|
|
| Page 1 of 1 |
headshot
VIP Member
Posts: 35982
Location: UK
|
 Posted: Tue, 27th Sep 2011 02:27 Post subject: [iPhone] The Dark Meadow [R] |
|
 |
|
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
cobALT
Posts: 2340
Location: In a world created by fascist and used by cowards to manipulate
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
sTo0z
[Moderator] Babysitter
Posts: 7449
Location: USA
|
| Posted: Tue, 27th Sep 2011 02:35 Post subject: |
|
|
But my iPad is out of space! 
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
headshot
VIP Member
Posts: 35982
Location: UK
|
| Posted: Thu, 6th Oct 2011 15:05 Post subject: |
|
|
On the UK appstore now but not Installous.
811mb!
Fuck it Im buying 
Here's a review.
| Quote: | I am what you would call a horror genre fangirl. I wait with baited breath for new installments of Silent Hill (or used to anyway, when Team Silent was at the helm), sucked up every survival horror title that didn't look totally terrible (and a few that did, just for kicks), and and pretty much lived and died by how perfect I could get a photograph score in Fatal Frame. There's something about decaying hospitals and shambling, unidentifiable demons that just appeals to me, I guess. I think what this says about me is that I have a taste for the weird, I may or may not collect strange objet d'art, and that I possibly may have a bonafide future as a crazy cat lady. I hope I'm wrong about the latter.
At any rate, the very first screens of The Dark Meadow [$5.99] had me foaming at the mouth, and rightfully so — it was a first person perspective exploration game with pieced-together baddies, a super atmospheric setting, and best of all, powered by the rather esteemed Unreal Engine, which is still winning awards to this day. It had all the makings of a truly standout game on the iOS platform, and I wont deny that my hopes were very high for it.
Speaking of atmosphere, when it comes to making the setting appropriately spooky and weird, The Dark Meadow has it down to a fine art. The game itself looks terrific, and the music is dark without being overpowering or ridiculous. You will navigate your way around with simple touch controls and by moving from spot to spot, which foregoes the need for a directional pad. And I truly appreciated how little clutter there was on the screen — Phosphor Games wanted this to be a clean, immersive experience for the player, and the attention to detail is evident. It's easy to get lost in this world.
As you explore darkened hallways, you'll come across baddies that you'll need to clear out in order to progress. My first few go-rounds with them, I was pretty pleased with the way combat worked. They always appear at a distance, so when you first see them you'll be armed with a crossbow (and later down the line, other weapons will be available.) You'll use your finger to aim and you'll let go when you want to fire, which feels smooth and makes the experience pleasant overall, at least initially.
Once your enemy is really close, you'll switch to melee. The fights are designed so that you can slash with a finger swipe and dodge by tapping an arrow to the right or left. The game is good about telling you when to act, so if you pay attention, you can really get the rhythm of fights down. For instance, after a dodge, if the game prompts you to "attack now!", it's time to get your slashes in, but if not, there's another attack coming, so wait for it. It works a little like a toned down version of Infinity Blade [$5.99], although missing most of the finesse and feeling fairly basic comparatively.
Keep up your fights, and you'll keep gaining experience, and the game makes sure you know it. After each fight the game grinds to a halt, at which point the game tallies your experience while you wait, which not only feels really unnecessary, but also hurts the pacing of the game. When you hit a level, you'll be able to assign experience points how you please. Enough of these and you'll gain new weapons as well, so know that your efforts will be rewarded.
You aren't completely alone on this journey, either. There's an old man you'll meet in the beginning who will communicate with you via radio and give you advice on how to survive in this dark world. His advice can be quite handy (and in addition, it's pretty decently voice-acted, too). In fact, if you die a few times, he will tell you different things, and some of it is pretty hilarious – -bravo for the writer or sticking in bits of tongue-in-cheek humor! You can also find scraps of paper and notes that will shed some light on the world you're in and divulge its backstory. It adds some nice detail, some of which will factor in as you get further into the game.
If The Dark Meadow has any weakness, it's that the fights eventually begin to feel a bit rote, and I found myself wishing creatures would stop popping up so I could just explore my surroundings and progress through the story without hinderances. On the other hand, I'm sure I'd feel the same way if the situation were real, but hey, there's some pains in the ass in every dark and twisted universe, and this is one of them. As long as you don't mind the grindy feel to the combat, then you really shouldn't be bothered by this much.
