The open beta project for 'Save Toshi' Updates (by devs of 'Rasta Monkey')

Discussion in 'Upcoming iOS Games' started by Noam, Oct 5, 2010.

  1. saiyukialex

    saiyukialex Well-Known Member

    Sep 24, 2009
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    Shanghai, China
    I have edited the original post. :)
     
  2. your personal robot

    your personal robot Well-Known Member

    Nov 11, 2008
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    nonverbalist
    Berlin
    Yesterday night I finally had the chance to play the game.
    First of all - it's fun! :) ...and it's running perfectly fine.

    2 MAJOR concerns:
    Way too easy. At least the first 16 levels.
    (making this game EXTREMELY short)
    And although your wife might have a nice voice, it simply doesn't fit to this game (for my taste), you expect something asian/girly, the actual voice sounds strange and a bit forced (in the context of this game)... for me, it destroys a lot of the atmosphere. And also perhaps you can give it some kind of reverb, make it more cheesy, more japanese

    1 thing I also would love to see: retina support

    Thumbs up:
    The style (and "story") is really cool. I LOVE the rewind effect :)
    Controls are working perfectly.
    (And physics are perfect too.)


    No bugs found yet.
    This game will rise and fall with the amount and difficulty of levels, clearly.
    And at some point, the background has to change (every 20 levels) to give you a fresh experience.

    I'm having a seriously hard time with level 17.
    Will continue to play now.
     
  3. medianotzu

    medianotzu Well-Known Member

    Nov 21, 2009
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    I wanted to play the first 20 levels before commenting, but I'm currently stuck on 17, so I'll just go ahead and make a post because I'll be going to bed shortly.

    I haven't read any of the other comments in the thread, because I want to give my perspective without the influence of other posts, so pardon if some of what I say is completely redundant. Also, after I post I'm going to look and see if there is a solution posted here for level 17. Anyway, here goes.

    I was pleasantly surprised by the core mechanic. Earlier I'd worried that the manipulation of objects would be a bit tedious, but with the "shoot the blocks" game-play, it's much easier to focus on the game and the objectives without getting taken out of things by a tedious control method. It's also pretty unique--no, not the idea itself, but the way it is implemented with 3D models and tons of opportunities to take advantage of the way the environment reacts to the shots and to other blocks. It seems the variables are a lot higher with object interacting in 3 dimensions, ricochets, and the need to move Toshi different places to reach the target zone and end the level.

    Art is nice, and to my taste, although I'm hoping for perhaps a bit more variety in blocks as the levels progress, even if it's simply in the color palette. There is a taste of the flashing neon city in the target zone and the blocks are often appropriately rubbery and synthetic-looking, but I feel that you could take it a little further even with a broader palette. Conversely, with the tasteful natural backdrop of the mountains and lake water, it could be that spicing the colors up too much might clash and look garish or something, so it might be nice to see another background as well, although I realize at this point it's becoming a pretty big ask. Overall though, I reacted quite positively to the art and graphics, but I am also kind of a Japanophile. ;) One caveat though--Toshi's right leg around the knee in the splash art seems to be a little out of proportion.

    As for difficulty, I made it through the first 16 levels with little difficulty, but suddenly am stuck on 17. Perhaps there is an obvious solution that I'm missing here. I think that, depending on how many levels you're planning for the game, the first 20 levels probably should be pretty easy, and I wouldn't say that these first 20 are too easy if you're going to have at least 100 levels total with the difficulty ramping up considerably by level 30-40.

    Distilled response: my first reaction to the game was, basically, gleeful. More on this later.

    I suppose my first major concern is difficulty and how it progresses, as well as how that relates to total game life. I think that, for example, if you have a game that sits somewhere on the easier side of the fence, it could be ok if there are copious levels, or a few different game modes to extend the life of the game. On the other hand, I worry about these levels that I might just not "get" and that it will halt my progress and quickly frustrate me. I really like the approach that Slice It! took with meting out hints for levels completed in the best manner. Something like that, or earning tokens to be able to skip a level that you get stuck on would be useful, I think.

