Dark Raider – Sneak Peak (submitted to app store)

[RPGGuy]

I've posted an early development video of Rocking Pocket Games next big game called Dark Raider. It's an action adventure game that has you running through dark tombs, collecting artifacts and keys while fending off creepy crawlies.

The game will have a lot of puzzles involving switches, moving boulders, hidden passages, finding keys to unlock doors, and a variety of regular and supernatural weapons. Each location will have a number of progressively harder level variations as you travel to the same location but in a parallel universe.

Some technical features:
Full 360 degree movement (not like some games where you can only move north, south, east or west)
3D immersive sound
10 song soundtrack
Custom software based dynamic lighting for unlimited lights
Enemies include bats, beetles, gladiators, snakes, spiders, giant worms, fireballs, spinning blades, and spike traps.
Weapons include pistol, shotgun, grenades, flame thrower, rocket launcher, fireballs, spinning blades. You can also use movable boulders to crush enemies.

EdpDDPWyblc;

New gameplay videos:
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[pante]

it is really interesting title... any news when it will be out?

[salsamd]

1. Health status bar?

2. Better would be if the player got weaker/slower each time he was injured and had to find/collect first aid kits to get better.

3. It seems that when bitten, the creature goes away without your killing it. Shouldn't be the case.

4. Alternate camera angles besides top down?

[RPGGuy]

The game has been in development for 1 month and I hope to have it finished in 2 or less.

1. There is a health status bar (upper right hearts). When your health drops to zero you'll be taken back to the main map where you can teleport into a level to try again.

2/3. Each time you touch an enemy you lose a heart, and the enemy is removed. So the object is to shoot them before they touch you, and get through the level with the given number of hearts. You'll get health upgrades as the game progresses. You might also get health every so many points you earn. Finding gems will give you points quickly.

4. No, it's a 2D game.

[Sbell42]

It looks interesting, but not something I'd pick up on an impulse buy. A short "lite" version would be nice, so we could try it out first. Also, it's hard to tell from the video, but don't pull a Chillingo and have the orientation so that the Touch headphone jacks are in the lower corner (my gripe of the day after playing iDracula ;) ).

[PointOfLight]

I don't normally care for the top down perspective (few have done it as well as Gauntlet), but this looks pretty cool.

[jawslover]

looks ALOT like payback, which isn't a bad thing :D how much will this cost?

[RPGGuy]

It's probably going to be 5.99-7.99.

[PointOfLight]

I would suggest, if possible, to have on screen controls as an option. Personally, I don't do real well with the concepts of hot spots, even when I'm used to playing a game. I'll live with a slightly less than appealing look to the interface if I at least know where I'm supposed to be interacting with the game.

[K.D!]

Hmmmm... interesting! Kind of reminds me of the overhead levels in Contra 3 on the SNES.

[RPGGuy]

I did those kinds of controls in Blue Skies (this game uses the Blue Skies engine).

The action button does change depending on what you're standing next to, so having it say what action will happen if you press it is useful. Otherwise I could have invisible buttons as an option.

This game is still has a ways to go before it's ready. I only have 1 simple test level and plan on having over 100 levels to play through. However it's already fun to play and I appreciate the early feedback. Better than changing things after the game is already released :)

[salsamd]

One should not have infinite weapons. They should decrease as used, requiring one to find pickup to replenish them.

Can there be a timed mode? In this context, it might be nice if the player's speed slowed as his energy level (hearts) decreased.

[Mindfield]

Gotta say, that looks pretty sweet. Blue Skies was slick as hell, so I don't imagine this will be any different. The dynamic lighting looks sweet, the action looks like it can get pretty hot, and the puzzles will be fun to solve. Definitely one I'd love to review when it's out.

[arta]

Looks great. More props to devs not settling for the Bejeweled (with a twist!) ripoffs.

[arta]

Quick idea of what I mean by the hotspot idea:

http://img243.imageshack.us/img243/8560/controlitouchphoneuy3.jpg

made with MS paint in less than 20 seconds, so forgive the quality :o

Still, that's kind of what I'm getting at. The opacity of the interface could be toggled via the option menu so that those, like PointofLight, who want the controls onscreen as a reminder can do so, but also have it done in such of way where it isn't "jutting out", and those of us who don't need reminder can just set opacity to zero.
Why not just do both, like IDracula did? Have both the option for onscreen buttons or hotspots, and we choose.

