Show HN: My first iPhone game – after 18 months of work • Hacker News Board

Re: Show HN: My first iPhone game – after 18 months of work

#11

Post by dm2 » Tue, Jul 29, 2014, 8:53 PM UTC

m3mnoch wrote: post #9

_random_ wrote: post #8

Great game, just releasing something is already a great achievement. But why planets in space and not magic orbs in a dungeon? I expect some orbital movement and gravitational pull :).

personally, i think this is a good call on his part. abstract planets are more "casual friendly" than magic in a dungeon. especially as a guy who's seen first-hand several neat games with sword and sorcery theming meet grisley, limited-market death by attrition.

Agreed. IMO:

Dungeons, trolls, wizards, magic: No thanks.

Planets, space, advanced technologies: Awesome!

Re: Show HN: My first iPhone game – after 18 months of work

#12

Post by asperous » Tue, Jul 29, 2014, 9:10 PM UTC

dangero wrote: post #6

Kind of off topic, but that award wreath you put on the screenshot does wonders for sales from what I've seen. It's instant credibility almost regardless of what the award was.

Movie marketers agree:

(Not satire)

http://elipunto.files.wordpress.com/2013/12/her-poster.jpg

Re: Show HN: My first iPhone game – after 18 months of work

#13

Post by vermooten » Tue, Jul 29, 2014, 9:35 PM UTC

Great, very nice idea. You should be proud and not pay much attention to the negative vibes that some people are putting out. They have their own issues to deal with.

Re: Show HN: My first iPhone game – after 18 months of work

#14

Post by chasing » Tue, Jul 29, 2014, 9:53 PM UTC

Very similar to Illume, which came out last year and was recently showcased at Sonar+D: http://sonar.es/en/2014/prg/sm/illume_164

Was that an inspiration?

Re: Show HN: My first iPhone game – after 18 months of work

#15

Post by brianchu » Tue, Jul 29, 2014, 10:44 PM UTC

Awesome. I remember giving you a coin for my vote at the MIT demo day 1.5 years ago, and was pretty disappointed when I didn't see it released afterwards. Really happy to see it now!

Re: Show HN: My first iPhone game – after 18 months of work

#16

Post by benolds » Tue, Jul 29, 2014, 10:45 PM UTC

chasing wrote: post #14

Very similar to Illume, which came out last year and was recently showcased at Sonar+D: http://sonar.es/en/2014/prg/sm/illume_164 Was that an inspiration?

No, it seems that Illume was released on Oct 22, 2013, more than ten months after I started development of my game. For reference, my game had already won a competition at MIT in February 2013; I wasn't aware of Illume until now.

Re: Show HN: My first iPhone game – after 18 months of work

#17

Post by gkoberger » Tue, Jul 29, 2014, 11:44 PM UTC

asperous wrote: post #12

dangero wrote: post #6

Kind of off topic, but that award wreath you put on the screenshot does wonders for sales from what I've seen. It's instant credibility almost regardless of what the award was.

Movie marketers agree: (Not satire) http://elipunto.files.wordpress.com/2013/12/her-poster.jpg

To be fair, that was intentional – the juxtaposition of all the accolades makes the main character seem extra alone and sad.

Re: Show HN: My first iPhone game – after 18 months of work

#18

Post by prawn » Wed, Jul 30, 2014, 12:26 AM UTC

I'm not 100% on the art/polish, but I really like the idea; I think it's good enough to warrant a bit more attention on the design side.

Very cool concept and I can imagine kids and adults alike being able to get something from it. Going to download it now. Best of luck with it!

Update: Downloaded and played it. Definitely needs polish but the basic mechanics are good. With a bit more gamification of the progress through levels, I could see this being an excellent little game for a kid especially.

Red and green making yellow might confuse children though whose mixing experience with paints would have them expect brown?

Re: Show HN: My first iPhone game – after 18 months of work

#19

Post by benolds » Wed, Jul 30, 2014, 2:22 AM UTC

prawn wrote: post #18

I'm not 100% on the art/polish, but I really like the idea; I think it's good enough to warrant a bit more attention on the design side. Very cool concept and I can imagine kids and adults alike being able to get something from it. Going to download it now. Best of luck with it! Update: Downloaded and played it. Definitely needs polish but the basic mechanics are good. With a bit more gamification of the progress thr…

Thanks for all the feedback and advice! I do appreciate everything everyone has to say about the game, and plan on incorporating ideas in a future update. I've given the color mixing a lot of thought, and I agree it can be unintuitive the first time you encounter it, but I think the additive color model is core to the gameplay. Perhaps my nerdy love of science is misleading me from what the average player would enjoy, but I'm trying to simulate the way light really does mix - because, well, it's a game about light. Perhaps I could add the option to play with a more traditional color mixing scheme?

Re: Show HN: My first iPhone game – after 18 months of work

#20

Post by benolds » Wed, Jul 30, 2014, 2:24 AM UTC

brianchu wrote: post #15

Awesome. I remember giving you a coin for my vote at the MIT demo day 1.5 years ago, and was pretty disappointed when I didn't see it released afterwards. Really happy to see it now!

Wow, it means a lot to me that you still remember the game from back then - thanks! :)