Just spotted the first review of Turbo Duck to hit the net at Gamedroid. Now obviously they liked the game but the thing I really like about the review is the fact that they obviously paid attention to what they were doing. They didn’t just play through the game and say what they did/didn’t like. They clearly paid attention to the details as you can see from this quote…
“For example: every time a submarine re-surfaces and creates a wave, that wave will change your ducks direction when it hits it.”
The submarines aren’t in every level and yet the reviewer has picked up on what is actually quite a small feature. None the less it is a feature that the team worked to include in the game and as a developer it is always nice when someone notices those things you have worked hard to include.
I guess with several of the team having love affairs with their iPhones it was only a matter of time before we would start work on an iPhone/iPod Touch App. We set out to come up with a fun game that suits the iPhone and we think we have accomplished that with Turbo Duck. It’s an ideal mobile game with great 3D graphics and fun bite sized game play for people on the move.
We enjoyed the whole process of developing Turbo Duck so this certainly won’t be our last iPhone release.
The press have been really great and picked up the announcement story and the video. Here are a selection of the sites that have covered the game so far…. thanks guys.
Our first iPhone game, “Turbo Duck” has just gone gold – or the digital distribution equivelent. Our Technical Director just uploaded the final build to the iTunesconnect site… from his hotelroom at GDC. The game is now “in review” at Apple while our Tech Director heads out to find some pancakes for breakfast.
The next step for Turbo Duck should be an approval email from Apple and the game appearing on iTunes. – Quack-tastic!
We’re really pleased to announce our first dip in the iPhone pond with Turbo Duck for iPhone/iPod touch. The iPhone is a great piece of technology and a fun platform to make games on so while Turbo Duck is our first dip in the iPhone pond but certainly won’t be our last.
Use the iPhone’s accelerometer and touch screen controls to guide “Turbo Duck” around the bath. Collect the flags to gain extra time while avoiding the toy boats, submarines, mines and other hazards which fill the pool. When time gets short make use of your Duck’s turbo boost for extra speed but be careful – you only get three turbos so don’t waste them.
Turbo Duck for the iPhone/iPod touch is like having bath-time in your pocket.
Warning:Turbo Duck is intended for virtual bath time fun only. Dropping your iPhone/iPod Touch in the bath may invalidate your warranty and will certainly make you look foolish.
For screenshots and full details on the game check our the games section – Turbo Duck page
General game play (PSN version) Geon isn’t just about collecting pellets. If you want to win it’s essential that you stop your opponent from scoring and that they don’t stop you. Expert Geon players will learn to keep track of their opponent whereabouts and will also keep watching their pellet meter. Knowing when your opponent’s Geon cube is full gives you an indication of when it is time to hunt them down/defend your goal. The following general game play tips should help improve your Geon skills.
Try to always carry a powerball, this will make your cube roll faster. Grab one even if you aren’t planning to use it.
Attacking as you opponent exist a loop is a good tactic
Opponents will be out of control as they travel around a loop-the-loop so lay in wait for them and trigger a bash attack just as they reach the end. Your cube will move faster when jumping (but you won’t collect pellets) so use jump to travel quickly across the grid, when trying to evade an opponent or when trying to catch them to stop them scoring.
Try to keep a close eye on your opponents pellet meter. If they are nearly full you should attack quickly to regain the advantage. Attacking when they are nearly full will cause them to lose more pellets.
The shield not only protects you from your opponents attacks but can also be used to counter attack when you are on the same side of the grid. Bumping into them while the shield is active will cause them to take damage – but it is difficult to pull off.
Grab one of your opponent’s powerballs when you flip over to score a goal, if nothing else it’s one less for them to use against you!
When you select a grid think about what will work best with your powerball selection. Some powerballs have a slight advantage on large open grids whilst others work well on small and intricate grids.
Try to be systematic when collecting pellets. Make sure that stray pellets are not left on distant parts of the grid as this will cause problems/delays later in the round.
So I was down at GameSpot HQ today joining Guy and Alex in their soundproof basement for their latest podcast. It’s a pretty good format, they cover a wide selection of games news and reviews, and so we were pleased to have the invitation to talk a little bit about Geon, how it started out on Xbox Live Arcade, and how we’ve been busy porting it to PSN and Wii. We also talked a little bit about what we’re doing next as well as how Strawdog Studios got started, which is something I always forget is interesting to many folks. The whole idea of setting up your own company to make games can be either crazy and/or inspiring! I’m pretty sure we’ll write more about that one day.
Anyway the podcast homepage is here, but you can hear today’s epsiode right here.
So our brand new best friends over at wonderwallweb have uploaded their first thoughts on Geon, and it certainly seems to have created the right emotion with them anyway! We’re really pleased to read that they have enjoyed the game, and taken the time to note some of the things we hoped would get recognition: the new tutorial, the new strategy behind the emotions and level designs, and the refined competition in the various game modes.
So we’ve all been playing Geon this weekend, and having a great time. It’s strange how different it can feel to actually play the game you’ve spent a year working on, and it’s hard to remember all of the small discussions and design decisions that helped to shape the final mix. After 3 months of QA and TRC checks it’s also hard to convince yourself that there’s really no bugs left in it! (well that we know of anyway!)
Overall I think we are all really pleased with how well this version of the game has turned out, and the improvements we’ve made since the XBLA version really have gone a long way to making the game purer, and more addictive. The AI in league mode plays really well (thanks to Jack) – some of the bots seem to keep coming up with some brilliant strategies that Jack claims he’s not coded! Emergent behaviour? Hmmm…. who knows!
The online game mode got some testing this weekend too, and seems to be holding up pretty well (I promise that one day we’ll post up an article about all the machinery we had to build to make a twitch game like Geon play reasonably well over the internet!), we all had a bunch of good games – particularly Dan who’s clearly been playing online all weekend to earn his place in the top 100.
Well, I hope you guys enjoyed it too, if you haven’t already downloaded it – get to it! It’s a steal for $10…
but the thing I really like about the review is the fact that they obviously paid attention to what they were doing. They didn’t just play through the game and say what they did/didn’t like. They clearly paid attention to the details as you can see from this quote…
General game play (PSN version)
So I was down at GameSpot HQ today joining Guy and Alex in their soundproof basement for their latest podcast. It’s a pretty good format, they cover a wide selection of games news and reviews, and so we were pleased to have the invitation to talk a little bit about Geon, how it started out on Xbox Live Arcade, and how we’ve been busy porting it to PSN and Wii. We also talked a little bit about what we’re doing next as well as how Strawdog Studios got started, which is something I always forget is interesting to many folks. The whole idea of setting up your own company to make games can be either crazy and/or inspiring! I’m pretty sure we’ll write more about that one day.
