Hey, kids! It's a bit of a slow news month. Our heads are down, and we've been working 24/7 (and sometimes 25/8) on the next updates for Pocket God and Pocket God Uranus on the iOS. Meanwhile, ngmoco has been working on updating the Android app. They are lumping several updates together (these updates are already on the iOS) so it's going to be a big one! We'll let you know when it's out.
In the meantime, we thought we'd post this review from Crazy Mike's Apps. He has this to say about the Android version of PG:
This Android app allows the user the opportunity to torture, torment, and yes at times be nice to their very own race of pygmy peoples in various environments (island, underwater Atlantis, and north or south pole you figure out). Pocket God is the ingenius idea of the “crazy” guys over at Bolt Creative and this classic iOS game is just as fun on the Android platform.
Hey folks! For those who are visually-oriented, there's a brand new video tutorial by JKDabomb for our latest update:
As much as we appreciate the compliments, we appreciate more how well it shows the workings of the game! Check it out! And thanks, JK!
In other WITU news, we're still working hard on Pocket God's next updates. Pocket God's next update in particular promises to have some sting to it. And we could say that Pocket God Uranus will show you how to cut your problems in half. We could say that, but we won't.
As for the comic, the next story arc is called "A Quest Called Tribe." On this journey, the pygmies find out more about Sun's background. Hint: it's full of secrets.
That's all for now. Keep reading the blog, there's bound to be more news happening.
"Battle of the Gods" finally out! I was a bit taken aback how much anticipation there has been, but the wait is over.
Now, on God Island, you can enter the battle arena. All you have to do is earn at least four god idols and set them on the four pedestals to open the temple. Drop a pygmy into the temple to enter the game.
Here you have a chance to go up against every episode's god; there are forty so far. In the battle, both sides get four idols that have certain attributes and powers. Choose the right idols at each turn to win the battle. It plays like a two-tiered rock-paper-scissors, and each idol has a chance of damaging the opponent's health.
At each turn, both sides picks an idol which has two attributes, Realm and Attack Type.
Realm:
There are 5 Realms: Oceanus, Aeris, Animus, Infernus and Pax. If you win the realm, you will activate the idol's special power. Each Realm's idol has a special power which might include protecting you, damaging the opponent, inhibiting the opponent's powers, or some other helpful ability. Then, the attack happens.
Attack Type:
There are 3 Attack Types: Strong, Fast and Counter. If you win the attack type, your pygmy makes the successful attack that will inflict damage upon the opponent. But the special powers can affect the amount of damage, so this doesn't always mean you're the most successful in this turn. Choosing the right idol will make a lot of difference.
If this sounds complicated, just begin the game with any four idols, but make sure there is one Strong, one Fast and one Counter idol in the four. This way you can play the game while pretty much choosing at random. The first few levels are fairly easy and it's only later battles that require some strategy!
Thanks, guys, and enjoy!
Also included in this update is the Mafia Pack. Change the island statue into a pygmy with cement shoes, the igloo into a casino, the doodler into Scarface and more! It's an offer you can't refuse at 99 cents.
Finally, the awesome "Battle of the Gods" poster at the top was created by the fantastic Josh Ellingson! Check out his site!
At last, the final chapter of the "Tale of Two Pygmies" storyline arrives at the app store, and it's got some major stuff going on. The tribe is divided against itself, and accusations, rocks and spikes are flying. However, things aren't what they appear to be. If you thought you knew who took the Gem of Life, you were probably wrong, unless you had psychic powers. And like the pygmies themselves, mysteries die... only to regenerate once again.
Hey guys. Really sorry for the delay. Dave pointed out that it is getting kind of cliche for us to say this is "the most complicated update so far." But we did get a bit ambitious! We really hope everyone likes it because this is nearly a whole new game added to the game. It really is a fitting 40th update celebration, because it expands on the Challenge of the Gods and adds what kids have been requesting for a while...pygmy fighting! AND this game is right up Dave's alley. He loves strategy and RPG elements in games. He really worked hard on the rules and we went back and forth on how to present it. And yes, while it is very strategy-based, but you CAN play it just by guessing at first until you pick up on the rules...then in later battles that get harder, you have to strategize and pick idols with purpose. The mechanic is basically a two tiered Rock-Paper-Scissors but each idol also gets a special ability that keeps things interesting. Dave will probably explain it better in his state of the island. But part of the delay is that we wanted to make sure that with more complexity in game play, we made it flow nicely and I think we did. And of course we kept it funny too. I had fun doing different pygmy fighting animations. We decided that sometimes it would be with weapons, and others, something more like anime Dragon Ball Z powers. Then of course we had to have a very Pocket God final death at the end of each battle.
