BloXoR

[BoB]

Hi everybody. Touch Arcade hasn't gotten around to reviewing my game, BloXoR, yet, so I thought I'd post it here.

Any questions, I'll answer them. Any comments, I'd love to hear them.

If you haven't heard about BloXoR yet, here's the iTunes link:
http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=287457564&mt=8


http://terminalcoregames.com/BloXor-icon-lg-round-edges-sm.jpg

A puzzle game with a Tilt


BoB - Terminal Core Games (http://terminalcoregames.com)

[BrettArchibald]

I just bought it. It looks really good. I like those kind of games.
Any plans to add more levels? And if so, when could we expect these?

[vandy1997]

BoB, you should probably make a video and post it on YouTube. That would help you sell better. You can post the link here so that we can see some game play. Thanks.

[BoB]

I just bought it. It looks really good. I like those kind of games.
Any plans to add more levels? And if so, when could we expect these?

I definitely have plans for more levels as well as more Blox types. I'm working on another game right now, and then when that is finished I will probably go back and make BloXoR 2, The Revenge (or whatever...) I've also tossed around the idea of making a level editor and releasing it for free. Maybe even having some sort of contest for best user made tables.

BoB, you should probably make a video and post it on YouTube. That would help you sell better. You can post the link here so that we can see some game play. Thanks.

There is one video out there. See it here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=48hEqZii2O8

This guy doesn't do that well, as he tries to play and film, but it gives you the idea. I should make a better video showing me blow through some of the harder levels :)


Thanks for the responses guys!

BoB - Terminal Core Games

[BrettArchibald]

There is one video out there. See it here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=48hEqZii2O8

This guy doesn't do that well, as he tries to play and film, but it gives you the idea. I should make a better video showing me blow through some of the harder levels :)

I think the video does what it needs to do, and that is just to show HOW the game works, rather than to show off whether the player is good at it or not.

Because without that video, and just looking at the non-moving screengrabs on the App Store, I just didn't "get" how the game worked - even with the text description.

On an un-related matter, I've seen quite a few spelling errors on the various help and hints sections that are in your game. May be best to fix those up to give the game a more "polished / professional" feel...
Just my opinion there...

One final thing... I know there's two major challenge elements to this game:
1 - to figure out the method how to get the OXO blox to line up
2 - to get the blocks to move the way you want without them falling off the paths
- but sometimes, even in the very early levels, I found it quite frustrating getting my blox to pass through a gap in a wall, even though it was sitting almost perfectly on a "tile" on a the path that leads through the wall. I say "almost perfectly", because that's the problem I had. I think sometimes the controls can be a little bit *TOO* sensitive, and I found myself spending too long going tiny bit left, tiny bit right, tiny bit left again, tiny bit right again, etc. even though that wasn't *meant* to be a challenging part of the game.

I just think trying to nudge a block by a mere 1-pixel shouldn't be challenge number 3 to add to the other two above.

Maybe some kind of system where a block can "snap" to a tile if it's within 1-pixel or something? Obviously it would have to be quite a "weak magnet" that pulls the block squarely onto the tile, to use an analogy there, otherwise you'd never fall off the path, eliminating any challenge of the game. It's just that 1-pixel lining-up that's frustrating...

What do you think?

[BoB]

- but sometimes, even in the very early levels, I found it quite frustrating getting my blox to pass through a gap in a wall, even though it was sitting almost perfectly on a "tile" on a the path that leads through the wall. I say "almost perfectly", because that's the problem I had. I think sometimes the controls can be a little bit *TOO* sensitive, and I found myself spending too long going tiny bit left, tiny bit right, tiny bit left again, tiny bit right again, etc. even though that wasn't *meant* to be a challenging part of the game.

I just think trying to nudge a block by a mere 1-pixel shouldn't be challenge number 3 to add to the other two above.

Maybe some kind of system where a block can "snap" to a tile if it's within 1-

Hey, Brett, I know exactly what you mean. I messed around a lot with how the blox slide and how they hit walls. I actually tried the "snap-to" thing you mentioned and it really messes up the smooth sliding of the Blox. I agree with you though, I wish that sliding into a passage was just a tad easier.

A tip--when a Blox is just hanging there at an edge, tilt the way you want it to go, and literally tap the iPhone with one of your fingers like your tapping some powder out of a can--tap, tap tap. The Blox will jiggle around, almost imperceptably, and that Blox will fall into place. It really works!

[syphine]

Very interesting game. I like that its innovative and new. I like it alot, good work.

Nice UI as well!

[crunc]

On a related note - you developers should push Apple hard to add the ability to have videos within the app listings. The screenshots don't do the job. Of course demos are necessary too, but demonstration videos too. Heck, the listings for iPod (click wheel) games have videos - why not the AppStore? It doesn't make any sense that they aren't there.

Also, on a related note, you've got to push Apple to allow people viewing your app listings on their iPod/iPhone to be able to see all the screenshots. Why in the world can't we swipe to move to the next shot? We get one and that's it? That doesn't help you folks out. It, again, doesn't make any sense. Of course the videos should work there too.

[BoB]

Very interesting game. I like that its innovative and new. I like it alot, good work.
Nice UI as well!

Thanks!

On a related note - you developers should push Apple hard to add the ability to have videos within the app listings ...to see all the screenshots.

I agree completely with both of those ideas. I also think it's bad that apps are always just sorted on release date, and update date. They should mix it up. Every app should be on the 1st page of its catagory at least a couple of times throughout its first couple of months on the store.