Attack of the Kraken - LITE version - now on the app store! :D

quantumsheep

Hi everyone!

Why not pass the time spent waiting for a Big Picture update shooting Kraken to hell and back?

Attack of the Kraken LITE is a free version of my latest game that you're all no doubt sick of hearing about!

But hey, it's FREE

Link here:

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/attack-of-the-kraken-lite/id386922872?mt=8

And here's a screenie:



The lite version features four levels, instead of 16 (soon to be 17!), no 'Research' game mechanic and less music, enemies and environments.

All the options are still intact, and I hope it gives you a feel for how the main game plays.

Remember, at the moment it's recommended for 3GS/ipod3rd gen, iphone 4 and iPad users only!

Thanks again go out to all the community for their support and encouragement - cheers guys, consider this old sheep's heart's cockles warmed

As an extra little something, the first GameSalad game (and the second GameSalad game EVAH) I submitted to the App store is now FREE as well.

Singularity Drive: Prologue is an 'avoid-em-up'. It's not brilliant, and it's not sold anything really.

Here's a screenie:



I went back to it and updated it a little, so it's better now. But best of all it's FREE and it may entertain you for five minutes!

You can find that here: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/singularity-drive-prologue/id333502537?mt=8

I expect lots of 1 stars

Contrast and compare with Kraken if you like

Cheers! What a year!

QS

expired_012

Ok kraken I'm not even going to comment cuz we all already know it's beast (also partially because im angry since I'm the only one still having trouble beating it!)

Singularity drive is actually really fun and addictive.
I beat the whole mission (date 2097) lol. 5 star review coming your way You're really into science and science fiction aren't you?

quantumsheep

artonskyblue said:
You're really into science and science fiction aren't you?

I also like long walks on the beach, the smell of fresh roses and the music of The Carpenters.

What are you trying to say?



QS

UtopianGames

I can see a sales boost a coming

GL m8.

Darren.

AfterBurnett

Damn you, QS. I'd almost finished the "beta" version and now that I have bought Kraken, I have to play through from the beginning again. Lucky enjoy it, eh

quantumsheep

utopiangames said:
I can see a sales boost a coming

GL m8.

Darren.

Yep, downloads for Kraken have tapered off now that it's been out just over a week. Which is why the Lite version is out there now

Coupled with the update to Xmas 2097 (which gets me at least a download a day - no matter what the date!) and the move of Singularity Drive to free, all happening within days of eachother... well... you might think this was all planned or something

I'm fully aware that the game is a niche game, and I've been very happy with how it's done in its first week. It will never ever do as much as Bumps will of course, and that's cool, I never expected it to.

Let's see what happens now that all these other elements have come together

POLYGAMe said:
Damn you, QS. I'd almost finished the "beta" version and now that I have bought Kraken, I have to play through from the beginning again. Lucky I enjoy it, eh

I'm really glad you like it, Poly, and thanks for the support

QS

design219

Downloading now.

QS, do you put anything in your apps to encourage reviews? For example, I put in actors that pop up on the menu or options every so often that ask "would you like to review... press here". I also make it so once they do, it will not show up again. I can't really be sure if it has been effective or not, but just wondered if you are doing anything similar.

_________________________________

HOLY NOSE JOB!: Nesen Probe: Is this the single most unappealing game in the history of GameSalad? I can't seem to give it away! Anywhere. But if anyone want's to try it out, codes are still available near the end of the thread! http://gamesalad.com/forums/topic.php?id=8097

quantumsheep

Reviews? Nah. I think people that are motivated to leave reviews will do so anyway, good or bad.

Essentially, there are hotspots on the credits and there's a big ad screen if you finish the four levels - these will take you to the full game or all my games.

The ad screen just lists what features are in the full version, and clicking 'menu' will take you back to the start. Otherwise it'll take you to Kraken full fat

It's very simple. Perhaps *too* simple. I'll need to update the LITE version around the same time I do the full version to have any extra features/greater device compatibility but that shouldn't take long.

Essentially I'm hoping people get a feel for the game, and if they like it, that they'll try the full game. If not, no harm done

QS

quantumsheep

Sorry to bump my own thread, but I believe if you download from the device you can install this on an ipod 2g/iphone 3G (which the game's not designed for).

Darren (Mr. Bumps) has said that Kraken runs fine on a 2nd gen ipod - If someone could download the lite version and give me an honest assessment as to how it runs on such a device, I'd appreciate it!

Cheers!

QS

(not that Darren's not being honest - would just like to have a larger test group!)

chosenonestudios

quantumsheep said:
Sorry to bump my own thread, but I believe if you download from the device you can install this on an ipod 2g/iphone 3G (which the game's not designed for).

Darren (Mr. Bumps) has said that Kraken runs fine on a 2nd gen ipod - If someone could download the lite version and give me an honest assessment as to how it runs on such a device, I'd appreciate it!

Hey, I downloaded Kraken for my 2nd Gen Touch and it stuttered a tinny bit when steering, but it was almost unplayable when I was shooting, managed to get past the first level, but it was not a fun experience. Works like a BAMF on my 4 though Great game ;D

In the review do you want me to put not compatible with 2nd Gen hardware? (In case some people don't read your description)

quantumsheep

chosenonestudios said:
Hey, I downloaded Kraken for my 2nd Gen Touch and it stuttered a tinny bit when steering, but it was almost unplayable when I was shooting, managed to get past the first level, but it was not a fun experience. Works like a BAMF on my 4 though Great game ;D

In the review do you want me to put not compatible with 2nd Gen hardware? (In case some people don't read your description)

Hey Chosenone,

Thanks for the kind words, and for the feedback of it running on a 2G ipod - that's much appreciated!