And this looks like a Legend of Zelda game, nice one. Hope it has a lot of levels and depth!

[RPGGuy]

The plans are to have ammo crates where you can fill up on ammo for a particular weapon. You may need to conserve that ammo and take it to another spot in the level (for example only rockets can hurt a boss enemy).

[Kamazar]

I didn't like the Payback control scheme very much, and this looks like a complete rip-off. I just really don't like it.

As for the actual gameplay... I've got mixed feelings.

[RPGGuy]

How would it be better?

[DHrox]

Something similar to Paradise or iDracula would be nice, just w/o the aiming mechanism, as that probably would be pointless, except for arrows or aiming spells.

[Mhans13]

Personally i think the controlls are fine as you have them. Your thumbs are going to be covering them up anyway, its pretty doubtful that while playing they will really take away from the experience. And personally i cant stand the weight that people put on the visuals of a game in deciding how good it is. While beautiful graphics (as your game has) does enhance the experience, if the gameplay is solid, then graphics really dont matter and little buttons on the side of the screen wont make a difference. Oh and why does everyone demand a 3d view in their games? A 3d view would not change the gameplay at all. all it would do is require a much more complicated control scheme. I can understand this with payback, cuz everyone loves gta 4, but a game like this? Just a bad idea, deffinitly keep the top down view you got now.

[DHrox]

I agree. Isometric is the classic view of RPGs. Love it!

[RPGGuy]

Well there is no way I would change it to 3D, because I wouldn't be able to do as detailed 3D models. The frame rate would be slower and it's already lower than I'd like. The controls are actually a very minor thing compared to getting all the gameplay elements in there.

The levels will be well thought out, not something like iDracula that basically has nothing to interact with. There will be signs that you can read along the way, giving you a storyline and some hints from other adventurers that didn't quite make it.

[arta]

Personally i think the controlls are fine as you have them. Your thumbs are going to be covering them up anyway, its pretty doubtful that while playing they will really take away from the experience. And personally i cant stand the weight that people put on the visuals of a game in deciding how good it is. While beautiful graphics (as your game has) does enhance the experience, if the gameplay is solid, then graphics really dont matter and little buttons on the side of the screen wont make a difference. Oh and why does everyone demand a 3d view in their games? A 3d view would not change the gameplay at all. all it would do is require a much more complicated control scheme. I can understand this with payback, cuz everyone loves gta 4, but a game like this? Just a bad idea, deffinitly keep the top down view you got now.Agreed with the 3D view, but graphics does make it better. I mean if the gameplay is already solid, why not improve the graphics and get the best of both worlds? You yourself said that it enhances the game, so how can it not make a difference?

And the problem with the buttons is that they look like they were created in MSPaint and slapped on the game and clashes with the art of the game. Although I'm sure those are placeholders.

[tosui]

I'm a big fan of Blue Skies, and this looks even better, given the extended range of gameplay types. Control-wise, I don't think that on-screen is necessary - it's fine, but I agree that the rounded squares look like a place holder (which they may be?).

One qualm I have, from an IxD point of view: your game play is such that the player is always travelling to the top of the screen. This is fine, but then you put the choice of weapons right where our eyes are constantly looking for the next enemy/obstacle/etc. Worse, when you want to switch weapons (usually at critical moments, no less) you cover a large part of the screen with your thumb just to reach the button!

I would really suggest either making a single button in the upper left that cycles through (a la Zombieville USA), or simply moving all the buttons as they currently are to the bottom of the screen, which really doesn't seem to be a critical section anyway.

Looking forward to it!

[TRIPLE BEAM DREAM]

Looks really good. I would have to agree with spiffyphone on the button layout, because it looks congested. So many quality games coming out, wish there was a way to add more than 9 pages.

[RPGGuy]

I like the idea of the controls visible when you're not moving after 5 seconds and then fading out when you're doing stuff.

[PointOfLight]

I don't think going the iDracula (ugh that name still sucks)

Nice pun :D

[arta]

Quick idea of what I mean by the hotspot idea:

http://img243.imageshack.us/img243/8560/controlitouchphoneuy3.jpgAnother suggestion. The up/ down direction buttons on the right side? How about you make it so you don't have to take your fingers off the screen to switch to the next button. Just simply slide it. Like the control wheel in iDracula, it will keep you knowing what you are pressing simply by looking at what your character is doing. You don't lose any oreintation by moving your finger off the screen.

