UPDATE 2011:
We actually made a game out of this thing! Took us a while to get back to it, but once we did we wrapped it up in a couple of months. It launched last week — just in time for the 2011 360idev and game jam.
Check out these links for more info:
Touch Arcade forum thread << lots of info, including trailer and gameplay footage — go join in the comment thread and show us some support
Hyperion: d7 on iTunes << go check it out
Hyperion: d7 website << sign up for the mailing list on new features and suchlike.
Some screenshots of the action:
From the game’s description:
- Launching exclusively for iPad this high-action strategy puzzler features addictive and emergent gameplay with 10 unique AI types, 40 electrifying levels to solve and thousands of configurable free-play areas.
SPECIAL LAUNCH OFFER: 66% off for the week of launch — download now.
Developed by 36peas exclusively for iPad this groundbreaking high-action strategy puzzler takes advantage of the iPad’s screen size and multi-touch input to deliver addictive and emergent gameplay based on a simple mechanics, 10 unique AI types, in-game upgrades, 40 electrifying levels to solve and thousands of configurable free-play areas in which to do battle.
In-game score and skill assessment — with progression compared in 6 different areas.
Global high scores and averages plotted against your own progress — see how you compare to the world. Are you better than average? Can you beat the global high scores?
Due to the unique combination of strategy, action and puzzle solving you can approach each level in different ways… take your time, form a strategy, upgrade your heads or jump right in.
Get your heart racing and your brain throbbing to the pulsating original soundtrack album-length soundtrack composed specifically for the game.
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- action/strategy/puzzle hybrid
- 40 unique levels
- 1000s more level combinations in free-play mode
- global high scores and averages
- score analysis and comparison for every game played
- easy to learn, difficult to master
- 10 unique AI opponents
- level up your hexes in game
- take opponent heads and bodies to purchase more of your own heads or greater speed
- progressive difficulty (including more than a few satisfyingly tough levels)
- original soundtrack
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With the announcement of this year’s theme at 360idev of “Change the World”, the team has set to work.
The 36peas team consists of
Gareth Jenkins (@36peas)
Dave Amphlett (@deltamikealpha)
John Roberts
We’re currently brainstorming ideas, but believe we have a game mechanic idea that could totally work with the set theme.
0?:??
So we’ve finally got an application with a decent level of smarts in it – it understands about levelling and takes some things into account when you try to take over an enemy hexagon — such as what level you are (though this won’t increase at present) and how many of your own hexagons are around to ‘back you up’ — if you like.
At present, though it’s not a full working game (namely as there’s actually no way you can really win at the minute)
Further to this you cannot level up as detailed above, and you cannot ‘kill’ an AI ‘snake’ — though this ties in with not being able to wi the game.
On the whole though, we’re impressed. A simple game mechanic, but that can be absent minded or very involved to play all the same … This is going further.
06:00
By this point we’d all taken naps where appropriate. On arriving back and pulling the latest changeset, we now have an AI player which switched between it’s ‘snakes’, only being able to select a next hexagon that was in close proximity to the first and proper textures on all the hexagons that are filled
21:56
Sprite sheets are evolving for the different ‘players’ in the game, and we’ve hit a bug whereby some hexagons for some bizarre reason cannot be selected.
21:00
Using the component architecture that we’ve used on past and current projects, the wheels are in motion and we’ve already got an app that runs. (Granted, it’s just a splash screen and a hexagonal grid at the minute ;))
Sprite sheets are made, the idea is pretty much confirmed.
So far we look as follows:
