Our first iOS game is out! Check it out on iTunes here! Hello this is Chris "Kisguri" Carson from Gamesare Studios and we just finished and successfully released on the iTunes store our first iOS title, Vincere Totus Astrum! To Conquer all Stars is what we like to call a "Casual 4x Strategy Game". Blending galaxy conquering with quick and easy gameplay. Pick one of five races and set out to expand your one world into a vast empire. Research new techs, build colony ships, and begin to spread out, but be careful you aren't the only race on the rise. The Universe is a small place and you will have to either negotiate, trade or battle other empires into submission. The game flow is turn based, and features a unique real time battle engine. We will have multiple game scenarios for you to play through. As our first iOS game we want to show we are willing to provide tons of support tuning the game into something everyone can enjoy. We also have a ton of content in line for the game which we will introduce in the form of chapters that will introduce new races, new challenges and new features. Information of this if interested can be found on our Facebook page in the discussions area. PLEASE if you honor us and grab a copy, Please let us know what we can do to make it better! We aim to constantly improve and update our title! Vincere Totus Astrum! Select your Empire... Skirmish The Galaxy Map Pre Battle Setup Capital Ship Beam Various Modes
Wow, I'm surprised I hadn't heard about this at all. I cant wait to hear some impressions, especially about that battle system
Vincere Totus Astrum Vincere Totus Astrum or "To Conquer all Stars" is the first "Casual 4x Strategy Game" on iOS devices… $0.99 Buy Now Watch Media DetailsVincere Totus Astrum or "To Conquer all Stars" is the first "Casual 4x Strategy Game" on iOS devices. Prepare to conquer the known galaxy in this easy to pick fast paced game of galactic intrigue!Blending galaxy conquering with quick and easy gameplay. Pick one of five races and set out to expand your one world into a vast empire. Research new techs, build colony ships, and begin to spread out, but be careful you aren't the only race on the rise. The Universe is a small place and you will have to either negotiate, trade or battle other empires into submission.Prepare to lay your claim amongst the galaxy as you attempt " To Conquer all Stars" Information Seller: Genre:Simulation, Strategy Release:Apr 25, 2011 Updated:Nov 30, -0001 Version: Size:0.0 TouchArcade Rating:Unrated User Rating:Unrated Your Rating:unrated Compatibility:HD Universal Definitely looks interesting. strivemind Well-Known Member Aug 11, 2010 2,784 2 38 Designer Ottawa, Canada http://www.strivemind.com/ #4 strivemind, Apr 26, 2011 The concept of a "casual 4X" intrigues me. This is a genre that's typically anything but casual or pick-up-and-play. strivemind Well-Known Member Aug 11, 2010 2,784 2 38 Designer Ottawa, Canada http://www.strivemind.com/ #5 strivemind, Apr 26, 2011 Tried the Flash version on their site, and the game plays a lot like a Galcon style strategy game. There's some other features, like a separate combat minigame, but it's pretty obtuse and didn't catch my interest. Maybe the iOS version is better? The graphics at least do look a lot better in the screenshots. Ubisububi Well-Known Member Oct 8, 2009 1,088 9 38 California #6 Ubisububi, Apr 26, 2011 I am very disappointed to hear this. The graphical style is reminiscent of MOO and I was hoping it was a clone; even an unauthorized one... gunxsword Well-Known Member Dec 24, 2010 2,556 0 0 Sydney #7 gunxsword, Apr 26, 2011 Is the flash version an accurate demo of the game (like, same features of the iphone version)? I'm quite hooked actually, especially the production management and combat system. It's unique and has some interesting tactical elements to it. Will definitely consider buying this one (out of credits for the moment ) magihiro Well-Known Member Mar 26, 2009 824 0 0 #8 magihiro, Apr 26, 2011 This looks awesome. I don't see how this would be like Galcon at all, considering the whole combat being handled in a different screen, and the game being turn based. Yeah, sure, it's in space, but that's not really a comparison. VirtualBoyFreak Well-Known Member Patreon Bronze Apr 26, 2011 4,787 74 48 Spain #9 VirtualBoyFreak, Apr 26, 2011 Hi there, I have just bought your game and I'm liking it a lot. Unfortunately, I've found a bug which makes the icons of "next" and "empire" disappear. They appear again if you choose the option "deploy" --> "transfer" and then hit on the back button. I'm running the latest ios on an iphone 4 16gb with Spanish settings. I haven't done jailbreak. Could you please fix it? Now for suggestions: 1.- It would be very useful to be able to pinch with two fingers to zoom in and out the galaxy, because sometimes I feel I want to have a more general perspective of my surroundings rather than see the planets in detail. 