iPhone Via Pompeii by TimeTours (developer diary)

Discussion in 'Upcoming iOS Games' started by kukulcan, Jan 6, 2012.

  1. kukulcan

    kukulcan Well-Known Member

    Jan 4, 2009
    351
    0
    16
    #1 kukulcan, Jan 6, 2012
    Last edited: Jan 25, 2012
    01/06/2012 Via Pompeii will be the first game published by TimeTours with a tentative March release date. It will be a story driven board/puzzle game with some great presentation.

    Mathias, our programmer has some experience with smaller iOS game projects and is working on this in Cocos2D. Nothing has been set in stone but we'll probably release it as an universal app. I post it here because right now we are concentrating on the iPad while it runs fine on both devices already.

    We are through with the first very important part, the level editor (which runs on iPad as part of the game). The idea was to do this the right way from the beginning and so we chose Dropbox to save our levels. That way every level is instantly available to test by any team member.

    Graphically we are going the 3D route for most of the levels, menus and backgrounds. But the characters will be hand drawn...well, to give them...a little more character. Same goes for the introduction to the (guess what) 'time travel' story told in comic style.

    Ruy F. who does our 'The Time Traveler's Kids' comic will be responsible for the characters who will be a little more realistically proportioned and textured but still retain a slight comic look (first scribbles for your viewing pleasure):

    [​IMG]
     
  2. reec0X

    reec0X Well-Known Member

    Oct 21, 2011
    438
    0
    0
    Computer Engineer
    Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
    What is the game all about? Is it RPG or TD?
     
  3. kukulcan

    kukulcan Well-Known Member

    Jan 4, 2009
    351
    0
    16
    Puzzle/Board game with a touch of TD but no RPG.
     
  4. LazyGamer

    LazyGamer Well-Known Member

    Sep 26, 2011
    290
    0
    0
    Kiel, Germany
    The soldiers are well done and some inside info is always nice...but how about a little more info about the game itself, so we get an idea if this is one to watch.
     
  5. kukulcan

    kukulcan Well-Known Member

    Jan 4, 2009
    351
    0
    16
    Ya, sorry, it is game where you remove tiles from a board, in the mini boss levels you place tiles and in the boss levels you move tiles ;)

    It goes from a rather meditative start to more strategic and puzzle centric levels.

    More in the next episode


    P.S. Gruß nach Kiel :cool:
     
  6. kukulcan

    kukulcan Well-Known Member

    Jan 4, 2009
    351
    0
    16
    01/13/2012 Now that the level editor is done and the basic game features (taking tiles away from a gameboard) are implemented, it is time to evaluate which ideas and which extras work to make the game fun. As there are quite some games with a similar basic gameplay, coming up with new ways to get rid of tiles and combining extras for puzzle elements is our foremost challenge.

    The basic menu structure/level selects are done and we decided on the size: Five cities with 19 levels each. Net playtime (without 'sidequests') about 6 hours if you do every level first try. So realistically 10+ hours, backtracking will be encouraged, not only to get higher scores in old levels with new extras, but to unlock even more extras and an extra city.

    Mid-level bosses and bosses will have different gameplay, more strategy and puzzle focussed to make the game more diverse.

    Just a quick size test for our level select screens (all final rendering will be done in 2048x1576 just in case):

    [​IMG]

    On the music front, the fellow who we found in the developer support forum, came up with the first menu/level select tunes, more of that in the next entry.
     
  7. LazyGamer

    LazyGamer Well-Known Member

    Sep 26, 2011
    290
    0
    0
    Kiel, Germany
    So you say it is basically a Mahjong style game?
     
  8. kukulcan

    kukulcan Well-Known Member

    Jan 4, 2009
    351
    0
    16
    Yeah, like Gran Turismo 5 is basically this:

    [​IMG]

    Via Pompeii is losely based on Mahjong, yes, but we want to do something that is much more diverse. There are two basic ways to remove stones plus one addition for every new city. That is plus "extra-weapons" you can collect in the levels.

    And you can go back to earlier levels with your new abilities to get more points/achievements.
     
  9. LazyGamer

    LazyGamer Well-Known Member

    Sep 26, 2011
    290
    0
    0
    Kiel, Germany
    eeehhh...ok...guess I have to wait for some gameplay video to understand...but if it is anything like Venice Mystery count me in.
     
  10. kukulcan

    kukulcan Well-Known Member

    Jan 4, 2009
    351
    0
    16
    #10 kukulcan, Jan 20, 2012
    Last edited: Jan 20, 2012
    01/20/2012 Starting to build levels in order including the tutorials and introducing extras one by one.

    Meanwhile we have set up the app, so in theory the game will be released in max. 120 days. Game will have 8 leaderboards and we are deciding between some 150 and 320 achievments. To keep the localization cost reasonable we think about doing the achievements texts in Latin - everybody should understand that ;)

    On the graphics side the final tiles and first gameboard have arrived so next week we are finally ready to show first game screens.

    We are not yet decided if we want the contrast realistic/comic or will adapt the backgrounds to comic style with rendering cel shaded for the "encounter" screens:

    [​IMG]

    And as promised, first result from Sam, our musician, who made a first version of a track for the levels with a military setting:

    http://www.time-tours.com/daily/Saalburg.mp3

    Sam is a TA Member and we found him in through the "Developer Services and Trade" forum...gotta love TA.
     
  11. kukulcan

    kukulcan Well-Known Member

    Jan 4, 2009
    351
    0
    16
    #11 kukulcan, Jan 25, 2012
    Last edited: Jan 25, 2012
    We give away 5 Promo Codes for 'Via Pompeii' this week: http://www.time-tours.com/daily

    This is for the iPad version due in late march.

    We finally decided against a universal version because the iPhone playfields will be optimized for the smaller screen and it will get its own levels. More on friday.

