tshirtbooth said: I don't know what to tell you i checked all my devices
What's wrong with that picture?
BOT is at the bottom of the list. That's pretty lame as the app was dated for today, not yesterday. I most certainly can blame Apple for that.
1 - My app can't be nimble to quickly launch updates. 2 - The listing is screwy. My app fell to the bottom because of some weird Apple logic... and updates won't bring it back.
I downloaded and opened the game and I loved "right-in-action" type instant gameplay. I really loved graphics, character animation when walking - attacking.
I than went and take a look in both shops on the starting point. I could only guess which one does what because there was no description.
I made couple of coins, died couple of times and got really angry when I saw I die, I lose all my coins... Than I discovered 15coin health recovery and started using that without dieing.
I was just going to the caves on left killing 2 flying things, go up, kill 2 there and return back to buy health. Did that until I have 500 and than bought the orb thing. I tought it would attack or somehow hurt the enemies but it didn't. I made it go 6-7 times into the creatures and nothing happened. I again got frustrated.
I did 500 more by going only those 2 places I mentioned, because, I could NOT go further. It was a certain death. I was too powerless. Than I bought the bottom left weapon. I again got frustrated when I realized it was even more powerless than the starting weapon.
When I have some gold again I bought the thing which I intensely hoped was an armor (because I easily die everytime I go further). I spend my 1000, which I made going only 2 places in about half an hour for something that makes my opacity go down. I, for a second, thought it made me invisible to the monsters until I attack or go close, which could be reasonable for 1000, but it did nothing. I still don't get what it does. Another frustration there.
Than I bought the night-vision thing which really looked like a weapon.
Than I bought rocket-launcher and than the laser. I liked laser.
I kept wandering and wandering the same route.. As you can guess was absolutely boring. When I made 1000 more, I planned to get my laser to level 2, so I could finally face those powerful spiders. But, the 2nd upgrade didn't do anything noticeable to its damage. I couldn't even notice any difference if someone bought it for me. And it was couple of hours (yes, hours) of gameplay time.
So, there I was with night-vision, invisibility, orby, rocket-launcher, the other powerless weapon and the basic weapon, which all of those I don't need.. And with a laser. Spent few hours and still couldn't get further than 2 areas adjacent to the starting area. I only kept playing because it was your game.. If it was a game I bought from the AppStore randomly, I would stop playing it about half an hour later.
And the other things are;
-I got used to controls, yes, but still can't get friendly with it. Died a lot of times because of the controls.
-When changing areas, if any enemy was chasing you, it can still hit you when black screen is fading in. Died a lot of times because of that.
-Every time I die (and because of some other thing I did not yet understand) I need to re-equip my weapons.
-I don't know why but we can't use any gun at the starting area. Everytime I buy a new weapon, I equip it to try it and remember I can't. I go to the cave and try it on enemies..
This really is a HUGE game and has a lot of potential. But, I think you made most of the aspects of this game according to "yourself" not to everyday players which is majority.
And I think the biggest issue with this game is lack of information. If I wouldn't buy night-vision and those 2 other things (I don't even know what they do), I would get my laser to level 3 and maybe have some more fun.
In fairness, on my phone in the UK, under ALL games BOT is listed 60 something, there is a whole new day of games on top. If i go to say adventure then it is only 8 places down! Tis annoying when it happens, you get a bit buried but there is still exposure there
I played it for 10 minutes, without reading the forum OR the description of the app (I thought it was an instabuy), and I thought, "Why should I play this? The controls are clunky, it was hard to find out how to play in the first place, and there is no motive whatsoever!" This isn't a console game. With Zelda, the controls were easy to get. Standard D-pad movement, and the HUD at the top. With BOT, it was obvious that the developer made no attempt to make a tutorial. I think I'm speaking for almost everyone that uses an iphone or ipod touch, and what most people do is they: 1. Look at the screenshot and name (if interesting, *click*) 2. Look briefly at the description and see what the game is about. 3. Look at screenshots. 4. Sometimes look at reviews. Most people would look at the features paragraph and the go to the screenshots, and completely ignore the "Instructions" paragraph. That's what I did. After playing for a while, and dying a couple of times, I said "Screw it" and went forward to post on the GS forums. You get the most downloads when you release, so your game has to be at a really good state. You are going to get plenty of 1-3 star reviews, and that's going to show up unless you update as fast as possible with: 1. A tutorial that tells you the objective and controls 2. Save at any point in time and have a pause menu (maybe for 100 gold) 3. (For me) at the end of every level, have the 2 shops you see at the beginning This will make the game great.
