@teh_Ninja: correct @poli: We have heard a similar report, it would be awesome if you could send your crash report to [email protected] (here's how to find those). If it is the same issue, we have already submitted a fix, if not, please send us your crash reports
Great update as others have mentioned. I kinda miss the old list of high scores. Its easier to see how far you are away from the next set of scores for me to beat... Is it difficult to bring back the old list of high scores as an option? While it doesn't matter, but is the option to set visible hitbox gone now? A possible bug.. I normally play most games with the sound muted. I touched the preview ship button, and the video didn't seem to respect the volume setting, and continued to have sound even after I exited the video. It seems like the sound is using the setting for alerts instead of for the general volume settings. Is this a bug? Otherwise, another great update.
the black and white near death is amazing. been waiting for this update for quite a long time.. honestly, i thought it might not happen. glad to see it live, at last. thanks, Firi!
I'm also confused by this difficulty settings. Usually, I play all my shmups on the highest difficulty settings cause it is the most fun, however, with this game, you have to also be in the coin getting mode, so now the 5 star setting may be a little too hard. So my setting is locked at 5 stars. If I reset, my difficulty goes to 1, but I won't be able to choose another right? How does the difficulty go up after that? Do different difficulties represent different levels? Or does the difficulty change after you pass all of the levels, then you get to the next higher difficulty? I'm a little afraid to change my difficulty and getting reset, cause then I may not find the game as fun since the bullets will be slower and less I figure. And it may take a long time to get back up to 5 star difficulty. I for one, am inclined to vote for putting back the difficulty change option, maybe you can make difficulties change with a pop up when you reach it, or maybe make the difficulty level change an option for like 500 coins or something. I don't really know what will happen after a difficulty reset, so my views might change after doing so, but right now I am still scared of doing it, any other players reset yet? Is it worth it? And I'm sure getting coins on lower difficulty settings is much easer right? And are leaderboards tied to difficulty settings? Thanks.
Thanks guys, we're super happy with the black&white mode and glad you like it too. Trust me, it isn't easy to build something like that and keep it running at 60fps with thousands of animated particles on the screen I wouldn't say 'drop', but they are indeed currently not available. It is scheduled for a later update. We had to manage our time on this, already huge, update. Phoenix HD 1.x did not work with iOS6, so the iOS6 release basically determined our deadline. I don't think we'll go back to list views, probably just for the GC friends leaderboards However, we added the 'medals' to provide targets to beat. If you have the highest medal in your area, just zoom out, your medal targets will appear. Indeed, this is also something we had to postpone. If it comes back though, it will look different (better) than previously. The menu sounds do behave differently, I don't know the technical details, but we know about it, that's all I can say at this point Regarding the whole difficulty settings thing. Don't worry! It's not easier or faster to gain coins on different difficulty levels. The stars go up automatically based on the score you have achieved. Resetting the difficulty drops it back to 1 star and you will progress again depending on the score you get. I think I wrote a very long piece about the difficulty/progression system of Phoenix HD somewhere in the past, but I'll re-iterate the relevant parts: The more stars, the more score you get per enemy. The more stars, the faster you level up at the start. This only works for a fixed number of levels (depends on the stars) and makes sure you do not have to spend much time fighting easy encounters over and over. The more stars, the faster enemy projectiles move. So all the stars are on the same Leaderboards and you can assume that the 1-stars are lower than the 5-stars Who knows though, maybe some guy plays an epic 5 hour 1-star game and approaches a good 5-star score Hope this answers your question, feel free to comment though, I'll gladly answer everything on your mind
I have SO much to comment on, but I am simultaneously so engrossed in the game that I have no time to type. Quite the dilemma
Waahhhh.... Sob... Sob... I was number one in Los Angeles, in fact, number one in the whole world yesterday night! Now, I'm only 462 in Los Angeles, 4098 in the world! Ahhh, fame is so fleeting! Sigh... Signed off, Connector -> former #1 player in the world!
So, the slight honeymoon period is over and things look a little worse in the harsh daylight. I still maintain that the iAP and consumable boosts are a fair price to pay for the new content (given that a premium priced non-CAVE shmup wouldn't sell), but I am not enjoying the game as much as I used to earlier. Most of the time I'll buy a doubler boost and maybe a powerup boost (it's very hard to get full weapon upgrades without this boost) to farm coins, and sometimes I'll have a really great run where if I had bought the drones and all other boosts I might have pushed myself further up on the leaderboards. On the other hand, runs where I do use a lot of boosts don't always end up going well and a lot of the time I'm left thinking about breaking even on the investment, routinely looking up at the coins counter. Sometimes I'll hit a really bad set of patterns with low health and no health drops in sight and that will mean a lot of wasted coins. Whereas earlier every run was an enjoyable event, now my runs are divided between farming runs and ranking runs. And neither seem to be as enjoyable as before. Further, although the 100k coins you get for 5.99 seems very generous, it only buys you 12 perfect runs. Even with that 100k you will still have to worry about farming and breaking even on runs. So that pay to win factor, despite however small, always remains in the back of your head now and makes the game a lot less enjoyable for me. I know you guys are a small two man indie team, so I hope this model pays off for you because I know that will mean bigger and better things for you, and consequently better games for avid fans like me. But for me the game no longer holds a special place, looking more like one of the million freemium endless runners (and the recent CAVE shmups with consumable iAP) which I abhor.
