Jeff I definitely tried with keeping a thumb planted onscreen. I have large hands so what happens is I obscure portions of the playfield and my supposedly planted thumb inevitably wanders around the screen so I'm always resetting it. That and it can be frustrating when you just want to move diagonally but end up all over the place. Me personally I would def play Fargoal more if it had the option of a dpad versus swipes. Even so, great game and hope you continue to improve it and along the way have lots of success aka purchases.
This game is so good I almost wish I had waited for the sale to end just so that I could give you guys more money. I feel as though I have stolen from you
I agree with you there. I actually ran my battery down to nothing twice today playing this game. If people are worried about this game being too easy, it isn't. You can die just as quickly when things go wrong as any other Rogue-ish game. Fall through a pit trap three floors below, get attacked by a warlord on the next turn, teleport next to a fire drake and game over.
Hmmmm, we were thinking about adding a simple in-App purchase: You Want to Pay Us More? Pay here: 99¢ $1.99 $2.99 $3.99 Good idea? ;^) -- Jeff McCord PS: There is even MORE to come with our next updates, to make you even feel more guilty about paying only $2.99
Mindfield - Not sure you ever got into Rogue Touch but in essence the true incentive was to keep diving..Getting the Amulet on level 26 and back up is a personal satisfaction but only kept you on the leaderboard for 30 days (if my memory serves me right)...the only permanent leaderboard was wealthiest dead Rogue....so as far down as you can go with as much goal as you can get...it does get very hard further down and keeping you HP and XP intact is almost impossible...so it is not a never ending experience....there was no bottom level in RT (i got close to level 200 myself and know others got further) and i would suspect the same is the case for SOF... Online leaderboards would be a great addition to SOF once the difficulty level increases...
Hi it's me again I think I'm beginning to see why people like this game so much. It's so simple but very satisfying to explore the map and level up just enough to beat the next monster up. Only thing I'd like to see is an option tto have the fog of war black as well. Great simple game. Have t played it asmuchas other ppl mostly bc there's Bren to s of good games latelybut great game you guys
Good choice. I'm now a fan of this genre I hadn't played before. I'm tempted to grab Rogue Touch as well but SoF is going to keep me going for awhile to come yet
Too Easy Ok definitely agree with the other comments that the return up can be far too easy. After my Mage steal/teleport experience I tried one more game and very easily made to it level 16..i dropped down to level 20 from there and grabbed the sword...made it back up within 5 minutes, mainly through ropes and therefore multiple levels at a time. So i think my point stand that getting down is not difficult it just takes time. Explore all areas for 12-14 levels and you will be strong enough and have enough invisibility/teleport, etc. to go to 20 and make your way up...just hope to avoid an unlucky encounter with a mage and it should be easy.... I am satisfied the game delivered enough value for $2.99...I don't currently rate it anywhere near Rogue Touch when it comes to how it draws you in and the level of difficulty...Grinding through levels on RT is more enjoyable as you always hope you will find that very strong weapon, armour or item. In SOF you very quickly have enough of all you need and won't really find anything of additional value....Battles become too easy too quickly..... Some difficulty tweaking, additional weapons/items, etc. and an online leaderboard would make a big difference...in my opinion anyway...
Oh, I've logged my share of hours in Rogue Tough (and numerous other Roguelikes and Hack variants over the years). The big difference between this and Rogue Touch though is that the levels are persistent in SoF, and you can go up and down as you see fit. That, and each level is typically larger than just the one map, usually spanning two or three of them at least. While it's entirely possible SoF is also neverending deep down, each level is much larger than those in RT and you can hop up and down to explore every inch of every level. I love RT, don't get me wrong, and it has a much broader RPG element with more scrolls, potions, armour, weapons, functions such as hunger and such, but there's something of a more realistic dungeon approach in SoF with its large, persistent levels that offer a much deeper exploration aspect, figuratively speaking. Online leaderboards (OpenFeint?) would definitely be a great addition to the game, I agree.
FYI: We will be adding the ability to upload your favorite character sheets to our website (www.fargoal.com) in one of the next upcoming "Episode" updates -- not in the mini-update we are working on now. Currently the dungeons go down several levels below the Sword level, but are not infinite like the original version of the game. However, it is likely that they will get bigger once more and more is added to the game. We have plans for other fun beasties and challenges (beyond the Sword) as the game evolves! -- Jeff McCord
Well, then we will come up with ideas and improvements for the game, that will put you in a state of deep sorrow because you hadn't the idea first and already put that into the game... For example: - a more and challenging variety of traps, which can be disarmed by tapping special moves on the touchscreen within a small time limit. The player can/will find these "secret" disarming moves on scrolls troughout the dungeon and will learn them for this and the next games. So, the correct tapping will disarm or let the trap cause no/less damage while no move hits for normal and a wrong move will cause even more damage to the player. - or how about a small amount of side quests? The player can meet a ghost for example who wants to be led to a temple in order to save his soul and bring him peace. And same as the player - when holding the sword - will be chased by monsters, now the monsters threaten to attack and destroy the ghost. Saving him will give the player some exp.
Please no "tapping mini-games", I like how this game doesn't require much dexterity, just the basic movement...but the idea of little side quest/events could be fun.
I wonder if the interface might be tweaked just a little bit to give easier access to spells and items. I like how the icon in the top right changes according to the current game condition (changes to "teleport" for example in battle). It would be nice if maybe there were a couple more icons as well. Maybe a "spells" icon and an "items" icon that allow for two tap access to things rather than having to expand the drop down menu, select spells or items and then the item. I find it takes too long many times to get to what I have, and then you have to be VERY careful not to tap the wrong icon because the listed items are so close together. I think having the spells or items expand horizontally from an icon would give more room (less scrolling required) and quicker access.
Thought about that. Maybe there are other ways to handle the traps. I like the challenge versus good designed traps alot (and liked hunting other rpg-players in my games through deadly obstacles.) Back in the old days they may have called me Grimtooth... And maybe there are some nasty (and funny) ways to play with the mini-map... it ceases to function for some time while the entire level of a dungeon suddenly turns 90°, 180, 270°? Would cause serious disorder and make it more maze-like.
Can't really compare this to other dungeon explorers since this is my first one. All I know is that I'm having more fun with this than with Inotia 2 and that its very easy for first time players. Great purchase, can't wait for the updates!
Part of the attraction this game holds is the simplicity of its game mechanics and the way everything flows. Swipe to move (or tap on a location), a button to open your pack, another for the menu, and the smart button (which is a great idea) for context-sensitive actions. This simplicity largely gets the controls out of your way and lets you focus on the game itself. Furthermore, the lack of puzzle elements maintain the flow of the game and don't force you to stop and switch gears to solve some contrived puzzle. A large part of the game is exploration, and each floor offers a lot to explore, anywhere from 1-4 separate areas, sometimes not even connected by passages on the same floor. Part of the game's flow is remembering where you've been, where the holes in the walls are, and trying different stairs on different levels to see if they lead somewhere new that you haven't been yet. If you introduce more things you have to think about, you risk breaking the game's flow. I remember reading once that the best interface design isn't one where there's nothing more you can add, but rather one where there's nothing more you can take away. Such things force you to think very hard about what's truly important in the design so as to provide everything that's essential and nothing that just gets in the way. In some regards, gameplay can be considered a lot like this too. There's a fine balance between making a game flow nicely and overcrowding it with things that don't add a lot of material value to the game. SoF right now has a great flow, so Paul and Jeff really need to consider carefully what they add to the game and how they add things so as not to break that flow -- and I know they know this.
