Toucharcade Users Game

[upsidedown]

Hey guys, we had previously come up with the idea to make a game for the iDevice. Right now, we need some people to step in and help. All users who have any skill in a particular field are welcome to give it a shot.
We need:
Programmer: We need this most!(someone who would be able to code the game who knows how to program)
Artwork(someone to provide the artwork for the game, someone fairly good)
We have:
public realtions/creative manager:٩๏̯͡๏)۶
website designer:yourofl
promotion/advertisement:upsidedown
Sound:robertf224
Game mechanics:Comassion

So anyone who wants to help, post your area of particular skill, and we will let you know if you have been accepted.
Also: Ideas for a game would be greatly appreciated!!Post them in the thread!
Ideas:
Name: Touch Gladiators

Concept: player controls a small group (up to 6) of fighters/monsters in real time, to try and win a gang battle against a group of determined enemies.

Theme: could vary widely and be upgraded with updates. Could start with basic gladiator theme, with potential to expand with challenges from robots, undead, wizards, etc.

Game Mechanics:
- Player's units, if untouched, would stand and turn to face the closest enemy, and only attack if any enemy came into range.
- Drag line from a player unit to move it.
- Drag unit to an enemy to engage combat via hand-to-hand attacks.
- A unit's attack can vary depending on how you approach the enemy. Dash at enemy (fast drag) for a charging attack. Approach enemy from behind to grab them and hold them still. Drag to a prone enemy to attack them while they are down. Attack with multiple units simultaneously to pile on.
- If one of your units is grabbed, tap on the enemy unit grabbing it to try and fight free.
- Tap unit, then tap an enemy to execute a long distance attack (i.e. shoot with bow or spit venom).

Basic attacks:
- melee (approach and smash/bash)
- grab (render an enemy unit defenseless - useful while ganging up)
- missle (shoot - straight line attack)
- lob (throw over other units)

Unit types and stats could vary widely. Some units would be expert grapplers. Others could have long range (attack with spears) but be vulnerable if flanked or grabbed. Others would be super-skilled in one-on-one combat, able to block/dodge/counter, but have problems if ganged up on.

At the end of each round, winnings could be used to gain new recruits, or buy upgrades (armor, weapons).

Would be a natural for bluetooth head-to-head battles.



Another idea:
It is a line drawing castle defense game, with two possibly three different defenders. One has normal speed and would take him about 3-5 seconds to defeat an average enemy(depending on what type. Another is slow but defeats enemies very fast. The other is fast but takes 7-10 seconds to defeat an enemy. Your defenders can not die, you lose if your castle get invaded. Also, It has powerups such as a shockwave, which sends enemies flying off the screen in a limited area. Also, one other thing which I think would be very cool would be traps. Before the level, you can lay traps, such as pitfalls, and nooses which pull up enemies. The game would have levels and also survival mode. I think this would be an awesome game to play.
More ideas:
1. Boarding party: A turn-based tactical game where you command a group of marines in engagements where you board hostile vessels and attempt to seize control of the ship.

2. A naval game in which you control a medium-sized capital ship and participate in engagements either alone or as part of a fleet. One can go many directions in terms of theme - you can have a fantasy setting and incorporate magic and creatures into naval battles, a futuristic (or even space) setting with advanced and unusual weapons, or a historical setting and attempt to recreate naval conflicts of any given era.

3. A mech fighting game a-la classic Battletech, with more detailed damage models (to take advantage of the calculating power of a computer) and less copyright infringement.


I do personally refuse to be involved in the creation of yet another match-3. I don't think anyone here particularly wants one, but just sayin'. I'm not married to any of the above ideas, and recognize that from a feasibility standpoint we might be better suited to making a simpler game like Doodle Jump since we'll likely have just one developer.

[Kris Jones]

What kind of game is it?

The title shows TouchArcade Users Game... does that mean its a collaboration of many ideas from users or designed specifically for TouchArcade users?

[robertf224]

I can do sound

[upsidedown]

What kind of game is it?

The title shows TouchArcade Users Game... does that mean its a collaboration of many ideas from users or designed specifically for TouchArcade users?

Well, Basically it is an app involving any users who want to help's skill.
Any dev at all who knows how to code is welcome to code for us.

[upsidedown]

I can do sound

Ok, we need sound to, I forgot about that.

[upsidedown]

C'mon! Dev out there, sitting on the couch, we need you!
Do it for the faithful users of TA!

[Comassion]

Do you have an actual game designer? That is, someone who works out the details of what the game is (with input in this case from TA users) and the mechanics of how things interact. I can provide my talents in that area if you like.

[upsidedown]

Cool, we would love that! Thanks!

[Comassion]

So the question becomes - what do TA users want in a game? I have ideas, but they tend toward the turn-based, in-depth crowd, which may not be what people want to play (or what our dev, should we find one, is interested in programming - one wants the project to be something that the team is enthusiastic about doing).

[upsidedown]

I have what I think is a really cool idea with a simpler gameplay. If you want, I'll PM it to you.

[ImNoSuperMan]

Why not put up a few ideas here first and then let the forum members decide with a poll.

[upsidedown]

What do you mean, ideas for games?

[ImNoSuperMan]

I was replying to comassion. I meant ideas for what kind of game genre will ta users want you guys to develop.

[upsidedown]

Ok, you know what, I'll just post my idea.
It is sort of like this guys idea, basically:
http://forums.toucharcade.com/showthread.php?t=25443
But a bit different.
It is a line drawing castle defense game, with two possibly three different defenders. One has normal speed and would take him about 3-5 seconds to defeat an average enemy(depending on what type. Another is slow but defeats enemies very fast. The other is fast but takes 7-10 seconds to defeat an enemy. Your defenders can not die, you lose if your castle get invaded. Also, It has powerups such as a shockwave, which sends enemies flying off the screen in a limited area. Also, one other thing which I think would be very cool would be traps. Before the level, you can lay traps, such as pitfalls, and nooses which pull up enemies. The game would have levels and also survival mode. I think this would be an awesome game to play.

[upsidedown]

I was replying to comassion. I meant ideas for what kind of game genre will ta users want you guys to develop.

I would have to create a new thread to make a poll.

[Comassion]

I'll lead-in with a couple. People are more than welcome to submit more.

1. Boarding party: A turn-based tactical game where you command a group of marines in engagements where you board hostile vessels and attempt to seize control of the ship.

2. A naval game in which you control a medium-sized capital ship and participate in engagements either alone or as part of a fleet. One can go many directions in terms of theme - you can have a fantasy setting and incorporate magic and creatures into naval battles, a futuristic (or even space) setting with advanced and unusual weapons, or a historical setting and attempt to recreate naval conflicts of any given era.

3. A mech fighting game a-la classic Battletech, with more detailed damage models (to take advantage of the calculating power of a computer) and less copyright infringement.


I do personally refuse to be involved in the creation of yet another match-3. I don't think anyone here particularly wants one, but just sayin'. I'm not married to any of the above ideas, and recognize that from a feasibility standpoint we might be better suited to making a simpler game like Doodle Jump since we'll likely have just one developer.

[upsidedown]

I'll lead-in with a couple. People are more than welcome to submit more.

1. Boarding party: A turn-based tactical game where you command a group of marines in engagements where you board hostile vessels and attempt to seize control of the ship.

2. A naval game in which you control a medium-sized capital ship and participate in engagements either alone or as part of a fleet. One can go many directions in terms of theme - you can have a fantasy setting and incorporate magic and creatures into naval battles, a futuristic (or even space) setting with advanced and unusual weapons, or a historical setting and attempt to recreate naval conflicts of any given era.

3. A mech fighting game a-la classic Battletech, with more detailed damage models (to take advantage of the calculating power of a computer) and less copyright infringement.


I do personally refuse to be involved in the creation of yet another match-3. I don't think anyone here particularly wants one, but just sayin'. I'm not married to any of the above ideas, and recognize that from a feasibility standpoint we might be better suited to making a simpler game like Doodle Jump since we'll have likely have just one developer.
Yes, no match 3 games, but It appears to me those games would take a lot of work and some very good graphics.