@Photics: Regarding the release date, if you set the date for today, sometimes it takes apple's system 24 hours to update the release date, so don't be surprised if it renders itself by tonight or tomorrow, and you're moved up on the list. It's happened to me before, FYI.
Did you change the date "after" the app was accepted, or before? Depending on when you changed the date, it can take 24 hours, especially if you changed it after it was accepted.
cbt said: I was just going to the caves on left killing 2 flying things, go up, kill 2 there and return back to buy health. Did that until I have 500 and than bought the orb thing. I tought it would attack or somehow hurt the enemies but it didn't. I made it go 6-7 times into the creatures and nothing happened. I again got frustrated.
The fiery orb does three things. -- Damage enemies -- Block bullets -- something else
The reason why it didn't do a lot of damage is because it's level 1.
If I do an update, maybe I can boost the power a bit. I think the fiery orb should be stronger.
I did 500 more by going only those 2 places I mentioned, because, I could NOT go further. It was a certain death. I was too powerless. Than I bought the bottom left weapon. I again got frustrated when I realized it was even more powerless than the starting weapon.
It's only a level one... and the gun upgrade makes all of the weapons stronger.
When I have some gold again I bought the thing which I intensely hoped was an armor (because I easily die everytime I go further). I spend my 1000, which I made going only 2 places in about half an hour for something that makes my opacity go down. I, for a second, thought it made me invisible to the monsters until I attack or go close, which could be reasonable for 1000, but it did nothing. I still don't get what it does. Another frustration there.
Again, level 1. When that thing is level 4, it's way powerful. Basically, with the sword upgrade and level 4 stealth, you can get really close to the spiders/wasps and kill them in one hit.
I kept wandering and wandering the same route.. As you can guess was absolutely boring. When I made 1000 more, I planned to get my laser to level 2, so I could finally face those powerful spiders. But, the 2nd upgrade didn't do anything noticeable to its damage. I couldn't even notice any difference if someone bought it for me. And it was couple of hours (yes, hours) of gameplay time.
I'm surprised that you were limited to just two areas. It seems like you got a strong understanding of the game and made good progress.
So, there I was with night-vision, invisibility, orby, rocket-launcher, the other powerless weapon and the basic weapon, which all of those I don't need.. And with a laser. Spent few hours and still couldn't get further than 2 areas adjacent to the starting area. I only kept playing because it was your game.. If it was a game I bought from the AppStore randomly, I would stop playing it about half an hour later.
You were off to a good start and you got a decent group of weapons.
@Photics Instead of posting something like "I'm working on the next update" you glorify your game with a review that wasn't intended to be good. Also, I don't think that things have to be final level to be good, but worthless otherwise. Put more use into level 1 stealth.
butterbean said: Did you change the date "after" the app was accepted, or before? Depending on when you changed the date, it can take 24 hours, especially if you changed it after it was accepted.
I don't remember if I changed it. I already had it set to the 14th, so I don't know. I might have reset it to the 14th, but that shouldn't matter. The system shouldn't be so particular about how it's listed. "It should just work."
Just wanted to post some of my first impressions of the game, as I played it for about 15-20 minutes (I'll play some more later, but first impressions are very important)
The ambience of the game and the music along with the visuals is great, I think the mood of the game goes great with the music, and visuals, and I personally loved it.
Now, I expected when the game opened to go to a title screen with instructions, so I thought okay, this is how it's going to start off, then there must be a tutorial somewhere. I spent a good 2-5 minutes just acclimating myself to the controls, when I should have been provided a base of where to start. (I would strongly suggest you implement a joystick type system or in the very least, a tutorial on controlling the hero)
That is a huge glaring flaw, and you must provide your players with instruction.
If there was a visible joystick and buttons to push to shoot and draw the sword, then that would be a different story, but there's not, so we're immediately in the dark as to how to play the game.