2.- It seems the touchscreen doesn't respond as quickly/smoothly as in other apps. I had the same feeling with the first version of "Ascendancy" (I'm sure you know this game ) before the developer updated the game fixing this lag in response of the screen. 3.- It would be great to have save slots to be able to play multiple games at the same time with different species. 4.- Multi-language support would help boost sales for sure. I'm Spanish, and I know of many people who would buy the game if it was in Spanish. Thanks for your time. VirtualBoyFreak Well-Known Member Patreon Bronze Apr 26, 2011 4,787 74 48 Spain #10 VirtualBoyFreak, Apr 26, 2011 It seems the research dev screen disappears too. I have to go to galaxy info and back to make it reappear, so I guess it's another bug. More bugs: 1.- research times in most of the items show 0 or -1 turns. I researched the "research quicker" too many times and it seems this makes the counter of the amount of turns to develop a tech go crazy. 2.- there's a race which says it has 4 planets but only 3 of them appear coloured for that race. I guess this is all for now, but the disappearance of the different layers of buttons (research/action buttons) makes playing a bit frustating. Kisguri Well-Known Member Oct 27, 2010 297 24 18 Male Game Design Planet Earth, Sol System http://www.Clickteam.com #11 Kisguri, Apr 26, 2011 Awesome finds VirtualBoyFreak, Thank you for pointing these issues out, I can confirm the number of races issue, Their seems to be some differences between what I submitted to Apple and what we are all playing, I will endeavor to get them fixed and resubmitted before the end of the week. The Research issue I can fix instantly, It is oversight on my part, and I apologize, And I will work on adding as many of your suggestions as I can! strivemind The Flash version you played is indeed very outdated, I have a new flash version coming out which is identical to the new iOS version, I am just have to convert parts of it that are iOS specific to work with Flash. I will take down the current Flash Version so Folks don't get the wrong idea, I appreciate you pointing that out. Thanks guys for the comments! I will post a fix list and some of the new stuff we hope to add in the next update soon, any other comments sure are welcome! Windburn Well-Known Member Aug 31, 2009 364 0 16 Melbourne, Australia #12 Windburn, Apr 26, 2011 Looks -really- intriguing, definitely glad this one didn't pass me by! strivemind Well-Known Member Aug 11, 2010 2,784 2 38 Designer Ottawa, Canada http://www.strivemind.com/ #13 strivemind, Apr 26, 2011 Thanks for the clarification. We get a lot of flash ports around here, and I can agree even just based on the screenshots, that the iOS version is far superior. VirtualBoyFreak Well-Known Member Patreon Bronze Apr 26, 2011 4,787 74 48 Spain #14 VirtualBoyFreak, Apr 26, 2011 Last edited: Apr 26, 2011 Hi Kisguri, nice to read that. I was sure that some of the issues were something silly and simple to fix. The best part of all is that you have taken note of the issues and want to fix them. I'll be looking forward to downloading the update when it's available ;-) of course, if I see anything else I'll point it out to you here. Have you taken note of the icons disappearing? Out of the bugs I've found, that's the one I hate the most because getting them back slows down gameplay. Thanks Kisguri Well-Known Member Oct 27, 2010 297 24 18 Male Game Design Planet Earth, Sol System http://www.Clickteam.com #15 Kisguri, Apr 26, 2011 Icons VirtualBoyFreak I am attempting to duplicate the icons bug, when do they disappear?, what button sequence are you inputting to cause the issue? Once I identify It I will get to making it work correctly. We hide the buttons when engaging certain sub menus to cut down on overcrowd and confusion, SO i certainly don't want it to end up actually causing confusion! Saucepolicy Well-Known Member Patreon Silver Feb 18, 2009 501 4 18 Crispy ex-game developer #16 Saucepolicy, Apr 27, 2011 I've only been playing for an hour or so and I'm pleasantly surprised with this purchase. You've made a fun, polished little 4X game that keeps almost all of the strategic options I'd expect but streamlines empire management well for the short burst gameplay sessions more common on handheld platforms. You can really sink your teeth into it, but also just quickly issue a few orders while you're waiting in line somewhere. I second all of VirtualBoyFreak's suggestions (especially pinch/zoom, or even double-tap to zoom out to galaxy view and double-tap again to zoom back in), and would like to add a few others, largely aesthetic: 5.- On iPad, the game doesn't recognize orientation and it's upside down if you're using Apple's covers in the typing position. 