Although it would totally revamp the game and isn't likely to be feasible for your current game...: Instead of tapping on one side of the screen or another, have a full raid of characters that you tap on individually. This would allow your tapping game to be much more involved and therefore appeal to a wider audience. An example is having bosses or mobs that have armor, health, mana, and attack bars. The armor and health are stationary, and tapping on a warrior would sunder the armor, temporarily lowering the armor bar, making the damage per attack that the rogue and mage do when you tap on them do more damage to the health bar. Which you use to do damage depends on the boss's weakness. The hunter on the other hand has a pet that does lower but automatic damage. You have to tap on the paladin to block the boss's attack, and if you fail to time it properly you have to tap on the priest to regain health. Magic attacks are especially troublesome so before the boss's mana bar fillls up you have to tap on the warlock to drain it. It could be more complicated from there with each character having the above stated powers on very short cooldowns . The bosses could be more important by making them stronger checkpoints where those character abilities must be used, and the trash mobs leading up to the boss use the typical "tap without really paying attention" grind and no abilities (sort of two games combined for variety). If you can't beat the boss you have to grind on trash to level up your tank or healer or controller or DPS or etc depending on the particular quirk of the boss. Even a basic equipment system for each character would improve gameplay, as prestige would be obsolete, gameplay would be aimed at attaining higher levels in order to get gear with not only better stats and special bonuses on them, but higher upgradability levels. Infinite gold sink, infinite time sink. Or maybe I've spent too much time playing Tap Titans while waiting for matchmaking in Blizzard games.
Please add some way for us to read the description of what we buy before we buy it. I bought 3 spells because I was unable to read what they did before I bought them. Waste of stars.
I actually like the idea of a equipment system. And maybe instead of a prestige system use that to further progression. And add "dungeons". With special bosses that can be extremely difficult. I like the base of the game but it just needs something to make you feel like your progressing. As of now it's not progression, it's just doing the same level over again. Just need a few more heal taps it seems.
Very interersting ideas! I like it, but I am wondering if making the game even more complex can turn away many players? In the review from 148apps for example the title is "Tap like crazy, grind like crazy, in this tapping game that overcomplicates the mix. " http://www.148apps.com/reviews/tap-heroes-review/ About gear, that is something that would be cool to add. I did not fully understand how that would make prestige obsolete though? Thanks a lot for the tips!
Are you trying to compete with Tap Titans, or replicate it? There's Temple Run and the bazillion clones that have different skins or do something slightly different. I was just thinking if it were my project what could I do to make it actually stand out by being different, be the game that everyone else clones? Having more depth would be my answer. Depth does equate to more complicated, but being overly so comes down to whether the complications add enough value to the player to offset it or not. That is why I mentioned having the mindless, grinding tapping on trash mobs, where one could tap for hours while watching tv, and still have the interesting moments where focus is needed to down bosses using abilities. Something to set you apart from the pack. But as you foresee, having a larger carrot for the player means you need a bigger stick to carry it, and as the dev balancing that is where your expertise comes in ;-) . As far as the armor (to include weapons, rings, and accessories, etc) I see it as most games that use item levels these days. An item with item level 100 has that many stats that can be allocated and maybe can be upgraded twice. Something that is item level 150 has even more base level stats and can be upgraded three times. The item level can be hidden programming that the player doesn't have to worry about, and you set every tier/stage/boss to have a range of item levels that have a chance to drop. The prestige can go away then because instead of starting over to gain artifacts and relics, each character has multiple armor slots that act as relics, every stage further you go has items with better stats and that can be upgraded more. This can all be handled by programming and RNG into infinity, or a realistic, logically unattainable cap. Imagine if Diablo 3 had infinite torment levels with better gear never ceasing to drop. Ever play Disgaea? Leveling characters to 9999, leveling up items over and over, and just grinding to infinity is better than starting over and over with the crummy gear you started with (looking at you Call of Duty). Additionally, when comparing progress with my wife (friendly competition) I'd rather be able to say I'm on stage 16,596 instead of "I'm on stage 230, but I've prestieged 12 times".