I seriously suggest you update this immediately, and request an expedite, you will get a LOT of negative reviews for this. Again, you need to cater to iOS gamers.
You also can't compare it to Zelda, because when you play zelda, you're holding a physical piece of equipment called a control pad. People intuitively know from previous installments of Zelda games, and having held a joystick that they will figure out the controls.
The controls are invisible on the iphone, so we're left guessing. This is iOS game development 101, and to miss that simple piece is a glaring hole in what could be a wonderful experience for the player.
I also feel there is no sense of direction to the game, and I'm left wandering around aimlessly, figuring out where to go....
I'll play more and see where it takes me, but you need to think about these simple elements when publishing a game for the broad audience.
As another FYI: if you already had the date set to today, and you go in and hit "save" again (I've done this), don't do that, because it will reset the date in the system again, and take that much longer to implement. I know it's a P.I.A and it shouldn't matter, but it's unfortunately how apple's system works.
Don't get me wrong - The sound and graphics of this game are amazing. but just now, I was playing it for 5 minutes, and I went to get money for the laser upgrade. I get $500 and start to come back, with about 1/2 health. Then a wasp assaults me. Tapping TANK frantically doesn't work because he's not centered enough. I try to center him so I can kill it, but he turns around. Soon, TANK is dead. The controls are being problematic. But if you won't listen to all of the feedback that the GS community is giving, good luck.
I'm listening to the feedback... I'm still thinking about ways to fix it.
I'm not sure if it's worth it though. The feedback is not about simple tweaks. It seems like the whole game is not fun for the majority of players. A tutorial is not something that's going to fix that.
@Photics The game is somewhat fun, but if the controls are fixed and being able to save at any time would probably make it one of the best RPGs on the iPhone.
if you don't want to allow people to save whenever, what about an autosave feature? so you have checkpoints or something? maybe an autosave every 100 gold you get?
It's clear to me that a huge amount of effort and time has gone into this game and your feeling down because of the not so great feedback but reading the comments it's also clear this could be a great game and a potential hit.
Your head must be spinning by now so take a day off and look at it from a different light and I'm sure you will find it will be worth the effort to implement some of the suggestions.
I know it's hard but don't forget i spent 3 months working on Running Wild for it only to make around $200 although the reviews were great i do understand after spending so long on a game it's so soul destroying when things don't turn out as expected.
Chin up my friend and best of luck with whatever you decide to do.
I think one of the biggest issues you have is the lack of explanation of how things work. Having no text is great for translations, but I think you need to concentrate on getting English speaking players knowing what's going on.
For example, the idea of upgrading the gun making everything stronger is not intuitive, it must be explained.
People have to understand what's going on and what the consequences of their actions are to have fun. You understand those, but only because they're of your design.
I think if you can get an easy "quest" (not quite sure what that consists of yet) or something moved pretty close to the start, it might go a better to. It sounds like you need to get the ball rolling somehow. People need to get a little bit of gratification and enjoyment early to show them what to look forward to.
I don't know how long it would take to get this stuff in, but I think it would be a start to saving it.
It's very clear Photics that you put a ton of work into this game, it's gorgeous, the ambience is great, and you polished it up beautifully, you just need to look at it from the player's perspective.
First thing on your list is you should fix up the controls, add a pause feature, and some type of save feature. Keep updating it, and listen to the players, and you'll get a positive response just for listening to feedback, and fixing it up. Also provide notes in either the description or a review: Say "Note from the developer" and what you plan to fix etc. Some people might disagree with this, but communicate with the players, and let them know what future updates will hold, and that you're considering all feedback.
It's very clear Photics that you put a ton of work into this game, it's gorgeous, the ambience is great, and you polished it up beautifully, you just need to look at it from the player's perspective.
First thing on your list is you should fix up the controls, add a pause feature, and some type of save feature. Keep updating it, and listen to the players, and you'll get a positive response just for listening to feedback, and fixing it up. Also provide notes in either the description or a review: Say "Note from the developer" and what you plan to fix etc. Some people might disagree with this, but communicate with the players, and let them know what future updates will hold, and that you're considering all feedback.