Or you can combine this with the hotspot idea so that you slide your finger back and forth between the upper right quadrant (UP) and the lower right quadrant (DOWN) instead of taking your finger off one and lacing it down on the other. That way you subconsciously are away what you are pressing without getting distracted. You know in what corner of the screen your thumb is, and you are looking at your character all the time.


http://forums.toucharcade.com/showthread.php?t=5657

[RPGGuy]

You can already slide your finger over the buttons. I worked on a new multitouch tracking system that keeps track of every finger and then checks if any of the touches are over a button.

I moved the weapon icons to the bottom and it works well.

Another control option is to not rotate the camera. Have a directional pad and rotate the character in the direction you're pressing. If this works ok I'll make both options available (why not?) :)

[arta]

You can already slide your finger over the buttons. I worked on a new multitouch tracking system that keeps track of every finger and then checks if any of the touches are over a button.

I moved the weapon icons to the bottom and it works well.

Another control option is to not rotate the camera. Have a directional pad and rotate the character in the direction you're pressing. If this works ok I'll make both options available (why not?) :)
Sound good.

[arta]

So what happened to this game? Last time I heard from this dev he was hating really hard on iDracula, talking all kinds of shit.

Has the game made any progress?

[RPGGuy]

There has been lots of progress....

I've added moving puzzle blocks, gates and switches, 5 of the levels and different tilesets for each one, spinning blades, spike traps, main map level that lets you visit other sub levels, character's face on the hud that reacts to what's going on and where you're looking (similar to Doom), moved the weapons buttons to the bottom.

It's coming along great. I'm doing some modifications to iFishing right now but when that's done I'll be back working on Dark Raider.

Maybe tomorrow I'll make a new video :)

[21duc29]

This game looks pretty good. I read the pages and I don't seem to have a problem with the controls but would be nice not to see it. I don't think I would pay six to eight dollars on this though, maybe three to four dollars.

[RPGGuy]

I actually created this video this morning before you posted this. The flipped screen has been taken care of...

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hJPbvHJrV_M

I could add also this to Blue Skies in the next update.

[RPGGuy]

As promised here are a couple of new gameplay videos:

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[Palfince]

As promised here are a couple of new gameplay videos:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ZKlRrf_dEA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZLAKaAsHR6I

The first video is on private.

The second video looks good though. At first I thought I wouldn't be getting this game but after seeing that I'm really considering it.

[RPGGuy]

Sorry made it public. The first one shows a full level walkthrough.

[21duc29]

This looks exciting. If I get it I'd probably play one level at a time, I think I would get headaches from tilting the device (looking around). Look's great though.

[inferi22]

payback controls wtf?

[RPGGuy]

For now. I plan on changing them :) The outlines are actually taken from the shape of the app icon.

I am worried about screwing up this game, with a bad storyline. Need to work on that still :)

[RPGGuy]

I've set up a website and posted the first screenshots of Dark Raider:

http://www.rockingpocketgames.com/DarkRaider.htm

http://www.rockingpocketgames.com/images/screenshots/DarkRaider/DarkRaiderTitle.png

http://www.rockingpocketgames.com/images/screenshots/DarkRaider/DarkRaider4.png

[arta]

This looks exciting. If I get it I'd probably play one level at a time, I think I would get headaches from tilting the device (looking around). Look's great though.

Hopefully there will be alternative non tilt controls.

[jFND]

The game looks great, with the exception of the character's human face on the top right hand corner. I think it's unnecessary to add the guy's human face to the HUD, it just looks out of place. Maybe it should just be left out, it doesn't really enhance the game the way I see it, and really looks out of place. Adding a compass of some sort would be better.

Another thing is the Payback control scheme..Don't really like it; but it's definitely tolerable. I just want this game to stand out more, have it's own control scheme. Because I think this game has immense potential, and I just want it to be the best that it can be. Well, with that being said, all the best and I look forward to purchasing this game!

[RPGGuy]

The face reacts to what you're doing. The eyes move left and right depending on the tilt, looks angry when you're shooting, and gets bloodier when you're closer to death. It gives a bit more personality to the character which I think is a nice touch considering you only see the top of the character in the game itself.