Overall, The Dark Meadow is a standout in almost every way. From look to setting to the touch-centric gameplay, it shines, and you can tell this title was crafted with much love from its developers. Any horror fan will be thrilled by it, especially if your traditional iPhone fare is stuff like that wretched Silent Hill game [99¢] (even this fangirl couldn't swallow that.) It's quite a bit more expensive than the usual iOS title, and it's worth every bit of the money you'll spend. It doesn't quite hit the note of perfection largely becomes of the combat mechanic, but it edges damn close — and even at that distance, it's well worth your time and money. |
May the NFOrce be with you always.
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
headshot
VIP Member
Posts: 35982
Location: UK
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
headshot
VIP Member
Posts: 35982
Location: UK
|
| Posted: Thu, 6th Oct 2011 18:19 Post subject: |
|
|
This game is pretty awesome. Its like a survival horror Infinity Blade!
May the NFOrce be with you always.
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
cobALT
Posts: 2340
Location: In a world created by fascist and used by cowards to manipulate
|
| Posted: Thu, 6th Oct 2011 18:24 Post subject: |
|
|
How much space does it require, after install?
[img:91f1fb12c3 ]http://i.imgur.com/fTzqMvq.gif[/img]
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
headshot
VIP Member
Posts: 35982
Location: UK
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
cobALT
Posts: 2340
Location: In a world created by fascist and used by cowards to manipulate
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
WaldoJ
VIP Member
Posts: 32678
|
| Posted: Fri, 7th Oct 2011 01:08 Post subject: |
|
|
mmmm gay porn email spam...
| Sin317 wrote: | | I win, you lose. Or Go fuck yourself. |
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
|
| Posted: Fri, 7th Oct 2011 06:55 Post subject: |
|
|
So how is the game?
“The only way to deal with an unfree world is to become so absolutely free that your very existence is an act of rebellion.”
- Albert Camus
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
headshot
VIP Member
Posts: 35982
Location: UK
|
| Posted: Tue, 13th Mar 2012 22:01 Post subject: |
|
|
Looks like they're updating this and releasing a freemium version.
| Quote: | Hey all- official person from Phosphor here! A lot of interesting comments!
At Phosphor games, our developers come from a console / PC games background, and in mobile we are all huge fans of premium style games, and that is why we made Dark Meadow. But if you ever look at the top 100 grossing charts on iOS, you will see there are only a few ‘core’ premium games compared to 30 or so free to play games. The majority of the iOS audience won’t even look at a game unless it is free. Game development is a huge massive effort, and you really want to give as many people as you can the chance to experience the game you created.
That all said, we aren’t fans of “skinner box” style games, and we never planned on altering Dark Meadow to have paywalls or increased forced grind. The kind of games we play here are premium style, and that is exactly what we set out to do when we updated the game to free to play- it isn’t less of a game or gimped in some way, it is the original game, plus more features, and like the original version, you can buy in-app-purchases, but they are in no way required to complete the game.
Some of the new features (based on community feedback)
• New environments to explore (about 1/3 more), new boss creature
• Bombs that instantly take out most enemies
• Map so you know where you are
• Warps so you don’t have to start from beginning
• New weapons with special attack fx
• Health packs you can use in combat
• Made crossbow more deadly, more useful (as some of our playtesters have completed game without using melee)
Our intention was that we’d have one version of the app, so (future) leaderboards, etc could all be shared by same community. We always planned on turning off ads and gifting premium players, so we didn’t see any negative to what we were planning.
BUT it sounds like the community really wants them to stay as separate versions. From reading the forums, one large issue is it sounds like a lot of users have completed the current version, deleted it (as it is a large file size), and would like to check out the next one, but there is a good chance they won’t have save data, and they’d have the hassle of downloading the current one just to have a save game, then download the newer one, etc. All an annoyance we’d rather not give our fans.
SO we are keeping the Premium version of Dark Meadow separate from the Free one, and both will get all the new features. So anybody who previously purchased the game can update whenever they want, and they will just get new stuff.
iOS is a constantly evolving market- the market has even rapidly changed since we shipped Dark Meadow. Free to Play, if used correctly, can be an exciting way to include more gamers. Team Fortress, Jetpack Joyride, League of Legends have proven it can be a positive thing for their communities. Without putting it out there for you guys to try out, we won’t know how well this pricing model will work out of the gate, but we take the community very seriously, so please let us know what you think! |
May the NFOrce be with you always.
