Hi everyone we're releasing our first iOS game on December 13th. It's called Alpha Zero and it's a true multi-touch arcade space action game for iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch. Today we released our pre-launch video and screens to show what we've been working on. Any feedback or comments are welcome. Thanks! Here's info on the game as well: In Alpha Zero, players take control of an experimental spaceship and blast enemies from all around them in this exciting, fast-paced space action game. Enjoy jaw-dropping visuals and effects as well as an original sound track that will bring you into space for the ultimate battle. Alpha Zero is a unique new take on the classic 2.5D scrolling shoot em up. The game has unique controls, beautiful graphics, and awesome boss-fights. Forget about on-screen joysticks, this is a game made for touch input and should redefine some of your assumptions of hard core gaming on a mobile device. Features: Fast and furious action Amazing special effects and beautiful 3D graphics Unique backgrounds for every level Natural multi-touch gameplay 8 challenging missions and boss-fights (more to come) 35 different enemies Numerous upgrades and special weapons. Over 15 ship skins Full epic soundtrack Three challenging difficulty levels (cadet, ace and elite) Campaign story-line, fully voiced and subtitled Optimized for retina display iPhones and iPads
Hmm... Looks pretty interesting, though I'm a little confused about the controls... Do you need to use one finger to move the ship, and another to aim? Or does the game auto aim...? What's the deal with that? It's a little hard to tell from the vid.
The graphics certainly look excellent, and it does appear to be reasonably innovative in some respects. I'm curious.
You use one finger to control the ship and 1 or 2 fingers to shoot - you can focus fire with a single finger or split to hit multiple waves of ships from different directions.
Thanks... Think I'll wait for some impressions... Seems like intertwined fingers and blocking the screen with multiple fingers wouldn't really be the optimal way to play a shootemup
Yeah, I'm kind of feeling the same way. It looks awesome, but I can't help wondering, "OK, but how does all that happen? And how does it feel while it's happening?" DBC
Doesn't seem difficult to do the maneuvering and shooting with one hand and I bet it'll be real fun to dodge your fingers between bullets. The only thing is that the angle and way the ship moves looks (graphically) a bit off to me.
Want to see how the multi-touch works? We're pulling together a video of some people playing to show how the multi-touch works. We tried a few other control schemes before, but the most natural one is the multi-touch approach. We have a few more codes to give out, so PM me if you are interested in seeing for yourself. Once enough people try it, I think the controls will make more sense. Thanks, -Sean
Alrighty... I've had a little bit of time to mess around with this, and... So far, it plays surprisingly well. Granted, I am playing on the iPad, so there's a lot more real estate for the multitouch control scheme, but the way the game plays, I think it would feel just fine on the smaller iPod/iPhone screens. You're able to move your ship with semi-relative touch control. On the iPad, if you touch anywhere within about an inch of the ship, you'll have control of it. It's also 1:1 and mighty responsive, with perfect ship placement, even after very spastic back n forth movement. Shooting is done kind of like Wonton 51; touch the screen and hold down where you want to fire. You're also able to split your shot in half and shoot in two directions at once, though this isn't optimal most of the time because of the resulting low firepower. So far, the game has also introduced missiles that work kind of like Space Deadbeef's; drag over the enemies, and the missiles automatically fire. Switching between regular shot and missiles is done by tapping icons at the top of the screen. Also, switching between left and right hands for ship movement is fluid and easy... There are no checkpoints, and you're allowed a couple hits before dying. Health bar is in the top right corner. I haven't messed around looking for upgrades or anything... But will ASAP, though it might not be until tomorrow. Right now, the no checkpoint thing only kind of irritates me because I've died at the end of the first level twice, and had to go back through the story and tutorial each time I restarted. Maybe the story/tutorial segment could be split up and separated from the 'actual' beginning of the first stage to help with the slight frustration of dying during that stage. Any other questions, just ask, and I'll do my best to answer them... But there's no finger intertwining, and the game FEELS pretty natural on the iPad. Definitely a lot smoother and comfortable than I imagined it playing. =o)
Thanks for the feedback - the iPhone version actually pushes a little more of the action to the right of the screen to make up for the less space, but really appreciate the feedback regarding the controls and feel - what do you think of the graphics? Best, -Sean
K... played a bit more... There are IAPs, but it doesn't feel like the game is pushed towards them, or like a grind at all. You do get to keep all the currency (rare metals) you earn in each stage, even if you die before completion.... by the time I completed the first stage, I had about 7k in currency (after dying twice with about 1,500 currency each time and then completing the stage my third time through)... The upgrades included are reasonably priced - so long as the currency you earn in each stage increases along with the upgrade prices, it shouldn't be too bad. You can also replay stages for a better ranking and more currency if you're so inclined. There are different skins for your ship, but not different ships, and the skins don't do anything but give a different cosmetic look. However, you are able to upgrade your weapons quite a bit, as each has 10 possible 'levels' to upgrade to. You're also able to purchase more weapons ontop of the two that you're given in the first stage (Vulcan Cannon and Missile Launcher) - a Plasma Cannon, Laser Cannon and Plasma Bomb. You can also purchase upgrades for your ship - Armor, Shield (auto recharge over time), Tractor Beam, Mineral Extractor (gains you more metals per ship destroyed) - and... though I'm not really sure how I feel about it ATM, a Score Multiplier. The Score Multiplier is a heafty purchase though, and is most likely intended to be bought at the end of the game so that you can go back and replay through levels for score. It's priced at 100,000 coins. Selective difficulty - 3 levels and a 'soon to come' 4th difficulty level. If you're curious, IAPs are priced as follows; $0.99 = 20,000 coins $1.99 = 50,000 coins $4.99 = 200,000 coins $9.99 = 500,000 coins $19.99 = 2,000,000 coins There is no currency doubler. MegaSean, it's great to hear that the iPhone version pushes more of the action to the right side of the screen - and the graphics, as you might have been able to tell from the trailer, are pretty damn nice, and the story flows and integrates with the game well. The voice acting was pretty surprising, and well done, especially when compared to other iOS titles with this feature. Again... if anyone has any questions - just ask and I'll do my best to answer them. =o)