6.- While I do like the music, I'd like sound effects and bgm to have separate controls and sliders rather than on/off. 7.- A fast forward button on combat. After experiencing a few battles, it becomes a bit tedious to wait for each side's fleets to warp out of the area once they've passed each other. 8.- I could be in the minority, but I don't really need the arrow overlays on the edge of the screen, especially as they are only visible when you've already started scrolling. They're large and somewhat intrusive 9.- I'd like some more insight as to the advantages and strategies in choosing various formations, movement and firing solutions. Also, the fact that you have to manually deploy capital ships is a little strange but I suppose that it has its tactical uses. 10.- I feel that having a lot of the system options attached to the Empire Info menu is counterintuitive. I would expect to see things like save game, main menu, options and quit under their own menu tab. As a fall back position, a "system" menu option under the Empire menu would be acceptable if there's no where else to put it. These are options that players will be accessing fairly often, they shouldn't have to hunt for them (I realize that "save" is in fact under the Empire menu). 11.- I'd also like a surrender button to simply end a game and get final stats, rather than having to play through a long drawn-out war of attrition. 12.- Pop up a window asking if players want to read the "how to play" section if it's their first time starting a game. Your help section is very informative and concise, and it's a must-read even for experienced 4X players as you break from "tradition" with some of your mechanics and UI. Once I read it, everything made sense. Kisguri Well-Known Member Oct 27, 2010 297 24 18 Male Game Design Planet Earth, Sol System http://www.Clickteam.com #17 Kisguri, Apr 27, 2011 Saucepolicy! Saucepolicy, Outstanding suggestions, I have added several of them to the immediate fix list for the next build and moved others to the wish list, I will appreciate the detailed response! Thanks again! Saucepolicy Well-Known Member Patreon Silver Feb 18, 2009 501 4 18 Crispy ex-game developer #18 Saucepolicy, Apr 27, 2011 From a usability standpoint, it's honestly much better to grey out buttons (or make them more transparent, or some other visual indicator) rather than hiding them when they're not valid choices. As you've surmised, it just leads to player confusion when certain options disappear because it's difficult to communicate ~why~ they disappeared. VirtualBoyFreak Well-Known Member Patreon Bronze Apr 26, 2011 4,787 74 48 Spain #19 VirtualBoyFreak, Apr 27, 2011 Last edited: Apr 27, 2011 Hi Kisguri, Buttons disappear when starting a new round after the game makes all the opponent's movements. I don't think it's normal, mainly because there are no buttons at all on screen, just the planets. Could it be related to the "research" buttons having a negative number? Anyway, when I get the bug again I'll make a screen capture and try to post it here or PM it to you. EDIT: I think that you have to choose to research something with negative days so that the problem appears, so if you fix the negative counter bug the other one will get fixed too. Saucepolicy Well-Known Member Patreon Silver Feb 18, 2009 501 4 18 Crispy ex-game developer #20 Saucepolicy, Apr 27, 2011 Having played through a couple of Conquest games now, I have a couple more suggestions for large Empire management and situational awareness: -Small icons next to planets with fleets large enough to transfer to other planets and another one for colony ships in orbit -(I realize this is no small task) the ability to set and override a rally point for fleets. Moving fleets to the front lines when you need all of your planets generating reinforcements is a chore, especially without a visual indicator that there's a viable fleet in orbit. -(another significant request) the ability to define the auto management button. Right now, it will just generate cash, but having every planet I don't want to micromanage in a turn build a ship or upgrade offense/defense would be very useful - it appears that each planet can only support one battleship, however the game will happily allow you to spend a turn ordering another one, and it seems like they won't transfer to other planets if there's already one in orbit. This is not transparent to the player. All said, having lots of fun, thanks again for listening. (You must log in or sign up to post here.) Show Ignored Content Page 1 of 9 1 ← 2 3 4 5 6 → 9 Next > Share This Page Tweet Your name or email address: Do you already have an account? No, create an account now. Yes, my password is: Forgot your password? Stay logged in
The concept of a "casual 4X" intrigues me. This is a genre that's typically anything but casual or pick-up-and-play.
