Hi all and sundry (especially sundry),
I'll hit the main points in this post.
First off, we intend, if the response to this version of the game is positive, to expand features, map, planets, options, etc and release a commercial form of TKS called TKS Extreme. As I said in the original announcement, this sprang out of the fact that while Interceptor is done, there are business issues that have to be resolved and some distribution and other things on the code side that have to be finished up. So Aaron and I knocked together TKS as a challenge to ourselves: could we create a relatively simple game that could serve as a free game and act as an intro to our setting idea. There are still some warts on the game, because we went for speed and simplicity, and many of these we are aware of (I'm sure the expert community here will find far, far more).
Now to comments:
First, we are looking into a save option for the paid edition. Currently, if you play the short game or unlimited mode, it's easy enough to finish in under an hour to an hour and 15 minutes. If you don't care that the game timer continues running, the game is very forgiving and you can leave it open. One of our beta testers "played" a 7.5 hour game so he could destroy everyone's high score. He told me that most of that game consisted of him washing dishes, getting his kids ready for school, and making and eating dinner.
Strategy point: Diversifying cargo does pay off. However, later in the game being able to build up large supplies of items such as radioactive isotopes gives you a big leg up. It's worth it to fly around to various planets, buy up their supplies, and then sell 500 isotopes at 700 or 800 credits apiece. I've done it, it's a rush:) In general however, and especially at the beginning, diversification is the way to go.
Selling Menu and its Problems: We are aware of this issue, and again in the paid version this is something we intend to address if possible. We were striking for a balance between ease of interface and amount of information to absorb. Our beta testers also made this point repeatedly. A good rule of thumb though is if you have a good memory, look at the total you pay for an item and remember that one number. If you paied 348 or three forty something, you can quickly use the right arrow to scroll to the max amount. If it's less than 348 then forget it. Thanks for bringing this one up.
Scanning for Planets: Dark, there is a relative direction finder on the map menu, but it is a hot key. The scan area option is accessed with s. It will say things like Vesta is 2 squares north and 1 square east. North of course is lower on the Y axis, and east is higher on the X axis. It would be easy enough to add a menu item to the status menu (accessible from map mode) to reach scan through a menu as well however. The planetary locations on planet menu were more to provide a quick overview for the player. If you pop a map where Earth is in one corner of the map, you don't want to fly around hoping you'll hit a planet, and some people don't like scrolling through the map to explore the entire galaxy. The planet locations menu was a compromise position.
Gather Information: This one is dicey at best. One thing we intend on making improvements in in the paid version is with gather information. However, it can be very useful in the sort of game you described. Knowing that skipping one planet in the line to get a high ticket item cheap, or to sell a high ticket item more expensively, is well worth the 5-20 credits you spend on the gather information option.
Suggestions: Keep the suggestions flowing. Some of these are already cued up for the paid version. Some we hadn't thought about and are well worth considering.
Reactions: Thank you so much for the positive response. Aaron and I started this project with three things in mind:
1. We wanted to design games that we found fun, challenging, and that operated differently from or built on positive aspects of games we had tried and liked. Where possible we wished to fill voids, or perceived voids, in the gaming experience for the blind community.
2. We wanted to expand our own abilities as gamers, in Aaron's case (and lately in my own) as coders, and to try something new.
3. When the games go commercial, we intend them to be on the low end of the market in terms of expense. We hope to avoid losing quality due to this decision, but as 1-7 dollars apps sweep the mobile device market, the age of the 40 dollar computer game will slowly be dying. We intend to capitalize on this trend as much as possible.
So far, we succeeded with the first two points. The third will have to wait for time to tell.
Lastly, many of you are disappointed in the science fiction theme. I can well understand that. Though I myself am an avid science fiction reader, Aaron for instance, prefers westerns. Aaron and I met on the fantasy mud Alter Aeon. Although we currently have planned to follow the science fiction line exclusively for now, we purposefully have not set limits on what we will do. The Valiant Galaxy is a big place. It's quite possible that at some point in the future, we will try our hand at other genres. That said, I suspect it will take some time. We are both very busy. Aaron is currently helping with several summer enrichment programs at the West Vriginia School for the Blind and I run a business that helps to support my family. VGA is near and dear to our hearts, but it has to be juggled with other priorities and responsibilities. Interceptor took us most of two years to reach its current state, and TKS while it took only a month to reach release, took that month primarily because we walled ourselves up and worked like mad. End result, since our company consists of two people, chances are new releases will come slowly. However, I hope that they are worth waiting for.
Take care, and thank you all again for the feedback,
Jeremy
Valiant Galaxy Associates Company, owned by
Aaron Spears and Jeremy Brown develops and markets audiogames for the Blind and Low Vision markets.