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Jan
22
2012

Pocket Heroes – January Dev Update

posted by Readmore at 6:06 am

Happy New Year everyone! It’s been too long since we shared any info on the blog so I wanted to take a minute and let you know how development is proceeding on Pocket Heroes.

Pocket Heroes coming soon from F5 Games

We’ve been hard at work on the game. There is a ton to do, but I really feel like we’re starting to turn the corner as things have been progressing much faster lately. We’ve been upgrading the stats of the characters, extending the item and equipment system, and building out the storyline and mission structure for the first campaign. We’ve also had a lot of great discussions about the game with everyone on the TouchArcade forums and being able to interact with people who are so excited about the game has been really great. If you’re interested in Pocket Heroes and you haven’t checked out our forum thread yet, click here and make sure you do.

While a lot of the work we’ve been doing has been behind the scenes our most recent achievement is actually very visible, and that’s what I want to show you now. We’ve just rolled out version one of the turn replay system which lets you watch the moves that your companions, and your enemies, made since your last turn. This is a feature that we’ve always planned to have but I don’t think any of us understood just how much it would add to the experience until we got it working. Being able to see the turns unfold on your screen really brings the whole experience to life.

To try and show you what I’m talking about I took a video off the iPhone simulator tonight that shows our replay system playing in action. Usually you’ll only see the moves since your last turn but because I had logged in on a different device the game started moving though all of the turns since the last time I had played in the simulator. I was actually pretty surprised at first but it turned out to be a great way to show off the new system.



As you can see we still have some bugs to fix and tweaks to make, but overall the replay feature really changes the feel of the game in a great way.

We love to hear from you! So if you have any questions, or want to talk about the video, please leave a comment or ask us in the TouchArcade forums and we’ll do our best to answer them. We’ve got another development milestone set for the end of the month so I’ll try to put together another blog post then and let you know what we get accomplished.

Nov
22
2011

IncrediBlox Now Available for Android Phones and Tablets!

posted by Readmore at 8:11 pm



IncrediBlox - Available in the Amazon and Apple Appstores, and Android Market

We are happy to announce that our latest Puzzle game, IncrediBlox, is now available for Android Smartphones and Tablets! We have had a lot of requests to bring IncrediBlox to Android and we’re very happy to make it available to all the Android Gamers out there!

IncrediBlox is a falling blocks puzzle game that challenges players with inventive puzzle levels, endless gameplay modes, and allows players to compete for high scores online.
For more information on IncrediBlox check out our IncrediBlox game page.

We also haven’t forgotten about all of our iOS gamers. Today we’ve launched an update for IncrediBlox on iPhone that adds 12 new Thanksgiving themed levels!

If you’re an Android gamer you can check out IncrediBlox in either the Android Market or Amazon AppStores. Let us know what you think!

IncrediBlox App Store Links

IncrediBlox for iOS

IncrediBlox for Android in the Amazon Appstore

IncrediBlox for Android in the Android Market

Nov
14
2011

Does the iPhone 4S Signal the End of the Indie?

posted by Readmore at 9:08 am



Recently I’ve seen some talk among indie developers that the ‘end is near’ for small developers being able to making a living off mobile games. I think there are various reasons people may believe this to be true but one of the most recent ideas was summed up in an article on Pocket Gamer a few weeks ago.

Entitled “iPhone 4S spells ‘beginning of the end for indie developers on iOS”, the article was an interview with indie developer Andrew Rollings who believes that the greatly enhanced horsepower of the 4S will bring an end to indie development. Here is the money quote…

Now I’m not against technical advances – and it would be a fruitless pursuit anyway – but in my opinion this could be the beginning of the end for the independent lone developer for iOS. Although the iPhone revived the ‘bedroom-programmer’, history looks set to repeat itself and the iPhone is poising to kill him off again just as mercilessly as the first time, back in the mid-90s.

Overall, I think this will be a bad thing for the iPhone – and definitely for indie developers.



And it’s not just the iPhone 4S, the new Tegra 3 from Nvidia provides an incredible amount of power for mobile developers. Check out this video that shows off some the graphical power developers will have available to them as the next round of Android devices are released this month.