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
|
| Posted: Thu, 29th Mar 2012 22:25 Post subject: |
|
|
Update is out now! Free-to-play and Premium are both Version 1.1, the f2p copy is called "The Pact" and is, apparently, playable from start to completion absolutely free! Here's the PR splurge from one of the main devs;
| Phosphor_Travis wrote: |
What's the difference between Dark Meadow and Dark Meadow: The Pact
When creating Dark Meadow, we wanted to be sure that we were creating a free to play game that we could be happy with. As players, we tend to shy away from games with obvious "pay walls" and anything that makes blatant cash grabs. With this in mind, we made sure that we didn't rebalance the game to create challenges that would require players to pay us to get through. Additionally, we didn't want to create any content that players would have to spend money to see. As a result, in both versions of the game, players can play through the entire game and purchase any item (except for the premium upgrade pack in the free version) without spending any additional money.
Because we were trying to create a high quality free to play experience, there are surprisingly few differences between the original Dark Meadow and Dark Meadow: The Pact. You can play through both versions to completion. Both versions get all of the original content of Dark Meadow, plus an entirely new area in the game. We've made tons of tweaks to the gameplay systems, including a brand new Kill Streak system that brings a new layer of "risk vs. reward" depth to battles. Also the store has been completely redesigned, with a better lay-out and brand new items. Both versions of the game have all these additions included. To top it all off, we've added new Voice Over, new special attack effects on many of the swords and crossbows, a system of fast travel warps, healing in combat and other goodies that you can discover as you play through the game. Again, both versions of the games will be able to take advantage of all of these things!
One immediately obvious difference between the games will be the ads. The premium version will be completely ad free, and the free version will have ads turned on by default. Actually, "ads" in kind of a misnomer, since there is only one ad, and the only time you'll see it is when you pause the game. We didn't want to distract from the atmosphere of the game itself, so you won't see ads cluttering your play space or menus. However, even in the free version, a one-time IAP will allow you to turn off ads in all your save files.
Another thing we wanted to do is show our gratitude to anyone who paid for Dark Meadow when it first launched. Your support allowed us to continue to develop the game and is helping us to create more high quality experiences in the future. To that end, every premium user will receive a special legacy bonus gift when they update. This bonus gift gives players a ton of Gold, Sun Coins, bombs and first aid kits to immediately get them into the fight in this new version of Montclair Hospital. Every premium save file will receive this bonus, so you won't have to worry about whether you install the update later, or even delete the game at some point in the future and reinstall it. This gift pack isn't going to break the balance of the game or turn it into a cakewalk, it's more of a nice kick start back into the Dark Meadow.
As an additional sort of fringe perk to our biggest fans, it's worth noting that over the course of our balance changes many of our old swords received some substantial buffs or improvements. As a result, many people will find that some of their favorite weapons are even more powerful and have special new attack effects to boot!
We hope that this update will appeal to all our past and future players. We ultimately want to continue to deliver premium experiences that push the boundaries of what we've seen on the market and keep our fans happy. We are looking forward to seeing what you all think of this major update! As always, we try to make a point of listening to our players, so if you guys have suggestions about what you'd like to see to make the game better, we will be listening. Thanks!
|
Dark Meadow is usually 1.2GB installed, but this new one is around 750MB - but nothing was cut, indeed extra content was added, and Phosphor_Chip explains;
| Phosphor_Chip wrote: |
>>I noticed that the new app's size is smaller than the original version. But it had been mentioned that everything could be unlocked via gameplay or IAPs. Is the new version more compressed? How much space will it take up uncompressed?<<
About 750 megs on device
We got the size down by playing with how Unreal works with packages + streaming
|
I can also confirm, thieving bastard that I am, that IAPfree (the more recent/updated version of IAPCracker/Unlocker) works on The Pact to unlock it to full Premium as well as all the other IAP that are available. It's definitely a good thing that IAPfree works, as the ratio of Sun Coins earned versus Sun Coins cost for items borders on the ludicrous...
| Phosphor_Chip wrote: |
People have been wondering how the Sun Coin/ Kill Streak relationship works, so I figured I would jump on here and give a quick explanation.
