Mike V: Skateboard Party [iOS Universal] by Ratrod Studio Inc

[DodgerBlue016]

Originally Posted by Nekcik

Any chance online multiplayer will be added in the future? And I mean is it something your going to do 100% chance, not that it depends on how sales go kinda question.
(I've bought to many games that developers say" yeah online multiplayer will be added") and it never gets added because they didn't sell well. or they decided to work on another project.)
I can't say I don't appreciate the hard work already put into this game as even your recently added 30 second video really shows your taking into consideration people all don't have the same size fingers and I thank you for adding local wifi and bluetooth MP.
But I'm big on purchasing games that allow me to play with more people when there just isn't anyone around me to play with.

Originally Posted by ratrodstudio

Glad you guys like it! We have more content on the way and we are also working on a Gamecenter online multiplayer integration. The Android version should launch next week.

I assume "working on Gamecenter online multiplayer" means its gonna be added....

[Nekcik]

Originally Posted by ratrodstudio

Glad you guys like it! We have more content on the way and we are also working on a Gamecenter online multiplayer integration. The Android version should launch next week.

Originally Posted by DodgerBlue016

I assume "working on Gamecenter online multiplayer" means its gonna be added....

Thank you very much for pointing that out to me as I did clearly miss that one line. I will be picking this up then soon as I call my brother and find out when he is going to un-ground my nephew and let him get his iphone back so I can play this game with him once GC multiplayer is updated since he is mostly a skateboarder fan and well... I haven't Skateboarded since I was 17.

[And_75]

How is this different from MIKE V: DO OR DIE?

Also, are we sure this is HD graphic?

[ChocolatCakeMix]

This actually looks pretty good. I may pick it up, but just wondering about something. Would it be possible to add a feature to save replays to your photo album, like with First Try Fridays? My favorite console game is Skate 3, and I love making montages of Skate. I'm not talking about a real in-depth editor or anything, just the ability to save a replay so you can make a montage. I know this may be difficult to add in, but that would really be awesome.

Regardless, I think I'll pick it up.

[jumpman475]

So, how open are the environments? Are they all separate areas or is it one big area? If they are separate are they each pretty large?

[bigrand1]

Originally Posted by jumpman475

So, how open are the environments? Are they all separate areas or is it one big area? If they are separate are they each pretty large?

I had the pleasure of helping beta test this and let me tell you this controls like a dream! The environments are really open and large as well. And if I remember correctly, there's 5 areas as of now and they are separate from each other, so, lots of variation and change of scenery to play around in.

[jumpman475]

Originally Posted by bigrand1

I had the pleasure of helping beta test this and let me tell you this controls like a dream! The environments are really open and large as well. And if I remember correctly, there's 5 areas as of now and they are separate from each other, so, lots of variation and change of scenery to play around in.

Nice! Thanks for the quick reply

[headcaseGames]

I was on the dev team of a few Tony Hawk games back in the day so watching this video is a big nostalgia kick for me. I'd love to see such a game "done right" on the platform - having messed with Skater Nation and MikeV 1, both were appreciable efforts in their day but the usual control issues were enough to keep me from coming back. If the issue has really been worked through then I will grab this title and sing its praises far and wide Until I can tell otherwise, then I will wait for a demo version to see if they have really nailed it.

Graphics definitely look quite bland, even compared to older iOS games, but considering the price ($1.99) that is not unacceptable (just don't be calling this HD!) With an extra layer of love applied this could be quite the looker and probably tug at a lot of old school skate gamer's heartstrings. It doesn't have to be unreal-level quality, but a little less rushed-looking. I don't mean to harp, and again it's a $2 mobile game so this isn't a sticking point - and to reiterate, if the controls really are solid then that will trump any gripes otherwise.

Good luck to the devs and I anticipate more goodness from you guys

[Ayjona]

I'm curious as well. One thing I appreciated in some old Tony Hawk game I toyed around with was the populated open environments, and missions that went together with the population. Knock over frat boys, jump over cars, annoy students at the college, etc. Looking at the screenshot, I would assume we only get to skate in empty areas in Mike V, but should I happen to be wrong, do correct me

[ratrodstudio]

Originally Posted by DodgerBlue016

I assume "working on Gamecenter online multiplayer" means its gonna be added....

Exactly, that was the plan all along, but ran a bit short on time for Xmas. We also have a few extra features and improvements that will be added.