We’re definitely somewhere between PS2 and PS3 levels of graphical fidelity now, and at this rate of progress we’re going to have mobile devices that rival the current consoles by next year. How can an indie compete?

Why you shouldn’t fear the future

The argument that increased power in mobile devices will put development costs out of reach for indie developers is simply a case of people trying to look into the past to predict the future. Because increased technology in consoles caused developers to become more risk adverse in the past it must also happen in the mobile space, right? No, not even close actually. While it is possible that this new technology will put ‘AAA mobile’ development out of reach for small studios it doesn’t at all mean that there won’t be a market for games that don’t push the graphical envelope. In fact, high-end graphics squishing innovation didn’t really even happen in the console space! I was at E3 when Nintendo unveiled the Wii, I heard everyone dismiss it as inferior technology that couldn’t compete with the Xbox 360 and PS3. Then the Wii was released and proved that inventive gameplay, even with older graphics, was more important than the latest GPU tech. Graphics don’t make games great, they just make them prettier.


Even without the example of the Wii, there are also a vast number of market forces at work in the mobile arena that completely change the game, and make this a very different playing field than the console market of the last few years. The dynamic pricing of mobile games allows deves to price their games where they can make the most money. A ‘AAA’ game that really pushes the limits of the latest tablets can command a premium price because some gamers will pay for the flash. But that doesn’t mean that a game made by a couple guys with 2D graphics can’t sell for $0.99 or free with in-app purchases and make a nice return ( or seven figures ). I don’t think anyone will look at Pocket Heroes and think; I can’t download that! The graphics aren’t nearly as good as Infinity Blade! While both games are RPGs, Pocket Heroes is built to do a lot of things that Infinity Blade can’t ( like have more than one enemy on screen at a time!).





Don’t worry about trying to compete in terms of polygons and pixel shaders, but do take advantage of the incredible advances in technology that developing in the mobile space affords you. Take advantage of the persistent data connection, GPS, AirPlay, things that don’t require huge development teams but can make your game feel cutting edge.


There is no better time to be an Indie than right now…

Well almost, the only time better than right now was yesterday. This market is so big, growing so fast, and still so early, that the sooner you can get involved the better. The people who have an advantage over you aren’t the guys with the flashiest graphics, it’s the guys who released their game yesterday. Take advantage of the incredible expansion of smartphones and tablets to establish a large base of players that you can create great games for.

With that in mind I’m happy to announce that IncrediBlox will soon be available for Android phones and tablets! We’ve ported IncrediBlox to Android specifically for the new Kindle Fire but it plays just as great on 4in and 10in screens. We’ve submitted the game to the Amazon AppStore and are waiting for review, but hopefully you’ll be able to enjoy IncrediBlox on your Android device within the next week!


IncrediBlox - Coming Soon to the Amazon AppStore

So no, these new and crazy powerful mobile devices do not foretell the end of the indie developer. If you’re an indie developer don’t focus on trying to impress with flashy graphics, just make a great game and ride this mobile gaming wave. It’s going to be a crazy ride.

Oct
12
2011

Today iOS 5 Kicks Off the Future of Gaming

posted by Readmore at 9:16 pm


Today marks the release of iOS 5 and it’s more than 200 new features, but if you’re a game designer there should be one of them that excites you more than any other, AirPlay.

AirPlay is Apple’s new connection between an iPad 2 or iPhone 4s and an Apple TV. With it you can stream anything that you see or hear on your device to your HDTV wirelessly and, in typical Apple fashion, easily. While currently this is limited to the subset of users who own an Apple TV I don’t believe Apple has any intention of limiting it to their own hardware and expect that you’ll soon see TVs that come with AirPlay as a built-in feature. And once the use of AirPlay starts to proliferate among the massive iOS userbase I believe we’ll start to see a huge shift in how people approach gaming, both mobile and in the home.