We've decided the next update is going to much more of a traditional PG update closer to Monkey See Monkey Chew or March of the Fire Ants. I'm a little behind on the blog. We've decided to recruit help because we just have too much on our plate to be consistent about communication... Besides working on PG and PG Uranus, Dave and I monitor and approve all PG projects including the comic and Facebook....so it's getting too hairy to handle everything ourselves, so we've been finding new people to help us. I will still add entries, but will have someone else fill people in in between.
BTW, I'm not sure why I'm still having to approve some of the comments. I'm not supposed to have to any more. If your comment doesn't come up right away, I apologize. Again, hopefully I can get the blog running smoother with help!
It's that time of year again, kids! This week we're headed to San Diego to attend the infamous Comic-con. This time around we're loaded up with swag. We'll have the usual poster give-aways, but for sale will be PVC figures, t-shirts and of course, COMICS! Dave and I will be hanging with the Ape gang at the Ape Comic Booth (#1804) every day from 1 to 3...so come by, say hi (don't be shy, we're chatty), check out the stuff, and we'll sign a poster for ya! The big question for this year is: will the code-word "summer squash" get you anything? You'll have to stop by and find out...but if I were you, I'd do it early. Oh, and we can demo the slightly-delayed Battle of the Gods. It's almost there but we need another week to polish it up. Here is Ape's schedule:
It's that time of year again! Vacation time! To complicate matters, we're working on the craziest update "Battle of the Gods" we've ever worked on. The plan was to have it done before I went on vacation but after working hard on it, it became clear that it needed more love. The reality is we're trying to make a game design that would take most companies several months to a year and squeezing the production into a month (ok, a little more). There's quite a game behind that battle arena! I'm back but it needs some more animations from me now. But mostly we need to work on the game mechanic a little more.
In the meanwhile, Journey To Uranus now has zombies! And you can do more than create them. you can take them off planet or have another pygmy fight them! We also have more planned for the zombies for the next update, so I know it looks like not much is happening but we are working hard.
To make matters a EVEN MORE complicated, Dave and I will drop by Comic-con this coming week. We're trying to submit beforehand, but I'm concerned we won't. So, vacation is over and it's back to work!
Liam, a.k.a. SaintsAlive, a fan of PG from the almost the very beginning, contacted me the other day to let us know that the Pocket God Forums have just hit their two year anniversary! He and a few friends started the forum as an alternative to Touch Arcade, where they could freely discuss updates, suggest features and share art for Pocket God and other apps that they appreciated.
Saints shares admin duties with PocketCow, who has been instrumental in keeping the forums up and running, and are helped by Tigermouse and Jamesbond007.
So, to celebrate the 2 year, they interviewed Dave and I about the current state of Pocket God.
And while you are there, be sure to check out the rest of the forums. Of course my favorite part is always the fan art, especially the comics. They are often hilarious and have me laughing out loud!
Thanks SaintsAlive, Pocket Cow, Tigermouse and Jamesbond007! Keep up the good work!
I had to remove the animated gif at the top (by Pygkid104 a.k.a. Failboat103), because I just linked it to it's photobucket location and apparently we've exceeded the maximum views. Will put it back when I get a copy and put it on my server.
We have an update on the PG comic. So it looks like the latest issue (Issue 7, Tale of Two Pygmies Part 2) is showing up on the app now! Still a few glitches that iVerse is working fast and furious on the update to correct. The most obvious of which is that the cover for issues 7 (Ooga and Klik staring each other down), on the menu is showing the cover for issue 1. But you see the correct cover once you open the comic. This will be fixed very soon.
Bottom line is, you SHOULD BE ABLE to download the latest issue now! And if you are having technical issues and can't read something you purchased (or is otherwise free)....we WILL fix this pronto. We're on it! Be on the lookout for updates that improve the functionality as well as the look and feel of the app. Believe us, it means a LOT to us to create the best pygmy story we can and have people get into it. Dave and I have been so focused on working with Jason Burns and David Hedgecock to create an epic adventure, filled with mystery, drama and of course our evil sense of humor. We probably weren't watching the app development as closely as we should have. But we are now! So thank you for your patience. And btw, if you've read issue 7, feel free to post your reviews here and speculate on what will happen next! I bet you can't guess!
