BOT... 146,800,640 pixels of exploration

Hi!

So many years ago, when I was playing games like The Legend of Zelda or Phantasy Star II, it would be difficult to imagine what I'm doing today. I'm working on BOT — an RPG for the iPod Touch and iPhone. And so far, I'm really impressed with how this game is turning out.

I started doing some math at how big this game is going to be. In retina display, it's 146,800,640 pixels of exploration... and that's not counting if I add dungeons.

BOT is a sci-fi RPG, specifically designed for iOS. There are no lame thumbsticks here. This is not just a mindless port of a 1980's game. The future is coming soon!

Does this sound interesting to you?
If so, you can follow the progress here...

http://photics.com/bot-game-design-and-progress-reports

Would you like to be notified when this game is released? If you post a comment on that page with a valid email address, and keep that email address working until the game is released, then you should receive an email when the game is released.

The game is expected to be released in about a month.

 

That's one of my requirements in making the game, not playing the game.

I'm trying to keep things optimized, so that it runs on older hardware. Right now it runs at 60 FPS on the iPhone 4. With Resolution Independence, high res graphics are used for Retina Display devices. Without that, the game would crash on older hardware. Large images use a lot of memory!

The drawback to this feature is that the game is somewhat larger. (It's double the images, one low res and one high res.) I don't think that can be avoided. This game is going to have a lot of content... so I'm not worried about AT&T's 20MB Over-the-Air download limit. The game has lots of music... lots of sound effects and of graphic files. While I am trying to keep RAM requirements low, I'm not worrying about storage space. This isn't a NES cart. HA!

This morning I continued working on the game's enemies. The first one is a spider. It's a bit creepier than I thought. The AI is nice. It's similar to the stuff I've seen in MMORPGs. The monster wanders around randomly until the hero is in range. Then the monster chases the hero. If the hero gets out of range, the monster stops chasing the hero. It sounds simple, but it was a bit freaky to see it in action. If I can feel emotion while making the game, that's how I know I'm heading in the right direction.

 

Hi!

I'm still working hard on BOT. It's almost an obsession, as I've been working for days on things that other developers might skip. Here's an example...

Four-Way Auto-Rotational Support!

Since the game has a minimalistic interface, it wasn't too hard to add Landscape AND Portrait support. That way, you can position your iOS device in the mode that's most comfortable for you. This is great for those that care about audio. Are you wearing headphones, but you don't like where the plug is sticking out? You might really appreciate the extra work that went into this feature.

I figure if I'm going to work hard on audio, I might as well encourage players to actually listen to it.

One of the most memorable moments in creating this game was adding weapons and stealth. Heh, when I first added shooting to the game, I started laughing like a mad scientist. If you were in the next room, you'd think I had gone mad. Stealth is lots of fun too. I used to play a Rogue in EverQuest and World of Warcraft, so like sneaking up to the enemies. I think this option gives players a chance to use the sword. The idea is to give different styles of play. So if you feel like slashing your way around, that's cool. If you feel like shooting, that's cool too.

Although, I'm planning to add puzzle elements, where certain weapons are necessary to progress.

There are four different types of projectiles and three defensive items. Each of these items have four levels, to add an extra sense of progression. There's also five upgrades to TANK. That way, while you're exploring the millions of pixels, there's cool loot to find.

Heh, all those years playing MMORPGs weren't wasted. Instead of complaining to developers about what they should add to the game, I'm finally in a position to do it myself. It's a great feeling. I'm so excited about this game and I'm really looking forward to launching it.

The launch window is still April!

 

Great question!

No, this option will not be added. It's not necessary.
http://www.iphonefaq.org/archives/97974

Orientation locking is built into iOS.

BOT is an adaptation of that project. I was thinking of creating a traditional RPG like Gauntlet and Zelda, but I decided to make the theme Sci-Fi.

Basically, the inspiration is like this... Link from the Legend of Zelda and Samus from Super Metroid got together and had a kid. While growing up, that kid hung out with Gauntlet. (A possible expansion idea is adding online play, this is not planned for version 1.0. Some Game Center support is planned though, either on release or soon after release.) That kid grew up and fell in love with Phantasy Star II. They had another kid, that went to school with EverQuest, Dark Age of Camelot, World of Warcraft and Guild Wars. When the kid grew up, it got a job at Miniclip - playing Robo Rampage.

