Universal WizzardIsland (by Zarista Games)

Discussion in 'iPhone and iPad Games' started by swisssk8er1, Jul 20, 2014.

  1. Catacomber

    Catacomber Well-Known Member

    May 21, 2009
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    Liz and I concentrated on the story and quests and I think we give you much more than 2.99 of both not to mention a beautiful world to walk around in and some interesting monsters but you didn't need to kill them before to finish the game.

    Now you probably will have to.

    We're not graphic artists so the graphical ui will take us awhile to get down pat--we're storytellers and I don't think anyone can say we don't deliver 9.99 + of story for your 2.99. : )

    I still want to sort out the iPad Air and make sure things look right. Everything else is great for discussion and if I can change something positively am more than happy to do it.
     
  2. Lokina

    Lokina Well-Known Member

    Jul 21, 2014
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    Gosh! All that sounds very complicated! Personally I like the joysticks and feel they are helpful and work well. I have a friend who uses the big ipad and she says the backpack is a bit small and a bit too near the top of the screen but apart from that comment she loves the game and has played with no problems either. A map might be nice but I have learned my way round pretty quickly and soon stopped getting myself lost. :).
    It mght be necessary to have a map on a bigger game.
    Same with the compass I used it once or twice but after that I learned to spot location signs and barely glance at it. I feel a bit sorry for Cat, it's a nice game with brilliant graphics and no doubt everyone has different ideas about what's best...including me. :)
    It took me a while to master the fighting I admit but once I had the hang of it I can kill anyone. :) I like that too, great fun trying different things in the menu. Ok I'm not the greatest gamer, but I think the game is great and am enjoying it very much. Thanks, Cat. :)
     
  3. Nullzone

    Nullzone 👮 Spam Police 🚓

    Jul 12, 2013
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    Don't worry, Cat, I think overall you delivered a great experience as usual ;)
    The "hardcore" beginning is one of Avadon2's weaker points, fully agree on that.
    Much like your Quest series, Jeff Vogel (Spiderweb Games) has a very devoted hardcore following, and it shows.

    Here you can find a UI screenshot: http://forums.toucharcade.com/showthread.php?t=220423
    Character portraits on the left, automap on the right, skills/menu at the bottom.
    Map & portraits can be folded in, and the map has a fullscreen mode as well.
    Note that the bottom menu bar is quite small and no fun to use on an iPad Air, the two tiny green dots for folding in the map/portraits are even worse. So you get a negative example as well ;)

    And your graphics are great, from what I've seen you built a consistent, beautiful and believable world. I didn't compare you to Nimian Legends for nothing :)
    Which reminds me: You wrote you aren't graphics artists (but you did an awesome job anyways, so there) . If you ever need a talented guy, I can highly recommend Robert Kabwe/Protopop on TA, the creator of aforementioned Nimian Legends.

    As for the joysticks: They are in a fixed position where I don't use them. I usually have my thumbs in the bottom left&right corners. Which is why the sticks feel like unnecessary clutter.

    Automap: I suck royally at remembering stuff like this (which house was which store again?) , so I either have to make maps myself (hmph, back to 1990) , or rely on the game to make them for me. Note that Stonekeep from 1995 already offered an annotable automap, so I am quite spoiled by longtime experience ;)
     
  4. Ponycakes

    Ponycakes Well-Known Member
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    Jun 27, 2012
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    Hey Cat, et. al.! What's this I hear about an alchemy mechanic? I can get LOST (in a good way) in sim-mechanics in RPGs, and if I can spend hours scavenging and crafting in WizzardIsland, I'm in.
     
  5. Nullzone

    Nullzone 👮 Spam Police 🚓

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    @Ponycakes: Looks like you get your wish ;) . I already saw a mortar and recipes, found various plants, and if I remember right an NPC mentioned potion-brewing.
    Their Quest series is chock-full with Alchemy and Item Enchantment, so I wouldn't be surprised to see the same here.

    Funny name, btw. Which ponies do you recommend for your cake recipes? All I know is that Shetlands are best for haggis :p
     
  6. Ponycakes

    Ponycakes Well-Known Member
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    Jun 27, 2012
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    Excellent! Loved The Quest, though I never finished... :(


    QUOTE=Nullzone;3314776]
    Funny name, btw. Which ponies do you recommend for your cake recipes? All I know is that Shetlands are best for haggis :p[/QUOTE]

    That name goes back many years... Starting as lil pink pony when a friend switched my original Xbox gamertag as a joke!
     
  7. Catacomber

    Catacomber Well-Known Member

    May 21, 2009
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    http://www.zaristagames.com/
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    @Nullzone--Thanks about the graphics--worked really hard on the terrain. Wanted people to want to stay there. :) Now working hard on the GUI. Let me know if this is an improvement.

    1. No joysticks. I think people have gotten the idea by now how to move and they do tend to clutter things. This isn't Nintendo. :)
    2. Buttons for the in game menu. Changed.
    3. Backpack is gone replaced by an arrow you can tap to open the in game menu.
    4. You no longer need to tap that again to back out of the in game menu. There is a back button for each screen.

    Working on other things. Your comments Nullzone are very helpful.
     