You can certainly mention that it doesn't run well on 2G devices - I've got nothing against a bit of honesty!

If you could also mention that it works fine on an iPhone 4, that'd be ace - (again, honesty!).

I'm hoping that the next version of GS, along with some other optimisations I'm working on, will mean a much better experience on lesser devices!

Thanks again for taking the time to look at it and report back!

QS

chosenonestudios

Hey no problem. Don't worry I'll be honest, it wont be hard though, because I did really love it ;D

chosenonestudios

Review submitted, should be up in a bit. Good Luck with it!

quantumsheep

Thanks for that - appreciate it.

I'm hoping your comment about 2G performance will be read by others downloading onto a 2G device. I mean, you shouldn't be able to do it as it's supposed to be arm7 only, but it *is* possible to do, and I hope other people will go in with their eyes open!

Still, in about 3 weeks, it'll hopefully be ok on those lesser devices

Thanks again,

QS

beefy_clyro

Yo dude, downloaded this the other day and completed it, will leave you a review after this post. Here are my opinions on the game;

* Love the music
* On menu screen my highscore is already 100000 without playing anything
* When in game, i find it too easy to kill the kraken without taking hits (i know there is a difficulty meter in the options but most wont look there). The way i found this was to just go into them shooting and hold one direction, this causes you to just loop round in circles but i guess because you stay so close he doesnt fire at you again?
* Mission success screen shows highscore of 100000
* On the 1st two levels where you have the sea, is there layers at the bottom? When you fly low and then move up causing the camera to move you see the black line flicker (like when you do a sidescroller with stitching big backgrounds together in GS)
* Love the proximity sensor when you're getting close to the ground, very nice touch.
* Artwork is an Ian job, speaks for itself
* Overall, i really enjoyed it, very fun and well executed. Good job

beefy_clyro

Oh and not only do you have to check the armv7 option when publishing in GS, you also have an option when submitting to apple to say that the app is restricted, it then reads the armv7 option and knows what is restricted. This of course has no relevance if they download on their desktops, they could download but wouldnt let them install

quantumsheep

beefy_clyro said:
Yo dude, downloaded this the other day and completed it, will leave you a review after this post. Here are my opinions on the game;

* Love the music
>Yay!
* On menu screen my highscore is already 100000 without playing anything
>Yes it is! It's the 'set score' to beat.
* When in game, i find it too easy to kill the kraken without taking hits (i know there is a difficulty meter in the options but most wont look there). The way i found this was to just go into them shooting and hold one direction, this causes you to just loop round in circles but i guess because you stay so close he doesnt fire at you again?
>Yep, that's one tactic and quite a good one! It won't work so well on hard, as the Kraken take more shots to kill, and move faster. This means that while you're looping the loop, the Kraken behind the one you're shooting 'catches up' and will take shots at you
I tried to counterbalance it on easy by having 'Defender' UFOs flying past that will disrupt your loops. Also, the 'Squid-Tank' Krakens sit lower in the water, and fire from a lower position too, making looping a little harder there.
* Mission success screen shows highscore of 100000
>Yep - that's because you haven't beaten the set score yet! You're not the first to mention it though, so I take your point
* On the 1st two levels where you have the sea, is there layers at the bottom? When you fly low and then move up causing the camera to move you see the black line flicker (like when you do a sidescroller with stitching big backgrounds together in GS)
>Yep, I notice that too sometimes, and so did FMG - he came up with some theories about why that would be happening but no dice so far fixing it. Sorry!
* Love the proximity sensor when you're getting close to the ground, very nice touch.
>Heh - I like that too! People seem to like the shadow too, which was a *very* late addition but seems so obvious in hindsight. I wanted to give both visual and audio indicators - people seem to appreciate them!
* Artwork is an Ian job, speaks for itself
>He really did an awesome job, and so bloody fast too!
* Overall, i really enjoyed it, very fun and well executed. Good job
>Thank you sir, I'm glad you enjoyed it! It really seems to be a 'marmite' game - people either really like it, or not.

Hey mate,

I've replied to your main points in the quote above, preceded by a >

I think I've failed in communicating that the point of the game is that it's a high score game. Sure, there's a story, and you can complete it, but because the score is tied into your shields it kinda performs two functions.

The first is that it's designed to be easy! You can play the game through, restart from the last level you unlocked if killed and beat the game. YAY! I don't think you've beaten the game in one sitting as you would have beaten the 100,000 set score (and seen a little message from me that's different if you play it all the way through!)
Any perfect kills you get go towards your research, but you don't have to worry about dying too much. There's a generous shield rating and you start with five lives. The idea is that you get to see EVERYTHING the game has by playing through on easy, even if you're not fantastic at games.

Now, play it on hard and unless you've researched a few things, it's bloody hard! BUT! You get double the points when shooting Kraken and UFOs. The idea is that you play through on easy, beat the game, keep researching in short play periods (like completing a level in two minutes at the bus stop trying to get as many perfect kills as you can) and then go home and play for longer on hard to try and get a higher score!

I feel, as I said, that I didn't really communicate this well enough! I feel a bit like Jeff Minter after Space Giraffe!

But I'm glad you like it generally. There are different endings dependant on if you finish with no continues, and if you play it on hard or not. The 'Sad' ending at the end of the easy mode might not necessarily be the same if beaten on hard

Anyway, thanks for the feedback - it's very much appreciated!

QS