iPhone Eufloria HD - (by Omni Systems)

Discussion in 'iPhone and iPad Games' started by Echoseven, Feb 8, 2012.

  1. syntheticvoid

    syntheticvoid Well-Known Member

    Jun 20, 2010
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    Musician & factory worker.
    a[V-O-I-D]
    Yeah... It was my birthday/Xmas/valentines/thanksgiving/groundhog/arbor/Halloween present. =oP

    Anyway... Yes... BEA-U-TI-F*****G-FUL game! Really... Love the whole minimalistic graphics combined with the great BGM... Fantastic experience. Hope weren't let down by the purchase... Would hate to ruin my recommendationism. =oP
     
  2. sweetdiss

    sweetdiss Well-Known Member

    Jun 15, 2009
    1,745
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    Just everything. Every freakin' stat you can possibly think of. That's how I like my games, anyway!
     
  3. andsoitgoes

    andsoitgoes Well-Known Member

    I appreciate that, and I see what you're coming from. Obviously the same reviewer that saw the preview didn't review the game. And I see some of the points the reviewer is making.

    I also though do see a difference when you're relaxing watching a show and playing a game like this, it lends itself to being able to play a much slower paced game, something that I for one appreciate, and I think many iPad owners would agree with.

    However looking at the other PSN reviews, there were a lot of echoed sentiments about the game being EXTRA slow, problems with some of the AI and such... It's clear the Destructoid review was unnecessarily harsh (that's their moniker) but that I do see valid points. I'm picking up some 20% off iTunes cards today so I think I can justify grabbing it, although I get this feeling in the pit of my stomach that it's going to drop in price next week.. As much as I like sales, iOS "next week sales" REALLY frustrate me.

    Oh and last, not least, and most importantly

    I think you should reconsider the logo. It does not come close to reflecting the beauty of the game. I get what it is, but there are SO many other choices you could use, I just don't think the missile seed is the right choice... It just isn't pretty enough and as stupid as this sounds, IMO a lot of iOS owners are SUCKERS for beautiful app icons.
     
  4. The PS3 port is not the same as this iOS port though, although ultimately the game will never play like a fast action extravaganza. You can speed up time by a factor of 3 however, which helps. :D Destructiods have a right to their contrary opinion, I don't begrudge them that.

    A game like Euloria is not going to be for everybody. But we did try hard to make this iOS release as accessible and polished as can be. It remains a game that has its own vibe though.

    Ahh I love the Logo! Taste is a hard hard hard thing to agree on. :)
     
  5. HLW

    HLW Well-Known Member

    Sep 2, 2010
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    The touchscreen controls work really well with this (I've previously played it on PC). I agree about the icon, I don't think it's a great choice. The image is OK but I think the colours look wrong.
     
  6. andsoitgoes

    andsoitgoes Well-Known Member

    And that's okay with me. I liked Galcon but I like to relax, a lot, and this seems perfect. It's half the price of the PSN version which is half the price of the PC version (yet again, still scared for "sales"!!)

    But the important things are control and AI. Also, multiplayer? :)

    As for the logo, it's not ugly by any means but I think it misses some of the overwhelming beauty of the game. Here are a few logo examples that I was thinking:

    http://www.iconarchive.com/show/mega-games-pack-37-icons-by-3xhumed/Eufloria-1-icon.html

    http://www.iconarchive.com/show/mega-games-pack-37-icons-by-3xhumed/Eufloria-2-icon.html

    There is so much there, the beauty of the world, the environments and the vastness that you can create. I just don't get that from the current logo.
     
  7. Ssylex

    Ssylex Well-Known Member

    May 18, 2011
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    Software Engineer
  8. sillytuna

    sillytuna Well-Known Member

    Feb 3, 2012
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    Game Developer
    Sheffield, UK
    Oh the fun we had with that icon...! At one point I said something along the lines of, "you spend months and months on a game and in the end someone will buy it because of the bloody icon, aaargh!"

    Anyway, whenever we tried to do something that works, especially with trees, at the size required (something like 72x72), it never quite did.

    Icons can actually change with updates, not that there is any plan to change it unless an amazing one comes along, hehe ;)

    Stats - message received :)
     
  9. andsoitgoes

    andsoitgoes Well-Known Member

    If I had the skill I would in a second. What about a contest? How awesome would that be? Doesn't need to have any prize other than a mention in the credits or on the iTunes description!
     
  10. kzwen

    kzwen Well-Known Member

    Jun 25, 2010
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    I seconded this idea!
     