This is, in fact, almost the exact kind of situation that I predicted in my ‘The Future of All Gaming Could Be Mobile’ post from the beginning of the year. Starting today you can be out on the go and fling some Angry Birds or beat a few levels of IncrediBlox and then come home, sit down on the couch with you phone and start playing Dead Space, Real Racing, or Scribblenauts on your HDTV wirelessly. You don’t need to have a ‘real’ console sitting at home collecting dust and waiting for you to use it. You can take your entertainment with you wherever you go and always have the best experience based on your surroundings.

Beyond just brining mobile gaming to the big screen AirPlay also allows other exciting new possibilities. Firemint, the guys behind Flight Control and Real Racing, have recently announced a new multiplayer mode for Real Racing 2 called Party Play. Not only can you sit down on the couch and play Real Racing 2 HD in 1080p on your HDTV but you can host a 4 player split screen race with your friends playing on their iPhones or iPads!

What’s really amazing about all of this is that it’s only the beginning. On day one we have the ability to pull off 4 player split screen over a wireless connection, there is no telling what could come next. The possibilities of multi-screen gaming are very interesting and there is really no limit to the imaginative game designs we’ll see spring from this technology. It’s this rapid technological advancement and broad development community that will continue to push mobile gaming to the forefront and that is ushering in the future of all gaming. In case you couldn’t tell, I’m really excited to be a part of it.

Oct
06
2011

Steve Jobs – Stay Hungry, Stay Foolish

posted by Readmore at 4:54 pm


Steve Jobs was one of the crazy ones. He was a titan of innovation, a man who saw farther than his peers, a man that moved the human race forward and has left the world a better place than he found it.

I never met Steve Jobs. However, like many people today, I feel as though I have lost a mentor and a friend. It is that oversized impact that he had on so many people through his work that is the most amazing thing, in my mind, about an already amazing man. Through his work he inspired so many, and touched so many more, that it’s difficult to even imagine what our world would be like if he had never taken a crazy chance to follow his dreams.

In his remarks about the passing of Steve Jobs President Obama says that

“Steve was among the greatest of American innovators – brave enough to think differently, bold enough to believe he could change the world, and talented enough to do it.”

Today I wish that for myself, and for anyone who reads this, the bravery, boldness, and talent to make such an impact on the world.

While I have felt this way for a while I now know for a fact what the goal of my professional life is; to make a Jobsian sized impact on the world through my work, and to dent the Universe, even if just a little.

I’ll end this with Steve’s own words to the graduating class of Stanford in the Spring of 2005. I’ve watched this video numerous times and have always gotten something different out of it. Today two quotes stand out more than the rest.

“Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked, there is no reason not to follow your heart.”

“Stay Hungry, Stay Foolish”

Goodbye Steve

- Brandon Pollet

Aug
27
2011

Pocket Heroes – August Development Update

posted by Readmore at 7:31 pm

It’s that time again! Time to shine some light on the progress we’ve made with Pocket Heroes since the last gameplay video. I know we’ve been a little more quiet lately but don’t take that to mean we haven’t been working. There has been a lot of progress made on the game, it just hasn’t been highly visible work. Even though we don’t have much new to show right now I wanted to go ahead and let you all know what changes have been made and get your feedback on some of our design choices.

Gameplay and Rules

In our last video we displayed some of our gameplay by having our characters take turns moving and attacking a group of skeletons and their undead master. While that highlighted the direction we are heading with Pocket Heroes, and displayed the awesome turn-based gameplay, there wasn’t really any rules governing what was taking place. Every time a character attacks they deal the same amount of damage, there is no opportunity to miss or dodge an attack, and there was no secondary resource to govern how often a character could use a special ability. In short, what we had was a solid technology framework, but it wasn’t really an RPG.

For anyone that has followed the forum discussion on TouchArcade you may remember that after we showed that video the subject of gameplay rules was brought up. We had a lot of great suggestions and ideas from the community about how we should approach a rule system for Pocket Heroes, and I really appreciated all the input. After those discussions I hit the books, reading everything I could find about D&D rules, rules from other computer RPGs, and tabletop games to try and decide what was the best way forward.