    I have a bit of concern with the trial-and-error nature of the game also, as is often a point of contention with physics puzzlers. I think that so far, there has been a lot more cognitive emphasis in the game than trial-and-error, for me at least, but as the levels ramp up in complexity and difficulty, it could become something that is more difficult to balance.

    My only other concern at the moment is whether there will be a way to implement leaderboards, which is something that really extends gamelife for me. A game that has a really cool (in my opinion) way to challenge others is Tumbledrop, which features a "quick play" mode where you see how many levels you can complete in succession without failing, and you receive more or less points within your run based on how well you score on those levels. Unfortunately, that game has never implemented leaderboards, so the potential of that game mode is largely unrealized, but I would love to see something similar used in Save Toshi, although I'm not entirely sure it would work as well...it depends on the level design, I suppose.


    As with Nitako's other games, I think the strength here is the way it will appeal to a varied audience with gameplay, yet still retain a sense of originality. The overall presentation is very nice, and the game is probably the laugh-out-loud funniest I've played since...well, I can't think of any in recent memory that come too close. I suppose the last game I really appreciated the humor of this much was Solomon's Keep. I think this is something you at Nitako do exceptionally well--make fun, though uncomplicated, quirky characters. This is why Rasta Monkey and Eco Punk really blew me away. I think that Toshi is much more generic than those characters, but she has some great lines and I love the campy voice work. :D As an American living in Asia, I hear more than my share of Engrish, (or Konglish, as we call it here) and yet it's still fun in the context of the game. Please add a few more lines of dialogue in an update!

    So, since I meandered there a bit, to recap the two things I love the most about Save Toshi are:

    1.) The overall concept and how it updates a tried-and-true gameplay style with originality and panache.

    2.) The characterization, dialogue and voice work.

    These two things are starting to seem like Nitako hallmarks and recognizing this was what gave me, what I described earlier, as a feeling of glee (along with my Japanophilia, of course).

    I have not experienced any bugs yet, but I'll keep trying! :p
     
  4. medianotzu

    medianotzu Well-Known Member

    Nov 21, 2009
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    Oh, something very important that I forgot to mention--please add a way to see how to reach the most stars possible for each level, and display how many shots you've taken so we know how we're doing!
     
  5. katzyair

    katzyair Member

    Oct 6, 2010
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    art director / freelancer
    here goes...

    well... i will try to do my best to follow your requests.

    1.Experience check

    the game mechanics seem to be quite good, easy to learn and play. the control of the game is smooth and the art is superb. the overall 20 level are way to easy to finish, almost no difficulty curve what so ever. in contrair to other testers i didn't mind the luck of explanations about the blocks, it just added some more interest to the game play.

    2. Collective decision making

    a) i expected some kind of menu for level selection, each time i finish a stage - over there is would have been easier to show the amount of stars and score i got in each level (easier to notice the starts - which i didn't notice changing, up until level 10). same concept as in "cat physics".
    b) almost no difficulty increase in the puzzles as the game progresses. as mentions by other, maybe adding more complicated elements, or limiting the shoots available for each level.

    3. Can't help it?

    a) the initial story of toshi not being able to walk is totally unreasonable and unbelievable, makes it a hard to "get into" the spirit of the game.
    b) when you leave the game and later come back to it, you see the levels screen, different color or other more prominent indication of completed level is required (as apposed to the uncompleted levels).
    c) i dont think there's a need for a tutorial button in the opening screen, its enough to teach the "laws" of game in the first stage. there is a need although for a statement once the tutorial stages are completed (in this case only after the 1st one).
    d) i don't mind the "dead" state when toshi dies, but i thing the word "shoot" should be replace with "throw" as we use stones and not bullets.
    e) it would be nice to have some more texts beside the sentences tushi is saying at the moment.
    f) more variety in the surrounding scenarios would be welcomed

    4. Thumbs up!

    a) the 3d and physics of the game are great and really believable.
    b) i really really like the winning music+animation of tushi one i get her landing on the platform, although it would be cool to have it changed once every few stages - it will make the player eager to see the difference in dancing moves every few stages.