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  8. Catacomber

    Catacomber Well-Known Member

    May 21, 2009
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    Hi, Ponycakes, what a delicious name. :) That's my second favorite now to EatingPinkCats. :)

    There are different types of Alchemy possible in WizzardIsland. One type is the Recipes---there are different recipes you can either buy from Potionista or other shops or get as a quest reward from Harisa the Witch in Beachtown.

    When you get the scroll to do that, tap on it in your items inventory and it goes into your Recipes slot. Harisa tells you more about how this works.

    When you gather the elements that go into the recipe you can craft an item. You can look in the in game menu under Recipes to do that stuff.
    You can craft potions and drinks and Liz will give you a quest to craft a Jade Mortar.

    The other type of Alchemy is making gold out of base items.

    That's not a recipe, it's an Ability and once you have it it will show up in your Abilities. You get the ability from Warloga's apprentice Dirac in Warloga's Tower, Entrance Hall as a reward for doing his quest to summon Warloga.

    Then you have to gather the items necessary to make gold--Blue Limestone and Iron and use the bench of the wizard guy in the Tower - top floor of Warloga's Tower.

    Then you will never be poor again and can shop your heart out. :)

    You can also make money by playing in the casino but Alchemy is much better. :)

    We will have more crafting in our next game including forging armor and weapons.
     
  9. Catacomber

    Catacomber Well-Known Member

    May 21, 2009
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    @Nullzone----Would you prefer icons to words on the ingame menu? Just don't know how I'd do Save Load and Exit. : ) My imagination is not working when it comes to icons for those. :)

    Sweating in my workshop on the minimap. : )
     
  10. Catacomber

    Catacomber Well-Known Member

    May 21, 2009
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    http://www.zaristagames.com/
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    Thanks! Try without the joysticks in the update coming soon. : )

    I think you'll find it more immersive as you can move by pressing your finger north south west or east on the left side and just make a right or left swiping motion with your finger on the right to rotate the camera.

    And nothing gets in the way of you and your adventure.

    But don't do it with sticky fingers. :p

    Increased the rotation speed just a bit.
     
  11. Nullzone

    Nullzone 👮 Spam Police 🚓

    Jul 12, 2013
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    #91 Nullzone, Aug 12, 2014
    Last edited: Aug 12, 2014
    Hey, I'm just one guy, so my preferences shouldn't dictate stuff ;)
    Now, serious answer: Difficult. Icons would be more immersive. But I am not aware of any iconographic standards for e.g. "Quests" (an open book?) or "Recipes" (a single page with thin lines indicating writing?) . For Save/Load I saw down/up arrows used several times. But I also recall where a down arrow was used for "Exit (Menu)" , and an up arrow for "Cloud upload".
    For easy recognition, words are better, I think. But if you provide an explanation in the helpscroll, it might work.
    Icing on the cake would be if you can toggle between words, icons, and words&icons.

    And the new menu in your screenshot looks very good.

    You're great, thanks so much!
     
  12. Catacomber

    Catacomber Well-Known Member

    May 21, 2009
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    I have great respect for your comments. You have a very strong aesthetic sense for things.

    I'll see what I can do. I don't think I can toggle between text and icons but will see if I can find icons that will work because I think that would be splendid. Thanks again.
     
  13. Catacomber

    Catacomber Well-Known Member

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    #93 Catacomber, Aug 12, 2014
    Last edited: Aug 12, 2014
    Maybe Sylon of Redshift can make some icons for me that would work and still look medieval. It might be hard to make a save file--a floppy drive --icon look medieval but if anyone could do it I think he could. : )
     
  14. Nullzone

    Nullzone 👮 Spam Police 🚓

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    *grin* my artistic wife would disagree on that. I think it's mostly experience, having seen a few good and a lot of bad UI over the years.
    I'd be surprised if you can't do that in Unity, but then I'm not a programmer.

    Medieval floppy disk? Stoneslab and Hammer&Chisel ;) I immediately thought about Pratchett's Stonehenge-style monolith computer. A bit more modern would be paper and quill, iconising the "record your travels" part of saving.
     
  15. Retro Nug

    Retro Nug Well-Known Member

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    #95 Retro Nug, Aug 12, 2014
    Last edited: Aug 12, 2014
    I'm gonna pick this up and give it a try. Looks like something that would be right up my alley! :)
     
  16. Lokina

    Lokina Well-Known Member

    Jul 21, 2014
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    So does this mean there's going to be a new update soon then?
     
  17. Catacomber

    Catacomber Well-Known Member

    May 21, 2009
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    Will submit the update when I get the minimal in. :)

    @ Nullzone will pass your suggestions on to Sylon. : )

    @ Retro Nug what an unusual name. Hope you like it!
     
  18. Lokina

    Lokina Well-Known Member

    Jul 21, 2014
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    I like it now so it can only get better. The more I play the more I enjoy it. :)
     
  19. Valentia

    Valentia Well-Known Member
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    Jan 20, 2009
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    Oh, I'm glad I saw this! I downloaded it late last night and got lost in it way past bedtime. :) This is a world and story one can very happily be immersed in for hours and hours.

    Thanks, btw, for letting me play a female character. As a woman gamer, I always appreciate that option. Not that I've ever disliked a game merely because that wasn't an option, but I do really enjoy being given the choice!
     
  20. Lokina

    Lokina Well-Known Member

    Jul 21, 2014
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    Hi Valetia, I hope you enjoy the game as much as I do. :)
     

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