Update 3 submitted! **Then Resubmitted**
Now it's in Apple's court to approve the update! Get ready for:
- Challenge revamp, now better than ever before. Race each other's ghosts back and forth until you or your opponent run out of lives!
**UPDATE TO ABOVE: We had to delay this one and resubmit the update early today, January 11th, due to a show-stopping bug we discovered. Everything else is still ready to go, so this will be an update 4 feature now.**
- OpenFeint 2.4!
- New ultra-difficult level set in the Ghost Realm! The Ghost Realm has the most forbidden and therefore best hats.
- Performance and control tweaks! Ok, this isn't as exciting as the above two.
- Hats! Hats! Hats!
- A final DLC character, this one's cosmetic only. New dialog, super stylish.
- More requests and features that you guys demanded, including a minimal graphics alternative to ghosts, for true pro's.
Update 4 is already being worked on. Expect 4 new levels, with an all new gameplay type (**And also now the new Challenge framework we had to delay**)!
- Challenge revamp, now better than ever before. Race each other's ghosts back and forth until you or your opponent run out of lives!
**UPDATE TO ABOVE: We had to delay this one and resubmit the update early today, January 11th, due to a show-stopping bug we discovered. Everything else is still ready to go, so this will be an update 4 feature now.**
- OpenFeint 2.4!
- New ultra-difficult level set in the Ghost Realm! The Ghost Realm has the most forbidden and therefore best hats.
- Performance and control tweaks! Ok, this isn't as exciting as the above two.
- Hats! Hats! Hats!
- A final DLC character, this one's cosmetic only. New dialog, super stylish.
- More requests and features that you guys demanded, including a minimal graphics alternative to ghosts, for true pro's.
Update 4 is already being worked on. Expect 4 new levels, with an all new gameplay type (**And also now the new Challenge framework we had to delay**)!
Labels: hookchamp
posted by Kepa at
4:03 PM
16 Comments:
Is there going to be more paid DLC coming out? I want to show my support for Hook Champ (because I only paid $1) but I don't want to go overboard.
The only DLC for Hook Champ will be the one coming in update 3, and the one we already put in, Hookbot. No more after that.
Hey kepa I just finished you TA podcast
Id like to say 2 things
1) have an item for lava invincibilty because my robot strategy where i hook to a pillar sit there then rocket to the next one sit there is not working and im getting frusterated :(
2) have in game 8-bit music ill be more than happy to make some just tell me what youd like
if you have time (most devs or game people dont) and can chat on skype for a few mintues i have alot of positive feedback and alot of ideas
my skype user name is SoDarkened
hope you can respond back
@Kepa
Cool, cool. I think I'll purchase Hookbot later tonight because I love this game.
Myself, I rather like optional DLC like Hookbot that's not necessary to progress (just beat Gold Skull with Jake and Gold Rat with Gunny, so they can be done). It can add a lot of character (your dialogue writer(s) are fantastic, Kepa) while giving the option for people to continue supporting beyond the initial purchase price. Really excited for Update 3, however. Can't wait to get my hands on some forbidden hats!
@Kepa
Have you also considered Local wifi/blue tooth co-op.
You can have co-op levels were both players need to press buttons and such to help each other reach the end.
You can have competitive co-op where you race to the end.
You can also have co-op where one person is the ghost and the other is the one running away.
I thought that would be really neat, but I'm not sure what level of coding you guys are at so... it could be pretty difficult if your new to this.
SirDarkened:
We're actually debating a fireproofing thing for Hookbot. Not sure on this one yet.
We can't put any more music in the game due to trying to keep under 10 megs. We weren't careful enough with our size limit this game, so we ran out of space to put music in, fast. The next game can have more music.
I don't really have any time to talk on Skype! Most of my free communication time goes towards replying to blog and forum comments, really.
Multiplayer co-op: We don't know how to do this well yet. It also doesn't fit the gameplay too well at all. What we're going to do is just improve the Challenge Race system even more in update 4. It'll be a back and forth race to the death in which each player gets five lives, and they lose a life whenever they lose a race.
@kepa
Alright on the skype. I've only got to talk to one dev and I'm extremely grateful for their time. 5 Minutes is all I'd really like just to say my thoughts and stuff. (Most people take longer to use the restroom). But if your busy its alright.
The fireproof should come if you get complains its always removable you should have him have his own leaderboards like minigore does therefore there are no complaints.
Also something neat would be to have another character that is a Monkey. With a jungle type level where the monkey gets extended range each time he deropes.
Also I don't agree with the Cosmetic DLC. I see that Hookbot obviously is way overpowered and that's why people got angry, but a purchase cosmetic character won't earn you a lot of sales and sort of takes away from the fact that all the other characters are unique.
If you just make separate leader boards per each character OR just make one for only hookbot it should solve complaints. I don't understand why people complain this is such an amazing game.
I know you've talked with the minigore guys and well cosmetic honestly sucks. No one likes skins.