    5. Bugs are different -

    a) music related - it seems the winning music keeps on playing while the loading screen comes up, and then suddenly stops. feals wrong.


    all in all, although it seems to be a very short game span at the moment, i really enjoyed it. :)
     
  6. EMTKiNG

    EMTKiNG Well-Known Member

    Apr 7, 2010
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    EMT
    Los Angeles,CA
    She said it was easy for the most part. The ball levels gave her a little bit of difficulty.
     
  7. kaboom132

    kaboom132 Well-Known Member

    Apr 30, 2010
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    Finally getting around to DL'ing. Man, I've been busy this week...
     
  8. nicodemus82

    nicodemus82 Well-Known Member

    okay I finally got some time to sit down with the game and managed to play through all 20 levels.

    1.Experience check
    First of all the core game play works well but like others have said it seems far too easy. the later levels did get slightly more difficult but were still what I would call easy and didn't really offer any challenge.
    The controls work well and were easy enough to pick up but would like the option to zoom in/out as well.
    I thought the art style was appealing and suited the theme well.

    2. Collective decision making
    Needs the option to zoom in/out.
    like I said I thought the art style suited the theme well but would like to see more variety in blocks and scenery. is there going to be unlockable costumes for Toshi?
    I think the Tutorial could be included in the first level instead of having a separate option for it on the menu.
    maybe an option for replays?
    need to be able to go back to the main menu from the level select screen.
    maybe limit the number of shots u can use in each level which would help add a little more difficulty to the levels.
    an in game level editor would be great and add to the replay value of the game.

    3. Can't help it?
    back story need a little work I think because for me the idea that Toshi is unable to walk and yet she can still dance seems a little odd to me.

    4. Thumbs up!
    I enjoyed the overall art style, setting and humor of the game.


    5. Bugs are different -
    in the subscription screen the keyboard stayed in portrait mode even though I had it held in landscape.
    on level 19 I actually knocked Toshi into the water but I guess because she touched the dance floor first I still completed the level.

    overall I did enjoy the short time i spent with the game
     
  9. eyalized

    eyalized New Member

    Oct 7, 2010
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    #49 eyalized, Oct 9, 2010
    Last edited: Oct 9, 2010
    Listen up everybody!

    Hi, i'm Eyalized and i'm kind of excited about this whole beta testing thing. This is my first time so please be gentile with me :)

    I'm a graphic/interactive designer with a rich musical background and I see video games as a perfect stage for these two fields to have fun together.

    The landscapes of my childhood include images from: Tetris (#1!!!), Super Mario br, Prince of Persia, Digger and so on... pretty basic, i know. But even though I only played those *standard* games there are a lot of other games I've absorbed from some wonderful geeks that laid around soffas and TV sets here and ther.

    Since getting my act together i've played Braid, Angry Birds, Edge and stuff like that. I can play Fieldrunners for hours. I also play RastaMonkey and EcoPunk, nitako's first two games, and think that they are awesome. Great characters, copywriting and game-play so hats off to nitako.

    Well, that's it I guess. I'm off to Save Toshi.
    Later!
     
  10. eyalized

    eyalized New Member

    Oct 7, 2010
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    This Just In!

    Allright everybody, I just cape back from playing with Toshi and had a blast. Here are my impressions:

    Things I didn't enjoy:
    1. Kept shooting while trying to reposition myself. that was annoying.
    2. The Stages could have been more complex and it seemed like they weren't organized in escalating difficulty order. Also - It was all very easy, only two or three of the stages were challenging.

