Archive for July, 2009Archon Lite now available on App store…July 27,2009 9:01 amReact Games just released the free Lite version of their classic game, Archon for the iPhone/iTouch. It is a limited version of the classic game, which gives a good taste of the full game and includes: Play as either Light or Dark, 3 smart fire settings, easy AI, use 8 unique characters, win by power squares or annihilation. React Games looking for Beta Testers for iPhoneJuly 22,2009 1:40 pmWe are looking for Beta Testers for our iPhone version of Archon. Development has sped up to the point that we need people willing to test out the new features, while we developing them. If you’re interested, please visit our forums for more details (http://forums.reactgames.com/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=760) Lite version coming to iPhone…July 20,2009 2:17 pmAfter the 1.2 update is made available on the App store, which should be this week (probably tomorrow, if the Apple approval trend stays consistent,) the Lite version will hit next. Most likely that will hit the store the week after. We’re pretty excited about the LITE version and the potential new users this will bring to the Archon universe. It will feature the following: 8 unique characters, play either as Light or Dark, Left handed mode, Smart Aim settings on or off and Accelerometer support. It gives a good taste of what the full version will be like…and it’s pretty engaging, although the AI setting will be easy, it will give enough strategy and combat to get people hooked. We’ve got our update schedule outlined, which we’ll average about 1 update and/or feature a week for the next month (if all goes well)…and YES, it includes the Multiplayer version as a 2.0 update. Since our engine is multi-platform, most of the things we implement will carry over to the PC and other platforms, so if you like the iPhone version, imagine playing with a controller! Of course, we’ll upgrade many things for the other platforms to fit it, so it won’t be a straight port from one to the next. We’ll even redo the graphics to fit the platform, so each one will have it’s own unique look. Can’t wait to see the responses to the 1.2 update. It’s like Christmas eve for us, waiting for everyone to open the present we’ve taken so much time to prepare and wrap…we can hardly wait. Anticipation is killing me!July 16,2009 9:01 amI can’t wait to show everyone what we are working on! As well as working on the multiplayer aspect, we are working on the 1 player “campaign” mode which we’ll call something else…something cooler. This portion of the game has exploded from a small mode into a whole game in and of itself. It will double the value of the current game as it is and provide hours of gameplay for a single player. The multiplayer also has a few big surprises, which we are excited to present. Maybe I’ll leak a few screenshots soon just to give you a taste, or preview of what is coming down the line. The 1.2 update should hit next week. We will also be releasing a LITE version shortly after the 1.2 update, then it’s version 1.5 (we had so many features added, we skipped .3 and .4) which will include the campaign mode, then version 2.0 will be the multiplayer. More on the Campaign mode later. So, stay tuned…I’ll be updating shortly. Just as a matter of curiosity…how many people actually read this? Shoot me a quick comment or email to let me know you’re out there. Version 1.1 update now available…July 9,2009 4:11 pmWe’ve addressed a few issues in this release to fix some minor bugs and exploits to the gameplay, but not much will be seen by the average user. Some of them are selection bugs and movement issues on the Strategy board. The Lite version will be ready to submit too, based on the version 1.1 update. Update 1.2…July 9,2009 10:58 amHere are the things we’ve fixed for our version 1.2 update. We’ll be submitting it this week, so it should be available on the App store in a few weeks (barring any rejection on their part.) We’ve addressed all the issues from the forums and some of the legitimate ones from the App store reviews.
A note on the AI…we bumped up all the settings EXCEPT easy. Easy is still easy, but we’ve added an “INSANE” setting….so good luck winning a combat let alone a game. Control issues…July 7,2009 8:33 amI’ve been reading the reviews from the App store and it seems there are some complaints about the controls (The Dpad and firing) during Combat. I think the issues stem from the “Smart Fire” we put in to help the twitch response that is necessary. This feature works great when you’re far away, however, when you’re close, it seems to have some issues figuring out the best angle (since there are probably 3 to choose from). Here is how the “Smart Fire” feature works. It is a bit of AI to help in the aiming process. It keeps track of where your enemy is and your location, then it is constantly figuring out the best direction to fire in order to hit your enemy. Once you press fire, it helps you shoot in the right direction (if you’re not pressing in the exact direction of the enemy). The thinking behind this came from the inherent lack of response from any virtual Dpad for the iPhone (it’s not tactile, so even the best ones won’t have the response of a physical one.) Far away, it works great…I can be running straight up with my unicorn, when my enemy is in line with me horizontally, I press fire and it shoots along the horizontal plane, without me even having to change direction. This is something that is necessary on the iPhone. When you’re close to your enemy and in a few other situations, however, I think Smart Fire gets a little confused. We’re working on addressing that issue, along with making a setting to turn it off, if you choose. This will be in update 1.2. We’ve also fixed the accelerometer not working for the dark side, enhanced the Dpad to be a bit more sensitive and we’re working on making the hard AI setting REALLY hard…we may even come up with a fourth setting, which is “insane” for you hard-core people…but don’t cry about it once we do it, because it will be VERY hard and few people (including myself) will be able to beat it. And to note “Easy” is meant to be easy, thus the name. That setting is for people who’ve never played on the iPhone before, the grandmas and kids under 8. If you’re any type of gamer, use the medium or hard setting. We’re being very aggressive with the multiplayer design, which I think everyone will be very happy about. There will be a few surprises, I’ll let you know as soon as I know they’re going to work. In the top 100 apps…July 6,2009 9:49 amI just checked on the app store and we’ve broken into the top 100! Our stats are #99 overall, #58 in the games category, #9 in strategy and #29 in action. Our sale over the weekend worked, although we’re still trying to figure things out as far as marketing…the App store is so new and everyone has an opinion on what to do, but not everything works in every situation. The one sure thing is getting featured on the App store somewhere. We’ve been in the “What’s Hot” section for a week and that definitely boosted sales and we’re hoping that plus being in the top spots will help us even more. We’re excited about multiplayer and know that will add to the longevity of the game, giving our users that much more of an experience. I can’t wait to play against real people. We’re also working on updates and requested features based on the forums and reviews on the app store. We’re really happy with what we’ve done so far and where we’re going with not only this app, but other consoles as well. I’d like to thank all those who’ve taken the time to leave a review and comment on the forums, as we take those into consideration as we’re doing updates and planning for the future. Archon on sale July 4th weekend…July 3,2009 8:41 amIn order to celebrate the coming upgrade of Multiplayer and to establish a broader user-base, Archon will be on sale for the weekend. Starting July 3rd at noon until midnight Sunday, July 5th, Archon will be 50% off. Update to 1.1July 2,2009 12:13 pmWe’ve addressed some of the issues from the forums, mainly those that have to do with gameplay and a pretty big exploit that got past our testers…(won’t go into that.) We’ve added a few visual enhancements in the UI and prepared the way for a LITE version, should we choose to release one. Seems like it would be a good idea to help spread the Archon bug. We’re also laying the groundwork for the multiplayer, which we’re pretty happy about. We’re also looking into services to host our leaderboards and such so we don’t have to start from scratch and make our own…but we may end up doing it ourselves anyway. Not too sure at the moment, doesn’t look that hard to get something simple up and running, although something like the Plus+ stuff looks pretty cool. |
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