sry for the delay. we have integrated a new start screen and fixed some smaller issues and added some more stuff. it will be uploaded to apple within the next 2-3 days. here's the final version of our start screen. too bad you can't see the nice animations. I'll post some more screenshots later on!
Ok, we will upload the binary this evening or tomorrow morning. I can't believe it myself...after nearly 10 month of hard work it is finally done! And to tease you just a little bit more, here are a few screens I made while playing the campaign. Items check: Oh yeah! I found a unique item!! Character screen of my mighty Bull: Grombol I have to guard the iron golems (btw: I love the acid lake spell! you see the screen colour? that's because the tactical pause is activated) HAHA! Victory is mine! BTW: I played the campaign in about 10 hours and I consider myself a fast player. My companion (haha) Ralph needs something like 12-13+ hours. It all depends on your play style.
nice looking shots what are you plans for extra content down the line? also curious about price, but i guess i'll just find out when it comes out
@marcus70: a lite version will most probably come, but we just don't have the time and resources right now. it sounds good first, but new problems arise once you think about it. we would have to integrate a character transfer from lite to full (everything else would surely be a turn off for many players), prepare new text messages, a splash screen and other stuff that would come into existence once we started doing the lite version. if you don't want to jump in right away, wait for reviews or the ratings on the AppStore. @araczynski: ah, good question! content that will surely come: 2-4 (depending on the size of the maps) new campaign maps, with at least another 5 hours worth of playtime. new single maps over the time(don't know how much maps, but I'd say at least 5) new items new skills new creatures new boss mobs all the stuff mentioned above will be for free. while we're not blind to the needs of business, we decided to go this way. we plan to do many more games and a satisfied customer base is what we aim at (even if we loose money at the beginning). i'm currently working on the press release and other marketing stuff, so I give you a list of the things ALREADY in Companions: Campaign with 10+ hours of playing time story line 4 races 3 different classes for each race 40+ skills bombard, crossbow and scythe towers traps (spike pit, stone trap and others) 100+ Items (weapons, potions, books etc. etc.) 30+ Unique Items boss mobs tactical pause (20 or 60 seconds) philosophical pest zombies a really big dragon great artwork 3 difficulty settings (easy,normal and challenging) GameCenter and OpenFeint integration 41 achievements 3 single maps with leaderboards (more coming with the first update) endless replay value (random drops, random enemies) for both the campaign and the single maps available in english and german (other translations will follow) i myself am amazed by the stuff we put into companions. it is a huge game. finally the dreaded pricing thing: Companions will be for sale for 4.99$/3.99€ phew, long post, a few more screenshots for you guys:
nice stuff, definitely interested in the game. price seems fair, will probably bite, but hopefully you guys don't lower it 2 weeks later like so many shops still love the mutton chops on whoever is in that video on the first page
Nice! I can't wait to enjoy all your hard work. Game looks very promising and it almost looks like a tower defense game, which might be a fun game mode to add somewhere down the line. I will be supporting you with a day one purchase.
thanks guys! I hope you won't be disappointed! i had to look up mutton chops, didn't know the word, hehe...they're grown quite heavy since the video was shot. I somehow look like I'm from the last century. them kids always ask me if I am wolverine?! @ojtitus: one of the single maps has tower defense elements in it. it's a large arena where you can "buy" weapons or tower structures and stuff. after each few waves the equipment and structures get better, but the enemies also become stronger. I can't wait to see other peoples scores. @araczynski: no we won't lower the price. even if the game is a total flop. I don't see why we should give our game away as a present after we put so much time and dedication into it.
its rare to see them these day, very old irish looking, but works quite well on your face interesting stance on the pricing, will make buying right away that much more enjoyable. i've always though that when i eventually get into the app store with my project i'd do the same, set some low price and keep it. i hate the constant price fluctuations, and i don't want to do the same to anyone that would happen to support me and buy my things. if anything, i might start at a low price for early supporters and then bring it up to a 'normal' price after that. anyway, looking forward to your finished product!
binary uploaded! now it rests in apples hands. time for some good friends, motörhead and italian wine!
There's a tactical pause? That's interesting it's something I regret not have in Knights of the Phantom Castle, a pause and ability to define movements and attacks during it. I'm definitely looking forward this one, this only one in fact.
This post follows a post complaining about having found DAO tedious because of a constant change of difficulty setup. I don't remember have this problem in DAO, but get this problem a bit in games like Avadon or DA2. The problem is that the solution is a problem. This is just a free thinking I have zero concrete advice on this game about how manage difficulty. Allowing a dynamic change of difficulty lead the player into a mechanism, at first problem in fight, he lower the difficulty, and he drag himself in a loop that tend lowdown the challenge and build a negative opinion on himself, or/and on the game. But for a difficulty is working it's necessary to sometimes face a challenge fail search and experiment to find the solution. With the temptation coming from dynamic difficulty setting this enjoyment mechanism is endangered, at least for many players.
thanks for your input. all true, but i think those things happen only if you complicate things. in most games dynamic difficulty is a design flaw. if you integrate such a thing, you have to build your game around this decision i guess. we kept it simple. on normal, the enemies have 75% hitpoints, on easy 50%. challenging: 100%. you cannot change the difficulty of the campaign once you started. the enemies still do normal damage, so even on easy you have to be careful when facing powerful enemies. the boss fights and 'certain' situations provide the challenge needed for the game to be fun. on all settings. we integrated quests were you guard npc's or other objects, also riddles and situations were the player has to choose the course of action. besides, i guess we succeeded in creating a rich enviroment. the world of 'Altland' will be our focus for future games. we already started developing a tactical turn-based game (we use Unity for this one, so expect some great 3D graphics) which takes place 400 years before the happenings in Companions. you will meet characters you know and get another (and deeper) view on the story. i really hope that the players will appreciate our approach. enough of my ramblings. i have to play the crypt raider map! thx @all for your support!
congrats on getting it all done and submitted to apple. this will be a day one purchase for me! will you be releasing it as soon as it is approved, or will you have us wait awhile? thanks, and looking forward to trying this one out!!!!