    Things I enjoyed:
    1. Had fun figuring out each stage + also had fun killing Toshi by accident.
    2. The game was super easy to learn. Felt like I knew what I was doing right away.

    +
    Goes without saying:
    Toshi is hot and funny. I love her comments and little dance (maybe when she is dancing everything (background) can transform and be even more awesome?).

    Wish List:
    while playing i'm kind of hoping for more surprises: a special power to come along during some stage of the game like being able to float in the air for 2 seconds, a different "weapon", a water dragon to that squirts water every few seconds. stuff that makes things a little more complicated.
     
  11. SoundGuy

    SoundGuy Active Member

    Jul 31, 2010
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    CEO Of Corbomite Games.
    mutiple crashes

    1. i started the beta when i had a power outage in my house - which meand no wireless.
    2. game crashed multiple times :
    at first run after filling in my details
    it crashed 5 times when trying to load the first level, eventually it managed to load it.

    3. my kid really enjoyed seeing Toshi saved. he laughs when dances. so he tried hitting the ipad's screen with his hand using all five fingers and lots of time.
    it made the game stuck.
    4. afterwards, i quit and restarted the game - at level 13 - it crashes on load.
    here is the crash log from console. looks like it's a memory consumption issue


    Sat Oct 9 17:53:55 Corbomite-Ipad SaveToshi[7152] <Warning>: Received memory warning. Level=2


    Sat Oct 9 17:53:58 Corbomite-Ipad UIKitApplication:com.Nitako.SaveToshi[0x3a00][7152] <Notice>: WARNING -> applicationDidReceiveMemoryWarning()


    Sat Oct 9 17:53:58 Corbomite-Ipad UIKitApplication:com.Nitako.SaveToshi[0x3a00][7152] <Notice>:


    Sat Oct 9 17:53:58 Corbomite-Ipad UIKitApplication:com.Nitako.SaveToshi[0x3a00][7152] <Notice>: End Load File completely 2191.366708


    Sat Oct 9 17:53:58 Corbomite-Ipad configd[25] <Notice>: jetsam: kernel termination snapshot being created


    Sat Oct 9 17:53:59 Corbomite-Ipad com.apple.launchd[1] (UIKitApplication:com.Nitako.SaveToshi[0x3a00][7152]) <Notice>: (UIKitApplication:com.Nitako.SaveToshi[0x3a00]) Exited: Killed


    Sat Oct 9 17:53:59 Corbomite-Ipad SpringBoard[27] <Warning>: Application 'SaveToshi' exited abnormally with signal 9: Killed


    5. i can't load ANY level now.
     
  12. FPE

    FPE Well-Known Member

    Sep 25, 2010
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    Bug

    I decided to give the game a crash test with my son and I experienced a similar thing. Kids love it but when four or more fingers touch the screen, all freezes and I need to restart the game twice before it works again.
     
  13. SoundGuy

    SoundGuy Active Member

    Jul 31, 2010
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    CEO Of Corbomite Games.
    actually rebooting the ipad solved it.
    i had a little blue triangle at the top corner of the ipad , any idea what's that?
     
  14. FPE

    FPE Well-Known Member

    Sep 25, 2010
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    Tne true blue alien !!!

    Actually no clue. Did you try to google. But the more than three fingers freeze is a real bug.
     
  15. Noam

    Noam Well-Known Member

    Feb 25, 2009
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    #55 Noam, Oct 9, 2010
    Last edited: Oct 9, 2010
    Well check to see if we can recreate it on our iPad, thanks! now that rebooting had solved the issue, I would love to hear what you think of the game.

    Excellent work, thanks for trying to recreate the bug, it's should help us kick the true blue alien bug's arse;)

    We still have a few testers who should give their input and then I will try o summarize our conclusions and plan for this round of testing. It's all really well so thank you all!
     