[ImNoSuperMan]

I would have to create a new thread to make a poll.
You can add a poll in this thread only. But you'll need to ask a mod for that.

[Comassion]

Yes, no match 3 games, but It appears to me those games would take a lot of work and some very good graphics.

It depends - such games do get better with better graphics, but then you have a game like Slay where the graphics aren't so good, but the gameplay is a lot of fun.

[spidey146]

can i help with advertisement also, the more advertising the more sales?

also maybe a soldier ants type game, or a first person shooter?

[upsidedown]

yeah, you can probably help, if we can get a dev. :(

[robertf224]

can i help with advertisement also, the more advertising the more sales?

also maybe a soldier ants type game, or a first person shooter?

not gonna be able to do an fps 3d is a lot harder to do than 2d. And I can help with design and stuff too in addition to sound. For effects I'll prob just scrounge the internet for royalty free quality sounds possibly record a couple depends on what but I can also compose/record any music we might need. School is tough right now but I could prob do 2 or 3 decent tracks by christmasish or earlier. Depends on type of music we want too.

[Kris Jones]

Here is a dilemma you guys might be having:

1. Is this game going to be priced or free?
2. If priced, then who will profit from the game?
3. If free, then you are likely not going to find a decent developer to spend their time on such a project.

[spidey146]

ouch

[Kris Jones]

ouch

I don't mean that everyone has to team together to pay a developer. I mean that this is also a business and it takes away from a developer building other games.

I really like how you guys are coming together to collaborate on a game. This is definitely a good thread to watch. Who knows, maybe a dev will come in and help you out in the near future. ;)

[upsidedown]

Here is a dilemma you guys might be having:

1. Is this game going to be priced or free?
2. If priced, then who will profit from the game?
3. If free, then you are likely not going to find a decent developer to spend their time on such a project.

Well, I was thinking that the developer would get most of the profits, and if the game does well enough, iTunes gift cards could be given out. But the dev would easily get 80-90% of the profits. It would probably not be free.

[upsidedown]

I don't mean that everyone has to team together to pay a developer. I mean that this is also a business and it takes away from a developer building other games.

I really like how you guys are coming together to collaborate on a game. This is definitely a good thread to watch. Who knows, maybe a dev will come in and help you out in the near future. ;)

would you help us???Pwease??:o

[spidey146]

seriously, we REALLY need one, but first have we decided yet what the games gonna be about?

[Kris Jones]

would you help us???Pwease??:o

To be honest, we did have a game such as this in mind, utilizing the line-drawing capabilities of the iDevice for a successful game, such as Flight Control and Harbor Master.

It would be cool to see one of you actually write up a game design document and have an artist do the concept art for a screenshot to get a general idea of the game.

From experience, a game such as this would likely take 6 - 9 weeks in development for the programming aspect.

[upsidedown]

We need an artist too!!

[upsidedown]

To be honest, we did have a game such as this in mind, utilizing the line-drawing capabilities of the iDevice for a successful game, such as Flight Control and Harbor Master.

It would be cool to see one of you actually write up a game design document and have an artist do the concept art for a screenshot to get a general idea of the game.

From experience, a game such as this would likely take 6 - 9 weeks in development for the programming aspect.

Like the one I posted on page two?

[Comassion]

I think having it cost a buck and giving the profits to the developer would be just fine.

Thematically - Upsidedown, how would you feel about instead of a castle-defense type line drawer, we make the same sort of game mechanically, but have the theme be a group of villagers trying to save their village from volcanic lava flows? I think that would feel pretty original and make people more interested.

[Comassion]

I think having it cost a buck and giving the profits to the developer would be just fine.

Thematically - Upsidedown, how would you feel about instead of a castle-defense type line drawer, we make the same sort of game mechanically, but have the theme be a group of villagers trying to save their village from volcanic lava flows? I think that would feel pretty original and make people more interested.

Or, heck, change it up - what if you're the volcano God determining the paths the lava is going to take in order to burn the hapless village beneath you?

[Stroffolino]

Interesting concept. If things gel, I would be willing and able to develop the game starting mid/late-October. For payment, I'd propose a 50% split of profits (after Apple's cut), with 50% going to the developer and 50% donated to Touch Arcade (the owners of this website). I like the idea of keeping it a 99 cent game.

I like the idea of having a poll to decide on the exact game to be created. I have not yet seen a specific vision called out.

Let's use this thread to further brainstorm basic gameplay/theme - the ideas can be organized and used to form a poll in a sep. thread.

To kick this off, here's a fairly fleshed out idea:

Name: Touch Gladiators

Concept: player controls a small group (up to 6) of fighters/monsters in real time, to try and win a gang battle against a group of determined enemies.

Theme: could vary widely and be upgraded with updates. Could start with basic gladiator theme, with potential to expand with challenges from robots, undead, wizards, etc.

Game Mechanics:
- Player's units, if untouched, would stand and turn to face the closest enemy, and only attack if any enemy came into range.
- Drag line from a player unit to move it.
- Drag unit to an enemy to engage combat via hand-to-hand attacks.
- A unit's attack can vary depending on how you approach the enemy. Dash at enemy (fast drag) for a charging attack. Approach enemy from behind to grab them and hold them still. Drag to a prone enemy to attack them while they are down. Attack with multiple units simultaneously to pile on.
- If one of your units is grabbed, tap on the enemy unit grabbing it to try and fight free.
- Tap unit, then tap an enemy to execute a long distance attack (i.e. shoot with bow or spit venom).

Basic attacks:
- melee (approach and smash/bash)
- grab (render an enemy unit defenseless - useful while ganging up)
- missle (shoot - straight line attack)
- lob (throw over other units)

Unit types and stats could vary widely. Some units would be expert grapplers. Others could have long range (attack with spears) but be vulnerable if flanked or grabbed. Others would be super-skilled in one-on-one combat, able to block/dodge/counter, but have problems if ganged up on.

At the end of each round, winnings could be used to gain new recruits, or buy upgrades (armor, weapons).

Would be a natural for bluetooth head-to-head battles.

[Kris Jones]

Like the one I posted on page two?

:)

Even our executive summaries for game design documents are a full page, with the full document 6 - 12 pages depending on scope of game.

Really flesh out the ideas and it would be interesting to see what happens with that.

[Comassion]

Interesting concept. If things gel, I would be willing and able to develop the game starting mid/late-October. For payment, I'd propose a 50% split of profits (after Apple's cut), with 50% going to the developer and 50% donated to Touch Arcade (the owners of this website). I like the idea of keeping it a 99 cent game.


We'll have to wait and see what upsidedown says (since he's de-facto project manager for starting this thread), but this looks great to me!

I very much like your idea of a game as well. The mind flutters with possibilities.

[yourofl10]

Also, you can add me to the list of the InterFace Builder dude (I'll make all the interfaces/screens)....I'll try but I can't guarantee anything because I've just begun the iPhone SDK

[spidey146]

[QUOTE=Stroffolino;499968] Drag to a prone enemy to attack them while they are down. Attack with multiple units simultaneously to pile on.

QUOTE]


are we seriously gonna teach people to hit others when theyre down?jk

but your idea sounds good, i also like the lava god one, i still like the idea of a shooter, or a puzzle game like this

http://www.maniacworld.com/puzzle-land.html

[upsidedown]

Interesting concept. If things gel, I would be willing and able to develop the game starting mid/late-October. For payment, I'd propose a 50% split of profits (after Apple's cut), with 50% going to the developer and 50% donated to Touch Arcade (the owners of this website). I like the idea of keeping it a 99 cent game.

I like the idea of having a poll to decide on the exact game to be created. I have not yet seen a specific vision called out.

Let's use this thread to further brainstorm basic gameplay/theme - the ideas can be organized and used to form a poll in a sep. thread.

To kick this off, here's a fairly fleshed out idea:

Name: Touch Gladiators

Concept: player controls a small group (up to 6) of fighters/monsters in real time, to try and win a gang battle against a group of determined enemies.

Theme: could vary widely and be upgraded with updates. Could start with basic gladiator theme, with potential to expand with challenges from robots, undead, wizards, etc.

