iPad Pocket Heroes - (by Ayopa Games)

Discussion in 'iPhone and iPad Games' started by Echoseven, Jul 11, 2012.

  1. Grungebob

    Grungebob Well-Known Member

    Jul 10, 2010
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    I always wonder when I buy a game like this, if it will be supported by the developer/publisher. Sometimes you get in on something early and there are a lot of bugs, but the designers have vision and they work out all the kinks, making the game experience better. However, there are times when promises are made, but there is no real follow-through. I assume that the financial success of the game has a lot to do with it.

    Here's hoping that this game gets some updates soon.
     
  2. Brandon Pollet

    Brandon Pollet Well-Known Member

    Can you send me a Private Message here in the forums with your email address? If so I can try to get this figured out for you.

    Thanks,

    Brandon
     
  3. Brandon Pollet

    Brandon Pollet Well-Known Member

    Hey everyone!

    I wanted to say that I really appreciate all of your encouragement and for sticking with the game. I'm sorry that I haven't been on here in a while but I want to explain why that's been the case, and to hopefully, ease your fears.

    First off, we are definitely still working on updates for Pocket Heroes. There are obviously a lot of little problems still in the game that we need to fix but we're also working to add new functionality and new content to extend the game. As many of you probably know we're working on an update now to help iron out some of the matchmaking and character management issues with the game and it's taking us a while to get it all straight.

    We're making something called the 'Hero Board' where characters can be listed in-game and parties can be made. You can think of it like an 'adventurers wanted' board in the tavern, or like the Party Builder thread here in the forums.

    With the Hero Board in place you'll be able to leave games you don't want to be in anymore and then choose to either delete that character or list them on the board so that someone else can choose them for a new party. This should give everyone much better control over their characters and will hopefully alleviate the problems with the current matchmaking systems.

    We're also working on, what we call, raid levels. These will be single dungeon 'quests' where the purpose is to build a party and then work through the dungeon to kill a boss. What's cool about these levels is that they are 'semi-random', meaning that while they aren't randomly generated there are multiple layouts and different monster/trap/item placements for each level so each game should be fresh. We're working on both of these things for the next update, and we're hoping to have it out in September.

    There is some other news, however, that you may not like as much. One of the reasons I haven't been as active here is that we've had to start working on other projects alongside Pocket Heroes which has slowed down our update progress. Unfortunately, from a financial perspective, Pocket Heroes isn't strong enough to allow us to work on it full time. I'm hopeful that with this update, and those to come in the future, that may change, but for now we need to split our time.

    With that said, I'll try to get back to being more active here and on our own website. I really appreciate all of you who are playing the game and sending in your feedback and I want to continue to communicate with all of you about Pocket Heroes, and what we're working on next.

    Happy Questing!

    - Brandon
     
  4. Pitta

    Pitta Well-Known Member

    Oct 19, 2008
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    Hi Brandon!
    Thanks for the update.
    I think that the Hero Board and the 'fast quest' thing will do wonders for the game....sorry to hear it's a bit struggling financially.

    In all honesty, I even suggested this waaaaay back during developement (ie: a switch of view from being campaign focused to character focused, and having many single quests we can do with different people, keeping always the game fresh, while having a general archstory)....remember the family crests?

    While I understand why the game was initially planned as campaign focused, I think that, from a gameplay and pratical viewpoint, the way you are heading is the way to go.


    Can't wait!
     
  5. Strange Brew

    Strange Brew Well-Known Member

    Jul 23, 2012
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    Hey hey hey!!! There's Brandon!!! F'ing awesome dude!!!

    I was soooooo hoping to get a post just like the one u left. I love all those ideas, nice work.

    Thanks for checking in. U have a great game here with an original concept.

    The cult community is growing and it's nice to see so will PH!

    I don't mind being patient at all on updates as long as we know more are on the way.

    Take care man, and good luck to u and your company!
     