I'm making BOT unique, but those were some of my favorite games. I don't play MMORPGs anymore, that's because of changes I didn't like or content I don't like. Since I haven't found a suitable replacement, I decided to make my own game.

It's still using the top-down design, like Gauntlet, Zelda and Phantasy Star 2. The main difference is 360° of movement and the graphics are more modern.

I think the controls are excellent. I was very fussy about this. It's an iOS game, so it has to be easy. Yet, I managed to make it do a lot.

The philosophy is simple — if I'm having fun, then the players will likely have fun too. I'm very happy with the controls, making TANK dance around the screen is very satisfying. That might sound effeminate, as TANK is a burly character, but that's just a natural reaction to the controls. I've wasted a lot of time just making TANK run around. It's so satisfying to me.

I remember when I first played Super Mario World. While many other game developers were struggling with 3D movement, this game got it right. I jumped around the outside of the castle for a while. Before the mission even started, I was having a lot of fun. While not as impressive as that, I think I've created an elegant solution to iOS controls. BOT doesn't pretend to be an iOS game. It was specifically designed for it.

I'm planning to release videos and screenshots while the game is in review. That will be my promotion week. If I'm doing marketing, I'm not working on the game. Heh, so I should probably get to work.

So unless Touch Arcade contacts me personally, and requests an interview, I'm probably just going to wait until the app is in review. Heh, that will give me something to do while I wait for Apple to approve BOT. It can be a stressful time for a developer.

 

Ha ha, it was hard the last few days. That's because I was working on the Weapon and Repair shops. It's so tedious lining everything up - especially when trying to support four-way auto-rotation. BORING! The work has to be done though. I know players like loot! I'm almost done with the shops. The only thing missing from the Weapon Shop is a gold system.

Right now TANK has 500,000 gold when he starts the game. That makes it easy for testing. (It's a hidden value that's not displayed on the screen.) I'm planning to work on the gold display system tomorrow. It will be similar to the sketch on my website, but it will be modified to work with the minimalist interface. I think "gold coins" will be displayed on the bottom right of the screen. I'll play around with it though. Maybe the top-right will be better.

I'm also a getting obsessive about the graphics. Heh... "Tighten up the graphics!" There was a thin gray outline around TANK, but it didn't work right. It would look jagged on non-retina display screens... and when scaled up to an iPad / Mac OS X screen. So, I redid the graphics. TANK is the main character, so he has to look professional. I dropped the outline.

Anyway, the game is really starting to take shape. It's almost fully playable.

Here's the schedule...

• Gold system... 1 day
• Title Screen... 1-2 days
• Gun bonus logic, Weapon #4, Item #1 & #2, bonus item #1 & #2... 2 days
• Option Screen and finalize shops... 1 day
• About 7 more enemies... 7 days (one week - one enemy per day)
• 34 explorable areas... 10-17 days (2-3 areas per day)
• Quests and quest characters... 3 days
• Comic story (maybe)... 2 days
• Game Center? ... 1 day

So, it's looking like a late April / early May launch.

I'm still aiming for an April launch, but this is really an arbitrary date. It's not worth sacrificing quality or cutting content to launch a few weeks earlier. That's the nice thing about the iTunes App Store. I don't have to worry about angry retailers or distribution issues. When the game is ready, then I can upload it.

I'm excited about this game. I think it's fun to play. Heh, often I have to stop myself from wasting time with the game I'm making.

 

So far, I'm maintaining the schedule. A promotional video should be out late April / early May. The only way a video is going to get out sooner is if Touch Arcade requests an interview. Since that hasn't happened, I'm just going to keep working.

I think it's better to show off a finished game.

Example, I think the equipment menu looks awesome. I'm very happy with the way it turned out. Will people see awesome... or will they see that Weapon #4, Item #1 and Item #2 don't have icons yet?

Is it the best looking game ever? No.

I think it looks — and sounds — very professional though.

 

Here's a an update on the progress...

The game is nearing completion. It should be done by the end of April / early May. I can tell the game is getting better. Today, I had to stop myself from playing the game. I just kept wandering around with the Rocket Launcher, exploding enemies.

• BOT is not a cutesy game.
• BOT is not a casual game.
• BOT is not an easy game.

While the game is meant to be easy to learn, it should be challenging.

I felt a strong surge of emotion today — happiness — as I can see my project is almost done. It's turning out the way I imagined too. I'm quite pleased with the results so far.