Update 09/22/2009: Follow us on Twitter Another update 09/22/2009: The price will be $2.99. Update 10/01/2009: Added a new gameplay video. Have you been waiting for a good 2D platformer for the iPhone or iPod touch? We at Touch Foo are happy to announce a new game, called Soosiz, coming soon to the App Store. Soosiz has been inspired by many classic platformers. However, it adds an interesting gameplay element by fiddling with the gravity in a unique way. A video says more than a thousand words: What makes the gameplay unique, is not the changing gravity alone, but the fact that the "planets" don't actually pull you towards them. The gravity changes only when the player character touches a surface. This opens up a lot of possibilities in level design and gives the player much more freedom. In the later worlds, when the player has been familiarized with the basic gameplay, we introduce "gravity fields", which enable us to mix traditional platforming and gravity-defying platforming in interesting ways. Large version Large version Large version More screenshots on our Flickr page The most important design aspect of Soosiz has been to achieve excellent playability. We experimented with several "iphone style" control schemes like accelerometer and slide-to-move controls, but they couldn't match the precision and simplicity of classical button controls. This is why we chose to use a control system similar to platformers on other devices, but simplified it by removing the up and down keys. Especially for a fast-paced game like Soosiz, this has worked very well. (There is accelerometer control in some special levels, though. ) The game has been in active development for over six months, so, needless to say, we are very excited now that it is finally done. Soosiz has already been submitted to Apple, so it could be hitting the store at any time. Please, feel free to post any comments and questions. We will be happy to answer them all.
Can somebody please pick my jaw up off the floor? At first seeing the pics I was skeptical, but then the video started, the amazing music started playing and before long I had that feeling in which I knew my wallet would be empty soon...
I'm thinking Ynth's control scheme is a better idea.... if I'm forced to use virtual buttons it's easiest to have left on the left and right on the right, pressing one with each thumb.
I have to say I'm really impressed...so how many worlds are there? @ midiangtx I can definitely see how ynth controls would be good though I see nothing wrong with their current controls...for what it is I think they would be solid
This way makes it much harder to tell where your thumb is on the left/right buttons. You have to keep making sure it's aligned with the correct one. With Ynth the positioning was good enough that your thumbs were always in the right places. I can see myself pressing in the middle of the two buttons quite a lot on this game.
forgot about people with big thumbs lol...not sure if it will effect too much those will smaller thumbs especially a little kids... ...I forgot is ynth's method to jump a swipe up, then yes that would be a good alternative controls with people with big thumbs I personally never had a problem with right and left controls like that
Looks like the game has taken a lot of inspiration from Gomi although in my opinion the gameplay of this looks a lot more enjoyable
Ynth has two jump buttons, each above the left and right buttons. I'm not saying this way won't work, it seems similar to Spybot Chronicles which is good enough, but I greatly prefer Ynth's over it.
Thank you for all of the comments! Having the left button on the left side of the screen and the right button on the right side of the screen was one of the first things we tried. While it was easy to pick up, it became problematic when you had to quickly switch the direction and possibly jump at the same time. With the control system we chose, you can just slide your finger left or right and your other hand is always free to press the jump button. Also, we made the touch areas so large that even people with big thumbs shouldn't worry.