So, this last week (comic issues aside) has been an amazing week for the inhabitants of Oog Island. Once we released the update of PG Uranus as universal app, it zipped up the charts! Sure we still are bested by that pack of ticked off avians, but we'll take it! This morning, it dawned on me. Pocket God is currently at #1 in Entertainment, PG Uranus is at #3 in Games and Overall Paid, and Pocket God, the Comic is #2 in books! And that's not counting the iPad charts. It's a perfect Pygmy storm! So guys, one LITTLE nudge could put the comic at #1, and one MASSIVE nudge could put Uranus at #1 Overall! Tell your friends and family, give the Pygmies a chance!
So I wanted to take care of the comic bug controversy this morning and held off on the Sneak Peek at episode 40 that I promised if Uranus went top 3 (and btw, it's now in top ten grossing). Then Dave sent me an angry touch arcade post form Jakerocksalot16 calling us on it, so whoops! Better get on it! At the moment, the art section is still being produced independently of the game engine, but here is some art for ya! That looks like one angry Pygmy!
Hey guys. This morning I was psyched to hear the comic was approved only to find out that the new issue isn't showing up....and the new issue of the Pygmy Peril is causing some people to crash. Darn it! After all the production delays...artist getting sick, iVerse being backed up...we finally get it out and it doesn't even show up on the app! I am excited for everyone to see how this arc turns out...there are a few surprises and has a great cliff hanger for the next arc....which takes the Pygmies off their island on a new epic adventure with new mysteries, characters and settings.
If we can just get out this $%! Issue! Well, we'll post on the blog any news, but hopefully it gets submitted and expedited by Apple for the weekend, but we can't count on it.
So, I promised some sneak peeks if Uranus got to number three (and it DID, woohoo!!!). So for that reason, and begging forgiveness for delays, here you go!
Three whole pages of Issue 7 Tale of Two Pygmies (part 2) (click the pages to see the readable version!)
Panel from Issue 8, Tale of Two Pygmies (part 3)
Rough pencil from Issue 9 (super secret epic adventure) AFTER ToTP
Stay tuned for a sneak peek at the next Pocket God (the app), episode Battle of the Gods!
Woohoo! Thanks to everyone who bought it right away! But we need your help! It's been a while since we had this kind of momentum on iTunes so we want to take advantage of it! Be sure to rate us high on iTunes and leave a great comment! Tweet, blog, Facebook the heck out of it for us. Name your Pygmies and make them do funny things in space and post a screen shot. Get creative... We're watching! And especially awesome posts/images/etc. could earn you a reward!
And to sweeten the pot, see if we can push us into the top 3. If you do, we will post a sneak preview of the next PG update, plus a sneak preview of the next three issues of the comic! And eh, maybe we'll still do it if we don't crack the top 3 but see that there was an EFFORT. We're softies.
You heard me right! We heard the request for Uranus to play on iPod Touch and iPhone...so rather than create a separate version, we decided just to take the original and make it work on both. It wasn't easy because we designed it to take advantage of the iPad screen and processing power. But Dave, along with Robin and Sam, spent a bunch of time optimizing and altering the programming so the scenes would look great on all sizes. So if you bought it for iPad, it should still look and run the same (maybe even better) but you'll also be able to play the same app on smaller devices without buying it again. And yes, once again, we marked it down to 99¢, and if it goes back up, will only go to $1.99.
Since this took the majority of our time, we decided to create a simpler mini-game that takes advantage of the existing space location, Quantum Entanglement. It was partly inspired by my nephews who requested a scavenger hunt in space and their love for memorization games...so thanks, Brad and Wes! Basically you drag a pygmy to the atom floating in space, and then you have to hunt down a trail of other entangled atoms. You touch one, and another one appears. The trail is always the same, so the more you play it and remember the trail, the further you'll get! You can watch particles to get a hint of the direction of the next atom as well. You also have limited time between atoms (and get extra points for saving time), so go as quickly as you can. But don't accidentally drag a Pygmy over a black hole or the game ends!
And I want to point out that we were really happy that Challenge of the Gods was received so well! We are now in full production of the Battle of the Gods, where you will be able to use the idols you've collected....plus there will be the opportunity to add a few more to the arsenal, but more on that later.
For fans of the comic, we have had one issue ready for a couple weeks now and the one after that is almost finished, but for some reason there have been major technical problems delaying the release. It's killing me because the first issue of the arc barely hints at the crazy things that go down in the next two issues...so thank you for your patience! The comic has been such a success that Ape put a bunch more resources to produce the comics faster (and we've worked out a huge ongoing story)...but the original app was only built for a short run, so it's taking time to build in the structure for lots more issues.
