Alright folks, I understand the game not being 100% optimized and yet I'm suggesting that you read the app description before jumping to conclusions. If you've done so, you know that this game has been created by merely two independent developers with zero funds and no venture capital in about one and a half years, now take a good look at what we have got so far with Evhacon 2. Now imagine what we could have accomplished if we had an office with employees and real funds. I'd personally like to be able to afford that in the near future. But when you're commenting about the game in such a way that you're exclusively mentioning "what's not good about it" without taking in consideration "what's good about it" and than you go "don't buy it!", you're not helping us achieve our goal (which is to grow as a company). It's really that simple, if you like the project and you want us to make it "better" with patches, give us a chance. If you see the potential in it but your rating is extremely negative (thinking if you do that you're inciting us to do better) the game loses visibility (in within an already totally rigged store where only apple's affiliates are given the possibility to make real money). I'm not saying we can't take criticism, I'm asking for a fair judgement. No need to tell you that if we don't sell the game, we can't afford to develop patches. So there you have it, I'm fairly certain that some of the negative comments are made on purpose by the competition so that we go down and they go back up (and I'm not referring to the toucharcade community in specific), but maybe help us fight these people instead of "taking their opinions for granted". Sincerely, -Pietro Nifosi
Jumping in while I'm downloading, going to drop some stuff in my usual blunt manner: - No need to go all conspiracy on us. We all - well, most - know what the Appstore is like these days. "Fight the man", the "opposition" sabotaging you with bad comments on TA? Give me a break. Get a grip. - So you're two guys. And? Want to see what *one* guy with no funds can do, go check out Nimian Legends. - If game development doesn't pay your bills, make it your hobby. Look what one guy does exactly like this: Demon's Rise 1&2. - You're not kids with their first copy of Gamemaker. You're adults. You know what Testflight is. Do a damn betatest before you go public. Even for a niche title like Evhacon you'll find enough volunteers here, I bet. Best way to avoid so much justified (I guess, need to see for myself first to be sure) negative feedback like you got here. - Get a grip. Pull the game. Do a beta. Rework it based on feedback. Then publish again. Rant over. P.S.: I like what you guys are doing, or I wouldn't even bother to write. Take it as harsh but honest feedback. Evhacon 1 was ... ok. Nothing spectacular, but okay. There was stuff that turned me off enough that I didn't finish it. I can't remember details, only a vague memory that it were rookie mistakes that could have been avoided and/or fixed easily. Do better this time, will ya? I trust you guys can do it right.
Well first of all you've just being proving my point when I wrote not to take "whoever's opinions for granted". You said: followed by without even knowing Evhacon 2 yet. Now, I hear what you've said about your favourite devs back there, but I'm gonna have to break it down to you buddy. Nimian's Legend is made by one person? fair enough unfortunately though the artworks he is using are not his own creation, those models are being sold on the unity marketplace and dexsoft.com and turbosquid.com Take a look at the MAIN CHARACTER for instance: We work differently at Retroverso Games. I do my own modeling, sculpting, texturing from the ground up. Even when I get inspired from other known triple AAA titles, they are still my own genuine artworks. Rant over. I'm glad to hear you like Evhacon. Have yourself a merdy christmas, -Pietro
You don't have to tell me, I know. He's open and honest about buying models. But some bought artwork alone doesn't make a great game. Seriously, that's the first thing you come up with, trying to discredit another dev, and one who does an absolutely amazing thing? You just lost a lot of credibility with me. Well, I'm just one old grumpy guy, so you can give a flying intercourse about it, of course. But I hope my reaction at least makes you think. Anyways, just going by Evhacon 1 and the screenshots for 2, you do a great job with your own modeling. And I really like the Roman Empire, so extra bonus for style Now, stop being an ass, and make a great game around it Oh and: With 3 pages of "fix the camera, needs better controls" I dare say I have enough info to conclude that this should have been caught in a beta, and that - in my opinion - you are better off pulling it, fix that and re-release, instead of providing an update after the xmas lockdown.
Not discrediting, You stated "that guy" being better because he was a "one man team" instead of a "two men team" (in a very rude way I have to add). And I proved to you that it wasn't a fair comparison. This isn't about the potential competition at all. This is about "I came here in peace and you replied in a provocative manner right away". The insults you've added are not helping your case.