The images used for the controls have been redone to a darker theme with skulls around the edges. I've also added dpad controls so you can play the game without tilting or rotating the camera.

I'm finishing up the levels now. There's going to be 64 in total. I was planning for more but decided to break it up into episodes. If the game is a hit I'll immediately start working on part 2 :)

[RPGGuy]

Just wanted to let you know that the game is finished and has been submitted. I hope it goes through Apple's testing on the first try. It's my most ambitious title yet, and took 4 months to build.

For those worried about the control scheme, you can use either accelerometer or virtual joystick, swap the side of the screen the joystick and action buttons are, change the opacity of the controls (invisible if you want), and it automatically switches orientation as previously mentioned.

The story is a scientist invents a way to travel to parallel worlds and discovers a hidden world between worlds, where the gods locked the secrets of immortality in a box. You have to travel through time and space to different locations and retrieve the soul keys, which let you unlock the gates placed by the gods.

The game has 64 progressively difficult levels spread across 8 locations. There is a lot of variety of the level design including a castle, arena, library, hotel, forests, mazes, tombs, pyramids, forests etc. Overall there is around 10 hours of gameplay, and 3 difficulty levels (easy, normal, and insane!)

The game has some humour and inside jokes, for instance you'll find notes left by famous treasure hunters of film and video game history although they don't make it as far as you. You may also find where I was caught inside the game trying to advertise iFishing and Blue Skies and they threw me in the tiger's cage. Another instance you'll find a grave of an unknown boy who was sucked into a wormhole and got stuck in the game.

Some technical features:
Full 360 degree movement (not like some games where you can only move north, south, east or west)
3D immersive sound
10 song soundtrack
Custom software based dynamic lighting for unlimited lights
Enemies include bats, beetles, gladiators, snakes, spiders, giant worms, fireballs, spinning blades, and spike traps.
Weapons include pistol, shotgun, grenades, flame thrower, rocket launcher, fireballs, spinning blades. You can also use movable boulders to crush enemies.

I hope you guys enjoy the game. I think it's a lot of fun and it's the kind of action game I've been wanting on iphone.

[salsamd]

Wow!!

Price?

Mb size?

final build video?

[RPGGuy]

45 mb, $7.99.

I'm working on a trailer now. I hope they accept it with red blood. If they don't I'll have to make new footage :)

Tomorrow I'll post some newer screenshots and maybe a new gameplay video.

[21duc29]

Eight is pretty high.. no "on sale" deal? I am still interested in getting it but a little high for me.

[jFND]

Sounds great on paper, and I can't wait to play it based on the videos.

[dawxxx666]

Looks really interesting, waiting to get my hands on it.

[Zincous]

Looks really good. I am very interested in it. But at $8 I will wait for reviews and initial impressions by users here once it comes out.

Good luck with it!

[Ravenblack]

I'm interested too. I like games like this. But 7.99 is kinda steep for something new without a lite version to try first. Will there be a lite version?

[RPGGuy]

I'm going with $8 for a number of reasons. This is the price of several other top premiere games (2XL Supercross, MGS Touch).

I think given the nature of the game there will be a limited number of people who buy it. It's not a casual game or an impulse buy. It's made for hardcore gamers. I expect around 50k-100k people would be interested in this.

I've noticed how quickly Wolfenstein and MGS Touch have dropped in the charts. This means the people that want this kind of game will buy it as soon as it comes out.

I know that when Blue Skies came out people said it was the same thing over and over again which is true. This game has a TON of gameplay with 64 levels. Some of the harder levels take 30-40 minutes to complete. If you compare it in terms of entertainment dollar per hour, it's cheap. Going to a movie costs around $10 for 2 hours. This is $8 for about 10 hours of gameplay plus you can play it as much as you want over again.

If anyone is a reviewer and wants a promo code please contact me at support@rockingpocketgames.com. I'll be giving out codes and the trailer to post on your websites when it's ready.

[RPGGuy]

I'm interested too. I like games like this. But 7.99 is kinda steep for something new without a lite version to try first. Will there be a lite version?

I don't have a lite version ready yet. I'll decide if I need one later depending on the sales.

[RPGGuy]

Wolfenstein and MGS are well known names, but they aren't the best games.
One is a remake of a very old game, and the other is a simple tap shooter.
Dark Raider is a complete and very polished game with a lot of variety in the gameplay and puzzles. I didn't rush it out the door with plans to add things later.