Tried the Flash version on their site, and the game plays a lot like a Galcon style strategy game. There's some other features, like a separate combat minigame, but it's pretty obtuse and didn't catch my interest. Maybe the iOS version is better? The graphics at least do look a lot better in the screenshots.
I am very disappointed to hear this. The graphical style is reminiscent of MOO and I was hoping it was a clone; even an unauthorized one...
Is the flash version an accurate demo of the game (like, same features of the iphone version)? I'm quite hooked actually, especially the production management and combat system. It's unique and has some interesting tactical elements to it. Will definitely consider buying this one (out of credits for the moment )
This looks awesome. I don't see how this would be like Galcon at all, considering the whole combat being handled in a different screen, and the game being turn based. Yeah, sure, it's in space, but that's not really a comparison.
Hi there, I have just bought your game and I'm liking it a lot. Unfortunately, I've found a bug which makes the icons of "next" and "empire" disappear. They appear again if you choose the option "deploy" --> "transfer" and then hit on the back button. I'm running the latest ios on an iphone 4 16gb with Spanish settings. I haven't done jailbreak. Could you please fix it? Now for suggestions: 1.- It would be very useful to be able to pinch with two fingers to zoom in and out the galaxy, because sometimes I feel I want to have a more general perspective of my surroundings rather than see the planets in detail. 2.- It seems the touchscreen doesn't respond as quickly/smoothly as in other apps. I had the same feeling with the first version of "Ascendancy" (I'm sure you know this game ) before the developer updated the game fixing this lag in response of the screen. 3.- It would be great to have save slots to be able to play multiple games at the same time with different species. 4.- Multi-language support would help boost sales for sure. I'm Spanish, and I know of many people who would buy the game if it was in Spanish. Thanks for your time.
It seems the research dev screen disappears too. I have to go to galaxy info and back to make it reappear, so I guess it's another bug. More bugs: 1.- research times in most of the items show 0 or -1 turns. I researched the "research quicker" too many times and it seems this makes the counter of the amount of turns to develop a tech go crazy. 2.- there's a race which says it has 4 planets but only 3 of them appear coloured for that race. I guess this is all for now, but the disappearance of the different layers of buttons (research/action buttons) makes playing a bit frustating.
Awesome finds VirtualBoyFreak, Thank you for pointing these issues out, I can confirm the number of races issue, Their seems to be some differences between what I submitted to Apple and what we are all playing, I will endeavor to get them fixed and resubmitted before the end of the week. The Research issue I can fix instantly, It is oversight on my part, and I apologize, And I will work on adding as many of your suggestions as I can! strivemind The Flash version you played is indeed very outdated, I have a new flash version coming out which is identical to the new iOS version, I am just have to convert parts of it that are iOS specific to work with Flash. I will take down the current Flash Version so Folks don't get the wrong idea, I appreciate you pointing that out. Thanks guys for the comments! I will post a fix list and some of the new stuff we hope to add in the next update soon, any other comments sure are welcome!
Thanks for the clarification. We get a lot of flash ports around here, and I can agree even just based on the screenshots, that the iOS version is far superior.
