Legends of Yore

[ra4king]

Awesome work!

[kevglass]

The next version has just been approved for the iOS Appstore. Should be filtering out to various stores as I type.

Comments and feedback appreciated,

Kev

[Mads]

I really can't seem to find those Orks

Games published by our own members! Check 'em out!

[kevglass]

You looking for the Orcs or the Goblins in the quest?

Kev

[Mads]

You looking for the Orcs or the Goblins in the quest?

Kev

Now, it appears to be Goblins  

EDIT: I've found them!

[kevglass]

Good work!

Kev

[kevglass]

Version 737 is now on the Android Market and website. Version 650 has just got through approval for iPhone and is now on the market.

http://www.legendsofyore.com

Android: https://market.android.com/details?id=org.newdawn.touchquest

iPhone: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/legends-of-yore/id434205569?mt=8&ls=1

Recent updates include:

- 2 new bows
- 5 new archer melee weapons
- 4 new wizard melee weapons
- Increase magic powers
- Added stash
- Quest info now shows the town you got the quest from
- Can't buy elixirs if you're reached the limit
- More variation in chests
- Web manual added
- Fix warrior rage issues
- Fix magic missle descriptions
- New dungeon
- New Area
- Remove zen cooling
- Add bonus for magic attack
- Reduce fail chance on ranged attacks
- Surface recovery for death
- 3 new quests
- Special arrow ammo
- New shields for archers (semi-rare drops)
- Zen tuning
- Archer bonus for trapped creatures
- Archer more chance of special attacks
- Two new quests
- Add center cursor mode for small screen
- Add auto-updater for desktop version
- Goif helmet fixed.
- Advanced classes
- Purple potion
- Paid pre-activated version on Android
- 3 new dungeons
- Few new areas
- 50+ new items
- 30+ new monsters
- More bug fixes
- Add Head shot for Archer
- Add Bezerk for Warrior
- Add Arror Hail for Archer
- Add Skull Crack for Warrior

Thanks all,

Kev

[ra4king]

LOL at Apple's extremely slow approval time. Current version 737 while App Store just got 650 through? Wow...

Anyway, you are working really hard on this game! I'm impressed by the commitment and the unwavering motivation! Keep up the good work!

[Mike]

Are you able/willing to share the sales statistics? Are you making any money on it, how many downloaded the free version and how many bought it?

Mike

[krasse]

Tried the applet and it was fun! It also gives a polished impression.

I wish you very good luck with this. It is inspirational to see that you can publish it on so many platforms at once!

Games published by our own members! Check 'em out!

[kevglass]

Sales are poor, we're talking really low I'm making about enough to cover costs at the moment. I don't want to go into figures right now just incase it gets better and I look like a winger!

Downloads wise there's been about 25k on android and 20k on iphone, web wise the applet has been hit several 100k+ times, but I've stopped tracking that as it doesn't seem to mean much. There are over 4k registered users now (as in they have an online save account) and there's been 700 odd ratings on Android, 500+ of which are 5 star.

Stats wise it sounds pretty good, guess Im just not good at converting customers yet

Kev

[Mike]

Thanks Kev It's equally important to get a good install base as that spreads the word. Good luck with the conversion rates

Mike

[ra4king]

Conversion rates?

[loom_weaver]

You've made really nice progress over the last couple of months.  Last time I checked there was just the single 5 level dungeon and now there is a world to explore.

One feature that would be nice is some sort of inspection ability i.e. I see something I haven't encountered before.  Is there a way I can get a description or something without waltzing right up beside it?

How have things progressed since you've completed the main engine?  Is adding content easier, laborious, or just different as compared to pure coding?

[kevglass]

Evaluate action - good idea. I'll add it to the ever growing list.

Building the content is something I enjoy and I'm building tools as I go a long so it's not too labour intensive. The scariest thing is how quickly players get through the content. I spent two evenings effort on the recent content update that I released today. Within 6 hours most of that content is discovered and posted about

I'm still adding a lot of new features to the engine all the time though, so I keep my hand in code - and of course there are tonnes of bug fixes all the time.

Kev

[loom_weaver]

The scariest thing is how quickly players get through the content. I spent two evenings effort on the recent content update that I released today. Within 6 hours most of that content is discovered and posted about

If you could travel this path again knowing this, would you have waited longer before releasing the game in order to have more of the content ready?

The reason I ask because I imagine that community management must consume quite a bit of time which means less time for development, content creation, etc.

[kevglass]

Tbh, no. The community mostly only exists because they've been able to get involved in the development process - having lots of input. Most people seem to be really happy to have the chance.

