Well said, well said! Look at what we did for Spider: Secret of Bryce Manor if you start at the beginning of the thread and release!!! Thanks for responding!!!! I really believe as I've written here in the past that this was an early game on the iPhone platform, and the market is much MUCH bigger now, with most of the kinks worked out of the app store dare I opine I don't think waiting another year for updates would be any good since some competitors like the indie dev working on that card/board game Galactic-something-or-other that Hodapp featured on the main page a month or so ago, let alone if Wizards ever enters this market. @Devilishly Good: dude, as it stands, you're really missin a game ad a reasonable price that, most importantly, and I'm sure you're one of us and know, has replayability unlike most 3-day lifespan games on the app store. I highly suggest just jumpin in, esp if your the type of person that does TOFTT without knowing the risk. No risk here: the game is solid without an update since December 08. Expansions can only be icing, and me like icing
They could go the traditional Wi-Fi way to avoid this problem. That is, if they (still) don't want to set up a lounge server / code the necessary stuff to create online games, chat and the like. The latter would also be great.
Sorry for the misunderstanding: I too meant duels, not the traditional (and, in my opinion, boring) campaign. I've spent hundreds of hours playing the CPU on both WinMo (with the two expansion sets) and the iPhone - while only spent some hours playing thru the campaign to see what it's like.
I like the game, but there's just one problem that makes it be a 2* game for me rather than a 4* or 5*: the dang thing crashes when switching between orions to build stuff when I own more than half of a medium sized map. The publisher states that there is a memory problem with jailbroken units, but this is BS, it happens on non-jailbroken units too, whether they were previously jailbroken or not. All I can think is, if it is crashing without expansions on a medium map, will it start crashing on small maps with any (theoretical) expansions installed?
All I want out of this, if there ever is an update, is screen orientation flip support and mutliplayer. Those two additions would be enough for me. Anything else would just be icing on the cake.
Question: If I were to buy now, is it still a great game, as is? *Hint* Some time price drops occurred soon after I purchased the items. *Hint*
It's a MUST BUY. You won't be disappointed, screen orientation flip or not ( I really don't get why everyone wants that). Also, I can't get it that ppl are jailbreaking their sh*t. Man, don't steal, you're screwing EVERYONE over, and pissin me off! I buy my sh*t straight up, I don't want to see you F@#$ on here talkin scam. If the devs don't get paid for their hard work, the system goes down. No incentive. I wouldn't build stuff just for your jollies for free
Jailbreak does not = Steal. It means that you can customize your iDevice, and it's very much a good thing to do. AND it's not against the law. I wouldn't talk about things you obviously don't know.
Should I get my hopes up or should I abandon them...? I visited Chillingo's site so that I could see what projects are they working on and stuff. To my surprise, Orions had a sparkling "new" shining around its icon (as well as some other existing games, such as Sneezies). Does that mean that Orions will be revamped and is considered new (yeeeey!) or that Orions is not important enough in order to have the "New" tag removed (sigh)? I went to the Moregames Entertainment site in order to see what are they working on and the section called "Coming soon" is depressingly blank. I really hope that Moregames is going to hit us with an awesome surprise game. Because if they know what Orions promises to be and they still don't make it the huge success it can become... well, than it's pretty sad.
Anybody seen this: http://forums.toucharcade.com/showthread.php?threadid=24765 A new TCG coming called Moonga! Graphics/art look very nice. Unsure about gameplay as they don't provide much info yet.
It does look nice, but if it's online only then I'd have to pass. I don't have constant access to a wi-fi access point. But if there is a dedicated single-player experience then it could turn out fantastic. There needs to be more information, though.
Yeah, I agree - I hope they make the single player available offline, but we definitely need more info first.
Just a note to the developer (and thanks for dropping and responding, btw): I understand the desire to focus on casual games, but Orions is really unique in that it's the only MTG-style game of its kind on the App Store that's *really* well-balanced, very polished, and really nicely designed. IMO, I don't actually think the Campaign mode is all that great at it stands - too easy, too much microamanagement; it needs a good deal of improvement - but the duel mode is just about flat-out perfect, and just crying out for in-app expansion packs to be purchased or multiplayer over Wi-Fi/BT. Seriously, when an app like this keeps getting mentioned and keeps resurfacing on a forum like this, despite the thousands and thousands of other games out there, it's sign that there's something there. Thar's gold in this app, and you have all the resources and a lot of design work done. If you refresh Orions with a sequel or expansion packs, I think you'll be rewarded for your efforts.
Agreed. The dev even stated most of the problems (the ones holding him back from porting the additional add-on packs from WinMo to iPhone and implementing multiplayer) are with campaign mode. He could just ignore imprving campaign and just concentrate on duel. Even "only" porting the two add-on expansions would be fine.
