The Bad News

The reason we’ve been slow with updates is because the work on Pocket Heroes has been going around the clock. We’re definitely in ‘crunch-mode’, honestly we’ve been there for a month already, and there is still a lot of work to do. Because of that, I’m sorry to say, we’re going to need a few extra weeks to polish the game before release. Our original release date of May 10th is going to be pushed back just a little further. All plans still point to a release in May though, so you won’t have to wait much longer.

New UI

With that out of the way, now I can talk to you about what we’ve been doing the last few weeks. First, we have completely re-done the gameplay UI, the Marker Felt is finally gone!



We’ve gone with a much cleaner interface that takes up less space on the screen but allows you to do more than we could previously. With the new interface you are able to select the ability you want to use and then determine the best target, or you can choose your target and then see which abilities are available to use on it. This will allow players to arrive at an action either based on their target or their ability, and it should provide the maximum amount of flexibility for how you want to play.

We’ve also made the interface ‘intelligent’ in that it will automatically update the available, and chosen, abilities based on your target. So if you target a friend it will only show you abilities that are valid to use on your friend, no backstabbing your buddies in this one.

Along with the main UI updates we’ve also made the rest of the character screens prettier, as you can see below.




It wouldn’t be an RPG without stat bars to fill up!




We’ve also been nailing down all of our abilities for each character and it looks like we’re going to have 8-9 for each class at launch, with more coming down the line.

Chat and So Much More

One of the most important features of a social RPG like Pocket Heroes is the ability to communicate with each other. Over the last couple weeks we’ve finished up our chat client for the game and it really adds a lot to the experience. You’ll be able to chat in real-time with your party members to discuss strategy for the battle, talk about equipment swaps, or whatever you want really. Check out our chat interface in the screenshot below.





In addition to the interface changes we’ve spent a ton of time building out player and enemy abilities, tweaking weapons and play-balance, and finishing up all the quests that you’ll get to tackle in the first chapter. Like I said at the beginning, there is still a lot to do but we’ve made so much progress lately that I’m really confident you’re all going to be playing Pocket Heroes this May, and you’re going to love it.

Let me know what you think in the comments.

One of the things we’ve done lately is commission a very talented local artist to create some promo art for the game that shows off our character classes. I think he’s really knocked it out of the park and I wanted to share the image with all of you.

Character Classes

In Pocket Heroes you will be able to choose from a number of different character classes when you create a new character. There will be 5 character classes available at launch and the image above shows off 4 of them. Starting on the left we have the Lunar Priestess, the Dwarven Mechie, the Rogue, and in the front we have the Paladin.

Over the next few weeks we’ll have posts that give you more information and details about each of these classes, so make sure you check back soon.

I’m proud to announce that we are partnering with Ayopa Games as our publisher for Pocket Heroes and, as you can see in the trailer, the current plan is to release Pocket Heroes this Spring!

Let me know what you think of the trailer, I’ll be happy to answer any questions, and stay tuned as we’ll continue to release more information as we get closer to launch.

Spiders and Rats Don’t Mix

We just finished a new build of Pocket Heroes and I wanted take a minute to tell you what’s new. The first thing is that we’ve built in a new level and have added in our first 4 character classes. This level is currently called the ‘Spider Crypt’ and it marks a real turning point in the game for a couple of reasons ( which I’m going to keep secret ). Another new thing we’ve added in this build is the ability for enemies to dynamically target and fight each other. This allows us to stage 3-way battles between different types of enemies and the player group, as well as allow these battles to happen naturally. It’s a feature that we’re just starting to experiment with but something that I think will have a great impact on gameplay.

Objects and Triggers

Another addition that will enhance gameplay is the inclusion of Objects and Triggers. Objects are basically anything in that game that the player can interact with, but isn’t some form of character or enemy. So doors, levers, mystical statues, or dwarven machinery could all be examples of objects that would appear in the game. The player can target these objects, just like they can target another character, and then perform actions on them to learn about the object or interact with it. In the picture above the player is targeting a Sealed Door and, once he moves adjacent to it, he will be able to examine it to learn something about the door. One of the interesting things we’ve added to this is that objects can respond to each character that interacts with it in a different way. So if you’re a Mechie ( that’s a Dwarven weapons expert who rides around in a steam-powered Mech ) and you examine some technological object you’re likely to get a response with more useful information than if a Paladin examines it. Hopefully this will help parties to work together and role-play their character class in a small way by realizing that their character may be the best solution to a puzzle or problem.

It doesn’t all have to be fuzzy warm feelings though. One of the decisions we had to make when implementing these object actions was to determine how to communicate to the other players in the party the effects of examining an object. So, in the image above you can see that we are examining the Sealed Door and we get back some text that tells us something about the door, as well as a clue as to how to open it. This is an example of what you will see in the game when your character examines an object. However, when one of your party members examines something all you’ll see is an action message in the digest bar that says they examined it. You’ll have to rely on your party members to tell you what they learned through the chat system, and you’ll have to decide if you believe them. My thought here is that there could be hidden treasures, weapons, etc. that can be found by examining objects in each level, and if you don’t necessarily want to share your loot, you may not want to tell them the whole truth. It will be interesting to see how this plays out in testing, but I think it could be a great way to expand the number of things that are happening in any given level.

The Wonderful Thing About Triggers…

The other big addition in this build is Triggers. Triggers are something that you, as a game player, will never see but they let us script in all kinds of great little gameplay additions. Triggers can be activated when a character moves through a square or enters a room but their most interesting use is when they are tied together with objects. Using objects and triggers together lets us show the contents of a room once you open a door, or reveal a secret passageway if you step on the right floor tile. Basically triggers will let us add a lot more interactive elements to the game which we otherwise wouldn’t be able to provide.

So that’s it. I hope you like where we’re heading with Pocket Heroes, it’s really starting to come together and I’m getting really excited to get it out to everyone. Let me know if you have any questions or ideas, we love hearing from all of you.

In the mean time we’ll continue to work on the game and add in new features, after all GDC is only a couple weeks away , so check back soon for another update.

- Brandon

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.

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

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!

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.

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.

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

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

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

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.