  6. Artfoundry

    Artfoundry Well-Known Member

    May 11, 2009
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    COO and Creative Director at LCD Dreams, Inc.
    Bay area, CA
    Those changes sound great! The main issue I've been having with the game (aside from the bugs here and there) is too many of the same game running - ie. many iterations with different parties running the same campaign (obviously since there's only one). I actually regret now joining so many because the experience for most of them isn't new. I have one game in which I'm farther ahead than any other and three other games I'm playing with real life friends. I wish I could just be playing those four. I could of course just stop responding to the others, but that wouldn't be fair to the other players (leaving of course might not either, but it's better than not playing at all). So both the hero board and the raids sound awesome.
     
  7. Exact-Psience

    Exact-Psience Well-Known Member

    Jan 12, 2012
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    The Work-At-Home Guy
    Philippines
    Sigh. I'll reinstall when the update comes. Since this game came out, I never got past the first tavern. At least one of the people in my party bails out and that just sucked so much, I had to delete the game.
     
  8. Strange Brew

    Strange Brew Well-Known Member

    Jul 23, 2012
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    You know there is a couple other threads than this one to try and find others to play with. I think the thread links are a few pages back. There could be others just like you who tried the random players option and didn't have any luck.

    Even if u find one other player, this game is very worth it to play in its current state.
     
  9. InkyTheGhost

    InkyTheGhost Well-Known Member

    Jul 12, 2012
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    #829 InkyTheGhost, Sep 8, 2012
    Last edited: Sep 11, 2012
    I just began the 7th quest, and I started off the map, in the bottom left corner. I'm stuck! How do I get back on the map?
    I know people have had this problem, but I can't remember if there was a fix, or if Brandon had to reach down the God Hand.
    Help me Brandon! This game is awesome and I'd love to keep playing it.

    Edit: I emailed Brandon and he got back to me and fixed the issue super quick.
     
  10. Ravenlock

    Ravenlock Well-Known Member

    Sep 17, 2009
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    I just want an update that lets you leave a game. I have 4 games in my list that I can't quit after somebody else stopped playing, and 2 games I'd like to stop playing but can't, and I'll feel bad uninstalling and doing to those guys what somebody else did to me in other games.

    I really don't understand why this basic functionality still isn't in the game. It's making me like it a whole lot less than I otherwise might.
     
  11. Grungebob

    Grungebob Well-Known Member

    Jul 10, 2010
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    Hah! I have like 20 games that have stalled thanks to other players.
     
  12. Fieryseraph

    Fieryseraph Well-Known Member

    Jan 22, 2011
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    I play on my ipad and my ipod, and I only ever get notifications on my ipad (never on my ipod). Anyone else have this issue?
     
  13. Pitta

    Pitta Well-Known Member

    Oct 19, 2008
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    Notifications are received (annoingly) only in the last device you logged in.
    If you log out and log in on your iPod, you will experience the vice versa.
     
  14. Strange Brew

    Strange Brew Well-Known Member

    Jul 23, 2012
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    Financial systems analyst
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    I'm not getting any notifications again, Brandon.

    Is the server down again?!

    Any update news?
     
  15. Brandon Pollet

    Brandon Pollet Well-Known Member

    Pocket Heroes 1.0.3 update progress

    Hey everyone,

    I just waned to let you all know that we're still working on the HeroBoard update, and that we're going to be adding in iPhone 5 compatibility to the 1.0.3 update as well. So not only will you be able to better manage your characters and play new levels, but you'll be able to see a little more of the play area if you've got an iPhone 5 or new iPod Touch.

    I also wanted to give you guys something to look at, it's been quite a while since I've uploaded any pics. I've got two for you today, these are both current work-in-progress menu screens for the new Hero Board functionality. That means they are still subject to change before release, blah blah blah.

    [​IMG]

    This first screen is an example of our Character Management screen. In the new update you'll be able to select 'Quit' from the in-game menu if you want to leave a game. When you do so your character will then have a 'Manage' button in the character list screen. When you hit 'Manage' you'll be taken to this screen and have options for what you want to do with your character.