Game Mechanics:
- Player's units, if untouched, would stand and turn to face the closest enemy, and only attack if any enemy came into range.
- Drag line from a player unit to move it.
- Drag unit to an enemy to engage combat via hand-to-hand attacks.
- A unit's attack can vary depending on how you approach the enemy. Dash at enemy (fast drag) for a charging attack. Approach enemy from behind to grab them and hold them still. Drag to a prone enemy to attack them while they are down. Attack with multiple units simultaneously to pile on.
- If one of your units is grabbed, tap on the enemy unit grabbing it to try and fight free.
- Tap unit, then tap an enemy to execute a long distance attack (i.e. shoot with bow or spit venom).

Basic attacks:
- melee (approach and smash/bash)
- grab (render an enemy unit defenseless - useful while ganging up)
- missle (shoot - straight line attack)
- lob (throw over other units)

Unit types and stats could vary widely. Some units would be expert grapplers. Others could have long range (attack with spears) but be vulnerable if flanked or grabbed. Others would be super-skilled in one-on-one combat, able to block/dodge/counter, but have problems if ganged up on.

At the end of each round, winnings could be used to gain new recruits, or buy upgrades (armor, weapons).

Would be a natural for bluetooth head-to-head battles.
Thanks Stroffolini!!
This is close to my idea on page 2- but you added some cool improvements like archers. But you did miss out on one thing which I think is really cool--traps. Like drawing earthquakes cracks with a line which makes the enemy fall in, or stuff like that.

[upsidedown]

We'll have to wait and see what upsidedown says (since he's de-facto project manager for starting this thread), but this looks great to me!

I very much like your idea of a game as well. The mind flutters with possibilities.

Yeah, It is a great idea for game, and profits.

[upsidedown]

:)

Even our executive summaries for game design documents are a full page, with the full document 6 - 12 pages depending on scope of game.

Really flesh out the ideas and it would be interesting to see what happens with that.

Hey guys, Throw out the ideas!

[upsidedown]

We'll have to wait and see what upsidedown says (since he's de-facto project manager for starting this thread), but this looks great to me!

I very much like your idea of a game as well. The mind flutters with possibilities.

Along with the smiley face username user. He started a different thread.

[robertf224]

We should do a platformer. Not that we should plan our game around music, but I already thought of two good themes for a desert level and an ice level.

[Touchsmiths]

I am not what you would call an experienced developer or artist but I am willing to help out with this project.

I've only used the cocos2d framework. I have no clue how to work in 3d.

[taah]

Pretty new iPhone owner here (got my 3Gs just last week) but already really souped up on iP games/apps while my "next-gen" consoles are all gathering dust.

But from what I've gathered from the 2-3 pages of iP games I have, only a few have any real back stories or plots. True, they should reflect on the type of game they are (Flight Control with a story? Possible, but unlikely. Lux Touch? now we're reaching..), but if you guys feel like you need anyone to dream up a story for your game and make sure it's not cringeworthy, do consider me.

My imagination is top-notch :P

I don't have much in my portfolio in terms of game development, apart from a story I wrote ages ago for an (classic) indiana-type adventure game project that never came into fruition. Unfortunately, that document is lost among the ones and zeroes of the net, so all I can provide as test are either my 6 year old anime fanfics or something completely new.

Btw, I'm pretty new to TA as well; been lurking here for a few days reading reviews of more games to waste money on, so Hi! everyone :)

[upsidedown]

I am not what you would call an experienced developer or artist but I am willing to help out with this project.

I've only used the cocos2d framework. I have no clue how to work in 3d.

Hmm, guys, here is what we could do, wait for stroffolini, make two apps one with touchsmiths and one with stroffolini, or make one with touchsmiths, or maybe, im not sure f this would be possible, they could work together on it?

[Rozzie]

i'm an artist. let me know if you wanna see my stuff. never worked on anything like this, but it sounds like a fun project,

rozzie

[Comassion]

Hmm, guys, here is what we could do, wait for stroffolini, make two apps one with touchsmiths and one with stroffolini, or make one with touchsmiths, or maybe, im not sure f this would be possible, they could work together on it?

No no, let's not make two apps. One is going to be hard enough. Focus man!

They can either work together or we just go with one of them. Stroffolino appears to be much more experienced, and there's a lot of merit in having just one dev work on a game, especially a simpler game like what we have in mind (less work to split, no issues with merging code). So while I very much appreciate Touchsmiths' offer, I think we should go with Stroffolino as our developer.


Stroffolino says he's ready to go around mid-late October. That means its time for us to get things ready for the development phase by then, starting by deciding what sort of game we're going to develop. Once we've done that, I can get started on designing the mechanics and our artists can start plugging away at artwork.

I'm all in favor of going with Stroffolino's basic idea - I like the idea of a gladiator game (or other tactical warrior type game). My preference would be to make it turn-based, but maybe that's a question for upsidedown to put to the community in the form of a poll.

[Stroffolino]

i'm an artist. let me know if you wanna see my stuff. never worked on anything like this, but it sounds like a fun project,

rozzie

Post away! Graphics are the single most important factor in getting users to take interest in a game. The icon and the default screenshot are the user's first (and sometimes only) impressions of a game. You can have all the visibility and fun gameplay in the world, but if the game isn't appealing from these precious first impressions, you'll have a tough time convincing people to download and try it.

[Touchsmiths]

They can either work together or we just go with one of them. Stroffolino appears to be much more experienced, and there's a lot of merit in having just one dev work on a game, especially a simpler game like what we have in mind (less work to split, no issues with merging code). So while I very much appreciate Touchsmiths' offer, I think we should go with Stroffolino as our developer.



I completely agree that one developer working on the programming would be most efficient. No offense taken. :)

I still would like to help out, though, since this project sounds pretty cool. I'm experienced in music production (I was a DJ for several years in college) so I could help out with the sound/music. My experience is nothing video-game related (mostly house, hip-hop, electronic, and mash-ups) but I think my skills would translate.

[upsidedown]

No no, let's not make two apps. One is going to be hard enough. Focus man!

They can either work together or we just go with one of them. Stroffolino appears to be much more experienced, and there's a lot of merit in having just one dev work on a game, especially a simpler game like what we have in mind (less work to split, no issues with merging code). So while I very much appreciate Touchsmiths' offer, I think we should go with Stroffolino as our developer.


Stroffolino says he's ready to go around mid-late October. That means its time for us to get things ready for the development phase by then, starting by deciding what sort of game we're going to develop. Once we've done that, I can get started on designing the mechanics and our artists can start plugging away at artwork.

I'm all in favor of going with Stroffolino's basic idea - I like the idea of a gladiator game (or other tactical warrior type game). My preference would be to make it turn-based, but maybe that's a question for upsidedown to put to the community in the form of a poll.

I know what you mean about the two apps, I was just throwing that out there. And personally I would rather have the game in real time, because with line drawing games it makes it hard to do turn based.

[upsidedown]

I completely agree that one developer working on the programming would be most efficient. No offense taken. :)

I still would like to help out, though, since this project sounds pretty cool. I'm experienced in music production (I was a DJ for several years in college) so I could help out with the sound/music. My experience is nothing video-game related (mostly house, hip-hop, electronic, and mash-ups) but I think my skills would translate.

Yeah, we would love to have you help out sitll, we already have someone for music production, but not every music created will be perfect for what we need--with two different types we can pick which one we like best. And you can also help with your game input also.

[Comassion]

Okay, so are we more or less in consensus about doing a gladiator-style real-time line-drawing tactical game along the lines of Stroffino's original idea? If so, I'll start writing up some basic design documents.

Also, if everyone involved in the project could PM me their e-mail address, I'll set up a google group to make communication easy and give us a place to communally store files that our artists / music / developer people come up with.

Along with your e-mail address, include your contributing role related to the project, and list any experience or particular talents you have so we can know what sort of things we can assign you and make best use of your abilities in coordination with the rest of the team. For instance, we'll be selecting the most experienced artist as lead artist, in order to make sure the overall art style of the game is coherent.

As game designer, I'll need to be working closely with our developer regarding what features are going to be included, balancing what we all want with what is feasible to code. (and by all means, everyone keep suggesting features you'd like to see, even if you're not working on the project!).

