RAVENMARK: Scourge of Estellion – An epic turn-based strategy game

A lot of games like yours just use gold as a customization element. You earn a certain amount of gold on a map (maybe more based on performance or optional objectives) and then you can spend that gold on say better armor or a new special ability for your spearman or something like that. It encourages a lot more familiarity and identification with the various game units. Managing killing blows in Fire Embem could be annoying but at the same time I don't think the game would have been as popular if your units didn't level up and find equipment, etc. But I don't know that the Fire Emblem gameplay style would work as well for Ravenmark.

Lots to think about. =) I'm always up for new ideas. I don't think a gold system would work. I'm thinking mebbe a commander experience system that lets the player specialise the in the various Element types. It's gonna be a while before I can explore such things though, with the updates with have planned. Good to have things stewing in the back of my mind either way. Cheers dude!
 
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Then why not play for longer?

The same old problem: I want to have everything! :) I have big stacks of games to play and when something new comes out, I want it! Sometimes I can keep my attention fixed on one game, but other times I stop to start a new game. Other times I just stop gaming at all for a while.

The other thing is that I don't really have a long commute or long patched where I am away from home. At home, I more easily play a game on PC or console... on which I have a large backlog. See the pattern? :)

I also just redownloaded Highborn, because I just remembered it. Here we go again. :)
 
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This is why I dont get why people are so threatened of apple taking over so called "dedicated" portables. Its not like these portables offer what we want anyway (when has a 3ds or psp had a western rpg like the iPad has Avadon, Aralon, dink smallwood, etc.). Most of those games are garbarge ports from the ps1 and ps2 era. Heck the best psp rpg is ales of tempest which is a ps1 game (ok maybe second best besides ff crisis core). I mean people talk crap about gameloft, but what about all those monster hunter ripoffs for psp like the square enix one (http://psp.ign.com/articles/110/1102929p1.html) and tales of the world, etc. Plus the single analog control on psp is much worae than touchacreen, esp dor rpgs. For strategy rpgs touch screen is perfect, you select where you want your troops to go.

Like I said, who cares about all these artiles popping up all the time now?

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=449684

http://neogaf.net/forum/showthread.php?t=439282

http://www.mediapost.com/publicatio...iller-19-billion-app-gaming-is-eating-po.html

http://www.mcvuk.com/news/read/handheld-consoles-are-doomed/087276

http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2011/11/12/more-bad-news-for-portable-gaming.aspx

http://www.appolicious.com/games/ar...-handheld-video-game-market-with-googles-help
 
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This is why I dont get why people are so threatened of apple taking over so called "dedicated" portables. Its not like these portables offer what we want anyway (when has a 3ds or psp had a western rpg like the iPad has Avadon, Aralon, dink smallwood, etc.). Most of those games are garbarge ports from the ps1 and ps2 era. Heck the best psp rpg is ales od tepest which is a ps1 game (ok maybe second best besides ff crisis core). I mean people talk crap about gameloft, but what about all those monster hunter ripoffs for psp like the square enix one and Namco's tales of the world, etc. Plus the single analog xontrol on psp is muxh worae than touchacreen, esp for rpgs. For strategy rpgs, touch screen is perfect. You select where you want your troops to go.

Like I said, who cares about all these artiles popping up all the time now?

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=449684

http://neogaf.net/forum/showthread.php?t=439282

http://www.mediapost.com/publicatio...iller-19-billion-app-gaming-is-eating-po.html

http://www.mcvuk.com/news/read/handheld-consoles-are-doomed/087276

http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2011/11/12/more-bad-news-for-portable-gaming.aspx

http://www.appolicious.com/games/ar...-handheld-video-game-market-with-googles-help
 
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Heck the best psp rpg is ales od tepest which is a ps1 game

Wow, that's something I'd really like on my iPhone. ;) I happen to also like the occasional JRPG... it does seem that there exist more higher-budget titles on PSP.

Plus the single analog xontrol on psp is muxh worae than touchacreen, esp for rpgs. For strategy rpgs, touch screen is perfect. You select where you want your troops to go.

For strategy titles and point-and-click adventures, no question. For third-person RPGs like Chaos Rings, for example, I'm not so sure.

P.S. I forgot Rimelands. Also never played for more than 30 minutes. Reinstalled. :p
 
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Tried to buy it for my iPhone, but I can't for some reason. Is this compatible with iPhone 3G? I only bought the dang thing a year ago, but I'm finding a few games that I wanted to get need the GS.
 
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Tried to buy it for my iPhone, but I can't for some reason. Is this compatible with iPhone 3G? I only bought the dang thing a year ago, but I'm finding a few games that I wanted to get need the GS.