Please add expansion packs! I found this thread doing a search to see if there were any Orions expansions in the works. To see that the developer appears to be not interested in adding the expansion packs is tragic!!! I agree that the campaign mode isn't up to Duel, so just do the expansions atleast for the Duel Mode, also if adding multi-player is hard, ignore that. As a business person, I understand having to constrain scope to be profitable, but don't leave your loyal clients out in the cold I can't believe that the most popular platform in this space can't get the 2 mentioned expansion packs Chris
I personally love this game, but I wish that the dev's would add multiplayer. I'm also disappointed that they don't see the possibilities this game could have if it had an online multiplayer option.
It's really just mind-boggling that the developer would abandon something like this over a perceived lack of interest. I play the original to death and would buy the expansions in a heartbeat. I've also looked in vain for anything close to this from other companies, to no avail. Sadly, I will be on the lookout for other titles from this developer and will avoid like the plague, no matter the quality. I mean if they take this approach with one of the best and potentially most successful titles in the App Store, what is to prevent any of their other products from suffering the same fate?
Unmined Gold I have to say my disappointment in the path Orions has taken since it's release into the App Store wilds is profound. I was actually lucky enough to be given a pre-release beta version of the original Orions on the PocketPC platform a few years ago and have been a rabid fan of the game ever since. Pavel personally sent me link to download the beta of Orions for PocketPC back in those early days and I've purchased every single version, expansion and incarnation ever since. The game is quite simply the creme-de-la-creme of iPhone strategy games and the ONLY truly CCG like game available in the entire App Store. The fact that solving the problems with Orions, i.e. lack of strong sales, are so quickly and easily solvable with minimal effort on the part of the developers is simply a travesty. I understand that they enjoyed significant success on the PocketPC platform with the release of the original Orions with little to no effort, but this was because they had the right distribution arrangements in place to sell the game in a well-know, well trafficked, well-promoted distribution channel. And despite the size of the PocketPC game market being somewhat smallish, it is a platform that enjoys a far higher price point for well made games and I believe Orions cost in the $10-$15 range there. What they fail to understand is the vast differences between the PocketPC marketplace and the App Store. Publishing and distribution on the App Store are a much different animal than they are in the PocketPC world. (Maybe I should be calling it the Windows Mobile world these says, but I've been out of that world since moving over to the iPod Touch/iPhone platform a couple years ago). Pricing is also a very different beast. Let me spell out something for you about pricing in the App Store, PocketMoreGames: Yes, your game is absolutely, 100% worth $20 in the App Store. Hands down. No questions asked, it's WORTH IT. But you will never, ever be able to charge that for it and get any sales. The App Store buyer is a different animal altogether than the average Windows Mobile gamer. We are trained to want our games from relatively unknown developers/studios/distributors for anywhere from $FREE to $4.99. Your game, while priced within this range, is at the absolute highest limit. Don't get me wrong, your game is worth FAR MORE than $4.99. But there is no free trail version so people can try it out, which means they are far less likely to give it a go. Now, for many App Store customers, a $.99 App is just about free and if it looks intriguing enough (with screenshots and descriptions), get's good user reviews on the App Store, and can get itself some attention from the bigger iPhone gaming sites (TouchArcade, FingerGaming, etc.). You already have the customer good-will and rave reviews of the overall playability and polish of the game. What you need to demonstrate is a willingness to support your product with updates, especially to address significant bugs and highly-requested interface adjustments. And you need to lower the price. Here's the icing on the cake and something you're missing completely. And it's here that the REAL GOLD lies. iPhone Apps support in-App microtransactions. Do you understand what that means for a game like Orions? It means you guys can be SELLING expansion packs of digital cards from within your very own Orions game right on the iPhone! It means, you can now do something crazy like release a version of Orions for $FREE. Cut it back, include only a few of the basic cards in each color and include the campaign mode for solo/offline play, but include MULTIPLAYER. That, right there, is the REAL GOLD. Selling expansions containing new and different cards combined with players being able to create customized decks and then play live, online against other players. Do that and you will become to the iPhone gaming community what a little tiny garage-based company called Wizards of the Coast became to the tabletop gaming industry. Absolute gaming gold with fans, and more importantly, customers in every corner of the world and sales in the $BILLIONS. To sit on such gold and do nothing about it is a very, very sad thing and I sincerely hope you will take some of the advice (mine or anyone else's!) you've been offered here. I am convinced with the RIGHT efforts, Orions can take the iPhone gaming world by storm. And hey, if you want some help with that marketing, let me know! Q
