Puzzle Empires - early look

[Misguided]

I've been meaning to email you for a couple of weeks Syen. I have a long list of notes/suggestions for Dungeon Story. A number of those are in the update, though (like a falling animation).

[Syen]

Originally Posted by lazypeon

Yeah, glad to help out where I can! This sub-genre (started by Dungeon Raid, as far as I know) is one that I've thought the most about, hence my heaps of (hopefully constructive!) criticism for Dungeon Story! I've already played Dungeon Raid to death, and I'm constantly scouring the app store for my next fix (which is currently Dungeon Story )

I'm hoping to post a video/update screenshots soon, as I've made quite a bit of progress on this. Also have some new art coming from a designer, so that should make the game look A LOT better.

Your critisism is perfect and very constructive! How else can we improve as devs?

I used screenflow btw for the videos, but as i suck a lot at graphics and these kind of things (hardcore programmer only!) the final result was not really the best! But the video capturing and editing program is really nice.

Haha jealous of new art! Really imagine the art i made took almost 50% of the development time, i had to learn from scratch how to use these vectoring tools. And the funny thing is my gf is a graphic designer... but as she is quite busy with her own projects I couldnt really ask/force her to do anything! Maybe in a future update or on my next game (i do game dev'ing as a hobby so it may take a while).

In any case your game idea is seriously excellent and you have already a customer sold in me

Originally Posted by Misguided

I've been meaning to email you for a couple of weeks Syen. I have a long list of notes/suggestions for Dungeon Story. A number of those are in the update, though (like a falling animation).

Feel free to email any time mate! Every note/suggestion/comment is always welcome!

[turakm]

any word on an estimated release?! it looks awesome

[lazypeon]

Originally Posted by turakm

any word on an estimated release?! it looks awesome

Estimated release is HOPEFULLY 2012. Part of that depends on how long it takes the designer to do the art. At this point, all the major systems of the game are in place, but I'm still adding a few of the technologies/abilities, and doing some play-testing/balancing.

What I may do if it looks like some of the art might not make it is to split the release into an earlier release that spans, say, Pre-History to Medieval times, and then follow on the rest later with a free update that takes us Medieval-Modern. I'll post some pics once the new art starts coming in. I've gotten a small preview and I have to say, I'm really impressed with his work I'd really love to get it out this year!

I'll probably be doing some beta testing as well (if I do, TA will be the first to know!).

[turakm]

Originally Posted by lazypeon

Estimated release is HOPEFULLY 2012. Part of that depends on how long it takes the designer to do the art. At this point, all the major systems of the game are in place, but I'm still adding a few of the technologies/abilities, and doing some play-testing/balancing.

What I may do if it looks like some of the art might not make it is to split the release into an earlier release that spans, say, Pre-History to Medieval times, and then follow on the rest later with a free update that takes us Medieval-Modern. I'll post some pics once the new art starts coming in. I've gotten a small preview and I have to say, I'm really impressed with his work I'd really love to get it out this year!

I'll probably be doing some beta testing as well (if I do, TA will be the first to know!).

Awesome! Keep me in mind for that beta testing :]

[lazypeon]

Originally Posted by turakm

Awesome! Keep me in mind for that beta testing :]

Awesome! I might start the beta before the new graphics are in, so that I can get some feedback on the actual gameplay.

I just started a new spreadsheet to keep track of who the beta testers will be, and you're first on the list! Could you PM me your email address and device UUID? I'll most likely be using Test Flight once the beta starts, and I think that requires an email/device. (Same goes with anyone else who'd like to help beta test).

Thinking early-mid November time frame before it's ready for a beta.

[lazypeon]

Just wanted to post a new update on this with some snazzy new (in-progress!) screenshots. Things aren't quite final yet, but my artist just delivered some amazing artwork that really makes the game 'pop' compared to before. I haven't gotten all the graphics converted yet, but I thought I'd share just how much better the game looks.

I've shared the game with a couple forum members and thus far, the feedback has been positive. I've incorporated some of the suggestions, and am working on the balance/polish for the most part. I'd like to do a broader beta test in a bit with input from the TA community, so please do PM me if you'd like to participate.

You can compare the screenshots to those in the first post, if you're curious how it looked. What a difference a real artist makes :P

[turakm]

looks great man! i'm finding progression a lot better now that I'm focusing on the tech tree goals

[codeman73]

I just found this from your sig, from a post in the Pixel People thread. This looks great and unfortunately, quite similar to some game ideas I had. But alas, those were just ideas and you are well along.

I'm also a big fan of Dungeon Raid and Puzzle Craft and like civ-building and tech-tree stuff as well. I'd be happy to help with beta-testing, if you've still got a need for it.