Hi Kisguri, nice to read that. I was sure that some of the issues were something silly and simple to fix. The best part of all is that you have taken note of the issues and want to fix them. I'll be looking forward to downloading the update when it's available ;-) of course, if I see anything else I'll point it out to you here. Have you taken note of the icons disappearing? Out of the bugs I've found, that's the one I hate the most because getting them back slows down gameplay. Thanks
Icons VirtualBoyFreak I am attempting to duplicate the icons bug, when do they disappear?, what button sequence are you inputting to cause the issue? Once I identify It I will get to making it work correctly. We hide the buttons when engaging certain sub menus to cut down on overcrowd and confusion, SO i certainly don't want it to end up actually causing confusion!
I've only been playing for an hour or so and I'm pleasantly surprised with this purchase. You've made a fun, polished little 4X game that keeps almost all of the strategic options I'd expect but streamlines empire management well for the short burst gameplay sessions more common on handheld platforms. You can really sink your teeth into it, but also just quickly issue a few orders while you're waiting in line somewhere. I second all of VirtualBoyFreak's suggestions (especially pinch/zoom, or even double-tap to zoom out to galaxy view and double-tap again to zoom back in), and would like to add a few others, largely aesthetic: 5.- On iPad, the game doesn't recognize orientation and it's upside down if you're using Apple's covers in the typing position. 6.- While I do like the music, I'd like sound effects and bgm to have separate controls and sliders rather than on/off. 7.- A fast forward button on combat. After experiencing a few battles, it becomes a bit tedious to wait for each side's fleets to warp out of the area once they've passed each other. 8.- I could be in the minority, but I don't really need the arrow overlays on the edge of the screen, especially as they are only visible when you've already started scrolling. They're large and somewhat intrusive 9.- I'd like some more insight as to the advantages and strategies in choosing various formations, movement and firing solutions. Also, the fact that you have to manually deploy capital ships is a little strange but I suppose that it has its tactical uses. 10.- I feel that having a lot of the system options attached to the Empire Info menu is counterintuitive. I would expect to see things like save game, main menu, options and quit under their own menu tab. As a fall back position, a "system" menu option under the Empire menu would be acceptable if there's no where else to put it. These are options that players will be accessing fairly often, they shouldn't have to hunt for them (I realize that "save" is in fact under the Empire menu). 11.- I'd also like a surrender button to simply end a game and get final stats, rather than having to play through a long drawn-out war of attrition. 12.- Pop up a window asking if players want to read the "how to play" section if it's their first time starting a game. Your help section is very informative and concise, and it's a must-read even for experienced 4X players as you break from "tradition" with some of your mechanics and UI. Once I read it, everything made sense.
Saucepolicy! Saucepolicy, Outstanding suggestions, I have added several of them to the immediate fix list for the next build and moved others to the wish list, I will appreciate the detailed response! Thanks again!
From a usability standpoint, it's honestly much better to grey out buttons (or make them more transparent, or some other visual indicator) rather than hiding them when they're not valid choices. As you've surmised, it just leads to player confusion when certain options disappear because it's difficult to communicate ~why~ they disappeared.
Hi Kisguri, Buttons disappear when starting a new round after the game makes all the opponent's movements. I don't think it's normal, mainly because there are no buttons at all on screen, just the planets. Could it be related to the "research" buttons having a negative number? Anyway, when I get the bug again I'll make a screen capture and try to post it here or PM it to you. EDIT: I think that you have to choose to research something with negative days so that the problem appears, so if you fix the negative counter bug the other one will get fixed too.
Having played through a couple of Conquest games now, I have a couple more suggestions for large Empire management and situational awareness: -Small icons next to planets with fleets large enough to transfer to other planets and another one for colony ships in orbit -(I realize this is no small task) the ability to set and override a rally point for fleets. Moving fleets to the front lines when you need all of your planets generating reinforcements is a chore, especially without a visual indicator that there's a viable fleet in orbit. -(another significant request) the ability to define the auto management button. Right now, it will just generate cash, but having every planet I don't want to micromanage in a turn build a ship or upgrade offense/defense would be very useful - it appears that each planet can only support one battleship, however the game will happily allow you to spend a turn ordering another one, and it seems like they won't transfer to other planets if there's already one in orbit. This is not transparent to the player. All said, having lots of fun, thanks again for listening.