Release early, release often. Still works for me.

Kev

[woogley]

Tbh, no. The community mostly only exists because they've been able to get involved in the development process - having lots of input

This seems to be the way to go recently. I can personally vouch that the rapid updates is what got me hooked on Minecraft, and now this.

I'm a bit curious though - have you ever had to back-out changes that the community responded negatively to? I'm curious how you're measuring feedback and filtering out the people who just hate change.

[kevglass]

Manually to be honest, I read every comment, post, email etc carefully and make notes. Then I compress those notes down into a change list.

I haven't backed anything out so far, but I have changed the balance back and forth many times.

Kev

[Mike]

Conversion rates?

Number of people who download the free game vs number of people who buy it.

Mike

[ra4king]

Conversion rates?

Number of people who download the free game vs number of people who buy it.

Mike

Thanks! I learn something new every day

[kevglass]

The new version of Legends of Yore (version 745) is now available on the ITunes AppStore.

Kev

[kevglass]

The next version is on the AppStore, version 789:

- Rework UI again
- Multi-item stash
- Fix typos in descriptions
- Change level of spade and fishing rod
- Add enchantment descriptions
- Update data lists
- Making panning and identification independent
- Fix enchantment issues
- Fix force close
- Add horse transport
- Identify implemented - long press or right click on a monster to see their information
- Performance improvements for Android startup
- Set modifier shown on statistics screen
- More powerful heal potions added
....

The main version has also received a bunch of udpates including a new town, new transport and a selection of new dungeons.

Cheers,

Kev

[dishmoth]

How are things going in the customer department?  Are your loyal fans starting to cough up money yet?  Are you building up to a major release (and publicity splurge) at some point, or is it all incremental improvements from here on?

No particular reason for asking, just nice to watch the project grow.

Simon

[kevglass]

Customers are coming through slowly, not massive though - I'm certainly not retiring any time soon I'm doing mostly incremental releases but I do the odd big patch (like the recent Toronega addition). However, a bit patch for me is say 4-5 days work. Incremental release can be like 2 a day.

Kev

[loom_weaver]

The game morphed from a coffee-table style rogue-like (think played in 30 mins or less) into one with a large detailed world.  Was this direction your original intent or was it community driven?

[kevglass]

That kinda happened before anyone really started playing. I produced a little rogue like and I wasn't really happy with the feel - then I thought about Diablo, and how much I love that and added a little town - then it just sort of snow balled.

I have plans for a couple of other games that will probably fit back in the 30 minutes slot again - but we'll see

Kev

[kevglass]

New upload just got up, version 834:

1   2   3   4   5   6   7   8   9   10   11   12   13   14   15   16   17   18   19   20

v834 - Add freeze arrows - Stronger charge potions - Add treasure maps (5 to complete) - Spells and Skills save in quick slots properly - Invisibilty Spell - Stealth Skill - First Aid Skill - Skill trainer - More shields - More boots - Merlin set now available - Digging and Fishing random finds added - Add "Learning" spells - Add spellbook - Add skillset - Make stop on hit option available - Make stat bars visible in inventory screen again - Use external storage for android temporary files

Kev

[namrog84]

About to try the iPhone version.

edit 2x:
snipped 1-3x:
found the built in "uncomment for 800x600" mode!


On going review/comments/suggestions as I play:


if you can use red potions from backpack, I wish I could see the health bar from that same screen to see its effects?

suggestion for UI:
perhaps in the health bar, when you get hit, it shows for a few seconds, the bar that is loss turn yellow and then disappear.(or perhaps blink red, or even better, fade out(the tiny chunk of life that you just loss)
So that if I am watching it, Its easier for me to see how much is loss.

does the water that I keep finding do anything?  I'd be cool to splash around in it, like in Zelda:aLttP(on the SNES anyways you could sometimes)



if I am at the barkeep Buy/Sell screen. I wish I could click outside of those selection and return to the game.

I wish I could manually reconfigure location of items in backpack? If there is a way I haven't figured it out.

I tried out wizard and warrior.
Overall: I like it.  It may not necessarily be my particular type of game. I did enjoy it, and bought the game for iPhone.

Keep up the good work!  Ill play some more in the future!

edit edit:
I've been playing it more and more. I am liking it more and more!
I'm slowly becoming addicted! Also inspiring me to make a different type of RPG more accustomed to my style.

[kevglass]

The health bar is on the right of the inventory in the latest version.

Water is for fishing in

You can't currently reconfigure the location of items in the backpack. I just couldn't come up with a simple enough interface without using drag which is a bit of slow down in play issue.

Thanks for trying it out!!

Kev