[spidey146]

Hey guys, we had previously come up with the idea to make a game for the iDevice. Right now, we need some people to step in and help. All users who have any skill in a particular field are welcome to give it a shot.
We need:
Programmer: We need this most!(someone who would be able to code the game who knows how to program)
Artwork(someone to provide the artwork for the game, someone fairly good)
We have:
public realtions/creative manager:٩๏̯͡๏)۶
website designer:yourofl
promotion/advertisement:upsidedown
Sound:robertf224
Game mechanics:Comassion

So anyone who wants to help, post your area of particular skill, and we will let you know if you have been accepted.
Also: Ideas for a game would be greatly appreciated!!Post them in the thread!
Ideas:
Name: Touch Gladiators

Concept: player controls a small group (up to 6) of fighters/monsters in real time, to try and win a gang battle against a group of determined enemies.

Theme: could vary widely and be upgraded with updates. Could start with basic gladiator theme, with potential to expand with challenges from robots, undead, wizards, etc.

Game Mechanics:
- Player's units, if untouched, would stand and turn to face the closest enemy, and only attack if any enemy came into range.
- Drag line from a player unit to move it.
- Drag unit to an enemy to engage combat via hand-to-hand attacks.
- A unit's attack can vary depending on how you approach the enemy. Dash at enemy (fast drag) for a charging attack. Approach enemy from behind to grab them and hold them still. Drag to a prone enemy to attack them while they are down. Attack with multiple units simultaneously to pile on.
- If one of your units is grabbed, tap on the enemy unit grabbing it to try and fight free.
- Tap unit, then tap an enemy to execute a long distance attack (i.e. shoot with bow or spit venom).

Basic attacks:
- melee (approach and smash/bash)
- grab (render an enemy unit defenseless - useful while ganging up)
- missle (shoot - straight line attack)
- lob (throw over other units)

Unit types and stats could vary widely. Some units would be expert grapplers. Others could have long range (attack with spears) but be vulnerable if flanked or grabbed. Others would be super-skilled in one-on-one combat, able to block/dodge/counter, but have problems if ganged up on.

At the end of each round, winnings could be used to gain new recruits, or buy upgrades (armor, weapons).

Would be a natural for bluetooth head-to-head battles.



Another idea:
It is a line drawing castle defense game, with two possibly three different defenders. One has normal speed and would take him about 3-5 seconds to defeat an average enemy(depending on what type. Another is slow but defeats enemies very fast. The other is fast but takes 7-10 seconds to defeat an enemy. Your defenders can not die, you lose if your castle get invaded. Also, It has powerups such as a shockwave, which sends enemies flying off the screen in a limited area. Also, one other thing which I think would be very cool would be traps. Before the level, you can lay traps, such as pitfalls, and nooses which pull up enemies. The game would have levels and also survival mode. I think this would be an awesome game to play.
More ideas:
1. Boarding party: A turn-based tactical game where you command a group of marines in engagements where you board hostile vessels and attempt to seize control of the ship.

2. A naval game in which you control a medium-sized capital ship and participate in engagements either alone or as part of a fleet. One can go many directions in terms of theme - you can have a fantasy setting and incorporate magic and creatures into naval battles, a futuristic (or even space) setting with advanced and unusual weapons, or a historical setting and attempt to recreate naval conflicts of any given era.

3. A mech fighting game a-la classic Battletech, with more detailed damage models (to take advantage of the calculating power of a computer) and less copyright infringement.


I do personally refuse to be involved in the creation of yet another match-3. I don't think anyone here particularly wants one, but just sayin'. I'm not married to any of the above ideas, and recognize that from a feasibility standpoint we might be better suited to making a simpler game like Doodle Jump since we'll likely have just one developer.

hey why am i not in advertisement?

also i can do some basic sprites if you need, maybe some backrounds, small characters or something

[upsidedown]

Couldn't we just make agroup here onTA? I think that would be easier. Okay, so are we more or less in consensus about doing a gladiator-style real-time line-drawing tactical game along the lines of Stroffino's original idea? If so, I'll start writing up some basic design documents.

Also, if everyone involved in the project could PM me their e-mail address, I'll set up a google group to make communication easy and give us a place to communally store files that our artists / music / developer people come up with.

Along with your e-mail address, include your contributing role related to the project, and list any experience or particular talents you have so we can know what sort of things we can assign you and make best use of your abilities in coordination with the rest of the team. For instance, we'll be selecting the most experienced artist as lead artist, in order to make sure the overall art style of the game is coherent.

As game designer, I'll need to be working closely with our developer regarding what features are going to be included, balancing what we all want with what is feasible to code. (and by all means, everyone keep suggesting features you'd like to see, even if you're not working on the project!).

[Comassion]

Couldn't we just make agroup here onTA? I think that would be easier.

The main reason for the google group is that it gives us an easy way to share files with the entire team. A group here on TA would only let us share jpgs, which isn't good enough. We need to pass around all sorts of files.

The other, slightly less important reason is that I'm blocked from toucharcade's main site by site filters while I'm at work (but oddly enough not the forums), but that could change at any time. Google, however, I'll always be able to access (plus I can more easily access my e-mail from the group from my iPhone. :)

[robertf224]

What type of game are we def doing so I can think of songs accordingly? I have 4 solid ideas for songs but they're all very different. One would be for like an ice level, one for a desert level, one is kind of like foresty, and one is like electronicish. I'm gonna write the songs and then I'll record them at my friend's house who has all this stuff he has like a mini studio in his bedroom.

[spidey146]

wait, we need a company name like "Gameloft" or "Bolt Creative"

how about something to do with Touch Arcade, like....TA Groupies Inc.

[robertf224]

wait, we need a company name like "Gameloft" or "Bolt Creative"

how about something to do with Touch Arcade, like....TA Groupies Inc.

how bout Guys who felt like making a video game (GWFLMAVG)

[Touchsmiths]

How about


"TOFTT"

Could be a nice inside-joke for our audience.

[spidey146]

toftt?

[Touchsmiths]

toftt?

Probably one of the most commonly asked questions at TouchArcade haha

In the main forum, when people are debating whether or not to buy a game, they always ask someone to TOFTT.

That is, "Take One For The Team" or "Try Out For The Thread".

It's pretty much unique lingo to TouchArcade as far as I know.

[wootbean]

I heard "take one for the team" on suite life on deck once... :rolleyes:

[spidey146]

ohhhhhhh, so how about... TOFTT Inc.?

[1337brian]

Probably one of the most commonly asked questions at TouchArcade haha

In the main forum, when people are debating whether or not to buy a game, they always ask someone to TOFTT.

That is, "Take One For The Team" or "Try Out For The Thread".

It's pretty much unique lingo to TouchArcade as far as I know.


Yep it's a meme unique to TA -http://forums.toucharcade.com/showthread.php?t=3937&highlight=Rate+kiss&page=7

[upsidedown]

ohhhhhhh, so how about... TOFTT Inc.?

That is a pretty good name.


And for the name of the game, instead of touch gladiators, I think that touch warriors sounds better. Or Blitzkrieg.

[spidey146]

thx, and sounds good to me, we need more than my opinion though

[pharmx]

Wow, it's good to see a collaboration come together like this. I wish you guys the best of luck!

[Stroffolino]

Wow, it's good to see a collaboration come together like this. I wish you guys the best of luck!

Two comments:

Regarding using Google tools to share files, good old fashioned ftp/http could be almost as good for sharing resources. I think an experiment project like this benefits form being as open as possible. It might be fun and useful to have a public beta built for desktop computers (Win32, Mac)to get feedback in advance of the final official submission to Apple.

Regarding a "company name" as cute as "TOFTT Games" is (I love it!), keep in mind that if this game were to be published under a new company name, that entails creating a new legal business entity and registering for a new developer account with Apple, things that both cost money/time. It may be simplest to simply distribute under the "Easy 8 Software" monicker alongside my other offerings.

[upsidedown]

Ok. That makes sense. Wouldn't want to have to dish out 100 bucks for a name.

[Touchsmiths]

Regarding a "company name" as cute as "TOFTT Games" is (I love it!), keep in mind that if this game were to be published under a new company name, that entails creating a new legal business entity and registering for a new developer account with Apple, things that both cost money/time. It may be simplest to simply distribute under the "Easy 8 Software" monicker alongside my other offerings.