It's about freaking time! Bought the Trinity. Cool but first score sucked. Buying armaments is a great idea. Models look even sharper on my ipad3. Best looking shmup easily.
I bought the Corsair to support the developers. Not nearly as fun as Trinity, but fun nonetheless. I do think it would be nice if the drones cost less. I like using the drones, but they are so expensive, so it makes it hard for us to use them. Please consider making the drones a lower cost if you could for more playability. Thanks.
Well said, especially the honeymoon part. Mixed feelings for me as well. This has been a drastic update and I am actually missing the way it was. I could have taken the addition of the Trinity and been happy with just that, since I thought the game was perfect before. And I think that because it was so perfect the way it was that hardcore fans like myself and others will have a harder time adjusting to the changes. Still a great game, still one of my favorite shooters of all time, but the feel is not the same.
Is this a subtle way of saying 'buy drones'? #31 in the world without using any boosts and drones (#14 in Asia, #1 in India)
I think Trinity is now the best ship in the game, unless you have the skill for the Shogun. The Trinity is very easy to use and just requires patience, since slow motion has no penalty. My 8.4mil took me ages, but I wanted to test just how far I could get if I overused slow motion. I think my last 2mil on that run was 95% slow motion. Oh, and a word on the coin economy. On that 8.4mil run without the doubler I got 1192 coins. So even with the doubler for a run that long I would have received only 2384 coins, which barely covers the cost of buying the basic powerup, health, doubler boosts and the drones. I'm not entirely sure how I'm supposed to cover the cost of the revive, if I ever choose to use it. It seems it would be much more benevolent to the customer if the revive stacked and you could choose if you want to use it for that run or not (assuming this isn't how it is right now, that it activates automatically... I haven't tried it yet). Also, how does the Phoenix Wake work, and is that just for pros who want to quickly get to the meatier section? Skipping waves sounds like a good way to waste coin and point potential to me.
I'm not talking about what you can achieve with score, I'm talking about craftsmanship. This is more of a personal preference. The score you can achieve should be balanced between the ships. But anywho, the perfect update to me would have been the addition of the Trinity, drones available through power-ups that drop like all the other power ups, no IAP/coins whatsoever, focus vision as an OPTION (even though it's done well, I actually think it is a distraction for me), with the ability to select your difficulty intact. I also don't like that the 4th laser that was part of the group of 4 lasers on the Phoenix is removed. I liked how two went forward and two were angled, but now it's just a basic 3 pronged spread shot. But I said it before and I'll say it again: Regardless of this update, it is still a fantastic game and still one of my iOS favorites.
Oh definitely, in terms of pure design and gorgeous firepower the Corsair wins hands down. I love the missile barrage and the gatling gun, and the lock-on is a great way to generate health and drops. Not to mention the sound effects for the Corsair loadout are perfect. Trinity's weapons on the other hand sound very weak. The Focus Vision is growing on me with each play, I love the gradual dimming and then watching the game come back to life slowly as you gain health. Very thematic and improves the ambiance, already bolstered by the new backgrounds.
I like the focus vision. The concept and presentation are great. But firstly, I don't need to be told by the game that I am low on health so I can 'focus' more on the bullets. Focusing on the bullets is inherent already and I can do this just fine on my own. Secondly, when you remain on low health for an extended period of time, you remain in focus vision, and the whole time I am in focus vision I would rather just be back in color. It's in this way that I find it to be distracting. I question WHY it was implemented, almost as if the only real purpose behind it is to tell the lesser player to get out of danger. It's pretty, but I don't see it as being necessary, and having it as optional would be great. And the big thing with 'buying' upgrades is that I liked being able to determine my destiny within the game itself, not altering my mission beforehand by purchasing more health or more power ups or whatever. Everything was already supplied in abundance within the gameplay before the update. Now I have to buy them (with currency from the game) to make my ship its best. Ugh. Hmmm... This update really has my wheels turning, good, bad and indifferent. What else would you expect from the makers of Phoenix HD?