Judging from the sales of Blue Skies and the market trends there seems to be a group of core gamers that will buy all the big name titles as soon as they come out, and they're willing to pay 5-10 bucks to get the latest cool game.
I can always put it on sale later in a few months for less hardcore gamers.

I won't be updating Blue Skies unless it's for bug fixes. If I'm going to add different missions and more of a story I'd make a Blue Skies 2. Dark Raider 2 is already being planned though.

I've never been this excited over a release before. I hope Apple approves it soon!

[salsamd]

I'm going with $8 for a number of reasons. This is the price of several other top premiere games (2XL Supercross, MGS Touch).


Marketing your product though is key to getting the necessary initial visibility. 2XL, Wolfenstein, and MGS besides being "name brands" got front page action at TA and top row advertising at the App store.

[RPGGuy]

The trailer is out now!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EdpDDPWyblc&fmt=22

EdpDDPWyblc

[arta]

Marketing your product though is key to getting the necessary initial visibility. 2XL, Wolfenstein, and MGS besides being "name brands" got front page action at TA and top row advertising at the App store.

Yeah, you should be seeking out editors at top reviewing sites to send them promo codes, not meekly asking them in this thread.

[RPGGuy]

I will be doing that once the game is available, just thought I'd mention it if anyone else is reading this thread.

Let me know your thoughts on the trailer :)

[dannys95]

Nice trailer, the guy at the end reminds me of Indiana Jones.

Speaking of which, the trailer kinda reminds me of an old Indy pc game. Let me go look for it

EDIT:

Found the game it remind me of. Indiana Jones and His Dekstop Adventures.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indiana_Jones_and_His_Desktop_Adventures

http://www.thecomputershow.com/computershow/graphics/idscreen3.jpg

[arta]

That's a great trailer. I'm actually more interested in the game now that I know you can play it with the camera locked in place. Certainly has a lot of detail put into the enemies, level layout. I'll just have to how good the puzzles and pathfinding really are.

Not sure if the real human avatar fits with the 2d drawing of the game. Perhaps if that too were drawn like in Doom, and still reflected your status etc? Time will tell.

If the game truly has a ton of variety and levels then $8 is definately a fair price (updates too!). If push comes to shove you at least have room for price drops.

[indyraider4]

The controls look a lot like apex design's controls for payback. I can't wait to get my hands on this one! :D

[arta]

And put better tags in your youtube videos! People type in "iphone game" and "upcoming new game Appstore" in search to find the latest games. "Darkraidermovie", only someone who already knows about your game/ company would type that.

[supg328911]

looks just like payback

[RPGGuy]

I've posted some new screenshots. The controls don't look like payback as much now with the final art :)

http://www.rockingpocketgames.com/images/screenshots/DarkRaider/DarkRaider2.png

http://www.rockingpocketgames.com/images/screenshots/DarkRaider/DarkRaider3.png

http://www.rockingpocketgames.com/images/screenshots/DarkRaider/DarkRaider5.png

[Ravenblack]

Definitely on my to-get list now. :)

[arta]

Can you switch the direction and shoot controls?

[RPGGuy]

Yes I think I already mentioned you can swap the side of the controls and change the opacity.

[21duc29]

I know we're over this but how about a one day sale for three to five dollars? The only game I bought over eight bucks is BIA... other than that, usually five and below.

Just wondering... are there dragons in the game? :D

[CandyNJ66]

Looks pretty cool RPG Guy and I enjoyed the trailer. Very movie like trailer :)

Was the character who is pictured in the avatar based on a real person? If so, he's pretty hot. :p

[RPGGuy]

I've released a new gameplay video here with the fixed camera mode.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=60a1Ye2LW38&fmt=22

60a1Ye2LW38

[yourofl10]

I've released a new gameplay video here with the fixed camera mode.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=60a1Ye2LW38&fmt=22

<object width="560" height="340"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/60a1Ye2LW38&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/60a1Ye2LW38&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="560" height="340"></embed></object>

;)

[RPGGuy]

There is a mixture but most of the time you'll be defending yourself while trying to make it through the level.

[RPGGuy]

Check the first post in the thread for 4 more gameplay videos.

[Ravenblack]

Looks amazing, sounds great too. :)