Can't it be distributed under any account but we can change the developer name to whatever we choose?

For example I think The Moron Test is copyrighted to DistinctDev but the seller is Berkeley Malagon.

This is to help freelancers make apps for companies other than themselves.

[Stroffolino]

The "seller" that apple lists must be either the legal name of an individual that registered as an Apple Developer, or the legal name of a company that is registered as a Company. Establishing a new developer account - individual or company costs $99/year - payments to Apple. In order to register as a company, documents must be provided to Apple demonstrating that the user applying owns that company name, and that the company is a proper legal entity. Forming a legal company in most states gobbles at least $300 in legal fees. The copyright notice itself can be different from game to game, but seller name (which is predominantly presented in the App Store) is locked.

Can't it be distributed under any account but we can change the developer name to whatever we choose?

For example I think The Moron Test is copyrighted to DistinctDev but the seller is Berkeley Malagon.

This is to help freelancers make apps for companies other than themselves.

[Comassion]

All good points. We'll develop under Stroffolino's account (especially since he's the one who will end up making whatever money results anyway. :P)

We can still refer to ourselves as the TOFTT Team in the credits. ;)

[Comassion]

Okay, now that we've settled on a Gladiator game, we need to discuss the theme. That influences

Here's some ideas I'm throwing out for discussion. Feel free to add your own. We may want to make this a poll once we have a good amount of themes.

1. Roman historical gladiators.

Pro: Strong historical theme may appeal to some gamers, the era lends itself to setting a nice framework for art, story, and game mechanics (for instance, the 'grabbers' would be net throwers).

Con: Not as flexible as some other themes in terms of going wild with options. App store may not like the more mature themes of having the audience decide who lives and who dies.


2. Fantasy setting.

Pro: Lets us pretty much include whatever features we want without violating the theme. Magic, machines, different races, and so on.

Con: A fair number of fantasy-themed games out already. Some people may be bored of the setting.


3. American gladiators. The fights are actually a new televised sporting event akin to mass wrestling matches.

Pro: Tamer setting - no need to worry about the apple being squeamish if nobody's really getting killed. Unusual and potentially interesting setting.

Con: It's a game. Bring on the killing! Users may prefer to see gladiators fight and die.


4. Robo gladiators. The fights take place in the future, with robots (akin to Battlebots).

Pro: Future setting and robots give us almost as much flexibility as a fantasy setting in terms of including whatever we want. Also, robots are cool.

Con: Less potential for a compelling story if the gladiators aren't human.



So, thoughts?

[upsidedown]

Okay, now that we've settled on a Gladiator game, we need to discuss the theme. That influences

Here's some ideas I'm throwing out for discussion. Feel free to add your own. We may want to make this a poll once we have a good amount of themes.

1. Roman historical gladiators.

Pro: Strong historical theme may appeal to some gamers, the era lends itself to setting a nice framework for art, story, and game mechanics (for instance, the 'grabbers' would be net throwers).

Con: Not as flexible as some other themes in terms of going wild with options. App store may not like the more mature themes of having the audience decide who lives and who dies.


2. Fantasy setting.

Pro: Lets us pretty much include whatever features we want without violating the theme. Magic, machines, different races, and so on.

Con: A fair number of fantasy-themed games out already. Some people may be bored of the setting.


3. American gladiators. The fights are actually a new televised sporting event akin to mass wrestling matches.

Pro: Tamer setting - no need to worry about the apple being squeamish if nobody's really getting killed. Unusual and potentially interesting setting.

Con: It's a game. Bring on the killing! Users may prefer to see gladiators fight and die.


4. Robo gladiators. The fights take place in the future, with robots (akin to Battlebots).

Pro: Future setting and robots give us almost as much flexibility as a fantasy setting in terms of including whatever we want. Also, robots are cool.

Con: Less potential for a compelling story if the gladiators aren't human.



So, thoughts?
I think it should just be knights, personally. Definetly not robots, preferably not americans, I suppose gladiators but for me preferably knights.

[Comassion]

The google group has been created. Again, if you're involved in the project, either PM me your e-mail address, or join the group yourself at

http://groups.google.com/group/toftt?hl=en

You'll still need to request access to post (to prevent spammers from posting on our group), but the archive is public so even people not involved on the project can follow along if they like. I've made Upsidedown and Stroffolino owners of the group, so they have the same access I do for management tasks. Everyone else involved in the development team will be a Manager, allowing you to post messages and files for everyone else to access.

[Comassion]

I think it should just be knights, personally. Definetly not robots, preferably not americans, I suppose gladiators but for me preferably knights.

So a medieval historical theme?

[upsidedown]

So a medieval historical theme?

Yeah, knights, archers, stuff like that.

[Stroffolino]

Having a default theme, presented well, is important. And a medieval theme with knights, archers, ogres, etc. could be particularly appealing, in my opinon. But I wouldn't want to rule out expanding it later. For example, it could be fun to have expansion packs adding "Team Zombie" or "Team Ninja" or "Team Sparta" in the future.

One nice thing about the concept is that it can be mocked up with placeholder graphics, to get gameplay mechanics, UI, and AI sorted out.

For example, I'm not sure how many characters in the player's team will be reasonable to control simultaneously with touch/drag mechanics. I'm quite sure that 4 would work well, but suspect it could work with as many as 6 independently controllable fighters on each team. It may well be that fewer fighters are better, if only to allow for less-crowded gameplay and larger, more detailed sprites. And variations are of course possible - having fighters "on deck" that can be swapped in and out "tag team" style.

[Stroffolino]

Yeah, knights, archers, stuff like that.

A medieval theme would be incredibly flexible. You've got armoured knights, robin-hood style archers. You could offer a merlin-style character, pike-men, a dragon, ogres. Maybe even some unarmed angry peasants for good measure. Even just this would offer an incredible number of matchup combinations, and I suspect the game will be really interesting in head-to-head mode with multiplayer.

[upsidedown]

A medieval theme would be incredibly flexible. You've got armoured knights, robin-hood style archers. You could offer a merlin-style character, pike-men, a dragon, ogres. Maybe even some unarmed angry peasants for good measure. Even just this would offer an incredible number of matchup combinations, and I suspect the game will be really interesting in head-to-head mode with multiplayer.

Yeah, it has tons of oppurtunities.

[Comassion]

One nice thing about the concept is that it can be mocked up with placeholder graphics, to get gameplay mechanics, UI, and AI sorted out.

For example, I'm not sure how many characters in the player's team will be reasonable to control simultaneously with touch/drag mechanics. I'm quite sure that 4 would work well, but suspect it could work with as many as 6 independently controllable fighters on each team. It may well be that fewer fighters are better, if only to allow for less-crowded gameplay and larger, more detailed sprites. And variations are of course possible - having fighters "on deck" that can be swapped in and out "tag team" style.

Medieval fantasy sounds good to me.

We'll want to experiment with how many characters work well onscreen at once. I agree that four is probably a good number, and I think we should start with four and see if scaling it up or down from there works well.

One of the game mechanics I'd like to introduce is reinforcements. In a longer level, you're likely to have some of your units die, so periodically you can get additional units to come and supplement your surviving units. This should make for some interesting gameplay, as a player that loses a unit or two adopts defensive tactics to hold out until he can get assistance and resume offensive action.


Also, I think everyone involved in this project should pick up the game Lion Pride (or the Lite version if you're short of dollars). Right now that game is probably the most similar to what we'll be developing (in that it's a teamwork-based line-drawing game), and analyzing what's good and bad about it will help us make a good game.

[upsidedown]

Medieval fantasy sounds good to me.

We'll want to experiment with how many characters work well onscreen at once. I agree that four is probably a good number, and I think we should start with four and see if scaling it up or down from there works well.

One of the game mechanics I'd like to introduce is reinforcements. In a longer level, you're likely to have some of your units die, so periodically you can get additional units to come and supplement your surviving units. This should make for some interesting gameplay, as a player that loses a unit or two adopts defensive tactics to hold out until he can get assistance and resume offensive action.