There are more and more games that require a third-generation iPhone these days. Some will also require iOS 4 and many people stick with iOS 3.x on iPhone 3G devices because iOS 4 is slow. But yes, especially the more demanding 3D games (like from Gameloft) will require newer devices. Check the iTunes description.
 
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There are more and more games that require a third-generation iPhone these days. Some will also require iOS 4 and many people stick with iOS 3.x on iPhone 3G devices because iOS 4 is slow. But yes, especially the more demanding 3D games (like from Gameloft) will require newer devices. Check the iTunes description.

I looked just before I opened the post and the description is generic ... yet I know it would crash on the 4th gen iPod Touch until the new patch which removed HD from the Touch. Since the 4th Gen Touch is between the 3GS and the 4, it makes sense that the 3G might have issues. But it should be explicitly stated.
 
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Heya Skavenhorde, as far as I know, you should have no problems. Perhaps your device is out of space? We know of people playing Ravenmark on 2G devices even.

Whatever the case, keep me posted if there's a problem? I'll get my programmers to check it out if there's still an issue.

@Txa1265: That problem was fixed with 1.01, shouldn't be a problem any more. =)
 
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Thanks Tebius. I'll try again and check out the space left on my iPhone. Sarah's got 101 different camera apps on that dang thing. Might be out of space.

It's definitely good news to hear that it's compatible with 3G. It sucked when I found out that Scribblenauts was only compatible with the GS. I really wanted to try that one out, but not going to buy a NDS or a 3GS just to play it.

I'll let you know if I have any more problems. Thanks again.
 
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Got it downloaded and installed. Still not sure why I had problems getting it in the first place. Probably had more to do with my connection than anything on your end.

I like what Tebius has done with this game. One of the characters is a bit over the top, but the tactical part of the game is outstanding. Any game that has certain troop types better at defeating other troop types is always ok in my book. Archers kill infantry, infantry against polearms, polearms against cavalry, cavalry against archers. Love that. Linking up is also a neat feature. I've only played the first two missions, but already I can see a great tactical game.

Overall I'm very impressed with this game and it's easy to use even on my tiny iPhone. If you ported this to the PC I would buy it again without a second thought.

Only thing I don't like so far is that the characters are a bit over-the-top during the conversations. That's no biggie though. I don't buy strategy games for the plot and I've only played the first two missions so I can't really judge that too harshly.

The ……encyclopedia (forgot what you called it in the game) is a nice addition. It gives a detailed description of pretty much anything I want to know about.

Great game so far.
 
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Ah the life of an App developer. I've had so many problems with crashes due to low memory. For some reason on my clean booted iPod Touch 4G, my game is in danger of crashing if it goes over 60-70 MB. Try rebooting before playing Bill.

I really wish I could get graphics like you've got, the game looks stunning! This is a definite buy for me. Good luck, the world needs more tactics games!
 
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Got it downloaded and installed. Still not sure why I had problems getting it in the first place. Probably had more to do with my connection than anything on your end.

I like what Tebius has done with this game. One of the characters is a bit over the top, but the tactical part of the game is outstanding. Any game that has certain troop types better at defeating other troop types is always ok in my book. Archers kill infantry, infantry against polearms, polearms against cavalry, cavalry against archers. Love that. Linking up is also a neat feature. I've only played the first two missions, but already I can see a great tactical game.

Overall I'm very impressed with this game and it's easy to use even on my tiny iPhone. If you ported this to the PC I would buy it again without a second thought.

Only thing I don't like so far is that the characters are a bit over-the-top during the conversations. That's no biggie though. I don't buy strategy games for the plot and I've only played the first two missions so I can't really judge that too harshly.

The ……encyclopedia (forgot what you called it in the game) is a nice addition. It gives a detailed description of pretty much anything I want to know about.

Great game so far.

Thank you for your kind words, it's been a humbling experience. =) I really didn't expect Ravenmark to get the response it did. Thanks for the support!

I'm actually really keen find out if you guys have any ideas on how to improve the game! I can't think of a better place to look for constructive criticism. For example, which characters did you like/didn't like?

Alas, I have given up on playing. It just crashes too often.

(iPod touch gen current-1)

Ah the life of an App developer. I've had so many problems with crashes due to low memory. For some reason on my clean booted iPod Touch 4G, my game is in danger of crashing if it goes over 60-70 MB. Try rebooting before playing Bill.

I really wish I could get graphics like you've got, the game looks stunning! This is a definite buy for me. Good luck, the world needs more tactics games!