To the possible dismay of some, we aren’t strictly following any one ruleset. What we’ve done is try to take aspects of a few different types of games and bring them together into something that works well for different kinds of players. We don’t have 30 attributes for your character to level up in, but we do have about a dozen different attributes that affect your character as they attack, defend, move, and use special abilities. We’re also looking at having, as many people have suggested, a way to hide some of the extra detail if you don’t want it so that we don’t overwhelm new players. After several weeks of design we were able to start implementing all the new systems, everything from character leveling, to combat resolution, loot generation, and difficulty scaling. There is still a lot of work to do, but we’re quickly getting to a place where there is a real RPG system working together with the multiplayer technology. Like I said, a lot of that isn’t easy to show off, but I do have some examples for you.

Character Stats


Our current layout for the character stat screen.

This first screenshot is of the character stats screen. Obviously this is almost all still programmer art, but it gives you an idea of the kinds of stats we’re tracking for each character. We have 4 base stats for every character ( Strength, Agility, Body, and Mind) and the values of those starts are governed by the character’s class, so Knights have higher strength than a Priestess but less Mind. The base stats will increase as your level up your character and it is those stats (along with your equipment) that determines the values of all the other stats for your character. You can see those secondary stats in the bottom half of the screenshot, Attack, Defense, Accuracy, Evasion, Magic Power, Magic Defense, Critical Hit Chance, and Block Chance. Every character and enemy in the game will have those same stats, and it is with those stats that we calculate the outcome of your battles and adventures. In addition to the stats each character will also have a secondary resource of some kind that governs the frequency and effectiveness of their special abilities. Currently the Knight has Rage as his resource. As the Knight battles his enemies his rage meter will fill up and increase the power of his attacks; but if his Rage gets too high he can lose control and begin attacking his own party members. While this is a very basic example, and we’ll probably refine the Knight’s Rage later on, it is the kind of system that we are creating for each character class. They will all have a special resource that they must keep in check, or balance out, to be at their most effective.

Equipment


Our current layout for Inventory and Equipment

The second screenshot is of our current inventory and equipment screen. The design is pretty standard for Roguelike and RPG games, we have the player’s inventory on the right and their equipment on the left. Currently we have equipment slots for the head, each arm, body, and two charm or accessory slots. Below that we have the selection area that details the specifics of each item or piece of equipment. In this case we have selected the player’s Ax and can see its name, the damage it deals, and any special perks that it provides when equipped. We’ve taken a naming system similar to Diablo in that each weapon has a type ( in this case Battle Ax), a class (Crude), and it can have a prefix or suffix ( of Bashing ). Right now we only have a few items in the game but this week I’m working on creating them as loot when enemies are killed.

There is still a lot of play-testing to do, and decisions to make, before all of this is finalized. One topic of discussion has been how random the battle outcomes should be. I’m a big fan of a large random element, where if you attack you could miss, or the enemy could dodge, or you could hit the enemy and do damage anywhere in a range of values. This goes against some other RPG design where you can be pretty confident in the amount of damage each attack will do, but I think it adds more excitement to the gameplay. We’ve gone back and forth internally about how to handle that random element but I think in the end it will all come down to how players react to it in testing.

It’s amazing how many little, and big, decisions go into a game of this type. Over the last few weeks we have done a lot of work to try and create the best gameplay experience we can. It’s our plan to have a new video ready in the next couple weeks that will show off some of this work so we can get your feedback as we move forward. Thanks for reading, and for staying interested, please let me know if you have any questions or comments either here or on the TA forums.

Jul
20
2011

Pocket Heroes Update – Alpha Gameplay Video

posted by Readmore at 1:35 pm

After demoing Pocket Heroes at E3 we received a lot of great feedback and interest, which helped us to realize that we were on the right track. While we’ve been brainstorming the concept of Pocket Heroes for the last year we are really still building the underlying technology framework that makes the game possible. All the network communication, gameplay rules, and user interface that will allow you to go on quests with your friends whenever you want and wherever you find yourself. Over the last few weeks we’ve made a lot of great progress on that technology and so we thought it was a good time to show everyone what we’ve got.

