Universal Phoenix HD - A Modern Arcade Shmup (by Firi Games)

Discussion in 'iPhone and iPad Games' started by killercow, Aug 11, 2011.

  1. RCranium666

    RCranium666 Well-Known Member

    May 28, 2010
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    Just want to add again how much I like the improvements to the game. Sometimes I use the add on ons, sometimes I don't. Have you redone the ship models. They look sharper.:cool:
     
  2. sapphire_neo

    sapphire_neo Well-Known Member

    Jan 20, 2011
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    I would love to hear what sort of high scores people have been getting with and without the boosts, especially the revives and drones.
     
  3. SumoSplash

    SumoSplash Well-Known Member

    Sep 27, 2011
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    I got just shy of 5 million yesterday with the Trinity, no boosts, 5 stars from the outset. This is a good sign for me because I've really been trying to get used to pinpointing my transports.

    I could have kept going a little farther but my finger tends to get tired on my iPhone.
     
  4. Selachii

    Selachii Well-Known Member
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    @RCranium666: Well, we did tweak and upgrade the entire rendering engine, so I assume you're seeing that. We didn't redo all the models per se, just the Warlord and the Revenant.

    I have updated the appearances on our website and added a high resolution render of the Trinity in perspective.

    @sapphire_neo: allow me to also give my personal feedback about the Revive. Though it is deemed as a "You get to double your score because you get another life", it is hardly that. In general players die when they reach their capacity in terms of skill. When the revive kicks in they are usually able to survive one or two more encounters, but that's it, simply because they reached their skill limit. The revive offers the best protection against accidental screw-ups on your way to your actual skill limit though :)
     
  5. sapphire_neo

    sapphire_neo Well-Known Member

    Jan 20, 2011
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    If it's that ineffective, shouldn't it be cheaper?
     
  6. Selachii

    Selachii Well-Known Member
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    The more expensive boosts are the luxury boosts. They work on themselves and provide a clear reward. Phoenix Wake will not win you any High Scores, but it allows you to play a game in a shorter time.
    The cheaper ones, drones and drop enhancements still require a player to beat encounters and aide in the process.
     
  7. SumoSplash

    SumoSplash Well-Known Member

    Sep 27, 2011
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    If anything I feel the drones should be cheaper.
     
  8. sapphire_neo

    sapphire_neo Well-Known Member

    Jan 20, 2011
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    The Point Defense Drone is a huge advantage, and 1250 isn't something you'll make every run (I only got 1192 for my 8mil run without the doubler). Not sure how effective the Vulcan Drone is in terms of what it targets.
     
  9. RCranium666

    RCranium666 Well-Known Member

    May 28, 2010
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    It's disappointing that no other shmups aside from Shogun have come anywhere near the sophistication of your engine. Have you considered licensing it?
     
  10. Yeah, me too, the drones are largely useless cause they cost so much, and they add so much fun to the game. I think the game will be more popular causing more inapp sales if the costs were lowered. Sure the high scores on the leaderboards would go up, but everyone would have the same equal footing, so it wouldn't matter.

    I almost think the drones should be about half the current costs. I really don't see them that useful at this current point, which is kind of sad, cause they would make the game much funner. Especially if they could drop sometimes at random times even just for a short time. I know I would play this game more if drones were integrated more.
     
  11. ifrit

    ifrit New Member

    Sep 25, 2012
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    I started playing Phoenix HD about a week or two before the update. I absolutely loved it. The upgrade was quite exciting.. but I have to agree with the other posters here.

    My best time with all the extras was around 5 million. I've only tried with all the drones twice). The best time in my city is 10 million, presumably with add ons too. Last night I had the most amazing run (by my standards) where I got just shy of 4 million without using any extras. Several million more than my previous best 'pure' time. My excitement was really ruined by the fact that the i realised if i had chosen to use some of my coins i would have smashed my own record and would have had a pretty good shot at the city record too. I suspect this is going to be an ongoing problem.

    What the earlier posters said about it not being pure because your best performance will no longer necessarily give your best score (in a game all about high scores) - completely agree.

    The coins and their sound effects also detract from the experience, and the old lists looked so much more classy than the maps. Looking at a map of my city really breaks the fourth wall, to mangle an analogy!

    Everything else about the game is overwhelmingly positive to the point where before the update, i mass emailed my office telling them to get this game....love the graphics and gameplay.

    Here's the kicker, I would definitely pay money to unlock different skins for the ships or some story background or really anything, the game is that good and it's obvious so much skill and effort has gone into designing it. You just need to revise the business model because you deserve to make more money off this game, and you will be able to, but without sacrificing the quality of the game.
     
  12. SumoSplash

    SumoSplash Well-Known Member

    Sep 27, 2011
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    #772 SumoSplash, Sep 25, 2012
    Last edited: Sep 25, 2012
    I just feel the drones should be the cheapest because they are the only two IAP's that are actual weapons, and I think an IAP that is weapon based should be the most accessible, since it is actually being used to destroy enemies.

    In other words, the drone IAP's are providing an action that directly affects your advancement, while the other IAP's are used more to determine your destiny in terms of what the game will give you more or less of. The drones are the most tangible, and it is for this reason they should be the easiest to achieve, run by run.