Sorry Bill, we're still looking into ways to lessen the strain on your device. Hopefully something will come up soon. Whatever the case, thank you both for the support!
 
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The main character and his brother are ok. It's cliche to have a young whipper-snapper as the main character who will surprise everyone by being their only hope, but it's not a big deal. My personal preference would have been to play the brother. I'm tired of playing these young guys who save the world :p

The brothers are ok, the general is typical, but ok as well. It's that old gruff guy that I can't stand. He's so over-the-top in his hatred of your character that it's annoying. It's very JRPG to me. Maybe a bit of background as to why this old guy hates you so much. Maybe the hero killed his dog or something, but just hating him because he's young, rich, whatever would call for a more subtle hostility. I believe anyways.

For gameplay I would love to be able to target the enemy. There are times I want my archers to concentrate on someone other than they're targeting.

Those are small annoyances (other than that old guy) and easily overlooked. The combat is what I came for and you delivered in spades. Thanks.
 
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The main character and his brother are ok. It's cliche to have a young whipper-snapper as the main character who will surprise everyone by being their only hope, but it's not a big deal. My personal preference would have been to play the brother. I'm tired of playing these young guys who save the world :p

The brothers are ok, the general is typical, but ok as well. It's that old gruff guy that I can't stand. He's so over-the-top in his hatred of your character that it's annoying. It's very JRPG to me. Maybe a bit of background as to why this old guy hates you so much. Maybe the hero killed his dog or something, but just hating him because he's young, rich, whatever would call for a more subtle hostility. I believe anyways.

For gameplay I would love to be able to target the enemy. There are times I want my archers to concentrate on someone other than they're targeting.

Those are small annoyances (other than that old guy) and easily overlooked. The combat is what I came for and you delivered in spades. Thanks.

For the archers, you could use pursue, which makes them attack a specified target - even if they're smacked about in melee.

With regards to the story, yeah, I understand where you're coming from. Don't worry though, Calius wasn't meant as a main character - think of him as a POV to introduce the world. =)

Felidae.. yeah, he's a real dick. Hahah. As written, he's just really bitter at his station in life, considering that he's old has been past over for promotion for years. Estellion's merit system would always have people like him who fall through the cracks. So he's really riled up about Calius' rise. I think he might soften up after a while - after al, his character isn't completely fleshed out yet.

Cheers for the comments by the way, it's all gold. =)
 
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In terms of how to improve the game, while I've already mentioned a preference for some kind of upgrade system even if it's minor. Beyond that I think the formation system is really cool but it often feels a little clunky as well. To some extent of course that's the point, formations are clunky things. But it would be nice if moving around in formation was just a little easier to do or if maybe it was easier to breakup and reform a formation. One problem is that if I split up a formation and want to them all to move 3 spaces to the right, it takes several turns to do because they all get into each other's way. So things like this mean I'm not using formations anywhere nearly as much I'd like to be (because they are really cool).
 
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I'd like to register my interest for a proper HD iPad version of this game.
I have this on my wishlist so I can remember to keep checking on it but I don't think I'm going to buy it unless it either goes HD or if I can't at least get a free 'lite' version to see how it works on my iPad.
 
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I'd like to register my interest for a proper HD iPad version of this game.
I have this on my wishlist so I can remember to keep checking on it but I don't think I'm going to buy it unless it either goes HD or if I can't at least get a free 'lite' version to see how it works on my iPad.

That is the great thing about universal apps ... they ARE true iPad AND iPhone games. Ravenmark plays wonderfully on my iPad ... it is the iPod Touch that is an issue due to lower memory ...
 
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I'd like to register my interest for a proper HD iPad version of this game.
I have this on my wishlist so I can remember to keep checking on it but I don't think I'm going to buy it unless it either goes HD or if I can't at least get a free 'lite' version to see how it works on my iPad.

The free universal update for the game should arrive just before Christmas!

In terms of how to improve the game, while I've already mentioned a preference for some kind of upgrade system even if it's minor. Beyond that I think the formation system is really cool but it often feels a little clunky as well. To some extent of course that's the point, formations are clunky things. But it would be nice if moving around in formation was just a little easier to do or if maybe it was easier to breakup and reform a formation. One problem is that if I split up a formation and want to them all to move 3 spaces to the right, it takes several turns to do because they all get into each other's way. So things like this mean I'm not using formations anywhere nearly as much I'd like to be (because they are really cool).

I'll see if I can try to implement something simple on the multiplayer end. The upgrade system would hurt single player balancing, the way it stands.

Yeah, strafing with formations was something we decided not to support. But now that you've mentioned it, I'll see if I can devise away to make it easier to do.

Cheers for the suggestions. =)
 
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