  11. coxy

    coxy Well-Known Member

    Sep 16, 2011
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    I agree with the posts above - the icon needs to be changed. It doesn't match with the beauty of the game - it just doesn't quite fit right...

    Awesome game :)
     
  12. Twenty One

    Twenty One Well-Known Member

    Jan 19, 2012
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    Oil & Gas Engineer
    Oklahoma City, USA
    Great job, Devs!

    Awesome RTS game that is perfect for ipad and offers smooth gameplay that is unique, challenging and most of all relaxing and fun!

    Many levels and many hours or replay with two campaigns, SKIRMISH MODE (thank God!), randomly generated maps, adjustable difficulty, etc....which all really helps with variety and replay ability.

    Highly recommend to anyone with an iPad!
     
  13. LordGek

    LordGek Well-Known Member
    Staff Member Patreon Silver Patreon Gold Patreon Bronze

    Feb 19, 2009
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    Software QA Engineer
    Saratoga, CA, USA
    Still obsessing on stat concept...

    Perhaps you could attribute scores to level runs along the same lines as what they did in the game iSlash. If not familiar with iSlash (not even an advertisement for the game, just trying to illustrate my point here), you're tasked with cutting at least 75% of some odd geometric shape as quickly and in few moves as possible. The score you get at the end of a successful run somehow magically factors in the time it took, the number of cuts it took, and how much extra area beyond the required minimum was removed. With this game I would think an efficient run could be measured by these primary statistics:

    1) Time taken to complete (less is better).
    2) Planets lost to the enemy even if only temporarily (clearly less is best).
    3) Seedlings lost (less is better).
    4) Enemy seedlings eliminated (more is better).

    How you massage these elements into a score would be your business. I like that a bit better than just getting a handful of raw stats with no useful way to compare with others or even yourself since none of these stats alone tell the whole story (sure he won a game with minimal loss of seedlings but that was because he took two hours of building up to get these massive armadas together).
     
  14. Twenty One

    Twenty One Well-Known Member

    Jan 19, 2012
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    Oil & Gas Engineer
    Oklahoma City, USA
    Needs custom music option

    I forgot to add that although I absolutely LOVE the music, this game really needs an option for custom music via iTunes or Pandora While keeping the sound effects ...that would be great if it could be in a future update.
     
  15. sillytuna

    sillytuna Well-Known Member

    Feb 3, 2012
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    Game Developer
    Sheffield, UK
    Sorting custom music is on the update wish list :)
     
  16. ZorakZoran

    ZorakZoran Well-Known Member

    Apr 30, 2010
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    Awesome game. Congrats guys. I'm at level 14 of the campaign, and i'm glad i bought this game. It's interesting, more and more challenging, the progression and tutorial are well thought, graphic and sound design are great, so kudos to you. Hope you'll sell it well, I want to see other games from you in the future.

    I immediately thought about Flower when I saw the game, I'm a sucker for these types of designs, but was afraid of the actual gameplay. So I have a critic to make, I think your trailer suck. It's impossible to see what the gameplay looks like, imho that's a bad idea. I showed the trailer to some friends, they believed it was a tower defense.
     
  17. Taeles

    Taeles Well-Known Member
    Patreon Silver

    Aug 5, 2011
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    Think galcon on steroids with better graphics.
     
  18. Big Albie

    Big Albie Well-Known Member

    Feb 12, 2009
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    Casual gamer/marketing dude
    San Francisco, California
    Eufloria Nurtures Stylistically Unique RTS Experience

    They say that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, while the phrase “less is more” is used just as often. Regardless of which mantra you subscribe to, Eufloria by Omni Systems crosses both in delivering a real-time strategy (RTS) game that’s just as simple as it is complex. With elements from games such as Risk and Galcon, Eufloria is a unique bucket of mellowness mixed with a healthy gallon of challenge. It won’t necessarily appeal to hardcore RTS fanatics, but it has the right ingredients for casual ones.

    The story, what there is of one, is about conquest. In this case, Eufloria is about the flight of seeds where the ultimate goal is to seed and grow across this little world of asteroids. Once these seeds land and grow successfully, they become trees which transform these barren rocks into planets of life. Of course, there are enemy seedlings and other nuances to the game that throw a wrench into everything.

    The basic unit if you want to call it that is the seedling which serves as the scout and defender. The seeds are used not only scope out asteroids, but grow into the trees that lay claim to territories. Eufloria provides a rather straightforward tutorial along with a help button that can be accessed during gameplay. The game has a 25-level Story Mode which provides the barebones story; Skirmish Arenas which offer a number of specific challenges; and a Dark Matter Mode which is the Story Mode except with a much darker background. The game arrives with levels locked meaning previous levels and challenges must be completed before progressing, but players also unlock everything in the Options section. Eufloria also offers two difficulty modes: Relaxed and Challenging, which are exactly as they sound.

