Hello everyone!
This is the game we at Thoopid have been working on for the passed few months.
We discovered this forum, had a look around and would like to get involved! Also, if anyone has any questions, please feel free to ask us!
Snailboy the mobile game trailer:
About the game:
Snailboy is a physics based puzzle game with rich graphics, killer sounds and over 40 levels of intoxicating game play. It is made for iPhone, iPad and android phones. Set to be released in August/September.
About the team:
We are a new mobile gaming company, consisting of a small team of 5 people, situated in Cape Town.
Snailboy Facebook Page
Thoopid Facebook Page
Thoopid Website
Comments
My goodness the graphics are super beautiful! I can't rightly say anything about the gameplay since the trailer doesn't seem to show much of it, but the prettiness is really well done!
Was there like Pixar level experience in the team? :)
Have you been to any of the Cape Town community nights? If not there's one coming up on the 31st - would be great if you can do a run-through of the game :)
We will be releasing more videos on gameplay and behind the scenes throughout the next couple of weeks. If you follow us on Facebook you can keep up to date, but we will post it here too, don't worry.
And no, Tuism, none of us are from Pixar, but thanks for the compliment. :D
We read about the community night and we will be attending it!
Is it 3D or 2D? I love the little guys animation!
The character and environments were made in 3D but the game engine is 2D.
If I may ask, I'm curious: how do the controls work? It seems to be a platformer, which I would think would be somewhat awkward on a touch device -- how have you gone about it?
Feel like the trailer would sell the game better if it didn't keep cutting out just as Snailboy did interesting things: A trailer made entirely of him splatting up against things would be awesome! Also, show what the shells do to really tease them properly - I assume they give Snailboy powers, but from the trailer you can't be sure.
thanks a lot! The trailer is supposed to be a teaser trailer, so we did not want to give too much away.
@Thaumaturge
very good question! If you go to the community night on the 31st you will be able to see how it works :)
And I'm also curious about the gameplay.
@Thaumaturge There have been successful platform games on IOS with traditional-like controls, Super Crate Box/Muffin Knight, League of Evil (for example).
Though I think platform-esque with simplified controls have been more creatively/financially successful. The Rayman game on IOS I felt was pretty awesome, it managed to avoid being another Canabalt clone while offering a controls as accessible as Canabalt.
And obviously Lost Winds is brilliant:
(Though I don't keep track of IOS platformers particularly astutely).
@BlackShips: Fair enough; with regards to Lost Winds specifically, I'm a little surprised that they don't have problems with the player's hand getting in the way, but it does look like a rather clever control mechanism!
Look at Fruit Ninja for instance, or try pointing at an object in the distance in real-life and see if your hand feels like it is getting in the way.
A ported game like Metal Slug or Mega Man X does suffer from fingers being being over the screen, as the fingers are constantly over the V-Pads and the visuals have been designed for that space to be visible.
But fingers temporarily being over the screen is generally a non-issue on touch screens. Our brains are accustomed to context filling space for us. Just like the way we are constantly seeing our noses but ignoring them.
I think it'd be fair to say that touch games with finger gestures are often quite awful for spectators (and I guess that makes advertising them harder sometimes).
@Thaumaturge and @BlackShipsFilltheSky I've played a lot of Lost Winds, the controls are intuitive (my 3 year old plays it, though she sucks at the puzzles). The game also has long visual lingers in places, giving attention to detail on the level through a simple pause before you continue. One touch moves you quite far as the point is being blown by the wind, and there is a simple tap and hold a second to turn on auto run function. It is one of the better ios platformers available, and I quite like ios platformers (a lot).
If executed well your own hand over the game space isn't a problem, for all the reasons BlackShipsFilltheSky mentions. We're just trained to filter them out. Think of doing fiddly work, or drawing - your hand is there, always partially obscuring your view, but because it is in motion, and YOU are in control of it you move it out of your way instinctively. Only in very constrained conditions does it become a problem. In fact, if done well, it helps you to situate yourself in the projected space.
The detail that you give on the controls is interesting; those seem like good ideas -- and they're presumably effective, given what's been said.
So we finally uploaded a video more focused on the game play of Snailboy, please check it out!
Thoopid is excited to announce that we have officially launched "Snailboy - an Epic Adventure", available on the App Store now!