So, check out the video and then I’ll describe a few of the things you’ll see and talk about what’s coming next.

What’s new

As you probably saw in the video there is quite a bit that is new! We’re building our AI system which allows enemies to perform abilities, run away from danger, or relentlessly attack the player. We’ve also added in an ability system that allows us to quickly code up new special attacks and try them out in the game world. Our most recent addition is status effects, which allow us to have things in the game like poison that damages a character over multiple turns, or an effect that would mute a wizard so they couldn’t cast a spell. Effects can be time based or indefinite, so there is a lot of flexibility in the system and it allows us to do a lot of cool things.

Our 'crazy' camera system for the video.

We’ve also been working on a lot of things you don’t see in the demo. Josh has been hard at work on our character concepts, Lucas is constantly coming up with new Lore and encounters, and Cody and I are designing the systems that will allow you to create your characters, find your friends, and manage the huge piles of treasure you’re sure to discover during your quests.

What’s Next

On the technical side we’re going to focus on finding the best UI system to present a player’s abilities so they are easy to use and understand. We’re also hoping to get our playback system implemented soon, this system will allow a player to watch all the moves that happened since their last turn. So every player always knows what has happened in the game and what is going on when they perform their turn. This is a really huge part of making the game ‘work’ and we can’t wait to see it in action.


A dry erase world




A very important part of the Pocket Heroes concept is the idea that anyone can play it. We want a game that hardcore RPG players are going to love, but that you could also convince someone that hasn’t played D&D their whole life to give it a try. That’s a tall order, as there is a ton of gameplay complexity that must be managed and variables that must be balanced to really create a great gameplay system. At this point we have an initial idea of what our gameplay rules are but they are pretty rudimentary, so over the next few weeks we’re going to take a hard look at the existing RPG systems and figure out how best to achieve our vision for the game. That could mean we use one system completely, or mix and match from a few, or even take the concepts and craft our own. At this point we just don’t know, but it’s going to be great fun figuring it out!

Story, Scope, and What’s Important

We have grand ambitions for Pocket Heroes, in a lot of ways they are too grand for our own good. There have been multiple iterations of story, scope, and complexity over the last few months as we try to boil the game down to its core. The “problem” is that there is so much opportunity to do awesome things within this concept that we start rolling down a path and before we know it there is no end in sight to the work that will need to be done.
At the end of the day the most important part of this game is questing with your friends. While we would love to incorporate a huge story arc, across multiple campaigns we feel that it is better to focus on making a really fun turn-based RPG that you can share with your friends. And the best way to accomplish that is to get it in your hands so that you can help us shape it. So that is our focus, at every turn we’re working toward that goal and trying to build the best game we can, so that we can all start playing it, together.

Let us know what you think in the comments or over on the TouchArcade forums. We love to read your feedback and suggestions so keep them coming.

Jun
28
2011

IncrediBlox Free Now Available in the App Store

posted by Readmore at 8:18 pm


We’re happy to announce that IncrediBlox Free is now available in the App Store, just in time for the 4th of July Holiday! IncrediBlox Free has all the great gameplay, awesome artwork, and fun music as the paid version of IncrediBlox; you just don’t have to pay for it!

So point your iPhone, iPod Touch, or iPad right here and check out IncrediBlox Free. Try your hand at the challenge levels and then see if you can grab a place at the top of the Infinite and Sequence leaderboard in OpenFeint and Game Center.

If you need just a little more persuasion to go and try the game check out our IncrediBlox launch trailer and revel in it’s awesomely high production values!

We hope you love the game, let us know what you think!

IncrediBlox Free – iTunes Link

Jun
16
2011

F5 Games E3 Recap

posted by Readmore at 5:38 pm

It has been a crazy couple weeks! I know that I promised to provide daily recaps of our E3 experience but there was not nearly enough time for that. Cody and I made such a whirlwind trip to LA for E3 that we hardly slept, let alone had time to blog.

I’m definitely not complaining though, we had a great time and were very well received by everyone that we spoke with. Our main goal for E3 this year was to show off our upcoming Role Playing Game ‘Pocket Heroes’ and we were able to do just that. We met with potential publishing partners as well as with the largest iOS gaming blog TouchArcade and everyone seemed to really like the game.