Definitely, just add an autosave when you die. You don't to allow saving anytime, I wouldn't think. But in a game with questionable controls and lots of grinding, losing all your hard work because you didn't make it home is too frustrating.
Metronome49 said: I think if you can get an easy "quest" (not quite sure what that consists of yet) or something moved pretty close to the start, it might go a better to.
There is a really easy quest in the game.
Top-Right part of the main base, there's an NPC. Walk next to the NPC and a picture of a wasp will appear. Kill the wasp and return get 100 gold.
Touch the health bar to bring up the equipment menu. That pauses the game.
It's funny because I watched one of those escapist/extra-credits videos and they discussed game testing. The issue is that the player didn't know that "triple-clicking" was the way to bring up the menu.
I realize that my control system is not the most intuitive, but it is explained in the instructions. It's also explained here. People are still struggling to understand it. So... do I just slap a thumbstick on the game? I don't think that's going to work either.
Auto-Save is easy to add... but it removes the challenge from the game. If I add some type of death penalty, I get the feeling people won't like that either.
Thanks on the pause feature, not intuitive, but it's there, and I see it now
Tbh, "slapping" a joystick on the game would be far better than the control scheme that exists now. I think it would be less frustrating for the player, but maybe do a poll and ask people what control scheme they prefer.
You could also have it so the player can set the alpha to 0 for the joystick if they don't want it to obscure their view, or have it fade in and out when the player isn't touching it, but I think a joystick is a must have in this game.
Same with sword vs shoot, should be 2 separate buttons. Also allow the player to change the alpha to 0 or the preset.
"Auto-Save is easy to add... but it removes the challenge from the game. If I add some type of death penalty, I get the feeling people won't like that either."
I think a penalty for dying, like a% of wealth, would be more liked than dying and losing everything.
Are the instructions in the game? If not, they need to be.
"Top-Right part of the main base, there's an NPC. Walk next to the NPC and a picture of a wasp will appear. Kill the wasp and return get 100 gold."
Still haven't got home to play yet, but I'm guessing the NPC needs to tell you that. I don't know if showing a picture would help. Of curse, now I never will, 'cause now I already know.
I'll honestly say that game gets really fun as you play it. It's only important problems I think are the lack of information and the hardness when you start. After struggling few hours this really gets fun. But to be honest again, if it wasn't to photics, those first hours would be unbearable.
By the way, I've just met with the "Giant anti-bot cannon"
Comments
BOT is at the bottom of the list. That's pretty lame as the app was dated for today, not yesterday. I most certainly can blame Apple for that.
1 - My app can't be nimble to quickly launch updates.
2 - The listing is screwy. My app fell to the bottom because of some weird Apple logic... and updates won't bring it back.
It's clearly an apple issue. An app scheduled to appear today is being listed like it was yesterday
your in denial
I than went and take a look in both shops on the starting point. I could only guess which one does what because there was no description.
I made couple of coins, died couple of times and got really angry when I saw I die, I lose all my coins... Than I discovered 15coin health recovery and started using that without dieing.
I was just going to the caves on left killing 2 flying things, go up, kill 2 there and return back to buy health. Did that until I have 500 and than bought the orb thing. I tought it would attack or somehow hurt the enemies but it didn't. I made it go 6-7 times into the creatures and nothing happened. I again got frustrated.
I did 500 more by going only those 2 places I mentioned, because, I could NOT go further. It was a certain death. I was too powerless. Than I bought the bottom left weapon. I again got frustrated when I realized it was even more powerless than the starting weapon.
When I have some gold again I bought the thing which I intensely hoped was an armor (because I easily die everytime I go further). I spend my 1000, which I made going only 2 places in about half an hour for something that makes my opacity go down. I, for a second, thought it made me invisible to the monsters until I attack or go close, which could be reasonable for 1000, but it did nothing. I still don't get what it does. Another frustration there.
Than I bought the night-vision thing which really looked like a weapon.
Than I bought rocket-launcher and than the laser. I liked laser.
I kept wandering and wandering the same route.. As you can guess was absolutely boring. When I made 1000 more, I planned to get my laser to level 2, so I could finally face those powerful spiders. But, the 2nd upgrade didn't do anything noticeable to its damage. I couldn't even notice any difference if someone bought it for me. And it was couple of hours (yes, hours) of gameplay time.