Launch Trailer
Have you been pushing for reviews anywhere? What's the reception like?
I think you will hit your target market well, hope they also release it on SA appstores soon so I can support you.
Really impressed by all the professional content, even of the videos.
Love the first video on this thread the most.
@duncanbellsa look for a big Snailboy poster at rAge to play the game ;)
@Boysano it will be available on the SA store very soon!
Thank you all for the support and luck, we really appreciate it :D
I am brand spanking new to this... where do you start to learn to make epic artwork like this?
Just a little criticism from my perspective (which will hopefully be useful to you and not come across as harsh or attacking):
1) I think you can do better than that icon. The lovely rim lighting effects that you have in come of the renderings (like on the logo) is missing. Snailboy doesn't look heroic, and doesn't seem to be doing something fun (like flying through the air at the end of the trailer). Mostly: The icon doesn't indicate the sort of gameplay that Snailboy has, and so some fans of that kind of gameplay might miss it.
I would have expected something more like this:
http://screenshots.en.sftcdn.net/en/scrn/305000/305140/mega-jump-09-535x535.jpg
But rendered better because Mega Jump is an old game and Snailboy is much prettier.
I'm not an expert in App Icons, but I know they can be important. And I don't think the Snailboy icon looks "fun".
But maybe my taste in what a "fun" icon is differs from others. This is just my perspective of course.
2) There are no sound effects in the trailer, just the yell at the end as Snailboy flies at the camera. I think some slapping noises and a bit of his voice would make the action in the trailer feel more alive (and if I recall correctly the audio in your game is pretty good).
Also: A question! How did you get the cover image of your Youtube trailer to be so perfect? (It is an image of your logo and snailboy heading towards the screen, normally I have to select from a frame of the trailer, does this mean that you have adverts enabled on your Youtube channel?)
@BlackShipsFilltheSky Thanks so much for your kind words!
It really is not a problem, we always welcome feedback and criticisms, without it we cannot improve our game :)
1) I see exactly where you are going and appreciate your suggestions, just not too sure if it's a good idea changing the icon now after the game is released, but we will definitely consider it.
2) We actually had the sounds in at the start and had a prolonged debate whether or not we should keep them in and in the end we decided to keep them out.
3) We can use custom thumbnails just like @Elyaradine said. I'm not entirely sure if it was ONLY because we monetised our videos, but it was probably was. Enabling monetisation does not put adverts in your videos immediately though, you still have to select the type of adverts per video afterwards, so you can enable it just for the custom thumbnail, that's what we did :)
Just wanted to let you know that we have launched our very own forum, mainly for help and support but also for everything mobile related and more.
Check it out HERE!
@thoopid Nice clean design :)
Visuals are ammmaaazzzzing, as I said before, but they really are!
I just had the black-screen freeze about 3 times after the intro scene.
I am trying to learn from other indie games. Is it possible to have the the "charge-up-jump" and regular "left-right" movement controls in one game?
The controls for Snailboy are quite cool! I slapped that snail Chris Brown style yo :P
What's New in Version 0.9.6
Thanks for all the great feedback, we have taken your comments into account and improved the following:
1. Game loading issue resolved.
2. Character control mechanism:
- Improved jumping control.
- Updated slapping control.
- Increased accuracy.
3. Performance increases on lower end devices.
4. User interface updates.
Download the update now!
@RickyGC @hanli thanks guys for your support! as you can see we just released an update that fixes the black screen issue. Happy gaming!
Snailboy is finally available in the South African App Store!
Download it here!
http://makegamessa.com/discussion/comment/12932
What's new in this version:
** New Holiday Season Santa Skin
** More Slimey Rewards. Collecting shells and completing the levels rewards you
with tons of extra slime for more lives and other goodies.
** IOS7/Ipad mini fix
** Performance Updates
** User Interface Updates
** Slapping mechanism improved for better control
PS: The Samsung App store version is in review and is coming soon!
We are happy to announce that Snailboy is FINALLY on the Samsung App Store! Anyone with an S3 or S4 can download it, more supported devices to come very soon!
Store Link
Snailboy just went live on the Amazon App Store, so tell all your Kindle buddies to download it.
PS: it's free to try!
Amazon App Store Link