TouchArcade, in particular, really grasped what we we are trying to do with Pocket Heroes and wrote a great post about how in their eyes we may have been the most exciting iOS game at the show. If you haven’t read it yet you can check it out here.

The great reception from TA was definitely the highlight of the show for us and has made the last week especially busy as we try to determine how best to complete Pocket Heroes and get it into people’s hands. Pocket Heroes is a game that Cody and I have been brainstorming for over a year and with it now really starting to take shape as a game, and all the great responses we have received from the community, it’s been a really rewarding and exciting time.

We also got the chance to play some great games like Trenched, Dead Island, StarHawk, Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City, and Resistance 3 (all of those links will take you to video from the show that will do a much better job of describing the games than I can.) We really enjoyed the opportunity to spend some time with these games and they all were a blast to play.

Resistance 3 in 3D was definitely a highlight for me as it was the first time 3D made me ‘feel’ like I was inside the game world. At one point I was sidestepping some fire and my character bumped up against the side of a truck and I actually ‘felt’ the truck against the side of my body. The added depth afforded from the 3D really seemed to trick my body into feeling like I was there in a way I’ve never had with a game before and it was pretty exciting.

About to play the Wii U

The other big highlight for us was getting to play the Wii U, without waiting in line for hours! We were able to get into the developer demo section and spend some time with the tech demos Nintendo had on display. The HD graphics of the console are pretty stunning, there was an HD Zelda demo that is best described as Zelda with better than God of War 3 level graphics, and there was another demo showing off all the cool graphical effects the console could handle. The real draw of the console, however, will be the controller and it was really interesting to play with. The multiple screen concept is a strong one and I think we’ll see a lot of really interesting game designs come of it, just as we have on the DS. In my opinion the demo that best displayed this potential wasn’t even made by Nintendo but was Ubisoft’s Ghost Recon Online. In GRO you can use the controller screen as a 3D map of the battlefield to highlight enemies, set waypoints, and communicate with your team mates all while the shooting action takes place on the TV. You can also set up a personal drone to survey the battle field and control it’s flight path directly on the touch screen controller while you fight it out on the big screen.

All in all the Wii U really has me excited to see what Nintendo and 3rd party developers will come up with in the future but it probably makes me more excited for the types of things we could do with an iPad and AppleTV. At WWDC Apple announced that iOS 5 will allow for wireless AirPlay screen sharing between the iPad and an AppleTV which creates a very similar experience to the Wii U. When iOS 5 launches in the Fall I expect we’ll see a number of iOS games that take advantage of this new screen sharing technology and that will start to give game players the same kind of experiences that Nintendo is envisioning for the Wii U. This is also almost exactly the type of thing that I said would happen in my post about the future of mobile gaming earlier in the year. Soon you’ll be able to play a game on the go with your iPad or iPhone and then when you get home connect it wirelessly to your AppleTV and have a shared screen experience using your mobile device and your HDTV. It’s a prospect that I’m very excited about and can’t wait to incorporate into our upcoming games.

I could go on and on, I haven’t even mentioned OnLive yet, but I think I’ll stop here. E3 was a really great experience for us and we believe really great things are going to come of it for F5 Games. Stay tuned for more updates and especially more information about our next game Pocket Heroes!

Jun
07
2011

E3 Here We Come!

posted by Readmore at 5:09 am





It’s finally time! In about 6 hours Cody and I will be flying out to LA for E3 2011.


We’ll be there to spread the word about IncrediBlox and demo our upcoming RPG to some very awesome gaming blogs so hopefully you’ll be reading about us online very soon.

We’ve had a lot of help over the last few weeks to both launch IncrediBlox and to prepare for E3. We’d like to thank John, Steven, Katherine, Josh, Whitley, and my lovely wife Embrey for all their hard work and last minute contributions that have helped us to make this happen.

I’ll try to send out a nightly post about everything we’ve seen and done while we’re away so check back tomorrow night for a recap of day 1.
See you then!