I haven't been able to spend as much time with it as I'd like, but here are some impressions: - Graphics are good. Clear and sharp, colorful. I wish it was universal though, because even though it works fine as is, it would benefit greatly from the larger screen. - Controls are simple and easy to figure out, basic tapping and dragging, so no complaints there. Once the bugs are ironed out they'll be perfectly fine. - The actual gameplay is your basic TD with a twist. You use gems to power towers and traps. I'd like more of an introduction to the various building mechanics and gem types though. As it is now, I'm left guessing what some things do, which isn't terrible, but I'd rather not be forced to use trial and error, given the games difficulty. - The difficulty felt suprisingly high to me. You clearly have to have a decent knowledge of what gems to use in what structures, and where to put them. Because of the short tutorial this left me frustrated as I'd have to do a level over several times, either because I made one bad move, or because I needed to gain more skill points. - The skill points are gained in a traditional RPG fashion, where you replay levels as many times as you want to get more. The problem with this is, they're the same levels over and over. It feels more like a chore than a leg up. You go through a level 6 times to get a small % decrease in build time, or something like that. - Which brings me to replayabilty. There are a ton of levels and a ton of modes, but unfortunately I haven't even scratched the surface because I couldn't progress far enough yet. From what I've played, I wouldn't wanna go through more than once. Overall it has a lot of potential. The concept is fun, but falls short in execution. It just doesn't have that level of polish I'm looking for yet. I'm still playing though, since it's in beta, so I hope to see this one do well
Thanks for your thoughts. Here are some answers "As it is now, I'm left guessing what some things do, which isn't terrible, but I'd rather not be forced to use trial and error, given the games difficulty." In the newer builds you can tap on any stat to get full details and there is a full legend with icons color coded to gem types so you can see what everything does. "The difficulty felt suprisingly high to me.." -I have been heavily adjusting this as it was way to hard. My intention is for the first difficulty level to be very casual and the top one to be more hardcore "The skill points are gained in a traditional RPG fashion, where you replay levels as many times as you want to get more. The problem with this is, they're the same levels over and over. It feels more like a chore than a leg up. You go through a level 6 times to get a small % decrease in build time, or something like that." -This is no longer the case. The XP system now matches the original gemcraft system. If you replay a level you get no extra XP unless you earned more XP in that attempt then the previous one. In that case you get the delta. The beauty of this system is 2 fold. One there is no grinding. You beat a level and your good. You can then rebeat it on alternate gameplay modes for extra xp since each mode counts sepeartly. 2ndly you can come back when you are very high level and destroy easy maps and increase your score. This also ties in nicely to your comment about going through more then once.
Here is the changes in the next build comming sometime today -XP formula changed to match the actual xp gain rate in the game. Before it was just a total guess. Many levels will be lost .. sniff sniff -Endurance mode now always counts as a win -Touch sensitivity improved for picking up gems from the game field. -Fixed mana pool spell issue -Probably something else i forgot.
New build available. Other changes include -reworked rushing wave code to make it worth more xp to do so -gem firing glow improved -tower and trap placement sounds made quiter -ambient sound on worldmap based on where you are looking(please comment on the volume of these. Tweaking these) -Couple map corrections New profile on the site as well that you need to grab. Again if anyone is still not getting emails when I do these builds there is a problem as I added the last person who told me they didn't
New build additions. -iPod music not stopped by game music -Pause resume button added when you suspend and come back -New game goes right to battle instead of world map -Level 1-2 info button did not work on gem creation color selector. -Stats screen - space right section further to left so the margins look more pleasing to the eye. -Maybe add continue button to level load screens instead of automatically loading (so tips can be read) -Level select screen - main menu button text is off centered. -I think that advancing a group should add some mana to the mana pool for the amount of time that would have been used for the group to advance normally. -I would like to be able to see the shooting radius of a tower. -Skills that give starting gems now give them -Level popup on world map shows correct # of waves now -Indented battlefield so that the wave bar doesnt cover tiles and also adjusted scrolling so that the top tiles under the top bar and right tiles under the right tabs will be less cut off -Fixed endurance mode highscores Also we are planning on adding some new features to worlds 2 and 3 to make the game more varried. World 2 will introduce allowing only certain gem combinations and world 3 will introduce getting special starting gems, some of strong grade, that may or may not be otherwise gettable due to the above mentioned world 2 restrictions.
New Beta out. This one is super close to final. This one is not compatible with your old one. Its now under the publishers name and so counts as a seperate app. List of changes is big, but the higlights are worlds 2,3,4 now each have something unique about them to make gameplay more interesting. xp curve relaxed a bit Level reqs put on each world, use endurance mode or other to xp up. Some balance tweaks. New profile needed for the new beta, dont forget to refresh The version number for this one is 0.828 so you know you have the right one
minus the lockup so far the game is awesome, good ramp up in difficulty, alot less bugs then when this started...great job on this....
It is excellent. The devs are churning out new builds every day (sometimes twice in a day). This is one of the fastest output beta I have ever participated.
Looks and plays great, just had two quick things with this new release. In the gem information screen (which is great by the way) the icon for pierce chance doesn't seem to match the pierce chance select button. Also, the towers don't always target the lead creep.
The mana pool is 2-2 and above(techinically it unlcocks after you have 9 levels beaten. I have a new patch coming today with lots of fixes.
Ok so much for the last one being mostly final. Here is the list of bugs\features you guys asked for that were fixed in the build coming today: -Maybe have the online leader board page open to the page that let's you select the leader board that you want to look at. I opened it a couple times and was wonder where my score was but it then I realized that I had to go back because it defaulted to endurance. -world 1-3 path doesn't reach right edge -only the normal mode should be available at first - I selected endurance, "won" it without killing any monster, and I could advance to the next world -banishment should have some effect (like a white glow where/when the monster disappears) -world 2-5 too hard -world 2-7 too hard -I won a heroic battle, but it didn't show up in my achievements list (and there was no info panel in the game) -After I visit the game center achievements list (with the "online" button at the map screen), I can't use zoom anymore -Game can get stuck on the world map and no touches are accepted(related to going to options at any time) -Pierce chance icon in info does not match gem creation screen icon -show number of monsters currently spawning(this appears above the left bar when any waves are active) -level requirements set to get to certain worlds. Gain extra xp if you cannot advance in endurance mode or other modes you have unlocked. Tip 1-1 on endurance can easily get you atleast 1000 xp -Tap to continue on victory screen so people don't think the games locked up. -I recommend adding a pause screen when you reload from a quick app switch when you are in the middle of a level. -Gamecenter submission done on a separate thread to avoid stalling the game for 8 seconds if there are connection issues Build Notes: The only outstanding bug I know of now is a possible scenario at the end of a level where no monsters come out anymore. If you get this please check the new wave counter and see if it shows monsters still coming. If so wait a while. We are going to change it so that the wave timers won't leave you hanging like this and accelerate the final monsters when this situation occurs. If you see no number there it means all the monsters are spawned and then we do still have a bug. Also if there are any other lockups let me know asap. I will send this build sometime in the next few hours.
The latest build feels very nice to me. Pretty much every issue I've encountered has been addressed. I haven't noticed any new bugs. The difficulty is much improved now, it's more accessible I think. It's always cool to see a game go from beta to release, especially a fun one like this
I'm just getting to grips with the game, thanks to the easier difficulty. Now the weekend has hit, i'll have a good session and see if there are any bugs left to pick out. Sounds like you got them all tho' so good job on that.
