Karate Fighter 1.0

[Stroffolino]

In review now, "Karate Fighter" for ipod/iphone is a loving homage to 70's kung fu movies and classic 80's arcade beat 'em ups.

The game features 8 action packed levels and over a dozen enemies including
grapplers, stick swingers, knife throwers, chain slingers, giant karateka, kickboxers, serpents, dogs, demons, and axe wielding villains.

Rather than using a virtual d-pad, gameplay in the initial release is mapped to a set of contextual buttons to avoid the need for finger gymnastics. For example, a single button press causes the hero to crouch, turns around, and attack to the left.

Phil

[sjleworthy]

wow wow wow, is this what i think it is? my fav all time arcade classic? dare i say it....Kung Fu Master?????



(please say yes)

[indyraider4]

controls look kinda weird, I wonder how they will work when played and why they aren't shoved into one or two joy sticks/d pads.

[wastedyuthe]

wow wow wow, is this what i think it is? my fav all time arcade classic? dare i say it....Kung Fu Master?????


Yes it does look a bit like that doesn't it?
I must admit, I am a bit dubious about those controls- it does look like there are just too many imo. Of course, it would be better to see it in action. Have you got a video of it in action you could upload to YouTube and embed it here?

[indyraider4]

Yes it does look a bit like that doesn't it?
I must admit, I am a bit dubious about those controls- it does look like there are just too many imo. Of course, it would be better to see it in action. Have you got a video of it in action you could upload to YouTube and embed it here?
Yeah, it just looks like too many buttons in an inconvenient area.

Also if there is no video I would love to get some footage of it on the iphone sim and make one for you!

[wastedyuthe]

Regardless of the controls and how it plays, I just want to say I love the artwork for the menus- very suitable for the game. It's a pity the character in the game itself doesn't use the same style as the character in the menu.
In fact, it looks like the game screen was made by someone other than the person who designed and drew the menus. The score at the top of the game screen for example, ought to use the same font. Just my opinion.

[sjleworthy]

if he's a good dev then i'm sure he'll listen to his users. i know loads of others that have changed control systems over before now because of popular public demand.

what does 'in review now' mean? it's been submitted?

[wastedyuthe]

if he's a good dev then i'm sure he'll listen to his users. i know loads of others that have changed control systems over before now because of popular public demand.

what does 'in review now' mean? it's been submitted?

I'm assuming that means it's submitted.
But I don't want to be premature about the controls. I don't think it's fair to ask for the controls to be changed just because they 'look' cumbersome. They may actually work well- we won't know until we see them in action I suppose, which is why I asked for a video.
The problem with it is this is going to be a popular first impression, I suspect- and first impressions go a long way.

[sjleworthy]

aye. as long as controls are good then fine. i'll be splashing out a $ or 2 the minute it comes out :)

next.....roll on PacLand :)

[Stroffolino]

"in review" = "submitted to apple"

The control overlay looks funny, yes, but it's the result of a lot of playtesting across arcade-savy friends, not-so arcade savy friends, and even my 3 1/2 year old who loves action games. The big fat buttons are super easy to press, so you dont have to worry about lack of gamepad tactile feedback. I have a personal bias against virtual dpads, though in hindsight I probably should have left that as a user option.

No worries - there will definitely be updates.

[wastedyuthe]

Did you try having the direction buttons on one side with the attack ones on the other?
Could you upload a video of the game in action, so we can see how the controls work?

I am interested in how it plays with this control method, and what players response to them will be like.

[Stroffolino]

Did you try having the direction buttons on one side with the attack ones on the other?
Could you upload a video of the game in action, so we can see how the controls work?

I am interested in how it plays with this control method, and what players response to them will be like.

If direction buttons were moved to one side and attack buttons to the other, it destroys the symetry and could make it harder to execute flying kicks, which are done by tapping a jump button followed by a tap of an attack button. By going that route, you might as well just use a true virtual d-pad. The player is almost always centered, and so the default layout has a certain spatial appeal - an enemy is on the right? Click a right attack button.