Regardless I will be purchasing this character to support you, but I feel as the consumer cosmetic is me dumping a dollar for the same thing I get when I pay for the game. It's like buying a golden Mini Uzi for COD6 that's currently in the game, but it's just not gold... what's the difference? Nothing so therefore there is no reason for me to buy it but to support you guys for future updates.
I'm taking my time writing this because I feel that soon your fanbase will grow and I will just be a voice in the crowd just like I am in Minigore now.
Another great addition to Hook Champ would be the option to have it so that when you jump you don't have to extend your hook. This is a suggestion that's hard to explain so bare with me.
Your running and there are blocks so you click below the hook line yet your hook comes out as you jump causing you to hit the wall you were trying to jump over. This is very frustrating.
Another thing is adding the ability to jump higher by a little bit. Your characters regular jump, increased. I'm a bit lost as to why this wasn't originally added.
Lastly I'm having a hard time getting 3,000 money... Any secrets? Do I just grind the levels over and over? I'm achieving first on most of the first maps, but I only get a 35 money bonus for doing so... This game is a bit of a grind (That I don't mind, but people will mind in the future)
Please make this a bit more clear as to how to earn money as I'm struggling now.
One of your greatest fans,
SirDarkened.
Ah last note I wish I could have beta tested this I would still be testing now and trying to give you guys ideas as I do with Defender Chronicles. I wish you guys the best and keep up the good work.
If you'd like to contact me so I can email you ideas so people won't know what to expect in future updates as I continue to brainstorm some good fixes/new additions.
I don't usually give ideas that are way off, but if any of these don't seem plausible please let me know and I'll stay away from that type of addition.
my email is greatcocobil@yahoo.com
Hope to hear back from you soon Kepa thanks for the response as I've been checking back constantly for it ;)
This post has been removed by the author.
Personally I think cosmetic DLC was a mistake. I think you should had made several different characters each with their own advantage.
For example you could have a character that can go through water at regular speed making it extra good for the water levels - but make it a bit slower so it still won't be great at other levels. Or a character that gets a nice forward boost whenever hitting a cursed bat, making it better at the bat levels but worse than Gunny on other levels because he/she doesn't have a lot of other equipment.
Also right now I see Jack as the easier character with lots of rockets, Gunny as the more pro character with shotgun blasts (but still lots of rockets, that's really bad) and Hookbot as a character specialised on the block-heavy levels, mostly that skull level with tons of blocks.
I think it would be cool with some really pro character with fewer rockets than Gunny (but still enough to complete levels where you need them) and perhaps no shotgun blasts but goes x% faster making perfect runs slightly faster than perfect Gunny runs or something.
I really don't want to pay for a purely cosmetic character.
Also I think there should be some more veritcal levels where Jack would be the superior one - and a space level where you can hook in ANY direction. For example there could be a place where pillars are placed like this: ',' so first you have to hook the bottom of the apostrophe, swing yourself up, then hook downwards and grab the top of the comma and swing in an upside-down shaped U shape around it and then grab the bottom of the other apostrophe.
Don't know how it would fit in a level, but I think it would be a pretty cool jump.
Replying to various:
The DLC issue is tricky. It seems like everyone has their own preferences for DLC. Some people hate functional DLC, others hate cosmetic DLC. We'll keep trying to figure this out. For Hook Champ, the DLC we already have out will be the only DLC. One thing we won't do again is have several different categories of DLC in the same game; we only did that for Hook Champ for experimental reasons.
A completely no gravity level would be interesting.
Sirdarkened:
You'll automatically jump if you run into low blocks and keep holding walk/run. You can also jump without launching a hook by tapping the hook area quickly rather than holding it down.
Beating levels with #1 local scores earns you a lot of money, based on how much money is in the level itself. Beating the later levels with #1 scores earns you way more money than beating the first levels with #1 local scores. We'll also be adding more levels in the future, to help with money collecting.
I don't like the idea of making seperate leaderboards for Hookbot, because we have 32 leaderboards as-is. We might give him a fireproofing item in update 4, though. We're thinking about it.
Hey you dev-guys,
first of all thanks alot for one of the best games in the App store, Hook Champ really has some superior game play mechanics and and awesome visual style.
I've just recently discovered a rather specific problem/glitch/bug/whatever: I've purchased Zelle yesterday, and from that moment on I experienced odd control and minor framerate issues in the first third of the Gold Bull Idol level (which I know that exactly 'cause I'm stuck there currently, bitchin' had one). It's like the hook area just doesn't really respond to tapping anymore after the first two or three leaps, and if it does, it only works with a fatal time delay. Unfortunately this makes it impossible to finish the level.
I hope it really is a software issue and not due to me being stupid, and if it is, I'd be very happy if you fixed this.
But again: Great work on this game, very fresh idea!
i posted this on the itunes store, so it sounds kind of indirect, but here:
I have had this app for a LONG time and have always loved it. TOTALLY worth he price!