Also, I think everyone involved in this project should pick up the game Lion Pride (or the Lite version if you're short of dollars). Right now that game is probably the most similar to what we'll be developing (in that it's a teamwork-based line-drawing game), and analyzing what's good and bad about it will help us make a good game.
It is a great game, but doesnt get close to this until the 7th and 8th levels. Wha t i thought would be good if the defenders couldnt die, it just takes some faster moving charchters longer to defeat the bad guys.

[Comassion]

It is a great game, but doesnt get close to this until the 7th and 8th levels. Wha t i thought would be good if the defenders couldnt die, it just takes some faster moving charchters longer to defeat the bad guys.

Well, that segues nicely into a discussion of the combat style we want.

Many games have gone the route of certainty in their combat systems. Do such and such an action (place tower X in position Y, use a swordsman to engage an orc, have two archers gang up on one archer, etc.) and you will win.

In my opinion, this is a bad thing. I believe that randomness and unpredictability of combat is both a reflection of the nature of combat, and an intensely fun feature. When a battle can go very differently even if you try to use the same tactics twice, that enhances the replayability of a game. When a swordsman charges an orc, will he win? I believe the answer should be 'maybe'.

The other thing that games unforgivably lack is an interesting damage system. Hitpoints were a good thing back in the days of Pen and Paper RPGs, as they gave you a simple and straightforward damage system. In the days of computers that can perform calculations and handle complex underlying systems without batting an eye, hitpoints are a simplistic and over-used crutch.


What I am about to propose is different.

When an archer fires an arrow at a target, any of these things may happen:

1. The attack may miss entirely, depending on the speed of the target. A rogue, for instance, has little armor but he can
2. If the attack hits:
3. Determine location of the hit.
Locations are: Head, torso, left arm, right arm, left leg, right leg.

4. Check armor on location: Heads may have helmets and visors, torsos and limbs may have a variety of armor, from chainmail for footmen to plate armor for knights. For example, chances are here if you fire an arrow at a knight, it will simply bounce off almost no matter where it hits. But there is a small chance it will find a chink in the armor or go straight into the visor slit. So a knight being fired on is still at risk, but less so than, say, an unarmored peasant.

5. If the attack doesn't bounce off armor, harm the target area. Effect to the warrior depends on different levels of harm.

a. Scratch. Some weapons just aren't very damaging (daggers, darts) and so even if you get through, you may not significantly wound the target. Poison weapons, however (if we go so far as to use them, we may not) only need a scratch to have the poison take effect.

b. Light wound. The limb incurs a minor penalty. Lightly wounded arms may be slightly less effective with the shield or sword they hold. Light wounds to legs slow you down for a short time. Lightly wounded torsos may indicate that you are simply pushed back a few feet to recover from the blow. Lightly wounded heads mean you've been knocked for a loop, and the character may be stunned for a short time.

c. Heavy wound. These type of hits cause lasting effects, and a soldier with a couple heavy wounds should probably withdraw from the field. Heavily wounded legs induce permanent slowdown. Head wounds may cause bleeding and lower the overall effectiveness of the character.

d. Incapacitate. The damage is so bad that the limb can no longer be used. Incapacitated legs reduce soldiers to crawling away. Incapacitated arms force that arm to drop whatever it was holding. Incapacitated heads and torsos usually mean that the soldier is knocked out and must be carried off the field.

e. Sever / Lethal. Big weapons like claymores are more prone to effects like these. A severed head or torso results in death. Severed limbs may also result in death or incapacitation.


The chance of getting any of these effects should be small for any given attack, but should always be there. The very first sword stroke of an enemy could be the one that kills you. A player who wants to go after an archer should be aware that even though sending his knight out as a distraction while the less armored rogue sneaks around to the back is probably a good choice, it still puts the knight in mortal danger. He may get away with no casualties. Or the archer may get extremely lucky, plug the knight, and then turn around and plug the rogue with a second shot (but in 95% of cases, the knight / rogue should still win due to probabilities).


The end result, I hope, is a combat system that stays interesting as you play it. While there is always risk for your troops, it also affords the opposite - that even a single one of your troops could turn out to be a hero, and defeat many more opponents than he would be expected to.

The use of different damage effects also give rise to changing tactical situations over the course of a level. Can you afford to risk a heavily wounded soldier as a delaying tactic until reinforcements arrive? Since you managed to give the enemy knight a leg wound, now you can avoid engaging him with melee troops and just have archers run around him until an arrow gets through. And now you're down to just a rogue and your enemy has a knight, but the battle is not yet lost for certain if your last option is to have them fight each other. Do you feel lucky?



The cons of such a system are that it is indeed harder to program than a simple hitpoint system.

The pros? Much more interesting combat in a game that focuses on combat, and a feature we can boast that is sorely lacking in many, many games. The only other games I can think of off the top of my head that benefit from a detailed damage system are Classic Battletech, and IL-2 Sturmovik.

[upsidedown]

Well, that segues nicely into a discussion of the combat style we want.

Many games have gone the route of certainty in their combat systems. Do such and such an action (place tower X in position Y, use a swordsman to engage an orc, have two archers gang up on one archer, etc.) and you will win.

In my opinion, this is a bad thing. I believe that randomness and unpredictability of combat is both a reflection of the nature of combat, and an intensely fun feature. When a battle can go very differently even if you try to use the same tactics twice, that enhances the replayability of a game. When a swordsman charges an orc, will he win? I believe the answer should be 'maybe'.

The other thing that games unforgivably lack is an interesting damage system. Hitpoints were a good thing back in the days of Pen and Paper RPGs, as they gave you a simple and straightforward damage system. In the days of computers that can perform calculations and handle complex underlying systems without batting an eye, hitpoints are a simplistic and over-used crutch.


What I am about to propose is different.

When an archer fires an arrow at a target, any of these things may happen:

1. The attack may miss entirely, depending on the speed of the target. A rogue, for instance, has little armor but he can
2. If the attack hits:
3. Determine location of the hit.
Locations are: Head, torso, left arm, right arm, left leg, right leg.

4. Check armor on location: Heads may have helmets and visors, torsos and limbs may have a variety of armor, from chainmail for footmen to plate armor for knights. For example, chances are here if you fire an arrow at a knight, it will simply bounce off almost no matter where it hits. But there is a small chance it will find a chink in the armor or go straight into the visor slit. So a knight being fired on is still at risk, but less so than, say, an unarmored peasant.

5. If the attack doesn't bounce off armor, harm the target area. Effect to the warrior depends on different levels of harm.

a. Scratch. Some weapons just aren't very damaging (daggers, darts) and so even if you get through, you may not significantly wound the target. Poison weapons, however (if we go so far as to use them, we may not) only need a scratch to have the poison take effect.

b. Light wound. The limb incurs a minor penalty. Lightly wounded arms may be slightly less effective with the shield or sword they hold. Light wounds to legs slow you down for a short time. Lightly wounded torsos may indicate that you are simply pushed back a few feet to recover from the blow. Lightly wounded heads mean you've been knocked for a loop, and the character may be stunned for a short time.

c. Heavy wound. These type of hits cause lasting effects, and a soldier with a couple heavy wounds should probably withdraw from the field. Heavily wounded legs induce permanent slowdown. Head wounds may cause bleeding and lower the overall effectiveness of the character.

d. Incapacitate. The damage is so bad that the limb can no longer be used. Incapacitated legs reduce soldiers to crawling away. Incapacitated arms force that arm to drop whatever it was holding. Incapacitated heads and torsos usually mean that the soldier is knocked out and must be carried off the field.

e. Sever / Lethal. Big weapons like claymores are more prone to effects like these. A severed head or torso results in death. Severed limbs may also result in death or incapacitation.


The chance of getting any of these effects should be small for any given attack, but should always be there. The very first sword stroke of an enemy could be the one that kills you. A player who wants to go after an archer should be aware that even though sending his knight out as a distraction while the less armored rogue sneaks around to the back is probably a good choice, it still puts the knight in mortal danger. He may get away with no casualties. Or the archer may get extremely lucky, plug the knight, and then turn around and plug the rogue with a second shot (but in 95% of cases, the knight / rogue should still win due to probabilities).


