The Secret Castle (Platronic Games)

Discussion in 'Upcoming iOS Games' started by John Francis, Sep 22, 2011.

  1. #1 John Francis, Sep 22, 2011
    Last edited: Feb 16, 2013


    Hi everyone,

    I'm John Francis, owner of Platronic and designer for The Secret Castle, our first iOS game. The Secret Castle is a holographic hidden picture/puzzle game and I believe to be the first of it's kind on the App Store. I've seen a couple of tech demos doing something similar but never a full game behind it.

    Please check out our site at www.platronicgames.com and let me know what you think of our teaser trailer.

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    We intend to release the game this year and have made a ton of progress over the last few months on it. I'm going to be pretty active in these forums over the next few months as I think this will be a really valuable source of info and hopefully I can be a somewhat useful resource to the other gamers and developers on this site.

    Please feel free to friend me on Facebook and give me any suggestions on price, type, and features you would like to see in an app like this as we move further into development.

    Finally, I'm more than happy to embed a youtube or vimeo video in this post if someone can tell me how to do it. I'm not regular forum guy so these things are kinda new to me.
     
  2. arta

    arta Well-Known Member

    Feb 14, 2009
    6,902
    1
    36
  3. triggywiggy

    triggywiggy Well-Known Member

    Jan 24, 2010
    4,353
    2
    0
    Freelance writer, Student, Casually employed in re
    Perth, Western Australia
    Wow looks stunning! Good look! :D
     
  4. IloveGame

    IloveGame Member

    Jun 13, 2010
    12
    0
    0
  5. dreadnok

    dreadnok Well-Known Member

    Jun 8, 2011
    4,157
    7
    38
    I came here to kick ass and chew bubble gum I'm ou
    Well that got my attention
     
  6. paul.hendricks

    paul.hendricks Well-Known Member

    Jul 30, 2009
    873
    13
    18
    State of Confusion!!
    #6 paul.hendricks, Sep 22, 2011
    Last edited: Sep 22, 2011
    Wow! That looks detailed and amazing! I really liked his hair rustling as he walked. How does the 3-d stereoscopic effect look on the smaller iPod/iPhone screen?
     
  7. Thanks a ton. It's been really exciting figuring out to great puzzles that work within in a holographic system and our upcoming level demo will really illustrate the wide variety of stuff each level has to do as well what we hope is a fun and engaging story.

    If you like what you see please remember to like us on facebook. Also, in the media section you will find some awesome wallpapers that our artist did to promote the game.

    I've decided I'm going to at least post a screenshot from the first level in the couple of days so I'll make sure to put it in the thread when I take it.

    Any and all feedback is greatly appreciated.
     
  8. Refreshingly it looks great. The accelerometer drives everything well and the pinch/zoom functionality allows for easy navigation. The funny thing is we had to "invent" new methods of manipulating 3D space because your perspective can hide objects again when you zoom around the screen.

    I'm currently building the game around Iphone 4, testing on a 3GS, and throwing it on the Ipad 2 for fun. The only reason the trailer is even an Ipad 2 is the holographic effect only looks right when filmed live on a device and the Ipad screen was definitely easier to film.
     
  9. LOLavi

    LOLavi Well-Known Member

    May 23, 2011
    8,364
    0
    0
    iPhone gamer
    Finland
    Looks amazing! I like how you must tilt to look around or something! And zoom is also something new and great! :) Can we see more gameplay later? Does it have puzzles?
     
  10. Pepper2427

    Pepper2427 Well-Known Member

    Jan 11, 2011
    1,498
    0
    36
    Wits End
    Looks fantastic. Definately one to watch
     
  11. It has plenty of puzzles. There's some level interactivity on almost every level with many of the objects broken on up on multiple layers of depth that have to be "merged" to be found. We wanted to have core items that move the story forward but also advanced items that could take some time be found. Of course we plan to have free DLC not too long after release either since it's easier to create content now that we have a strong system.
     
  12. Chaosprower

    Chaosprower Member

    Dec 28, 2009
    13
    0
    0
    Will it be compatible with the iPad 1? Or does it require a newer device with gyroscope?
     
  13. It works off of the acceleromter so that it can be compatible with everything. We also were careful on how much actual geometry we used to give us the best shot on supporting older devices.

    We're going to have a pretty cool walkthrough of the features and puzzle systems in the game in the next week or two so please keep a look out for that.

    My twitter name is Platronic if anyone wants to follow me as I finally have an account started and will start announcing when videos and other details are released.
     
  14. We are finally getting the walkthrough ready but I figured we at least needed a screenshot to give people a better idea of what the game will look like. Here's an early version of the second level in the game:

    [​IMG]

    Let me know what you think!
     
  15. dreadnok

    dreadnok Well-Known Member

    Jun 8, 2011
    4,157
    7
    38
    I came here to kick ass and chew bubble gum I'm ou
    looks incredible starting following on twitter can't wait to see how this turns out
     
  16. So finally we have a detailed walkthrough on how the game works as well as a more up to date version of the game running:



    I'd really like some feedback on if this looks like it would stand out in a crowd and more importantly if it's something you would play. We've been working on this a ton lately and because there are so many new problems due to the nature of the game I've kinda wanted to know whether the innovation seemed apparent or if it looked like just another app.

    Any and all feedback will be appreciated and I intend to be much more active in the forums so if you have a questions pm me!
     
  17. paul.hendricks

    paul.hendricks Well-Known Member

    Jul 30, 2009
    873
    13
    18
    State of Confusion!!
    All I can say is "Wow!". That is incredibly innovative and amazing looking! It is definitely different than anything else I have seen on the App Store.

    As for standing out, that is a little more difficult. It will depend on your marketing and promotion plans-there is a ton of chatter on release days already, so you will either have to innovate with your plans or bust through the chatter with brute force.
     
  18. I'm reading the blogs and had a marketing job in games so I have a bit of experience but I'm still wondering if the innovation will help spread the game or if I need to spend some serious money marketing or find a publisher.

    We're almost finished and I don't know if I have the time to market it to the extent I would like to. I'm more interested in getting translations done and getting new content for it prepped.
     
  19. arta

    arta Well-Known Member

    Feb 14, 2009
    6,902
    1
    36
    That definitely looks very cool.

    As far as marketing goes, at the very least you should start sending trailers and preview/ review builds to sites to get some free buzz going. Some of them are Toucharcade, SlideToPlay, Pocketgamer, 148apps, AppGamer.net, App-score, Touchgen, AppAdvice, Gamespot, Gametrailers, IGN Wireless (GDJustin on Neogaf is the head of IGN Wireless section).

    Also on youtube: Appspy, TheGameTrail, CrazyMikesApps, TouchGamePlay, and Phonecatss
     
  20. Pepper2427

    Pepper2427 Well-Known Member

    Jan 11, 2011
    1,498
    0
    36
    Wits End
    It's certainly unique. I can't wait for the release. Good luck and I hope all goes well
     

Share This Page