    Not final, but this is what one of the playboards will look like:

    [​IMG]
     
  12. LazyGamer

    LazyGamer Well-Known Member

    Sep 26, 2011
    290
    0
    0
    Kiel, Germany
    #12 LazyGamer, Jan 27, 2012
    Last edited: Jan 27, 2012
    Looks nice so far. Thanks for the 'code'.

    btw. I think it is like 'Video or it didn't happen' here on TA forums.
     
  13. kukulcan

    kukulcan Well-Known Member

    Jan 4, 2009
    351
    0
    16
    01/27/2012 Development continues, now with two seperate versions. But we dont see either one as "lead platform", seperating them rather guarantees no compromises are made in usabilty.

    No new screenshots this week, rather some info about gameplay. The initial idea was to marry Mahjong with Match-3 and that is what the main game turned out to be.

    You can tap a series of tiles like in Mahjong, but that is just the ground work to stock up your skills. You can then swipe adjacent tiles of the same type - at least 3, but the goal are long swipes. The more skills (change a tile, skip a gap, climb up a level...and more) you earned the longer your swipes will be.

    For the casual gamer the "Via" to Pompeii is a straight one. They can Tap and Swipe away, going from rather meditative to more challenging from city to city.

    The hardcore gamer can stray away from the main path any time and do some #more strategy and puzzle centered levels. There will of course be leaderboards for the longest swipes (we cant wait to see how inventive people will be) and for the most gold collected in a city. Replay is valued and rewarded - with gold, achievements and of course extra levels.

    Meanwhile more graphics, movies and music arrive, so we are close to #finalizing the touch and feel of the first city.
     
  14. kukulcan

    kukulcan Well-Known Member

    Jan 4, 2009
    351
    0
    16
    #14 kukulcan, Feb 3, 2012
    Last edited: Feb 3, 2012
    Double post
     
  15. kukulcan

    kukulcan Well-Known Member

    Jan 4, 2009
    351
    0
    16
    2012/02/03...and another week gone.

    Game development feels a lot different today from what I remember from Amiga/Atari ST times. Graphics and sound keep coming regularely from different sources and no "garage sessions" this time.

    A near final set of gameplay graphics is implemented giving us a good idea of the final look of the game. Right now we are implementing the optical/aural and "physical" feedback that in our eyes often differentiates a great from a "meh" one.

    Finally we found the names to distinguish "skills" (which you earn for the current level and which are essential for finishing it) and "extras" (which are nice helpers you collect throught the whole game).

    You are right, but as cliche as it sounds, game comes first. We have some video editing skills in the team and want to come up with a really great trailer - when the time has come. The trailer will reveal a little about the story (did we mention Via Pompeii has one?) which is about a "secret society" that is pretty well known ;)

    no new pics today, just this:

    [​IMG]
     
  16. ryansumo

    ryansumo Well-Known Member

    Feb 1, 2012
    104
    0
    16
    Freelance artist
    Manila
    Just a bit of advice for your artist, maybe he should tone down the shading on the Roman soldiers, they look like they're about to pop.

    I personally think that you ought to match the character art to the background art, as well.

    Good luck with the game!
     
  17. kukulcan

    kukulcan Well-Known Member

    Jan 4, 2009
    351
    0
    16
    #17 kukulcan, Feb 6, 2012
    Last edited: Feb 6, 2012
    Thanks!

    You are absolutely right, reducing the shading especially on the arms was the first thing we did (see below the shots from iPhone topic which are a little more up to date).

    Going for a contrast between realistic backgrounds and comic character was always a discussion, but finally we decided to use a cel shaded look for the backgrounds too.

    Doing 3D character models was never an options simply because of budget considerations. So the characters will never match the backgrounds 100% but we will probably try to match the accented edges of the cel shading.

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]
     
  18. kukulcan

    kukulcan Well-Known Member

    Jan 4, 2009
    351
    0
    16
    2012/02/10 Level design mostly. As we want the levels be more than just different formations of stones this will really take some time. And every single level should offer incentives to play it again.

    Visible and audible feedback for Taps, Swipes and "Combos" are being implemented step by step, every single one adding to fun factor immediatly. We decided to have a "non magical" look, so instead of stones glowing they get tagged with coins and a leather strap. We have a very special idea for the extras, hope it works out.

    Off to vacation for a week, time to do some more scripts for the cutscenes.
     
  19. kukulcan

    kukulcan Well-Known Member

    Jan 4, 2009
    351
    0
    16
    2012/02/24 Back from vacation.

    Just got the message from our programmer, that the game in its planned form is now basically feature complete. But we decided to delay it 3 month anyway. There is still lots to do and that gives us 3 month from now for alpha and beta testing and tweaking the original concept where needed.

    Release date is now 06/21 for both versions. So unfortunately we wont be the first to show off iPad Retina resolution.

    And finally we found a new team member (from TA again), who will support us with the perfect english and her deep knowledge in roman history - for the game and other apps.
     
  20. kukulcan

    kukulcan Well-Known Member

    Jan 4, 2009
    351
    0
    16
    #20 kukulcan, Mar 2, 2012
    Last edited: Mar 2, 2012
    2012/03/02 TimeTours Mobile division bus has been sighted at roman ruins in Portugal and Spain.

    This means either the mobile team is investigating for our Rome apps or they are on a mission to fight an extremist cult that took the world hostage.

    [​IMG] [​IMG]

    Meanwhile, we are doing the tutorial levels for all the skills, the first levels of every city. Bugs come up less frequently and we are ready to give the game to some people who are completely new to the gameplay and dont suffer from the tunnel vision developers develop.

    Another music track just came in for your listening pleasure:
    http://www.time-tours.com/Pompeii-1.mp3
     

Share This Page