The end result, I hope, is a combat system that stays interesting as you play it. While there is always risk for your troops, it also affords the opposite - that even a single one of your troops could turn out to be a hero, and defeat many more opponents than he would be expected to.

The use of different damage effects also give rise to changing tactical situations over the course of a level. Can you afford to risk a heavily wounded soldier as a delaying tactic until reinforcements arrive? Since you managed to give the enemy knight a leg wound, now you can avoid engaging him with melee troops and just have archers run around him until an arrow gets through. And now you're down to just a rogue and your enemy has a knight, but the battle is not yet lost for certain if your last option is to have them fight each other. Do you feel lucky?



The cons of such a system are that it is indeed harder to program than a simple hitpoint system.

The pros? Much more interesting combat in a game that focuses on combat, and a feature we can boast that is sorely lacking in many, many games. The only other games I can think of off the top of my head that benefit from a detailed damage system are Classic Battletech, and IL-2 Sturmovik.

Personally, I like to know whether my guy will win or not. With the way you sayit, you then must also have levelups,and that makes it more complicated. But i agree with the archer part about depending on the hit or miss.

One other thing: One of the users was wondering why we are giving 50% of the profits to arn when he is already making six digit figures off this site. The user thought he should get at least a little bit of the profits. So why?

[EtotheB!]

Come on indulge on the full version of Lion Pride :p

in all seriousness you all will want to see our 1.3 update with night mode.

I'm also more than happy to chat about our process and what did / did not work.

Ed <- designer and producer on LP.

[robertf224]

Hey so how many themes are we doing and what types so I can start writing songs acordingly

[upsidedown]

Hey so how many themes are we doing and what types so I can start writing songs acordingly

I think we are going to start with medieval theme.

[upsidedown]

Come on indulge on the full version of Lion Pride :p

in all seriousness you all will want to see our 1.3 update with night mode.

I'm also more than happy to chat about our process and what did / did not work.

Ed <- designer and producer on LP.

So tell us what did/didnt work, if you would?

[Stroffolino]

Agreed that having some luck involved in the combat mechanics could be a good thing. This will help level the playing field slightly, and also force players to react when things don't go their way.

Not sure if it's worth the hassle of having a complex damage system. Hit points aren't a bad thing. It's probably more than enough if fighters can also be entangled, distracted (i.e. blocking), or stunned. There's some really fun things we could do. Consider an ogre character that picks up a knight. That ogre will be very vulnerable if attacked while he's got his hands full, but also capable of hurling that knight into his comrades.

As for the other subject, I don't love or hate Arn. As someone recently joked, it's probably harder for an independent developer to get featured on Touch Arcade than to get featured by Apple. I just thought it would be a nice gesture if the developer didn't eat all the profits, and instead gave some of the money to a worthy cause. Touch Arcade is a site we all enjoy and are happy to see updated on a regular basis by its hardworking staff.

Personally, I like to know whether my guy will win or not. With the way you sayit, you then must also have levelups,and that makes it more complicated. But i agree with the archer part about depending on the hit or miss.

One other thing: One of the users was wondering why we are giving 50% of the profits to arn when he is already making six digit figures off this site. The user thought he should get at least a little bit of the profits. So why?

[Touchsmiths]

have we decided if it is going to be real-time or turn-based?


If turn-based, this all sounds very familiar to a Sega Genesis game I played ages ago called King's Bounty:

http://www.consoleclassix.com/info_img/Kings_Bounty_GEN_ScreenShot2.jpg


Forgetting about the story of the game for the moment, the basic premise was:

1.) Choose an initial hero (barbarian, sorcerer, paladin, etc.) that will give some initial special capabilities
2.) Explore Continents and destroy local warlords (approximately 4-5 per continent)
3.) To destroy the warlords you enlist troops by paying them. Stronger/more troops = higher cost.
4.) You earn money by capturing warlords, finding treasure, etc.
5.) You or your enemy can only have 5 different kinds of troops at the same time in the fight screen and are positioned on opposite sides of the battlefield (shown in the screenshot above)

Troops come in multiple flavors:
Forest: Sprites, Gnomes, Elves, Trolls, Druids, Archmages
Hill: Wolves, Orcs, Dwarves, Giants, Dragons
Plains: Peasants, Nomads, Ogres, Barbarians
Dungeon: Skeletons, Zombies, Ghosts, Vampires, Demons
Castle: Warrior, Archer, Pikemen, Cavalry, Knight

I'm probably forgetting some stuff, but we would probably adapt most of it to fit on the iPhone.

And I suppose, the same format works if you want to make the battlefield "real-time".

[upsidedown]

have we decided if it is going to be real-time or turn-based?


If turn-based, this all sounds very familiar to a Sega Genesis game I played ages ago called King's Bounty:

http://www.consoleclassix.com/info_img/Kings_Bounty_GEN_ScreenShot2.jpg


Forgetting about the story of the game for the moment, the basic premise was:

1.) Choose an initial hero (barbarian, sorcerer, paladin, etc.) that will give some initial special capabilities
2.) Explore Continents and destroy local warlords (approximately 4-5 per continent)
3.) To destroy the warlords you enlist troops by paying them. Stronger/more troops = higher cost.
4.) You earn money by capturing warlords, finding treasure, etc.
5.) You or your enemy can only have 5 different kinds of troops at the same time in the fight screen and are positioned on opposite sides of the battlefield (shown in the screenshot above)

Troops come in multiple flavors:
Forest: Sprites, Gnomes, Elves, Trolls, Druids, Archmages
Hill: Wolves, Orcs, Dwarves, Giants, Dragons
Plains: Peasants, Nomads, Ogres, Barbarians
Dungeon: Skeletons, Zombies, Ghosts, Vampires, Demons
Castle: Warrior, Archer, Pikemen, Cavalry, Knight

I'm probably forgetting some stuff, but we would probably adapt most of it to fit on the iPhone.

And I suppose, the same format works if you want to make the battlefield "real-time".
I dont think it is turnbased, i think it is going to be real time.

[Stroffolino]

Definitely real time.

Though coincidentally, one of the projects that's keeping me busy right now is a turn-based fantasy/tactics game, World to Conquer (http://forums.toucharcade.com/showthread.php?t=25911).

I dont think it is turnbased, i think it is going to be real time.

[Comassion]

Hit points aren't a bad thing.

Yes they are. :P But I'm amenable to what other people want, and I recognize the relative ease of working with them programmatically. We can still do an interesting combat system with hitpoints and status effects, no problem.

We also need to discuss the depth to which we intend to pay attention to unit statistics. For instance, do we want to go simple and give every unit standardized statistics and a standard weapon, or do we want to include RPG elements and allow units to increase in power over time and / or include different equipment that's interchangeable among units / characters.

There's definitely a tradeoff to be made here. More depth means more programming / design work, and some people (especially with iPhone games) may actually not want to deal with too much depth (there's a lot to be said for 'pick up and play', a la lion pride. But as a whole, more depth increases replayability and interest in a game.

[EtotheB!]

So tell us what did/didnt work, if you would?

Well you are all at a fast clip hard to tell what would be relevant. I'd also recommend looking at Gama write up of the Spider gdc talk. They made their game fully distributed.

[Stroffolino]

Well you are all at a fast clip hard to tell what would be relevant. I'd also recommend looking at Gama write up of the Spider gdc talk. They made their game fully distributed.

Just combing through the critical user reviews for Lion's Pride, there are a few lessons I'd draw that may be relevant:

1. don't categorize a game like this as "strategy"; there's plenty of tactics and fun to be had in Lion's pride, but strategy game connoisseurs are offended by the suggestion that it's a strategy game. On the advanced waves, it's more of a fast reaction game than anything else.

2. some folk found the variable speed line drawing clumsy or confusing. It's an interesting part of Lion Pride gameplay, but probably not needed for the theme discussed in this thread.

3. some people found Lion's Pride "too slow" or "boring" - no game is for everyone, but I suspect Lion's Pride would have have ended up being more mainstream if it was faster-paced, more bloody, and less realistic, i.e. super-powered lions dashing about and batting prey around like plush toys.

[upsidedown]

Ok, so i think we have the basic idea(post if you think otherwise), so can we get some concept art or something?

