Violet Storm - (by Sad Cat Software) [Universal]

[Guise]

Originally Posted by SCSGames

As a side note, can you describe in more detail what the problem appears as? We didn't notice anything, but maybe there's something special that's going on in this case.

Re: the strange issue with collecting the coins, I've noticed that the ship will occasionally slow way down and have difficulty maneuvering for a few seconds. Then it goes away and everything's fine.

It can be slightly annoying but is not a major problem, in my opinion.

[SCSGames]

Originally Posted by Hardbattle

There are two big issues I have with the game - even with no background apps running, on a 3rd Gen iPad, the frame rate is dreadful, the background doesn't even scroll smoothly - for these kind of games, I'd rather have less detail and 60 (or even 30) fps - but a steady consistent frame rate is essential.

Got it. Can you mention what waves this is at? Does the slowness start right away at wave 1, or only during later waves when things get hectic?

Originally Posted by Hardbattle

The other big problem is the lack of difficulty. The weapons are so so overpowered at no time did I feel threatened by the enemies. I got to about level 8 and got feed up, and basically killed myself. The whole point of this geo wars genre of games is to feel pressured and then survive with skill. There isn't a whole lot of that here.... Sorry!

Interesting. You must be really good - we couldn't actually get to Wave 8 ourselves (without cheats for testing, obviously ). Have you tried the Difficult mode? That should put a bit more pressure on you. Or should we add the Insane difficulty setting?

Originally Posted by Hardbattle

Minor things include collecting money Inbetween levels, which you can't actually spend on upgrades. The fact that you actually have $ signs on what are effectively just a points pick-up is disappointing. Just make them another shape and remove this expectation, or add something you can do with the cash you collect.

I see... that didn't cross our minds at first. As a side note, we've already started work on the next game, which will have a full-featured store, configurable weapons, and much more, and you'll be able to spend collected coins on weapon and equipment items.

Originally Posted by Hardbattle

Sound is either fully on or fully off - how do you turn of the music but keep the sound effects - again essential when this one track of music Just repeats every 20 seconds or so....

Yup, we've heard this one loud and clear. It'll be in an update that we'll release in the near future.

Originally Posted by Hardbattle

At the moment, I'm regretting the purchase, and I love this type of game, and I love the vector style of graphics. I'll see what happens with the next update, but unless these issues get addressed, I'll just delete it from my iPad and go back to Beat Hazard.

I'm sorry it wasn't up to your expectations. Please don't dump us yet - we'll address a lot of the things you (and others) have mentioned soon. In fact, we're off to work on them right now.

[SCSGames]

Originally Posted by MeanTuna

Project Phoenix is still one of my favorite DSS! That game made me buy your collection and introduced me to UV Down, another personal favorite. Just saying keep up the good work guys you're pretty neat!

So we're a little torn on this. Would love to make PP2 - but on the one hand, the market doesn't seem to be fond of a relatively small number of large levels, and instead seems to go for a large number of very small levels.

But if we do the latter, then it essentially becomes a clone of Tank Hero, which is also not something we'd like. Thinking, thinking...

[awp69]

Originally Posted by Hardbattle

There are two big issues I have with the game - even with no background apps running, on a 3rd Gen iPad, the frame rate is dreadful, the background doesn't even scroll smoothly - for these kind of games, I'd rather have less detail and 60 (or even 30) fps - but a steady consistent frame rate is essential.

The other big problem is the lack of difficulty. The weapons are so so overpowered at no time did I feel threatened by the enemies. I got to about level 8 and got feed up, and basically killed myself. The whole point of this geo wars genre of games is to feel pressured and then survive with skill. There isn't a whole lot of that here.... Sorry!

Minor things include collecting money Inbetween levels, which you can't actually spend on upgrades. The fact that you actually have $ signs on what are effectively just a points pick-up is disappointing. Just make them another shape and remove this expectation, or add something you can do with the cash you collect..

Yeah, I'm only playing on a 3GS, but I've also noted that the framerate drops. But probably didn't start happening to me until Level 5 or so.

But, dang, you must be good. I've managed to make it up to Level 7, but not 8 yet.

I do also agree with you that the pickups with the $ are a bit confusing. At first I also thought it was like in-game money to spend on upgrades.

