairly busy watching server logs and making sure everything is running smoothly for the rest of the day!

 

You have been crushing that leaderboard! I'll be interested to see if you are climb higher with this update, or if the speed balance with the multipliers might make it hard to reach your old high score. I'll be keeping an eye out either way. Thanks for your support!

 

I'm not using Game Center, Facebook, or any other service for managing player credentials. The benefit of these services is that they are linked to an email auto-magically for you, and if you switch devices, you can carry everything over. Which is great for cross-platform games. Steampunk Panic allows you to compete against iOS and Android users, as they both touch the same server. However, since I'm not using Facebook or my own account system with your email or user name, there is no cross-platform player accounts. Some games have a "migrate device" feature where you get a generated code on one device (such as your iPhone) and then you type it into your iPad and it syncs up. I haven't done that, but will probably do it in the future!

Now, as for you question!

In general, your progress and account is linked to your device. HOWEVER, if you have iCloud sync enabled, you should be able to use another device. But it hasn't been tested 100% to my satisfaction, so it's just a "should be working" type of feature

The general summary of what happens is that once you install one of my games, iOS generates a unique ID that is linked to your phone and my studio's apps. If you have two of my apps and uninstall one of them, this UUID sticks around. If you remove all of my apps and then install another one, a new ID is generated. This is problematic, of course. So, as a bonus safety measure, I store this generated UUID in your phone's keychain. If you have iCloud sync turned on, there is a very high chance that the keychain is also synced up to the cloud and when you start a new device and log in with iCloud, this keychain is synced. My app checks the keychain FIRST, then the iOS generated UUID second if it wasn't found.

If this doesn't happen correctly or there was an issue, your new device and your old device will be using different IDs. The player ID is not public and only you can see it. If you have your old player ID and your new player ID, I can jump onto my server and link them together, so your data switches over.

For my other game, Idle Realm, this will transfer everything you have, except for your current island map's progression, requiring you to restart that island. For that game, I need to allow the current state to be saved into the cloud and pulled down when doing a device migration, which I haven't tackled yet. Steampunk panic has no save data on your device (other than your offline scores).

Blarg, I hate it when that happens. Good luck with the next download!

 

In terms of balance, multiplier will make your game harder. You can fly to the sun if you want, but you'll get burned.

If you stick with the x1 multiplier, the game will peak at the same speed as prior to the update. The max speed of the game based upon how many taps you made hasn't changed.

So, without a multiplier, each mode's "base" max speed is:

Easy: 1.0 seconds
Hard: 0.85 seconds
Expert: 0.75 seconds

If you want to sit there and just grind a score with a low multiplier, these times work, but will lead to much longer games and are not as interesting. Of course, bumping the multiplier up a little bit will drastically improve your score, but you'll still need to stick with a current game a lot longer than you used to.

The amount of button taps you need to hit before this max speed is reached is larger, so the game will ramp up slower than before. Since multipliers add 1/4th of the speed they used to, you can cruise with a higher multiplier in the early game, but once you tapped at least 200 times in Expert, you're maxed out your normal speed and you'll start feeling the multiplier burn and will want to manage those numbers.

With multipliers factored in, the "absolute" max speed the game can reach is:

Easy: 0.65 seconds (was 0.9 seconds)
Hard: 0.55 seconds (was 0.75 seconds)
Expert: 0.425 seconds (was 0.6 seconds)

0.2 seconds is a pretty large jump, especially if you were used to the old speeds.

This is a tough thing to balance, because I want the multipliers to increase the speed of the game, but at the same time, I also want the game to get faster over time in general.

I dabbled with the idea of not having the game get faster over time, only letting the multiplier affect this. That way, if you want a higher score, you'll have to pay the price and get a faster game. Naturally, the player will want to increase their multiplier, so this will satisfy the idea of the game getting faster over time. Unfortunately, with the "reset multiplier" button, this will immediately drop the game speed again. I guess it would give you a chance to breathe and slow down for a while with this method. I might explore that option again.

So, back and forth I go with how this should work. All new players will see these times as default, but they might not be able to reach as high on the leaderboard as the old values. This will be the case when new buttons are added as well, as some button types might not provide as many points as you could have gotten if it was a multiplier button that appeared instead.

 

I'm glad the game is working for you now! To the best of my knowledge, the only two bugs that came in for the game were the blurred screen freeze and the +99 multiplier crash. With those fixed, the game is currently stable.

I honestly don't know if I can keep up with sebgo on the leaderboard right now. The first scores I saw on there, yeah, totally got this! Now ... I'll still try, though!