Originally Posted by ChocolatCakeMix

This actually looks pretty good. I may pick it up, but just wondering about something. Would it be possible to add a feature to save replays to your photo album, like with First Try Fridays? My favorite console game is Skate 3, and I love making montages of Skate. I'm not talking about a real in-depth editor or anything, just the ability to save a replay so you can make a montage. I know this may be difficult to add in, but that would really be awesome.

Regardless, I think I'll pick it up.

Thanks for the suggestion, that would definitely be a cool feature to have. We did not currently have it on our list but will definitely keep it in mind.

Originally Posted by jumpman475

So, how open are the environments? Are they all separate areas or is it one big area? If they are separate are they each pretty large?

The environments are large, we tried to push this as much as possible. From a technical point of view we also had to keep a balance between size and quality. In order to run well on the 3rd gen devices and up, all environments have the same number of textures, polygons etc. You can only push to a certain size until it becomes too repetitive or feeling empty. So we played a bit with that and added some variations such as the Sunset Road Motel level which is smaller a bit, but more busy while the Downtown Plaza is very large and open.

Originally Posted by headcaseGames

I was on the dev team of a few Tony Hawk games back in the day so watching this video is a big nostalgia kick for me. I'd love to see such a game "done right" on the platform - having messed with Skater Nation and MikeV 1, both were appreciable efforts in their day but the usual control issues were enough to keep me from coming back. If the issue has really been worked through then I will grab this title and sing its praises far and wide Until I can tell otherwise, then I will wait for a demo version to see if they have really nailed it.

Graphics definitely look quite bland, even compared to older iOS games, but considering the price ($1.99) that is not unacceptable (just don't be calling this HD!) With an extra layer of love applied this could be quite the looker and probably tug at a lot of old school skate gamer's heartstrings. It doesn't have to be unreal-level quality, but a little less rushed-looking. I don't mean to harp, and again it's a $2 mobile game so this isn't a sticking point - and to reiterate, if the controls really are solid then that will trump any gripes otherwise.

Good luck to the devs and I anticipate more goodness from you guys

Thanks for the feedback, first I just wanted to mention that the video trailer really don't do justice to the game. The video is captured from Unity in emulator mode, then add the video compression on top of that and things look already a lot more flat. When running on the device the colors are a lot more vibrant and the display sharper while running at 60 fps. I think anyone that played on the iPad or a retina display can also support that.

For sure like everything, there is always room for improvements. We tried as hard as possible to keep supporting the 2nd gen devices but it got to a certain point where it was limiting us too much on the newer hardware. As for the environments like I was explaining earlier, it's always a balance between size and quality. The larger the maps are, the less tris you will have on screen for details, and more texture are reused. The environments that are slightly smaller are a lot more detailed, while some have to be more stretched to run well.

Regarding HD, the term is usually used for using the native device resolution which we entirely do in this game at all time. No graphics are enlarged to fit a retina or iPad display, every graphics including menus and elements are all natively done in each respective resolution size. This increase a bit the build size but allow sharper and crispier graphics.

We really focused on the controls for this game, adding customization and making it as user friendly as possible. We had a beta testing team and small focus groups to gather feedback. Our goal was to provide a good and fun experience to the casual gamer (easy to play) while having enough replay value and content for the more hardcore ones.

That's awesome that you worked on the original Tony Hawk series, must have been quite something dealing with the limitation of the PS1 in terms of hardware. I remember back in the days, after Skate or Die and 720, the first one to come out for the Playstation was Street Sk8er, they actually had a japanese version almost a year before the US version. It was quite arcade and everyone (skateboarders like us) were hoping for something closer to skateboarding than downhill courses.

Originally Posted by Ayjona

I'm curious as well. One thing I appreciated in some old Tony Hawk game I toyed around with was the populated open environments, and missions that went together with the population. Knock over frat boys, jump over cars, annoy students at the college, etc. Looking at the screenshot, I would assume we only get to skate in empty areas in Mike V, but should I happen to be wrong, do correct me

As much as we would like to add stuff, there are always technical constraints. We also didn't wanted to limit the game only for iPhone 4S or iPad 2 users. We tried to balance things out as much as possible. We also had to make sure that everything ran smoothly in multiplayer with 2 characters at once since this was one of the main feature of the game. However we still have more to add such as online multiplayer and other improvements that did not make it in time, those will be addressed in an upcoming update.

Our android version will also be launching next week, just in time before Xmas. We are happy to be the first skateboarding game on the platform. A new Xperia PLAY (Playstation certified phone) compatible version will also be launching in early January.

We always welcome ideas and suggestions. If you think of anything that you would like to see in the game or have feedback / recommendations, please contact us using our website at http://en.ratrodstudio.com/contact/.