Home > 2009 > April

Alpha Week…

April 23,2009 7:30 am 3 comments

We had “Art-lock” yesterday, which means no new art going into this first version for the iPhone.  We’ve had “design-lock” last week, where all controls, layout and all that fun stuff got locked down.  No more new stuff.  Now it’s just iterating on all current stubbed art and programming.

The Menu systems are looking great, with all functionality in them.  The Strategy board works well with the controls we’ve implemented…which will default to a virtual D-pad, but the Accelerometer will work as well.  We had a bunch of problems with the touch screen input on the Strategy board, with the iPhone trying to recognize what the user is trying to do…pinch to zoom in, select a character, swipe pan…but we’ve got those issues nailed down and it really plays nicely.

Finally, I’m really happy with the control scheme.  The combat board plays quite well.  Martin came up with a bunch of tricks to make it fast and fun, which includes some AI to help the player out (which you hard-core fans can turn off.)  All in all, it’s shaping up to be a really fun game.  We’re concentrating the rest of this week to put the finishing touches on programming, then spend the next week bug testing.  Hopefully, if there’s not too many bugs or things that go wrong, we’ll release this initial version the first part of May.

I’ll upload some screen shots as soon as I’m able to get to them.

Archon on Twitter

April 22,2009 7:30 am no comments

For those who don’t spend enough time on the internet, we’re on Twitter.  Follow us at http://twitter.com/ArchonClassic

This is as well as our Facebook Page, which has been up for a little while.

We’re trying to grow this community so please get the word out, join us as fans and let your voice be heard.

iPhone controls, revisited…

April 16,2009 8:41 am 2 comments

Last night, I played the latest build on my phone and it hit me…we’re actually really close to finishing.  Most of the elements are in, well, pretty much everything is in, the rules are working, the controls scheme plays nicely and the menu systems are working.  All the design is done…now we’re just polishing and tightening.

For those who have seen the rough prototype (you know who you are) the controls now make it just as fun to play as the PC prototype.  The controls scheme, which we were fighting with earlier, now is fun and easy to move the character around and fire.  We’ve implemented a few helps throughout the boards to really make the beginning player (or even the veteran Archonian) enjoy picking up the game and playing.

Our goal for this game is to make it as simple as possible to pick up and play AND HAVE FUN.  We know that a good percentage of the people who will first buy this game on the iPhone will be unfamiliar with it or the controls…and let’s face it, the virtual Dpad has its limitations, which is what I’ve been trying to get around…but to no avail.  It is the most widely recognized and accepted means of controlling characters in a game such as this on the iPHone.  Some have done it well, others haven’t.  We’ve made controlling easy and almost second nature (as much as we can.)  I think that control is the most important issue when making games for the iPhone.  It doesn’t matter how cool it looks, or what features it has, if you can’t control the character’s movements easily, people will lose interest and the game will fail (it’s supposed to be fun, not frustrating.)

With that said, I think we got it.  Now it’s just polishing…getting the artwork looking great and all the little stuff.

iPhone controls…

April 6,2009 7:18 pm no comments

I sure wish we had a built in D-pad on the left side of the device to offer the tactile feel of other gaming systems, but it’s a phone first.  We’ve been adapting and play testing a bunch of different controls for this version.  The problem is the fast-paced action of the Combat Arena, where you need all the real estate of the screen.  Putting an efficient D-pad anywhere will really cut down the size of the playable area.  The Accelerometer of the iPhone is a good solution, but it takes a little getting used to.  We’ve experimented with various different configurations using the accelerometer and I think we’re close, but not there yet.  We’re still experimenting with the D-pad thingy but still have yet to come up with something that really works.

The Strategy Board is easy, just point and touch to move the pieces.  That was by far the easiest part of the whole input process.  We’re slowly adding final artwork and coming up with particle effects to implement, which will be a really cool thing.  Our menu system should be added this week, so we’re all pretty excited.  If everything goes well, we’ll be in a rough Alpha stage by next week for the Classic version.  Release shouldn’t be too far off…we’re so close, so keep posted…and tell all your friends!

One last thing to tweak in the next couple of weeks is the AI.  Currently, Martin has implemented some simple AI…simple, NOT easy.  I still can’t beat it, but it’s sure fun to run away.  I time how long I last and feel good if it’s over a minute.  The reason I can’t win is the AI knows what you’re doing when you do it, so it’s next to impossible to hit him…or maybe I just stink.  Either way, it is really fun to play.