Overall, still enjoying the game, especially the weapon variety. And I'm just avoiding stopping a game mid-level to prevent the almost-zero framerate when trying to restart.

If only someone could marry a game like this to Beat Hazard Ultra, I'd be in heaven (BHU is awesome, but would love it even more if it were vector-style).

[Zaraf]

Ok so I just tried this game out and just had time now to post about it. Over all the game is pretty sweet. Very nice visuals and the music is decent, although it gets very repetitive very quickly. And it's the annoying kind of repetitive rather than the catchy kind like Geometry Wars music.

One thing I noticed is that there are no options to change the volume of music and sound effects. The main reason I noticed this is because some of the sound effects are REALLY annoying and detract from the game.

The sound effect that bothers me the most is the laser. The pulsing loud laser sound just really gets to me, especially when it's louder than the music itself.

Are you suppose to receive power ups randomly or pick them up? So far it just seems like I just randomly receive power ups.

Another feature which would be good is that if you are not touching the screen, it should Auto-Pause.

Other than that, everything else is pretty good.

[Delusionaltool]

Originally Posted by SCSGames

Wow! You remember Project Phoenix? Craziness! And, obviously, after literally years of hard work that went into all these games, it's good to hear they made a difference. The trick now is not to take a similar step back afterward.

By the way, we were thinking about Project Phoenix 2. What do you think?


We think we might know why. Is it a brief pause where everything stops for a second or so, and then resumes, or is it more like a slowdown that goes after quickly?

its a brief pause of slow down , it doesnt pause like completely more like slo mo for a sec, and project phoenix 2 would be bad ass that game was fun as heck was a great dual stick shooter just on the ground with vehicles...

[Frennis]

I love this game. It seems like its vision lost nothing in execution. To paraphrase a line from an old rap song (?!), it doesn't shine, it glistens!
This is quite a long thread and I hope I'm not being offensive repeating stuff but here goes anyway.
Like others I got the universal build, not knowing there was a HD build for my iPad3. No big deal for me as I think it looks great anyway, but I wouldn't mind if the two builds ended up the same, you know? (Sorry, err... was that your toe?) I think I ride my iPad's free space more than many, but this game's storage footprint is not exactly huge.
Personally I don't have problems with the controls - except for the bombs. I have to pause to think about the bombs. The tiny blue one - that kills them, right? Careful now, slight thumb shift... It breaks the flow for me.
Otherwise I have no complaints except that the game crashed out on me once, just as I was passing my previous high score. It was probably my fault. My iPad actually had zero free space at the time.

EDIT: Crashed again. It does not appear to be a score or free-space issue. It happens in wave 7.

[SCSGames]

Hi guys,

Just wanted to give you a quick update on the progress of the update. We've got all the audio options laid out and working - see attached screenshot. Not only can you turn the music and the sound on and off separately, you can adjust their volumes on the fly - this window can be brought up both from the main menu and while in the game from the pause screen.

Next up - improved controls.

[SCSGames]

Well, so after working non-stop yesterday, we've just submitted the update for Violet Storm. It includes some of the most frequent changes mentioned in this thread:

- Added separate volume and mute controls for music and sound effects.
- Increased control pad size and made them dynamic (position can be chosen by the player).
- Fixed a bug where bomb buttons would appear misplaced on the Retina iPad.
- Removed some occasional random slowdowns in the game.

In addition, we've also submitted an update to Violet Storm HD that adds support for all iPhone models starting with iPhone 3G.

[DaGreen1]

Originally Posted by SCSGames

Well, so after working non-stop yesterday, we've just submitted the update for Violet Storm. It includes some of the most frequent changes mentioned in this thread:

- Added separate volume and mute controls for music and sound effects.
- Increased control pad size and made them dynamic (position can be chosen by the player).
- Fixed a bug where bomb buttons would appear misplaced on the Retina iPad.
- Removed some occasional random slowdowns in the game.

In addition, we've also submitted an update to Violet Storm HD that adds support for all iPhone models starting with iPhone 3G.

You can get it running smoother now? Great, I can't wait to get the update. Also, grats on the high ratings on the iTunes store. 4.5/5 stars is not bad.