    The Story Mode takes players through 5 stages: Takeoff, Into the Wild, Outer Colonies, Deep Space, and Event Horizon. I would suggest players go through Story Mode first since this provides a hands-on tutorial prior to attempting the Skirmish Arenas.

    Visually, the game can easily be called beautiful in the general sense and stylistically unique in another. Eufloria is all about mood and ambience, which is successfully done from the minimalist interface to the extremely relaxing soundtrack. A pastel background (this can be changed to a dark screen in Dark Matter mode) with a bunch of orbs along with trees and flying seeds would be an appropriate description. Of course, that would be an understatement as the smooth soundtrack does wonders to enhance the gameplay.

    The controls in Eufloria are extremely responsive with little learning curve. In addition to panning and zooming using finger pinch and drag gestures, tapping on an asteroid will bring up an information panel highlighting the energy, strength and speed of the asteroid and its seedlings and trees.

    The control mechanism for deploying seeds is just as easy to use with a number of different methods for doing this. The simplest way for me was tapping on an asteroid with seedlings brings up an arrow and tapping on the target asteroid will send those seeds to that destination. A nice touch is how to select a specific of seeds to send. A green dial appears around the asteroid which can be manipulated by touch.

    The gameplay in Eufloria and the level of satisfaction will likely come down to the expectations of the player. Sending seeds to populate and evolve asteroids can set the scene for rather intense battles. Personally, zooming in to watch the seedling battles can be wonderfully relaxing in a strange way because the resulting colors and animation add much to the experience. In some ways, this is the best part of Eufloria.

    Because the planets have different attributes in terms of energy, strength and speed, the seeds that are sent will eventually take on those strengths. An added complication involves the maturity of the trees because the older they get, the harder it becomes to conquer that planet. The reasoning here is that older trees will burrow deeper into the core of the planet which makes it harder for them to be destroyed.

    Eufloria does provide a fair albeit not overwhelming degree of strategy which I found very enjoyable and satisfying. Players will face a number of decisions, and the game does offer a good deal of options in that area. As the game progresses, players can select specific seeds to send based on the planet’s attributes as well as selecting different trees and flowers to send and plant. The game’s complexity is furthered by the type of tree with the Dyson Tree being the most basic. But, beacon plants, terraform trees, flowers and laser pods are added to the mix. While you can send individual seeds to scout asteroids (this is pretty neat) which you’ll don’t really want to send your forces into an enemy ambush, planting flowers via enhanced seedlings are another capability.

    The game is designed for the casual player in mind. For all the damage the AI can do, it’s slow enough that players will have time to consider moves and build up their seedling forces. Personally, that’s makes for a relaxing, yet challenging game with just the right level of management options.

    Having said that, the slow-paced proposition of Eufloria can be an issue for some. While it’s not unusual for an RTS game to last anywhere from 15-30 minutes, gameplay can feel drawn out because of the slower pace. Normal and fast forward buttons are provided, but they don’t speed things up considerably.

    Unlike other RTS games, stats are not a particularly strong point for Eufloria. Right now, the most players can expect is the elapsed time it took to complete a stage. Another shortcoming in the current version is the artifacts which for the most part can be collected but lack any real use. The game also doesn’t have GameCenter or OpenFeint support, which frankly is begging for achievements.

    Eufloria is a different kind of RTS game because of its slower pace and more relaxing approach. It offers a simple, yet elegant interface with just the right balance when it comes to the degree of game management involved. There’s enough complexity to make it challenging while enjoying the stylistic visuals. Casual players will love the ease and pick-up-and-play controls, while advanced RTS players will value the uniqueness and variety.

    Albie Meter: 4 Stars (unique minimalist approach to visuals; responsive and easy-to-use controls; simple, yet complex nuances to make it challenging; slow pace will appeal more to casual players; great soundtrack; minimal player stats)
     
  19. ProperChopper

    ProperChopper Well-Known Member

    I am having serious problems with level 7. If I'm able to take control of one of the big asteroids, either side of where you start, The enemies just take me out and take it back. What am I supposed to be doing?!
     
  20. HLW

    HLW Well-Known Member

    Sep 2, 2010
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    Level 7, Containment, has one large asteroid, to the left. Is that the level you mean?
     

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