It'll be easy enough to add support for alternate control schemes in the 1.1 update. Might be fun to try a button-less mode, where you tap directly on bad guys to attack them.

I'll be preparing a video later this week, and will update this thread when it's online.

[LordCrom]

wow wow wow, is this what i think it is? my fav all time arcade classic? dare i say it....Kung Fu Master?????



(please say yes)

I totally get that vibe from the screen shots!

[adbjmb]

You did a good job on this Stroffolino. Nice touch with the bloody kicks. I don't remember that back in the original. It's good to see you active at touch arcade and open for suggestion. I understand your view on d-pads but maybe a circular d-pad that moves in all directions like the one in assasins creed would still allow you to do the running kicks seamlessly. Again, great job and i will be looking foward to the 1.1 update.

[indyraider4]

If direction buttons were moved to one side and attack buttons to the other, it destroys the symetry and could make it harder to execute flying kicks, which are done by tapping a jump button followed by a tap of an attack button. By going that route, you might as well just use a true virtual d-pad. The player is almost always centered, and so the default layout has a certain spatial appeal - an enemy is on the right? Click a right attack button.

It'll be easy enough to add support for alternate control schemes in the 1.1 update. Might be fun to try a button-less mode, where you tap directly on bad guys to attack them.

I'll be preparing a video later this week, and will update this thread when it's online.
Congrats that it is out HERE (http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=308059578&mt=),

also if you need help with the video, I would love to help (for free). PM me if you are interested. Also, could you prepare some iphone sim video of the game and what you want highlighted. Also, try to give the buttons correspondence with the buttons on your keyboard for the sim, so that you don't have your mouse on screen, or record with screenflow and take out the mouse.

[Stroffolino]

Congrats that it is out HERE (http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=308059578&mt=),

also if you need help with the video, I would love to help (for free). PM me if you are interested. Also, could you prepare some iphone sim video of the game and what you want highlighted. Also, try to give the buttons correspondence with the buttons on your keyboard for the sim, so that you don't have your mouse on screen, or record with screenflow and take out the mouse.

I appreciate the offer. Using simulator to capture video has some appeal, but also some downsides:

- all playtesting to date has been done on real hardware - ipod and iphone. The simulator build does not yet support keyboard input, and mouse input is a poor substitute for touch.

- I really do want to show the two main styles of play (thumbs and single finger), and maybe even include some footage of my 3 year old son playing on the easy difficulty setting - this type of footage, thumbs and all, isn't possible with simulator.

I'll have access to a high quality camera on Tuesday, May 5th. While the delay is unfortunate, on the plus side it means that the video is likely to include most or all of the 1.1 improvements.

Take care,
Phil

[indyraider4]

I appreciate the offer. Using simulator to capture video has some appeal, but also some downsides:

- all playtesting to date has been done on real hardware - ipod and iphone. The simulator build does not yet support keyboard input, and mouse input is a poor substitute for touch.

- I really do want to show the two main styles of play (thumbs and single finger), and maybe even include some footage of my 3 year old son playing on the easy difficulty setting - this type of footage, thumbs and all, isn't possible with simulator.

I'll have access to a high quality camera on Tuesday, May 5th. While the delay is unfortunate, on the plus side it means that the video is likely to include most or all of the 1.1 improvements.

Take care,
Phil
okay, get what ever footage you think will best show off the game.

[MrDark]

any1 got a record video for the game? wanna review before buying.

[sjleworthy]

any1 got a record video for the game? wanna review before buying.

there's one on youtube. also, check out this thread where it's also being discussed :)

http://forums.toucharcade.com/showthread.php?t=11161

[Grumps]

We all know the best thing in Kungfu Master is not the Kungfu but the NES sound effect...do you have this in the game? Haha!