Subscribe to the TouchArcade YouTube channel Hi guys, Last time when we were releasing [thread=122813]Train Titans[/thread] we hinted at something kinda-cool (or so we thought) that we had coming up. We've been working hard at it ever since, and today, we can show you the result of all that work. It's called Violet Storm, and it's a crazy, over-the-top, no-holds-barred neon-glow space shooter. The goal was fairly simple - to make a quick game anyone can pick up, blow up hundreds of enemies, relax, take their mind off things. At least, that's what it accomplishes for us. There are no levels or puzzles here - just an infinite number of different and increasingly powerful waves of enemies coming at you, and a corresponding set of increasing powerful weapons to ward them off. And when you shatter approaching enemies to pieces, they make an incredibly satisfying glass breaking sound. More info and screenshots here: Website BETA TESTERS NEEDED! While we think Violet Storm is a great little shooter (naturally), we also think it can be an incredible one - but only with your help. This is why we're looking for beta testers starting right now. Once you sign up, please send us *any* comments and suggestions you have. Not just bugs, though of course those are welcome, too, but anything you would change in the game - and the crazier, the better. If you want to participate, just send an email to support at sadcatsoft.com or use the contact form on our website. Cheers! - Oleg
Forgot to mention a couple of things that may be useful: 1) If you're contacting us about participating a beta, can you please also include your UDID for the device you're going to be running the beta on? It just saves on emails back-and-forth. Thank you. 2) Since not everyone is going to be watching the video, the currently planned release date is March 29th, if App Store gods cooperate.
Thanks for the tip, guys. I've heard of TestFlight before, but have never actually tried it - and having just done so, it does seem like a *very* convenient way to do things. Here's the link to beta-test through them: http://bit.ly/zGQ7Pm We don't have a build there right now, but we'll upload one shortly.
Take these claims as granted. This game is fast paced and intense twin stick shooter. Very fun to play in short bursts but the lack of modes should be addressed to give the game more replay value (other than highscore). Another plus side is the over-the-top weapons . Missiles and lasers are extremely cool to watch and use. One aspect of the game I don't understand is the icon - the featured ship does not appear in the game. I wish it did because the icon-ic ship looks cool .
I sent you a message with my UDID on your contact form. I used my ipod email, shotage*****@****.*** to sign up. I did have a problem trying to download the TestFlight Build. It was not set up for my Ipod Touch 4th Gen running iOS 5, according to the site. Or maybe you haven't uploaded the build yet. Shame, I wanted to try it over dinner tonight. It looks like Geometry Wars but better since we have all those fun power ups. I'll keep looking on my email or on TestFlight.
Sorry about being late! It should all be good now. We'll be here on the weekend, too, for any kind of support/feedback you might have, so there won't be delays.
Thanks for the suggestion. We were actually originally thinking of adding modes, but then thought it might add too much complexity and choices to UI... I guess that we should rethink that. Yay! It will in a different game for sure. There's only one reason the icon is the way it is - we played around with various glowing-style icons that more closely matched what the game actually is, but they were not just good-looking enough (IMHO). The moment we put this ship in there, though, it all clicked in place, even though it looks different from what's in the game. Worry not, though, in it will be part of a future, more complex and sophisticated title for sure...
My thoughts while playing this game: Holy crap the visuals! The game seems to be tailor made for the retina display. Stick controls are tight, very tight. Music is a bit repetitive, could get irritating. At the start of each wave, my iPod touch slows down briefly. 8gb 4th gen. Also slows down slightly when there are a lot of enemies at once. Understandable. Wow this game looks nice. Didn't notice the bombs that I had. When I tried to use them, it was difficult to press. Perhaps going the Beat Hazard route of having them activate when touching out of the firing stick (above fires one type) (below fires another). Once you get the green bullets, you pretty much win forever. The auto firing blue bullets help. Still haven't gotten far enough to check for boss levels. Wouldn't mind having the ship fire from the front only. Still move freely, but when you change firing direction, the ship moves too. But you still have free firing and free movement. That's just personal preference and doesn't really matter. SCSGames was very prompt and helpful in helping with some problems in getting testflight to download the game, but they responded in about 30 minutes, very impressed with their customer service, even if I'm just a tester. In fact, I'd go on saying I was treated like family, or as a VIP. Keep up the good work.
I have another question, are you guys anticipating this being tailor made for the new iPad 3's retina display? I'm not sure what the difference in quality is vs the iPad 2 and original iPad besides resolution, but I would think there's a bit more going on with the iPad 3's GPU vs the others.
There's two ways to answer this, the short one ("Yes") and the slightly longer one. We'll probably end up with two versions of the game - one which supports everything except the iPad 3 (i.e. it will run on it, but with iPad-2 resolution graphics), and the second version which will also include iPad-3 graphics. The reason for this is simple - right now, we're under 20Mb in size, which means Violet Storm can be downloaded over a 3G connection, and if you bundle iPad-3 graphics with that, we'll shoot way past that size. Here you might say: "Ah, but didn't Apple recently increase the limit to 50Mb?" and you'd be right. The thing is, this only applies to iOS 5.1 and later, and there's still lots and lots of folks with versions prior to that. This is all assuming we can run out on Friday and get the iPad 3 to test on. As to graphics, the actual speed might end up being the same as iPad 2, because while iPad-3 is 4x as powerful in terms of GPU, it also has 4x the number of pixels to render, which will probably mean the overall speed is about the same as before.
On a related note, we've added two new game modes a few seconds ago after a marathon coding session over the weekend (just as some of you suggested), so feel free to give them a whirl if you've got the beta installed. Our TestFlight team's URL is http://bit.ly/zGQ7Pm.
This game is great! Here are some things I'd recommend/ encountered while playing 1. The ship is kinda slow 2. Sometimes the game gets a bit laggy 3. New ships meaning each ship has its own specific weapon that can be upgraded. 4. Sometimes enemies spawn on top of you so you automatically get hit. 5. Switching between weapons like meteor blitz Otherwise I will be getting this when it is released! Great work!
Yeah, I've been e-mailing them about it. The homing bombs really slow my device down. Also, I think a weapons purchasing system should be put in place. Those gold circles with dollar signs, make weapon purchasing with points earned ingame.
Guys, I've been impressed with your updates. I'm glad to have been testing for you all. Your enhancements are making the game better and better for my device. Keep up the good work.