    Having them drop at random times within the gameplay where they would take on damage, be destroyed and then be reacquired--or expire on their own after a period of time--would be most ideal, but of course this would conflict with the IAP. Maybe drones that dropped within the gameplay that could be destroyed/expire could be coupled with permanent drone upgrades that could NOT be destroyed via IAP, allowing the lesser version to at least be available without having to buy them.
     
  13. Selachii

    Selachii Well-Known Member
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    Nov 13, 2009
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    The drones offer a really significant benefit (especially when compared to Alpha Strikes in their current state). Having them drop randomly, like power-ups, now that would be something unfair in terms of score. Any run where they wouldn't drop would feel even worse than a high score run where you chose not to buy any boosts but now regret it. At least now you have the choice and you are not at the mercy of a random drop chance.

    Of course you can mangle the drones to be on the usefulness level of other power-ups, but then they wouldn't be as cool as they are now. We generally chose for the "awesome" option if we have a choice.

    Yes and I do realize that this game already relies on a lot of random drop chances / enemy spawn configurations, but we have been adjusting those for almost 2 years now :)

    To depart the whole 'freemium is evil' discussion a bit (no not avoiding, just want to talk about other stuff as well). A cool little trivia anekdote.

    The Trinity, for the longest time in its prototype existence could not teleport but would slow down time while you held the screen with 2 fingers. During this time it would "transform" and fold open to expose its guns and start shooting. Going back to 'normal time' it would fold in again and only shoot with the Razor gun. (the 2 center blue streaking cutters).
    The Trinity you currently see in game is the open/unfolded appearance.

    The Razor gun was also a bit different, in normal time it would look like it currently does, projectiles that travel too fast to see. In slow-motion though, it would switch to a version where you could see each projectile during its entire travel time, to enhance the sensation of slow-motion and being able to see more :)

    Ok ok, I made this cool animated gif showing it :)
    [​IMG]
     
  14. SumoSplash

    SumoSplash Well-Known Member

    Sep 27, 2011
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    #774 SumoSplash, Sep 25, 2012
    Last edited: Sep 25, 2012
    I see your point El, but you could also make the same argument about Alpha Strikes. I've had plenty of games where I had an abundance of Alpha Strikes, sometimes a few in a row, then other games where I was praying for an Alpha Strike to come to save me from a tricky spot, just to have nothing show up for an extended period of time.

    I personally don't see the drones as being mangled if they were put into the gameplay as drops, but just as a reduced version of what the IAP version offers. They could perform the same, but just last for a small period of time. This could actually be a good thing, since it would tease people into buying the IAP version. In terms of them influencing the score if they were drops: if they were on screen for 10 seconds or so before self destructing, I don't see how that would be much more influential than back to back Alpha Strikes.

    And nice Gif of the Trinity ;) I can't imagine it not being able to teleport!
     
  15. sapphire_neo

    sapphire_neo Well-Known Member

    Jan 20, 2011
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    Okay, my absolute final thought on the freemium aspect of the game, if you were to sell me a coin quadrupler for 5.99 I would buy it in a heartbeat with no questions asked. I understand that it pretty much means the maximum revenue the devs would be likely to see from the coin iAP would be 5.99, but are they really expecting people to shell out amounts in excess of $10+ for coins?

    If you sell me a permanent item for this app, I will buy it immediately, like I have done so far. But I will not buy consumable iAP for any app, regardless of whether it's to support a small team or if the item is being dispensed very generously. When it's to support a developer, I'm just rewarding poor design and forwarding a terrible trend. If the item is being given away in generous amounts, it's still a consumable commodity that will eventually be exhausted. If you're going to sell me a coin item then it has to be an item that resolves the money chase permanently, such that every run now pays in whole for the next run.

    I almost feel like there's no longer any point in discussing the coins issue anymore, the developers need to grow and without the ability to generate more revenue from the app directly there's no way forward for them. The coins are here to stay.
     
  16. syntheticvoid

    syntheticvoid Well-Known Member

    Jun 20, 2010
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    a[V-O-I-D]
    So... I was out in town this morning and tried to play this...

    Seems you can't play with any of the ships you've bought unless you're connected to the net. Is that how it's supposed to be now? Or.... A bug? I found it pretty frustraiting.
     
  17. Selachii

    Selachii Well-Known Member
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    We weren't expecting anything. I mean, of course we had an educated guess, but these numbers are generally not shared by any developer or publisher. So it's a matter of dipping our toe and see what happens :)

    This is indeed a bug, a fix has been submitted last friday, but it's still waiting for review.
     
  18. syntheticvoid

    syntheticvoid Well-Known Member

    Jun 20, 2010
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    Right on, thanks for the quick response, and great to hear ill be able to play outside the house. =oP
     
  19. Selachii

    Selachii Well-Known Member
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    Nov 13, 2009
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    The update is now live (2.0.2). It also fixes Phoenix HD for the iPhone 5 :)
     
  20. eq-addict

    eq-addict New Member

    Sep 24, 2012
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    Thank you!!!
     

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