The trouble with that name is that the Mice are not actually the primary units, when the game ships it will feature the cats and dogs primarily so it might be a little bit misleading. Anyways - today I got the new shop screen almost fully implemented, as well as implemented many of the new animations that Sean has recently committed. The shop screen now looks like this: This is the mockup that I was basing it off of: and this is what it looked like before: As you can see it is still a little bit incomplete - for example, unit information is still missing. We need some class icons (mounted, ground, etc.) before that will appear properly, as well as some ability icons. The resource image also does not yet appear - that actually I just missed and noticed now, it should be in pretty quick.
Just a minor gripe, are you going to use the word horseman in the game? Its a bit strange 'cos it technically isn't a horse... Sorry for being a prick. The game looks very good, I love the art. One problem is that we already have a few similar games on the appstore, and FF Tactics is coming as well, so there is a lot competition. You might want to (or probably are already) considering brain storming for more creative ideas to separate your game from the others, such as interesting character types and traits (cats cannot travel over water, squirrels can climb trees for higher evasion, sieges with beaver dams [?] and siege equipment). You should also offer different game types, instead of "kill them all", have a "destroy the cat's bridge" and "shut/open the gate" in a siege. Also, more minor stuff you may want to consider would include showing the battery levels during play and not cutting off the ipod's music when the app starts. I'm no game dev and I have absolutely no right to give these suggestions without knowing almost anything about your development. I would totally buy your game when it comes out, you guys seem quite talented and transparent. Thanks.
I love this guy! Horseman - no - that is what this guy is referred to in code. He is called that because, before we decided on animals as our theme, I was using Castle Conflict art for the units and the horseman sprite was used for this guy. You will find that the wizard is also called "Tao" right now, because it was inspired by the character Tao from Shining Force. Before we got the mice art in, I was even using an image of Tao as the placeholder art. And yes - this game is definitely going to have to stand apart. I have about a dozen different ideas of doing so, the question is which ones are going to end up in the first update? We already know that certain features are not going to make it - such as campaign mode (a shame, I know, because there's so much you can do - but it's just so much extra time to make, and we don't even know if people will like the gameplay yet!). Our biggest differentiator off the bat is that we are aiming for much shorter gaming sessions, battles that take 2-10 minutes, and have been streamlining combat and the level design to help make this possible. On that note, while I do have 3-4 tactical games on my iPhone, I'd love a list on what you have in case I've missed any of the big ones (Both so I can play them and see what features we're up against ) Battery levels I had not even thought about - I'm gonna write that one down as a feature to consider when we've got the gameplay a bit more solid. As for sound, that one is planned
When you said "Fire Emblem" I got really excited, but then you mentioned this will be a "simple strategy game" (I don't get how that works? Isn't a strategy game supposed to be challenging, ie more complex than those shooters?), I was disappointed. The game interface looks like Fire Emblem, and I had thought you were going to base this on Fire Emblem (RPG elements like stats, equipment, and storyline).
Perhaps simple strategy game isn't the right phrasing, I'd say "easy to get into" strategy game is a better explanation. That being said, it is simplified compared to Fire Emblem. Like our previous strategy title, Castle Conflict, we've reduced combat to a single interaction, with the intent of keeping the game fast paced and also adding a bit of a twist to the genre. Realistically, the game is closer to Advance Wars than Fire Emblem, because it has more to do with unit production and taking over the enemy base than defeating all the units on the map. It is not RPG styled. By that extension, there won't be any stat growth (although obviously there are stats). We haven't even thought about equipment, but if it is in the game it'd be very different from what you'd get in Fire Emblem.
Looked into this and it was incredibly easy to implement. Check it out: (Note: these are obviously temp graphics; I'll get Sean to whip up some battery images for later )
what you think about Guinea Pigs wars or Guinea Pigs Civilization or something with Guinea Pigs will be great definitely furious tactical it's lack of inspiration you should research about the name,because is very important. i will watch this thread ,you guys make a good job
Furious Tactical is placeholder, although I'll be honest I'm not entirely against it if it ends up being the final name. I'm particularly fond of the word "Furious", which both implies the speed we intend to have in the game and there's a bit of a pun with it starting with "fur" and the game being about animals. Having Guinea Pigs in the name doesn't make much sense though because there aren't really any Guinea Pigs in the game, it will be focussing on cats vs. dogs. Still, no name has been decided for sure yet so we are keeping our eyes and ears open for anything that feels like a match
i am really excited about this game. been looking for a good tactics game for a while now (since 08). the artwork is amazing, it reminds me of the redwall books i use to read as a kid. so cool. i would love to help test it if you still need beta testers.
Great! Keep watching this thread, when the next round of beta testers is needed we will be posting it here
Unit Portrait How-To Most of the portrait work in game has already been completed and is now undergoing a final pass. In the meantime, I thought it might be interesting to post a quick run down of how we made the portraits. I will show the process that we had established for the art team: My mouse unit will be on the left, while Cil [another partner in crime] does analogous steps for a cat unit on the right. For you artists out there, the steps shown here are simplified so don't hesitate to drop me a line if you want a more in depth run through of the procedures. Stage 00: The sketch stage. Here we actually see two different processes. I initially drew the image out on my sketch book in red pencil and scanned it, while Cil drew the sketch in digitally and addressed the colours in the process. To each their own. Stage 01: One of the longer steps, but necessary nonetheless. The lineart is drawn and cleaned up digitally. Stage 02: Now it's time to lay out the rough areas of colour. This serves 2 purposes: 1-It lays out the colouring foundation for the image. 2-Once complete, the layer can be locked and shading can be done faster. Stage 03: The colours are now shaded using brushes with roughly 50-80% opacity and wet edges. No team colours are added yet, just values and basic hues. Stage 04: The magic starts to come together. The lineart and colour shading are reunited as one big happy family. Stage 05: Last but not least, the layers are merged and then layer textures are applied. In this case, a drop shadow, texture, gradient, stroke and inner glow have been applied. The team colours are added on a separate layer using overlay properties. I hope this quick run through was of some interest to you folks !
Amazing graphics! I just read the whole thread, and got psyched. Can't wait for the game to be released.
Things keep moving forward ... among other things, today we finally got health bars in so you can tell how much hits the base unit has left!
Cat and Mice Portraits Complete Thought I'd commemorate the finish of these two portrait sets with a quick face off between the teams ;] I do know cats are substantial larger than mice, but for the sake of the game, having them of similar sizes makes sense, since the unit functions are analogous
Wow this game looks great, I've always love strategy games like this. It really does look like Fire Emblem and Advance Wars. When you need more beta testers I'd be interested.
Sean has finished the art for the title screen - it isn't implemented yet but here's the vision for it: PS. Yes, the name right now is still Furious Tactics - if you have a name submission, please tell us now! If you've submitted one before, don't worry, we've seen it, just nothing yet really sounds perfect to us. Just remember that the game is a tactical strategy game (not an RPG), features animals as the primary characters, and is fast paced.