So, there I was with night-vision, invisibility, orby, rocket-launcher, the other powerless weapon and the basic weapon, which all of those I don't need.. And with a laser. Spent few hours and still couldn't get further than 2 areas adjacent to the starting area. I only kept playing because it was your game.. If it was a game I bought from the AppStore randomly, I would stop playing it about half an hour later.
And the other things are;
-I got used to controls, yes, but still can't get friendly with it. Died a lot of times because of the controls.
-When changing areas, if any enemy was chasing you, it can still hit you when black screen is fading in. Died a lot of times because of that.
-Every time I die (and because of some other thing I did not yet understand) I need to re-equip my weapons.
-I don't know why but we can't use any gun at the starting area. Everytime I buy a new weapon, I equip it to try it and remember I can't. I go to the cave and try it on enemies..
This really is a HUGE game and has a lot of potential. But, I think you made most of the aspects of this game according to "yourself" not to everyday players which is majority.
And I think the biggest issue with this game is lack of information. If I wouldn't buy night-vision and those 2 other things (I don't even know what they do), I would get my laser to level 3 and maybe have some more fun.
1. Look at the screenshot and name (if interesting, *click*)
2. Look briefly at the description and see what the game is about.
3. Look at screenshots.
4. Sometimes look at reviews.
Most people would look at the features paragraph and the go to the screenshots, and completely ignore the "Instructions" paragraph. That's what I did. After playing for a while, and dying a couple of times, I said "Screw it" and went forward to post on the GS forums. You get the most downloads when you release, so your game has to be at a really good state. You are going to get plenty of 1-3 star reviews, and that's going to show up unless you update as fast as possible with:
1. A tutorial that tells you the objective and controls
2. Save at any point in time and have a pause menu (maybe for 100 gold)
3. (For me) at the end of every level, have the 2 shops you see at the beginning
This will make the game great.
How did you gameplay test this?
You might want to give https://testflightapp.com/ a try in the future. Some of the stuff mentioned is just bugs, not even design issues.
Did you change the date "after" the app was accepted, or before? Depending on when you changed the date, it can take 24 hours, especially if you changed it after it was accepted.
-- Damage enemies
-- Block bullets
-- something else
The reason why it didn't do a lot of damage is because it's level 1.
If I do an update, maybe I can boost the power a bit. I think the fiery orb should be stronger. It's only a level one... and the gun upgrade makes all of the weapons stronger. Again, level 1. When that thing is level 4, it's way powerful. Basically, with the sword upgrade and level 4 stealth, you can get really close to the spiders/wasps and kill them in one hit. I'm surprised that you were limited to just two areas. It seems like you got a strong understanding of the game and made good progress. You were off to a good start and you got a decent group of weapons.
Sounds bad when someone who actually seemed to be playing as you intended said they wouldn't have kept playing if it wasn't your game.
Just wanted to post some of my first impressions of the game, as I played it for about 15-20 minutes (I'll play some more later, but first impressions are very important)
The ambience of the game and the music along with the visuals is great, I think the mood of the game goes great with the music, and visuals, and I personally loved it.
Now, I expected when the game opened to go to a title screen with instructions, so I thought okay, this is how it's going to start off, then there must be a tutorial somewhere. I spent a good 2-5 minutes just acclimating myself to the controls, when I should have been provided a base of where to start. (I would strongly suggest you implement a joystick type system or in the very least, a tutorial on controlling the hero)
That is a huge glaring flaw, and you must provide your players with instruction.
If there was a visible joystick and buttons to push to shoot and draw the sword, then that would be a different story, but there's not, so we're immediately in the dark as to how to play the game.
I seriously suggest you update this immediately, and request an expedite, you will get a LOT of negative reviews for this. Again, you need to cater to iOS gamers.
You also can't compare it to Zelda, because when you play zelda, you're holding a physical piece of equipment called a control pad. People intuitively know from previous installments of Zelda games, and having held a joystick that they will figure out the controls.
The controls are invisible on the iphone, so we're left guessing. This is iOS game development 101, and to miss that simple piece is a glaring hole in what could be a wonderful experience for the player.
