Greetings! I am an indie working on my latest project, Temple of Thumb. Are you sick and tired of playing the same old games as the same old intrepid, hat wearing explorers? Are you nauseated at the mere thought of more gun-toting, stupid enemies that you just shoot over and over? Well, your prayers have been answered with Temple of Thumb! You have a thumb (hopefully), so why not play as a tight whitey wearing, torch carrying thumb! Explore level after trap-fillled level of action adventure maze puzzles! Death awaits you around every creepy, dark corner as you collect keys and treasure and work your way deeper and deeper into the legendary Temple of Thumb! The game is still in development but enough is done that I feel comfortable showing a game play demo. Check it out in the video below. Keep in mind that additional animations, music, sound and other gameplay elements still need to be done. Subscribe to the TouchArcade YouTube channel I'd love to here what you think. Thanks, Alan One more video showing some of the various death animations for the game. Enjoy! Subscribe to the TouchArcade YouTube channel
I love the artwork. The thumb character is awesome. I have a few questions: + How big is your team? + What kind of controls do you use? + What engine (if any) are you using? + When do you think you will be releasing and on what platforms?
Hi Rogue, I'm glad that you like what you see. That makes me happy. As for your questions: 1. My team consists of three people. There is a music composer, a sound engineer and myself. 2. I'll be releasing this on iOS so the controls are simple touch controls. Swipe in a direction to move. If the direction is currently blocked, the game sets it as your desired direction and moves that way when the chance arises. I wanted to keep it really simple. 3. I'm developing using Xcode. I'm doing my animation work in SketchBook (their flip book feature is great for the roughs) and then cleaning up everything in Photoshop. 4. I'm hoping to release in May for iPhone and iPad. I get a bit more done each day. Since the video was recorded last week, I've incorporated improved enemy AI (they now work with a line-of-sight logic, so you can sneak behind them) pressure switches to deactivate traps, and EatBabies (baby Eat Balls that will alert the bigger ones to your presence). Here is the icon for the game. I'd love to know what you think of this as well. Thanks for the interest! All the the best, Alan
Icon looks great. So you are doing the art and the programming? How long have you been working on this game for? How are you going to monetize the game?
I am doing the art and the programming. I've been working on this game since the beginning of January, so about 4 months now. There was a period in there that I was launching another game, but it has been non-stop on this one since then. As for monetization, that is a really good question. I plan on having in game currency that can be used to purchase power ups. I'm also planning on having a Candy Crush style life system, so players can pay to recharge their lives. I'm also thinking of using interstitial ads. Hopefully, with those things, I'll be able to make some money from this game. I also just want people to play and enjoy the game. I think that if that happens then the money will come with it. I hope. Of course, if I could end up getting interest from a publisher that could probably make things a lot easier. Here are a couple of concept art pieces I did that I am considering using a cleaned up version of for the title screen.
Here's another piece of concept art, featuring the Eatballs and some baby Eatballs. In the game, stepping on a baby Eatball will wake up the adults. If you don't like being chased and don't like be eaten, try to avoid squishing them. I'd comments and feedback. And I'll be posting more gameplay updates soon. I just finished programming another game mode that should be interesting.
Oh my god. I've never seen this before. This is one of the best things I've seen in a long time. Thanks so much.
Just finished the programming on a new game mode. Here is a little teaser image. Can you guess what it is?
Just finished up the graphics for the menu screen. I decided to pay homage to a certain film that captures part of the essence of this game. I'd love to hear what you think. (There will be more buttons on the menu later, but PLAY! is most important right now). Any feedback is appreciated.
Another update. Made some changes to the logo based on feedback I've gotten. I definitely like the new version. I also bumped up the saturation across the board to get a little more oomph. Finally, playing with the layout for the title screen on phones versus tablets. Currently still just the one button. Watcha think?
Do you need more buttons? If you don't I think just have touch to start kind of thing. I am not a big fan of different layouts for different devices. It can be a pain to support later when more device types come (especially for us when we started supporting Android). I like the artwork, would rather see the buttons somehow mingle more with it? Right now they seem like two separate things. Maybe you can use different parts of the image for buttons? Touch thumb man to start, touch those big thumb looking stone things in the top corners for other jazz (obviously need some text though)
Hey Rogue, Thanks for the feedback. Great ideas. I do need at least 2 other buttons - one that will appear for Facebook connectivity (but goes away after the player has clicked it) and another for options. Incorporating them into the poster design could be interesting. As far as the different layouts, I hear what you're saying. It's only the 2 that I can see having right now just to take advantage of the sizes of the phone versus tablet screens. And it is only on the menu. I agree that multiple layouts can be a hassle to program, but I figure that most players are going to use one device or another so they will probably never see the alternate layout. Also, I don't do anything like that in the actual game, so gameplay is identical across devices. Thanks for the suggestions. I appreciate it.
After a lot of work incorporating additional gameplay elements (traps, baby Eatballs, pressure switches, and more), I've finally been able to get to the level selection screen. You can't see it in the static shots, but there is a nice page turn effect happening in the journal. You'll be able to see it better in the next gameplay video. Love to hear what you think.
Really nice artwork! Hopefully the download size won't be too big. Other than that, I couldn't figure out how the game is played. I'll check back later when you have an update with a gameplay video.
Thanks for the feedback. Glad you like the artwork. I'm working to keep the game's file size under 50 Mb for the final version. Hopefully the gameplay will be a little clearer in the next video (which should be coming soon).
So, I'm considering using this as the title/main menu screen in the game instead of the "Raiders of the Lost Ark" treatment. What do you think?
As promised, here is the new gameplay trailer for Temple of Thumb. I've still got some work ahead of me but, in the meantime, I'd love to hear what you think. Thanks! Subscribe to the TouchArcade YouTube channel