[upsidedown]

______________________________________________
l*****************************************l
l******************X**********************l
l********X**********************X*********l
l*****************Q***********************l
l*****************************************l
l*******0*****************0***************l
l**************o*******************o******l
l***************___________****************l
l________________l**********l__________________l
l****************Castle********************l
l______________________________________________l

text concept art:
*=background


0=basic defender(you control these)
Q=powerful yet slow warrior(controlled by you)
o= fast but weak warrior

x= enemy

[Comassion]

______________________________________________
l*****************************************l
l******************X**********************l
l********X**********************X*********l
l*****************Q***********************l
l*****************************************l
l*******0*****************0***************l
l**************o*******************o******l
l***************___________****************l
l________________l**********l__________________l
l****************Castle********************l
l______________________________________________l

text concept art:
*=background


0=basic defender(you control these)
Q=powerful yet slow warrior(controlled by you)
o= fast but weak warrior

x= enemy

I'm not sure we're quite on the same page regarding what game we're making here. I was under the impression that we were going with a gladiator-themed tactical line-drawer (See Stroffolino's game concept) as opposed to a castle defense line-drawer. We should probably hash this out before moving forward.

[upsidedown]

I'm not sure we're quite on the same page regarding what game we're making here. I was under the impression that we were going with a gladiator-themed tactical line-drawer (See Stroffolino's game concept) as opposed to a castle defense line-drawer. We should probably hash this out before moving forward.

oh, whoops, i meant to write that that was what i had pictured it to be.

[upsidedown]

How did you picture it?

[Burgkcros223]

General Chaos Like?

[Stroffolino]

General Chaos Like?

I hadn't heard of that game until I just now looked it up, but yes, something along those lines, but with more hand-to-hand melee combat and less gunplay.

[upsidedown]

Who will be doing the art? are you a good artist stroffolino?

[bobjoe3000]

I could send concept art but not really do the art work

[spidey146]

i can do a couple of basic sprites

[upsidedown]

Ehhh... Give it a shot if you'd like! Lets see what we can get!

[Stroffolino]

Who will be doing the art? are you a good artist stroffolino?

I can make ugly doodles.

[upsidedown]

Who did the art for your games?

[Stroffolino]

The apps I've published to date involved various contributors.

I have a long time collaborators and friends that assisted with Xiangqi and the upcoming "World to Conquer"

Card Shark had some resources designed by a former coworker.

Sniper vs. Pirates, Bug Juice, and Karate Fighter incorporated hand-drawn and 3d rendered assets from a former worker and friend. Additional art for the "Karate Fighter Revenge" update was contracted from Team LePixels.

Pocket Boxer (coming soon) is using contracted art.

Hurdler and Diver Dan (complete, coming soon) are based on existing games from the guys at thegames.page.com, leveraging resources they created and incorporating new assets created to enhance the iphone ports.

Who did the art for your games?

[upsidedown]

The apps I've published to date involved various contributors.

I have a long time collaborators and friends that assisted with Xiangqi and the upcoming "World to Conquer"

Card Shark had some resources designed by a former coworker.

Sniper vs. Pirates, Bug Juice, and Karate Fighter incorporated hand-drawn and 3d rendered assets from a former worker and friend. Additional art for the "Karate Fighter Revenge" update was contracted from Team LePixels.

Pocket Boxer (coming soon) is using contracted art.

Hurdler and Diver Dan (complete, coming soon) are based on existing games from the guys at thegames.page.com, leveraging resources they created and incorporating new assets created to enhance the iphone ports.

I see. What do you think we should do for the art for this game?

[Stroffolino]

I see. What do you think we should do for the art for this game?

While I'd love to see volunteers present concept art, I think it's a little premature to worry too much about final in-game art assets just yet. When I'm freed up, I think a good approach would be to mock the game up as quickly as possible using placeholder art (scribbles or even shapes), focusing 100% on gameplay. The final presentation is incredibly important if you hope to make more than have a brief blip in the appstore, but in my opinion it's generally more effective to do a skinning on top of proven gameplay than to make art first and then try and create a game around it.

[upsidedown]

Ok, that is a good idea.

[upsidedown]

So when will you be ready to start?

[iiAtlas]

This sounds great. I can't wait! Just ask if you need help with anything, i can do basically everything but it seems as if you have it all worked out so...

Anyway best of luck and ill definitely be supporting this game when it is released. Any estimated release date yet or still to early?

[Lupus]

In terms of graphics... how about using "sketch" models for gameplay? Picture it like hi-def colourless doodling, or just black and white manga kind of art style. If everything is done in that kind of art style, it would look quite cool... just dont use stickmen.
I would post a pic of what i mean, but i have to study, exam tomorrow:(

[Rom30]

I'm a programmer (Java, C++, VB.net, C#.net) for a living. Unfortunately I do not even own a mac or have any idea what the iDevice apps are coded in. I do however like the game ideas, especially the first one. I've been dying for a SmashTV style game with more of Starcraft kind of controls. I've considered writing one for my WinMo device but my first mobile project isn't quite finished yet.

[itman]

3d or 2d?

[TouchChatterbox]

I'd be up for public relations/creative manager as I have excellent communication skills & creativity is what I'm all about in hobbies & ambitions alike.

IRL my major passion is filmmaking (mainly writing-directing) followed closely by acting. After finishing my film degree, I had written, directed and produced a WW2 feature film & am taking part in a 48 hour film competition next weekend then developing an entry for Tropfest, one of the big Australian film festivals, a short film noir, a little doco series and other things. Also have some great contacts in funding bodies, various actors and other filmmakers.

Consequently, I feel "qualified" to take an active role in the story & other design elements. Could also shoot some sequences with actors here against a blue screen or do some basic sets indie-style - you'd be surprised at what can be accomplished on very little (if any) cost. A few of my contacts have large prop collections anyway - everything from replica skulls to replica weaponary (including swords and duelling pistols!), WW2 gear and more.

I feel this thread could potentially be used as a gold mine for less-than-ethical developers to come and shop for ideas so we should move this onto a private sub-forum -- can someone here file a request for us to get that?

That said, I do have some solid ideas I can put forth - but I refuse to put them into a public thread where anyone could utilise them & just offer a friendly recommendation you all might want to think the same way...

[Stroffolino]

The thing that drew me to this concept (a "TA User's Game") is the fact that there could be an open discussion, soliciting input from idevice gaming fans at each step of the way. If someone wants to borrow an idea and run with it, more power to them. I (and probably most devs) have a long queue of game ideas that I haven't had time to execute, yet. Execution is often more important than the idea itself.


I feel this thread could potentially be used as a gold mine for less-than-ethical developers to come and shop for ideas so we should move this onto a private sub-forum -- can someone here file a request for us to get that?

That said, I do have some solid ideas I can put forth - but I refuse to put them into a public thread where anyone could utilise them & just offer a friendly recommendation you all might want to think the same way...

[yourofl10]

Do we have a dev yet?

[upsidedown]

yep--Stroffolino is the dev. That is why we need art!

[Kunning]

I'm no artist, but I still got invited... what's my job?

[MindJuice]

So what happened to this thread?

Are you guys working off on the side now?

[Yffum]

I can make 2D art.

Depends on how much is needed though because I'm busy with some other things. If u PM me I can show u some of the stuff I've did. Or if u wanna test me (I'd prefer this cause I don't have much of my good work to show) u can tell me to make something. I make more cartoonish art.

[angelsfan27vg]

I can do dev and UI layout design. Please PM me if interested. I would really like to be a part of this!

[jmarquiso]

I'm a motion graphics designer. I'd be willing to help out on video and animation and the like.

[TheSeldomSeenKid]

For an idea, see my signature... :)

[taddy]

The thing that drew me to this concept (a "TA User's Game") is the fact that there could be an open discussion, soliciting input from idevice gaming fans at each step of the way. If someone wants to borrow an idea and run with it, more power to them. I (and probably most devs) have a long queue of game ideas that I haven't had time to execute, yet. Execution is often more important than the idea itself.

We appreciate that. I have followed TA since April 2009, but just became a member today so I could comment on this.

[BimBamm]

......