I'll be honest: the game plays a LOT better on the iPad Mini. I think it's the perfect size for this game. I tried to give as much room to the directional controls on the iPhone/iPod as I could without obscuring the gameplay. I may have to bite the bullet and extend it out into the bottom left of the map though. I do see the teleport you're talking about, Living Legend...seems to occur when turning around close to a tile boundary. I'll add it to the list of bugs And yes, left is always going to be a problem with the controls in the bottom left. There's no tactile feedback for when you've left the screen and have your digit on the black case instead. Down at least is close to the edge of the device so you have an idea when you've gone too far. Making the control bigger would help with that, but again, it would have to overlap the play area to do that.
Have you thought about adding an item shop? The game revolves around collecting money, so it would fit in nicely. Obviously it could add a risk of becoming pay to win, but if you're careful with/don't include IAP it could work.
I played the game some today and I found another bug. Once you lose all of your lives and it says GAME OVER you can press home then quickly return to app once you do that, you continue where you left off.but since it does that the pause menu shows up and then you press cancel and you respawn in the bank and you get to keep on playing it until you die. But The GAME OVER thing is still popping up there. And if you go home then return quickly you get Another life. Here's a pic: I think I found a way to avoid cheep deathes all that you need to add is the ability for your person to be in the bank without the cops being able to get you. I've come to a conclusion with the controls: They respond most of the time when your walking and moving. But when you're walking against the wall and moving nowhere the controls act like queuing the next move so it thinks that he can walk some more but he actually can't so you have to wait for awhile before it realizes he not moving anywhere. #
Another bug: Once you beat the last level it crashes. BTW: I'm really starting to appreciate the music. Did PAC man inspired this game?
The Game Over screen is just a simple text popup right now, so it doesn't surprise me that you can get creative and get around it I appreciate you going to that degree of effort though; you're giving the game a good shakedown. When I put in the ability to continue, I'll also make the Game Over into a real screen that displays stats like items used, steps taken, and whether you have a high score. It should be harder to work around then. The robber isn't designed to stop moving, so walking into a wall involves some special case code (basically it's continually resetting you on that tile you're on), so I'll take a look and see what's going on. There may be an interaction with him turning around that's causing the problem. Turning around is essentially an interrupt in the movement code so it responds immediately instead of waiting until the robber is on a tile. I have a feeling the wall bug and the teleporting are both lurking in the turned around code. I can arrange for the robber to respawn in the bank and not move forward automatically. That does sound like the best solution to dying near the bank. I'll have to figure out what to do if the Inspector is near the bank, though...he's designed to always find you.
Hmm, finshing the last level is supposed to take you back to level 1, but that's temporary code. I'll take a look, it's probably something stupid like an off by one error in the compare. Pac-Man is the inspiration for this game, definitely. I though Pac-Man would be a good stepping stone in making character AI before developing a more complex game. I didn't want to make a pure clone, though, so I came up with the idea of using cops and robbers as a theme. I like to subvert expectations, so I wanted to make the robber the main character. Also, the powerups work differently. The idea of the cops having different personalities also came from Pac-Man, but I take it a step farther: each cop has a special interaction with a certain powerup, usually in the form of being always affected no matter how far away they are. The Corrupt Cop also likes to grab the bonus item... The music is done by Lucky Lion Studios. I wanted something retro-feeling, but couldn't really afford to hire a music guy. Lucky Lion sells tracks for cheap and I really like their sound.
I'll submit a new build in a couple of hours, here's the changes: -Femme bot has new graphics -improved the walking animation of the Rival when moving left/right -Robber now starts in the bank and will not move until you press a direction -Cops will ignore the robber when he is in the bank and during the dying animation I'm pretty sure I know why there is a delay when turning after hitting a wall, I just have to figure out how to fix it I'm still working on the teleport when turning around on a tile boundary; I have a feeling that's going to require a rework of the movement code entirely, and I'm not sure that's worthwhile for a somewhat rare occurance.
Not much point in asking for feedback if you don't use it It also made sense to keep him there until you try to move, so you have time to get oriented on where the Robber is and have time to set up your fingers/thumbs.
Been trying to download newest build but my internets been a bit patchy recently, will let you know what happens
New build going out in a couple of hours: -fixed the delay when turning after being against a wall -Corrupt Cop will stop running for the bonus item after you've picked it up -cops will continue to chase you when within 1 tile of your position -added a countdown timer to the beginning of Rival levels
This update makes the game run a TON smoother! The bug for the not responding has helped the game a lot !
I just added swipe controls...I think they might be the best way of playing on a iPhone/iPod. I've made sure that you don't have to lift your finger to change direction, so you can "draw" the path you want to take (one step at a time). Of course, swiping is slower then using the d-pad, but as long as you plan ahead, you should be fine
Thanks for the update. It made the game a lot easier for iPods and iPhones. Keep up the good work! I think that you may be at the end. All you need is the rest of the levels, better icon,better main menu, a game over menu, and for the music to play on the main menu. Best of luck!
And high scores, acheivements, the ability to continue playing a level, and some more voice work to add... But yeah, busy week for me
GameCenter for high scores and achievements, yes. I plan to release a premium version and a free version. Free will have ads and level pack unlocks (either paid or achievement based). Both versions will have IAP for extra lives if you want to continue (otherwise you'll have the standard 3 lives each time you play). Level select in both will require you to have reached that level.
Fianally got Internet sorted, found about 3 updates waiting. Can't remember if any update notes mentioned the teleporting issue being fixed but I can confirm its still there. Do agree the game plays a lot smoother now but had another crash after finishing level 7. If it helps/makes a difference I did have a cop right behind me as I picked up the last two notes but instead of dying or completing the level, I got a crash to home screen