Offline Progress Picked up the paid version and enjoying it (but then again, I'm a sucker for idle/upgrade type games). Maybe I'm missing it but is there any offline progress? One of the things that I absolutely hate about Tap Titans is that to progress at all you have to leave the app open... which just drains your battery for no reason. Here's a few things I would change if I could: 1. Boss difficulty: The difficulty of the bosses seems to be very disproportionate to the levels on either side of them. My heroes can fight level 19 by themselves. At level 20, the boss stomps them in one or two hits unless I'm tapping like mad. Then on level 21, we go back to the heroes being able to handle everything themselves. 2. Please add an idle mechanic so I don't need to leave my iPad sitting on my desk wasting battery and needing a tap every few minutes so it doesn't go to sleep. 3. As someone already mentioned and you have agreed would be the next thing, a prestige system will be a very good addition to this game and I commend you on being active in the forums here. All in all, a fun addition to the genre and I hope to see future updates from you! And by the way, Loot Hero was one of my favorite flash games that I played way back. Didn't realize there was an iOS version until earlier in this thread so you've just got another purchase from me today!
To be honest I did not even know about Tap Titans until right up until the release. I had other influences. I want to make something new of course, but without making it to confusing I really like the idea of items, instead of starting over even though I do not fully understand the mechanics of it yet and how it relates to prestige, I have not played Disgaea or Diablo 3, do you have any examples of a system like this in a iOS or Android game?
Thanks for the suggestions. I am looking into adding an offline mode Happy you like Loot Hero also! I will probably be doing a sequel for it soon!
The paid has no ads and you get the Familiar Pet when you buy it (You can buy the pet in the Free version later though if you want)
There are many games in the same generes, but what makes these relevant to you is their specific implementation. Disgaea, which is a turn based strategy akin to Final Fantasy Tactics, goes in the opposite direction of FFT's finely tuned balance for each fight. Instead, Disgaea takes the approach of allowing you to grind to insane levels since you can repeat fights, allowing any challenge to be eventually overcome simply by brute force. It also means Disgaea is infinitely replayable, where FFT only allows you to start from scratch and play the same content again. As far as items go there are two ways I see of implementing them: writing out each item by hand, or creating an algorithm for the program to do it. Again it goes back to finely tuning a game level by level so that everything is smooth and balanced, or letting it be random so it's endless and everyone's equipment is different. In the case of Diablo, there are finely crafted set items that the programmers added by hand. That means every level 70 Crusader has the exact same gear (Akhan set) because that's the best gear the programmers have put in so far. The contrast to that is the random gear drops. Say at level 10 the boss drops a chest piece. Let's call it item level (ilvl) 5. The item is randomly generated with between 3 and 7 attribute points randomly selected by the computer, spread out across the attributes. That means sometimes the piece is amazing and sometimes it's not, because the programmer didn't manually implement it to make sure it was useful, or make sure it wasn't overpowered. By spending your hard earned coins you can Upgrade an ilvl 5 item twice(programmed to be half the ilvl). It could be a set 1% increase in everything, a set 1 point to add on the item, a random number of points to add on the item (like 1-3), or the worst in my opinion a % chance to succeed and increase the item stats. That's for a level 10 boss drop. When the level 35 boss drops something, its ilvl is 30 so the base stats are increased and the number of times you can spend gold to to between 25 and 35, and the number of times you can upgrade it are increased to 15. Grinding gold, grinding experience, killing bosses for different drops, all are different "time sinks", ways to keep the player spending time in your game and hopefully making you money. Bosses and trash mobs can work in much the same way with enemy levels based on whatever stage is reached, boss stats scaling randomly and random quirks assigned to them such as resistances, extra health, extra damage, health regeneration, or whatever you can come up with. Again programming things manually is balanced but limited, RNG (random number generation) is not "fair" but it has a different purpose. My next statement may seem unkind so I felt the need to say beforehand that I mean it in a helpful and sincere manner. I'm old and grew up hardcore gaming. If you're not familiar with games like Diablo, which really is the basis for the whole genre it started, then all of my enhancements may make your game worse. In my head all of the pieces fit together because I am familiar with them, and since you already clearly have a following here that loves your work, you may be much more successful sticking with what you are familiar with and what you are passionate about. Microsoft makes things that customers ask for. Steve Jobs made products that no one was asking for, but his passion for and perfection of the simple things allowed him to show us that we did want them and just didn't know it yet. I enjoy helping but I may be doing harm by asking for what I want instead of letting your game evolve slowly into something I didn't know I had wanted all along. Just something to consider.