Kill Streaks provide a boost to the rewards that a player earns, while making enemies grow increasingly stronger. As enemies get tougher, the player earns more exp and gold per kill, assuming that they can stay alive.
Sun Coins are currently awarded after every 10 kills in a kill streak. The award system grows based on enemy difficulty, and in the case of Sun Coins the growth is multiplicative. So, after 10 kills, the player earns a Sun Coin. After 20, 2 Sun Coins are awarded. 3 Sun Coins for 30, 4 Sun Coins for 40, and 5 for 50 kills. After 50 Kills, the award is locked at 5.
The idea here is that it is easy to get first aid kits and bombs, but saving up for the best swords in the game would be a real investment of time.
We understand a lot of people are frustrated by how hard it is to acquire all of these items. Our thinking was “these items are in no way required to complete the game- they are extras players can ignore”, and wanted to set them up as challenge and accomplishment. BUT we are evaluating what we can do to modify our currencies so the challenge is better balanced. The killstreak mechanic itself was added so all players have a fair chance of acquiring everything, so we aren't trying to shut anyone out of getting stuff.
|
.... and the reply;
| ghOti wrote: |
Let's assume a 50 kill streak takes 30 minutes to accomplish, that's probably VERY generous, but I'm trying to be fair here. I have never achieved a 50 monster kill streak, but I assume that, given the increase in monster strength, you get to the point of diminishing returns real quick. So lets say that the most effect way to "farm" Sun coins is getting to a 50 kill streak, and then start over.
A 50 kill streak nets you 15 sun coins, so you are looking at 30 Sun Coins an hour. The Sword of Memnoch is 3750 Sun Coins. Subtract the 150 coins we got for being premium version owners, that's 3600 Sun Coins. 3600/30 = 120 hours for the best sword. That's 120 hours for one item.
Now guys, there is a "real investment of time" and then there is an "unreasonable amount of time". 120 hours for all the sun coin items is the former, 120 hours for one item is the ladder. Do you see now why we feel like we are being forced into IAPs and the special offers?
It has nothing to do with beating the game, most of us have probably already done that, this is about completing achievements and experiencing the content you have created for us.
|
... sweet Jesus. 120 hours of farming just to get one item 
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
|
| Posted: Fri, 30th Mar 2012 10:28 Post subject: |
|
|
More;
| Phosphor_Chip wrote: |
Hey all- a lot of great feedback. We really appreciate your honestly and cutting through the issues. It has been very helpful for us to make Dark Meadow a better game.
From reading the posts, the take-away summary of the biggest issue is that premium players want to be able to earn special weapons more fairly, that the current sun coin distribution is too balanced towards IAP.
We have had lots of internal discussions of how we can achieve this, and we think we have a solution that can work. We are trying to release this in an imminent patch. Once we can confirm it works, we'll share what we plan to do.
Also in the patch will be fixing:
- iPod Touch 4 crashing
- Retina res on mobile
|
They're getting a real kicking from the negative backlash and yet they're still tweaking the game for people, to make it less unfair on premium owners. Because let's face it, right now the only "benefit" the premium/$5 owners get is the option to disable the ad at the bottom of the screen.. >_>
Still, the game is awesome and the devs actively listen and communicate with the fans. So I bought the premium copy! I'll still be using IAPfree for the IAPs though, heh.
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
headshot
VIP Member
Posts: 35982
Location: UK
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
vurt
Posts: 13850
Location: Sweden
|
| Posted: Sat, 31st Mar 2012 23:30 Post subject: |
|
|
wow, this game seems to have a lot of different enemy types.. that's probably the highlight hehe, can't say i enjoy the combat or story in this game, but at least the combat _works_ unlike GTA 3 which i also just bought, what a complete waste of money.
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
vurt
Posts: 13850
Location: Sweden
|
| Posted: Sun, 1st Apr 2012 00:17 Post subject: |
|
|
All the controls were great (i'm using a "Fling" joypad) except for the aiming / shooting, it's so horrible i just gave up on it. I was so impressed at the start, then when the first real mission starts and you need to do some shooting it turned into poo.
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
| Page 1 of 1 |
All times are GMT + 1 Hour |
|
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum
|
Powered by phpBB 2.0.8 © 2001, 2002 phpBB Group
|
|
 |
|