Thank you pkmvancouver, I had smelled troll since the very beginning. And you're absolutely right, trying a direct approach here is definitely a bad idea and definitely not appreciated. And I'm still I couldn't help but notice the links he's providing in his own signature (Nimian Legends Brightridge), not suprised if he would temporarely remove them. I could be wrong, but still.. odd! In any case I certainly have nothing against that title or the developer, I never played the game, I'm sure it's a good one if you say so, good for him. I only made a point of that approach compared to ours which is not the same. We don't buy pre-made assets, and that's way more expensive when it comes to development. That's ok, to each his own. At the end of the day, seeing a product on a shelf, and not knowing what it takes to put it there is understandable. But for someone to boldly say "Do a damn betatest before you go public. Get a grip. Pull the game. Do a beta. Rework it based on feedback" wanting to lecture us is just disappointing and arrogant. I've always wrote pretty much everywhere even in my youtube channel that I am always open to criticism for as long as it's constructive, his criticism was constructive but the delivery was also really poor. You can't use that tone while taking advange of your "rant on" "rant off" modes, using them as an excuse to justify your arrogant manners. And you can't expect me to bow down and make your wishes come true, not with that attitude. I'm pretty sure I speak for most of the indie developers out there when I say that what makes us different from the big corporations is wanting you to be satisfied and appreciative with what we do instead of squeezing every last dollar. We try to be humble, but if you take advantage of it and go "Ah! there's an imperfection here, this game is crap! don't buy it!" you're not giving us motivation to make it better, you're only accusing us of being a fraud which totally defeats that primary purpose of ours. Hopefully, some people will scroll back and make up their own mind about it, while his "buddies" try to defend him and while he changes tone attempting to smooth things out in his next message so that he'll look righteous. At least now I realised this place is not worth my attention, as you've said "devs stop coming here" and so shall I. But it's clear that the reason with developers not wanting to assist you around here is due to the quality of communication itself. And if this is true and I'm not the first to leave, maybe it's not me who's entirely in the wrong? I apologize for the theatricals, it was never my original intention.
Wow, what an unpleasant bit of reading. A developer ripping into potential customers. Thanks to those who made constructive comments about the games present state. I certainly have made my mind up.
Alrighty, the proof's in the pudding, as they say, so here goes after about 5 minutes of playing. Playing on an Air1, iOS 10.2, not jailbroken. - Yes, absolutely needs an extra stick for camera control. Quite a few times, I wanted to turn the camera to see the next opponent, but had to wait until it turned around on its own. - Graphics are good, I like them (more on that below) - Game keeps freezing for one or two seconds, and stutters quite frequently. - I absolutely suck at estimating framerates, so I cannot comment on that in detail. But looks and feels good when it doesn't stutter (and the stutter seems to be something else, not dropping framerate), I guess around 30fps when all is well. - Also, sometimes the controls feel a bit sluggish. - Overall, I'm quite sure it needs more optimising. Do you use Metal, or the framework before that (forgot the name)? - I have RSI, the constant buttonmashing is not good for my hands at all. I'd love to see an option to just hold the button to keep attacking. Blocking already works like this, and it's much better. Had to stop playing after those 5 minutes, my right arm started to hurt. - Would like a button resize and "freely arrange them on the screen option". The ones on the right could be bigger, and I'd like to move them around a bit to fit better for my large hands. Graphics: Nice both the surroundings, your side and the first enemies look good. You look like a Roman Legionaire. The first enemies look pretty interesting, I hope to get background info on them soon. Only the first guy who gives a speech on the ship looks odd: his head looks like it has been put on afterwards and separately, not like an integral part of the model. And the armors could look a bit less "slick/smooth" - for a lack of a better word - than they do now, and more "natural". They look too artificial in my eyes. Gameplay details: - That's a stabbing sword you have there. A matching fighting style would be a lot better and more plausible and immersive than the current "windmill 360" slashes. Shield up, sword out at the right side, and stab away. - A crossbow? Hhmm ... several other weapons would fit the apparently Roman theme better: Pilums (throwing spears), a small one-person ballista. If you want to go for a heavier feel, pick light artillery: a scorpio (similar to ballista), or even that nasty Roman multi-spear shooter (forgot the name, and cannot find it with some Google/Wikipedia). - That would even make for a better intro fight. After a minute or two, the ballista team disembarks, and you need to protect them until they have it set up. The team is pretty defenseless on their own (shield one hand, ballista parts with the other; most likely two people carrying for each piece, ballista parts are heavy and unwieldy. Form up with two other soldiers to cover them. Most definitely not a troll, or I wouldn't bother with giving feedback Also, no. Those links are there for a long time, definitely not going to remove them temporarily. You are stepping over the line with personal attacks. Manners, please. Oh, and you misunderstood my point about the games and devs I mentioned. What I wanted to convey is that "we are just two guys doing this" is no reason to not judge you by the same standards as everyone else in terms of quality. I cut a small team a lot of slack any day, when it comes to things like replying to questions, feedback, or even fixing bugs. But the first impression gets the same yardstick as every other game, and impressions and quality of lots of other games to compare it to. As a beta version, this would be more than good, and I'd tip my hat to you for a job well done. As a fully playable v1.0, even with a demo label on it, my judgement goes down a notch. Definitely has potential to be a really good game, and my first impression is of an interesting game that might very well hook me. But urgently needs the technical issues fixed.
Nullzone is a long-time member of these forums, and an active one at that. Accusing him of being a competitor trying to discredit you is a ridiculous accusation. Much as I hate to see any developer go, if you're going to pull this kind of thing... Don't let the door hit you on the way out. Forum rules are forum rules, even in languages other than English.
I am quite certain Pietro did not refer to me personally with the competitor statement. I still think it's ... quite a bold statement to make, though. And thanks for the nice words, Shawn, very much appreciated.
I just came to say I love the devs of the Demons Rise games and Brightridge so you are definately not alone here bud.
I'm with you Nullzone. I think Pietro got too defensive. He didn't even once admit that what they released needs work (he said they want to release updates, but every reasonable dev should be doing that these days - to improve on a solid start, not fix a broken one). And to then say TA is not worth his time is just adding to it. TA is worth any ios developer's time, regardless of whether the comments in the forums are valid or troll drivel. But that time should be spent taking in all feedback, building positive relationships with your audience, and providing information about your game's progress. Stating how your studio works simply to try to validate the value of your game and studio indicates insecurity. A game's value should stand on its own without needing validation through explanation of its development. In any case, the point we've all been making, which he seemed to miss by interpreting all the comments as simply negative complaints (though granted mine was pretty negative), is that the game has promise but needs further work to fix its main issues. As an aside, how do you interact with that crossbow??
@Artfoundry: To shoot the crossbow, you need to hold down until the white circle fills up. aim, release your finger, boom ... ah no, swoosh
Ok I tried again, and this time the crossbow scene triggered. It didn't trigger before even after killing all the enemies. And guess what, found more problems. Barrels I can't seem to interact with despite them having arrows pointing at them. An instruction saying get to the gates for the lower city, yet the only gates I found did nothing. And more camera obsurdity so I can't see where I'm going. And that crossbow bit was boring as well. I give. Nice graphics do not a good game make.
Guys it's Christmas let's not be harsh. We clearly know the game has isues. Besides the already listed issues I did find the game fun and has great graphics. To the dev I know you don't have the resources but good luck finding a way to fix these issues. The game has a lot of potential if these issues are fixed.
I think most devs know what they are getting themselves into when making games. What this dev HAS to remember, is that there are soooooo many one or two man teams creating fantastic games! If you dont have the funds to create a good game within your means then dont just release an uninspired game with no substance whatsoever. Thats what the successful guys did, mechanics of the gameplay should be priority. This dev also needs to remember there are soooooo many games just like his that are more polished, and have way better gameplay, so you cant afford to not test your games thorougly, also one really bad game can really discredit your future releases, for example, the game exiles, put some off of buying crescent moons new games even though there other stuff is good. Your replys were aggressive, but you should take the criticism as a gift, as it gives you the knowledge on what needs improving, so you can eventually create the game you wanted to. Personally your first game i deleted in 20 minutes as it was just so buggy, and did not reflect the premise of the game or what it was described as, which is why i would not personally get this unless it had decent reviews, but my instincts were right as it sounds like another game needing much work. Quality over quantity my friend.
This is something I hope other indie developer begin to understand. The App Store is not a charity. Asking for our patience while you may or may not fix this games issues is not a good way to market your products. The competition is fierce and there are many other choices. Some costing much less than your app. As a developer, you do not want to give your potential customers a reason to choose someone else. Pushing conspiracy theories as excuses for the negative feedback you get is probably the quickest way to destroy any good will you'll want toward your product.