I think I get what you are saying, apart from how it is a replacement for the prestige mode (or reset mode). How is getting random items that makes your character better different from just getting more upgrades that makes your character better? There is still no end to it even though there are no random items? Sorry I might be slow now, I have not sleept much these past days I also grew up with games and have played through Diablo 1 and 2 when they came out, but I have been ditached quite a bit from the genre since then so I am a bit rusty off the mechanics. To be honest my personal taste is of games that have a "special feeling" or rogue likes. I want to make a rougelike one day I often like hard games, like Dark Souls also.
It's going to be individual taste. Using prestige makes you feel stronger because earlier levels feel easier each time pass them and you can progress a little further each time. Not using prestige means the health and damage numbers get astronomical, so when you go back to earlier levels that were once hard they are laughably easy. Both give you that feeling of progression and power, but in a different way. I only like the rogue likes where there is something, anything, that actually carries over. In my opinion having gear that you can equip and upgrade but that would be lost upon prestige would deter me from resetting. You could keep the gear when you prestige, but then really is the prestige a necessary mechanic when considering what level items drop back at the lower levels? Other things come to mind too such as having to unlock your characters again. As I mentioned in an earlier post I enjoy Call of Duty but at max level, after spending hours using crappy guns with no sights or special features, you finally unlock everything needed to play well only to turn around and reset back to nothing and start over. Obviously others love it as it is continually implemented and sells, but I'd rather play with the weapons I like than struggle again. For tap games if you keep it as simple as possible it works since the characters are just interchangeable numbers and the "equipment" is just artifacts traded in for a random relic piece they just increases damage by a fixed percentage. Any drop at any level is equal since it's just the same relic everywhere. If you want a game with more depth I believe equipment and stat grinding is the answer, which prestige doesn't work as well with. Diablo 3 hard mode was the ultimate rogue like for me. Fifty hours in I died because I was stupid enough to play on my Vita remote play to PS4, and when it lost the connection I lost my one life... I learned a lesson that day, and it's a gaming memory I won't soon forget!
Yes I agree that it is nice to have something carry over in rougelikes, but I like them in general I think I have not understood the point personally really with prestige, maybe I have just not played a game where I thought it was interesting. I have not seen it in that many games to be honest. In most games where you can start over in a New Game + it often just means you get to keep all you stats and equipment, but the enemies gets harder. I think I remember this being the case in Dark Souls for example. I can understand that it must be nice to get that feeling of really progressing fast again that you do when reseting though? Is that the feeling you mean you can also get with random item drops where sometimes you get a really powerful item that makes you rush forward for a while with power?
There are games that are single run and you appreciate the experience even if it's short, then there's the rest of the games, the ones you want to last forever. You're right that Dark Souls had a new game + where you continue with your items and stats but the enemies get harder. Even the original Legend of Zelda for NES extended its gameplay with a new game + of sorts; it rearranged all of the dungeons, item locations, and secrets, creating a new experience with the same resources. That was my first experience with the concept. It was an amazing game and once I beat the end boss and thought it was over I realized there was still half a game to go. Perhaps that is where I get my affinity for never ending games? Kudos to you for being interested in keeping your game relevant for the long term by the way!
Please don't think a prestige system is the only option. Don't put in the game a system you don't feel is right. It's just the game needs something. At this point all my heroes max able skills are maxed. So really all I'm doing is slowly feeling stronger since heal and damage rises so slowly. Not to mention monsters are only getting harder proportionately to my strength. I just don't feel successful over time at my point in the game. I haven't felt a strength increase since stage 130. And now I'm at 170.