I also feel there is no sense of direction to the game, and I'm left wandering around aimlessly, figuring out where to go....
I'll play more and see where it takes me, but you need to think about these simple elements when publishing a game for the broad audience.
As another FYI: if you already had the date set to today, and you go in and hit "save" again (I've done this), don't do that, because it will reset the date in the system again, and take that much longer to implement. I know it's a P.I.A and it shouldn't matter, but it's unfortunately how apple's system works.
I'm not sure if it's worth it though. The feedback is not about simple tweaks. It seems like the whole game is not fun for the majority of players. A tutorial is not something that's going to fix that.
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Your head must be spinning by now so take a day off and look at it from a different light and I'm sure you will find it will be worth the effort to implement some of the suggestions.
I know it's hard but don't forget i spent 3 months working on Running Wild for it only to make around $200 although the reviews were great i do understand after spending so long on a game it's so soul destroying when things don't turn out as expected.
Chin up my friend and best of luck with whatever you decide to do.
Darren.
I wouldn't be so quick to think that it's a wash.
I think one of the biggest issues you have is the lack of explanation of how things work. Having no text is great for translations, but I think you need to concentrate on getting English speaking players knowing what's going on.
For example, the idea of upgrading the gun making everything stronger is not intuitive, it must be explained.
People have to understand what's going on and what the consequences of their actions are to have fun. You understand those, but only because they're of your design.
I think if you can get an easy "quest" (not quite sure what that consists of yet) or something moved pretty close to the start, it might go a better to. It sounds like you need to get the ball rolling somehow. People need to get a little bit of gratification and enjoyment early to show them what to look forward to.
I don't know how long it would take to get this stuff in, but I think it would be a start to saving it.
It's very clear Photics that you put a ton of work into this game, it's gorgeous, the ambience is great, and you polished it up beautifully, you just need to look at it from the player's perspective.
First thing on your list is you should fix up the controls, add a pause feature, and some type of save feature. Keep updating it, and listen to the players, and you'll get a positive response just for listening to feedback, and fixing it up. Also provide notes in either the description or a review: Say "Note from the developer" and what you plan to fix etc. Some people might disagree with this, but communicate with the players, and let them know what future updates will hold, and that you're considering all feedback.
Top-Right part of the main base, there's an NPC. Walk next to the NPC and a picture of a wasp will appear. Kill the wasp and return get 100 gold. Touch the health bar to bring up the equipment menu. That pauses the game.
It's funny because I watched one of those escapist/extra-credits videos and they discussed game testing. The issue is that the player didn't know that "triple-clicking" was the way to bring up the menu.
I realize that my control system is not the most intuitive, but it is explained in the instructions. It's also explained here. People are still struggling to understand it. So... do I just slap a thumbstick on the game? I don't think that's going to work either.
Auto-Save is easy to add... but it removes the challenge from the game. If I add some type of death penalty, I get the feeling people won't like that either.
Tbh, "slapping" a joystick on the game would be far better than the control scheme that exists now. I think it would be less frustrating for the player, but maybe do a poll and ask people what control scheme they prefer.
You could also have it so the player can set the alpha to 0 for the joystick if they don't want it to obscure their view, or have it fade in and out when the player isn't touching it, but I think a joystick is a must have in this game.
Same with sword vs shoot, should be 2 separate buttons. Also allow the player to change the alpha to 0 or the preset.
I think a penalty for dying, like a% of wealth, would be more liked than dying and losing everything.
Are the instructions in the game? If not, they need to be.
"Top-Right part of the main base, there's an NPC. Walk next to the NPC and a picture of a wasp will appear. Kill the wasp and return get 100 gold."
Still haven't got home to play yet, but I'm guessing the NPC needs to tell you that. I don't know if showing a picture would help. Of curse, now I never will, 'cause now I already know.
I'll honestly say that game gets really fun as you play it. It's only important problems I think are the lack of information and the hardness when you start. After struggling few hours this really gets fun. But to be honest again, if it wasn't to photics, those first hours would be unbearable.
By the way, I've just met with the "Giant anti-bot cannon"
Ok, no more spoilers...