  16. Drsponge

    Drsponge Well-Known Member

    Sep 28, 2010
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    Turn Around
    1) Experience check - Love the graphics and overall game play. Thought the levels were easy. Toshi's voice should be varied, so not the same every level. Tutorial should explain all blocks. I find it hilarious just finding ways to drown Toshi. Some sort of replay would be great. Different types of balls would be cool too. Some sort of power up would make this game more enjoyable.
    2) Collective decision making - More explained tutorial and Lack of variety of Toshi's voice.
    3) Can't help it? -
    - When I click play, there is no way to go back. I have to choose a level and then go back. I guess this fits under improved Navigation.
    - Toshi's eyes change from brown to blue when you beat the game. I guess its not really a problem, I just didn't understand the whole new outfit thing.
    - Openfeint Acheivements/Leaderboards. Can't seem to access openfeint yet.
    - More Obstacles. This would make it harder to complete level
    - Different Locations. Variation of scenes.
    4) Thumbs up! -
    - Addicting Gameplay. I love how there are different types of blocks. The stars given when you complete a level, add replay value to the game
    - The polish of the graphics and the physics. The way the blocks fall and the detail of each level makes this a professionally made game.

    5) Bugs are different -

    - Multiple finger bug. I just want to confirm that it happens on Iphone 3gs OS 4.1 as well. I started tapping with four fingers rapidly and the game froze. [​IMG]

    Overall really fun game!
     
  17. medianotzu

    medianotzu Well-Known Member

    Nov 21, 2009
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    #57 medianotzu, Oct 10, 2010
    Last edited: Oct 10, 2010
    After finally finishing all the levels and reading the rest of the thread, I'll make a few comments to sum up how I feel about some of the issues most discussed here:

    First of all, the difficulty--I will go against the grain a bit and say that I don't think the game is necessarily too easy for the first 20 levels. Considering that these will (I assume) make up the "easy" portion of the game, or the introduction, I feel they do a decent job of giving you some different looks at how to solve the puzzles. True, most of them only took a few moments to complete (I had to retry 11 and 12 before completing them, and 17 took me several sessions before I finally figured it out; it was by far the most difficult for me, simply because I didn't think it through enough and kept trying to take the same flawed approach because I was sure it was my execution, not my plan, that was incorrect) but I think the level design is ok for the first 20 levels assuming there will be, as I said before, a good deal more that ramp up considerably in difficulty by level 30-40. It's also worth mentioning that I haven't been able to 3-star everything yet--there are a couple of levels that I've tried a few times and still I'm stuck at 2 stars.

    My guess is that the main problem with these puzzles for the beta testers is that they mostly only have one step to complete them. I am hoping the later puzzles will require first moving a piece here and a piece there, or first moving Toshi here and then there in a few steps before making the final move to get her to the right place. And I think that with the puzzles being in 3D, the difficulty could really pick up quickly once these extra steps or less obvious solutions are added.

    And yes, the physics--outstanding. You guys have a very realistic physics engine and the 3D scrolling works without a hitch even on my 2G device. Well done!

    And just to confirm, the 4-finger bug is alive and well on my 2G iPod Touch as well. I presume you knew that already though.
     
  18. FPE

    FPE Well-Known Member

    Sep 25, 2010
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    #58 FPE, Oct 10, 2010
    Last edited: Oct 10, 2010
    Noam, you might want to consider to make a kid game with Toshi as well.
    My son, two years, not only understood how to play (and crash it), but he also adores it. He asks for it every time he sees my iPad now!

    My son found another bug ... sometimes when the rock pushes Toshi against a wall, she moves back on top of the wall.
     
  19. UVRadiation

    UVRadiation Well-Known Member

    Apr 5, 2009
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    Your son is a natural beta-tester :)
    I haven’t been able to reproduce this one, can you give me a specific level you’ve seen it happen?
     
  20. FPE

    FPE Well-Known Member

    Sep 25, 2010
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    I think it was level 14
     

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