It keeps getting better with every update! Love the new character Zelle, with her extravagant hats and all :)
I have no problem with Hookbot (or rather H*O*O*K*B*O*T) and Zelle. If you don't want it, don't buy it. There's no change in the gameplay if you don't buy it.
Anyway I LOVE the new space-ish ruins! such an awesome idea... and really hard too! I'm struggling to beat it! What i love about this game is that you can play a level on many levels (pun not intended). You can just get through it, or try to get #1 on the local leaderboards, or just explore it... It's really well done. The skulls indicating the jumps and the bones falling from the ceiling are nice subtle indications.
Some things i think would be nice are:
1. when you pause the game you could maybe see how much percent of the level you've completed.
2. to have a "fun facts" kinda thing, like how many times you died and how many times you died in a certain way, like fell in the lava, got eaten by the chaser... Also you could have like "total number of bones crunched", "most worn hat", "most played level", "total coins collected", that kind of thing. But I REALLY wish you can include the stuff that happened before the update. I don't know if this is possible or not :/
3. it would be nice to get the #1 coin bonus every time you get #1, even over your own score. that way, you can get money easier, but there is a limit
4. i'm against the idea of a level creator. Think about it, people: if it was that easy to create levels, there would be more ruins to play. they would also be less challenging. Speaking from experience, i say that in some types of games (like this one) who are very intricate, you have to measure everything, make sure there are no gaps, that it is possible- yet challenging... it's a lot of work!
5. i'm not sure if this is the idea i had forgotten about, but it would be cool to have another type of editor instead: a hat editor! i don't know if this is possible, but it would be awesome. it could be like this: you purchase a "hat slot" for x amount of coins. you can put different colored pixels and save it. you can edit that when you want, and even buy more hat slots. maybe there would be a limit, like say 3, or 5. you can also make this hat editor available if you pay 1$... i would buy it! and this is where i go kinda crazy and start imagining huge things: A HAT MARKET!!! you could put the hats you designed up for sale, but every hat would be the same price, i would say about 30 coins. the money could or could not go to the designer. there are LOTS of variables in this idea, and it's all up to the developer: get money when people buy your hats, or not? (getting money for it could destroy the economy of the game a bit, since the person won't have to play levels for coins. you could also make the price of the hats high, like 100 coins, but the creator gets really little, like 1$. that way, if a hat is really successful, the designer has some nice extra cash there. that way the market is almost indirect). and there could be a search hats by color, popularity, size, character... oh i don't know. this seems very difficult lol. this is just a suggestion after all ^_^
my worst fear is that if this happens, there will be indie hat designers whose talents are left undiscovered... and this makes me sad :S ... not to mention millions of shitty hats filling the market...
>>>ok, forget about everything i said about the hats. there could be a "submit a hat' thing (with a limit per week, so that the dev would not have to go through millions of hats that have had no effort put into them), and if the developer likes it, they can add it to the list on the next update. the designer would have to fill in a name for the hat, what character the hat is for, etc. and every update, the dev would choose one hat for each character. under this, the name of the designer could be included.
6. please... don't make a Hookchamp 2! all progress would be lost... but you have to profit. maybe just make some updates cost? i don't know... maybe people wouldn't like that. personally, i think : WTF. don't be cheapasses! a pack of gum costs less! and the money goes to the devs, and it motivates them to ameliorate the game ^_^
7. i think no music is fine, because you can listen to your own music while just having the sound effects, which is nice
i'm acting like i created this game, giving suggestions and no straight answers lol...
Whoa, i wrote a lot...
All in all, this game rocks. It has huge replay value and is challenging at the right times. Thank you very much and please consider these suggestions!
Big fan,
Moxx
oh, and i forgot to add: i'm the reviewer who wrote about the problems with the achievements in the last update. thank you for fixing those!
and i was just thinking about what other sorts of ruins you could add to the map. maybe an all-water one in the sea, where the chaser is also super-slow so it's fair? and in the shadow of skull mountain, shadow ruins where you see only a circle of light around you? the levels would be easy, so it's fair. these may sound dumb, but i'm just trying to spark ideas
Moxx
1. We'd like to put this in, not sure when.
2. Too late to put this in, but we'd like to do this for a future game.
3. Not sure on this. We'll probably just make things cheaper next game.
4. A level creator is off the table because we'd also have to do some sort of censor mechanic.
5. This has been suggested before. The thing is, it's actually easier for us to just make hats.
6. We don't plan on making a Hook Champ 2 for the iPhone. That is, an exact sequel. We are planning a spiritual sequel that adds new gameplay types and has a completely different setting, though.
It also lets us do major new features, which we really shouldn't have done with Hook Champ updates. Major new features take tons of time, while also being less popular than just doing new levels.
7. There's no music because we made the current music too big in filesize. We try to stay under 10 megs.
People really would hate an all-underwater level, I think. A shadow ruin might be interesting.
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