And as for the next Uranus update, let's just say we heard the request for more classic Pocket God powers!
In the Fall of 2010, we decided to pay homage to famous "Double Rainbow" video that became a sensation on the internet with phrases like:
"Double rainbow, oh my god! It's a double rainbow all the way!"
"Oh my god, it's full on double-rainbow all the way across the sky!"
"Whoa, so intense"
"It's starting to look like a triple rainbow!"
Naturally, it fit into our app nicely and was a big hit. But we were surprised to learn that a few people who thought WE originated double rainbow phrases on Pocket God and and made comments on his YouTube video saying so. Well, we want to give credit where credit is due!
Meet Paul "Yosemite Bear" Vasquez. One day, he was out taking video and came across a huge double rainbow in the forest and uttered the words soon to be known by all. He posted the video on YouTube and quickly became an overnight viral hit, racking up almost 30 million views and has made him a celebrity. He is a lover of nature and now a public personality. He's up to all sorts of things, including: traveling the world, visiting Jimmy Kimmel, shooting commercials, selling t-shirts, and even running for president!
Last week, Pocket God Facebook was awarded "Best Social/Casual Game' at the Canadian Video Game Awards! Frima Studio, the team behind the growing game, has done an awesome job of taking Pocket God and making it a fun social version that keeps getting better with each new episode. We thank them for their titanic efforts! The artists, game-designers, and team-leaders are fantastic to work with. We are working hard to keep improving the game!
And in other news, we've submitted the latest update for Pocket God Journey To Uranus last night! Woohoo! What was THIS update about? Well, we took a major step based on popular request...but it might not be what you think.
This is the big update we've been working on. We've decided to celebrate the fact that we're nearing Episode 40 by encouraging players to go back and refind, or find for the first time, the various god powers, interactive situations, mini-games, creatures, islands, traps, etc. that we've added over the last two years!
A new Startup screen appears (and you can turn it off, if you prefer to ignore it) that has a button "View Challenges". There you can see the familiar list of icons we've created for each episode (except we had to add two from the beginning). Tap the icon and you view the episode challenge screen. This will be where you monitor your progress for that episode. Click "Activate Challenge" and then try to complete the Challenge Tasks for that episode. They are hidden for those who don't want the hint, but it's there if you need it. For instance, activate the episode "A Storm is Coming" and then go practice your lightning powers! The active episode icon appears on the corner, that you can tap to go back and view your progress. Complete all the tasks for that episode, and you will acquire a God Idol for that episode. There are 39 to collect...but once you have at least four, you can go to God Island and place them on the pedestals to open up the ancient tomb. What happens inside the tomb? Well, there's a hint there, but you'll have to wait for Episode 40 to find out! And anyone who reads the comic might recognize the ruins on God Island.
While we want to maintain the sand box free for all of Pocket God, we wanted to figure out a way to encourage people to go find all the stuff we've added, and this seemed like a fun way to do it! Plus, the God Idols add a new dimension to PG and will be useful in the future. Much of this plays off of issues we are planning for the Pocket God comic series as well as the Facebook game.
Another thing we've wanted to do for a while is to offer a Custom Pack for shark! We also have customizations for the laser attachment for the underwater area! As always, the update is free, but the optional custom packs are 99¢. Thanks to everyone who has been purchasing them and helping us continue to evolve PG.
Hey guys, thanks to Ape Entertainment and IDW publishing, the Pygmies are participating in IDW's Infestation Comic Series.
"INFESTATION is IDW’s hugely successful comic series that infects the TRANSFORMERS, G.I. JOE, Ghostbusters, and Star Trek universes with legions of undead. This unparalleled, never-before-seen event is now available digitally through the Apple App Store in the INFESTATION Comics app, made specially for the iPad, iPhone and iPod touch. Readers can view full size pages, or read panel-by-panel simply by turning the iPhone or iPod touch horizontally. The app includes all the issues of the IDW event, as well as special features, such as a cover gallery and character designs."
In the Pocket God issue, Britt, a vampire/zombie soldier set on spreading the undead virus across universes, crosses over to the Pocket God universe. She sees the power of the Gem of Life (which allows the Pygmies to die and regenerate) and wants to steal it for herself. In the comic we learn of Nooby's shameful secret, met the zombie t-rex and zombie monkey, fight an army of undead pygmies, and more!
We WILL be releasing it on the Pocket God Comic app, but not until after the Tale of Two Pygmies 3-issue arc (that's when these events occur), but you can get it early on the Infestation Comic App (the app itself is free)...