    From here you can delete your character forever, start a new party with that character, or place your character on the Hero Board so other people can add them to their parties.

    [​IMG]

    This picture shows off the current design of the Hero Board. It's an additional tab in the 'Invite Party Member' screen and it will show all characters that have been listed by their owners and who are willing to join a party. From here you can scroll through the list, decide what character you want to invite to your group and fill your player slots with actual characters.

    An important point is that when a character quits a game the default state will be that they are NOT listed on the Hero Board. Hopefully this will keep people who are no longer playing the game from clogging up the character list and will allow people to find other active players.

    I believe that this new functionality will have a number of impacts on the game. First, it should make party formation much easier, and help people who have had trouble getting started in the game to find other active players. Secondly, it will probably result in players reducing the number of characters they have down to a manageable number, maybe one of each class, and then take those characters from party to party to gain loot and experience. It will also work in conjunction with our new semi-random Raid levels to allow you to form a new party, go kill a boss, grab some loot, and then form a new party to tackle a different level.

    Anyway, that's where we're at with the update. I'm still working on the Raid maps that we'll launch with the update, and we're cleaning up these menu screens as well. If you have any questions about any of this let me know and I'll try to get it answered.

    Thanks,

    Brandon
     
  16. Pitta

    Pitta Well-Known Member

    Oct 19, 2008
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    Really really REALLY liking it ;)
    This combined with the semi random stuff hopefully will give new momentum to the game and maybe the future will bring new quests and campaigns.

    I know this is your priority (as it should) but let me remember two things that could smooth out the async experience:

    1) AUREAL notifications.
    2) Notifications for all devices used, not just the last one where one logged in.

    Anyway...I really like the new development course.

    If the random things is as well implemented as it seems, it could be a 2.0 revolution for the game (I already dream of a Dragon Lair quest, Goblin camp quest, Ancient Ruin quest.....all things slightly randomized and FUN that I will gladily play SEVERAL TIMES, maybe with different people...much more than the actual campaign).

    Btw...how do you 'solve' the different level among party members and quest difficulty?
     
  17. Brandon Pollet

    Brandon Pollet Well-Known Member

    Thanks Pitta.

    We actually do have notification sounds in the current build. I think the problem is that you have to uninstall and re-install the game before Apple will let you re-accept the push notifications settings. Once you do that you should get the notification sound.

    The multiple notifications issue isn't something we're solving when this update launches but we're going to be in a position where we can fix it just on the server side so it won't require a new submission to Apple.

    As for differing levels. Right now we're just going to allow you to choose whomever you want regardless of level and then the enemies are going to scale to the average level of the party. I know this isn't a perfect solution but we want to get this out to all of you and then see how we can improve it.
     
  18. Grungebob

    Grungebob Well-Known Member

    Jul 10, 2010
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  19. Pitta

    Pitta Well-Known Member

    Oct 19, 2008
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    You are joking right?
    YOU ARE JOKING RIGHT??????
    Why didn't you told!!!!!
    Reinstalling!!!!!
    (I feel dumb....obviously PH has never been deleted from my devices since day one....nor me or my friends ever noticed it!!!)

    Nice!!!

    Cool, I'm perfectly fine with this solution.
    Maybe (if you plan different difficult level quests) a disclaimer in the 'select your adventure' screen with the required level could be cool (I'm thinking of the old D&D modules covers here).
    BTW....I'm dying to see the 'select quest' screen...you could do something in the vein of the Card Hunter video....just pixelated :)
     
  20. Strange Brew

    Strange Brew Well-Known Member

    Jul 23, 2012
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    MN
    Thanks again Brandon!

    Among others, I am super excited with the new update and the continued direction PH is heading.

    I still play this game everyday, and I like it so much I've bought gold twice just to show my support! Plus, it never hurts to have lots of gold when out slaying evil monsters! ;)
     

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