Tag: Pocket legends »

Spacetime Studios is set to bring permanent updates and seasonal content to each title in the Legends and Battle franchises. This includes Star Legends, Dark Legends, Pocket Legends, Arcane Legends, Battle Command, and Battle Dragons.

Players can now experience Tarlok's Wrath, which is the winter event for Arcane Legends that goes until January 6. The rest of the holiday content will be available on December 17; including new winter campaign levels, seasonal battles and quests, and special holiday loot.

Pocket Legends was the first cross-platform MMO release from Spacetime Studios, and it has grown over time to support a massive user base and an ever-growing list of core-MMO features, including player-vs-player, high level caps, and a deep playing strategy that takes into account stats, weapons, and armor builds across multiple characters and classes.

Today, Spacetime Studios announced two entirely new character classes, the Rhino and the Fox, to round out a five-class roster of character types available for high-level, core MMO play within the Pocket Legends universe.

First up is the Vixen Ranger, a female ranger class represented by a Fox. This is an up close, melee character who uses cunning, poisons, and bandage abilities to get in, poison enemies in the face, and evade damage while jumping away. This character class uses dual daggers, uses leather armor, and has some ranged abilities thrown in along with some great area of effect abilities, said Julianna Scruggs, a lead designer on Pocket Legends.

The other new class is the Paladin class, the Rhino. This is the healing tank character class, represented by a Rhino animal. MMO players will recognize this classic build, using hammers and plate armor as well as a variety of magic and tanking spells like taunt, charge, heal, resurrection, guardian and others. There's a cute bird that sits on top of the Rhino that can be enabled, clearing the character of any bad effects from opponents.

With the three other Legends-branded games, it's a wonder why Spacetime Studios is supporting the oldest one in the bunch, when Arcane Legends, especially, is doing so incredibly well. Chief Visionary Officer Cinco Barnes says that it's a labor of love. Plus, he says, the community playing Pocket Legends is massive. "The Pocket Legends user-base is increasing," he told 148Apps in a phone interview. "There are still unique things in mobile online gaming happening here - being able to create specific builds for character classes, along with a community of players who are expert at building strong, unique characters. This is hard core, under-the-hood MMO game play."

Spacetime Studios takes its player community very seriously. They listen to feedback constantly, tweaking game play and game features in response to that very same community dialogue. "We work a lot with the public," said Scruggs, "and with our forum members. We have an open relationship with our players--feedback is at a very refined level of discussion."

In addition to the two new classes, the Pocket Legends update will include a ton of other extras, listed below.

New Elite Bossfights - Battle a level 76 Red Dragon, and discover a secret elite boss hiding in the Underworld
New Heroic Dungeon - The Dragonet of Fire Forest just got meaner in the new heroic difficulty "Forgotten Forest"
New 3 vs. 3 Capture the Flag PVP map - Fight for flags and glory in the Burning Flats
New Skill Ranks - All character classes have more advancement options with the addition of two new skill ranks for all abilities
Free Respec Weekend – Free skill and attribute respec for all classes this weekend only, in celebration of the new classes as well as ability ranks
New Items - Discover all new items to power up your hero
New Low Level Drops - Better weapons and shields for lower leveled characters
Return of Winterfest - Pocket Legends’ holiday celebration returns with new vanity drops and store items

It's truly a delight to see a studio spending this much time and attention on a game that came out in 2010, a veritable ancient game by iOS and App Store standards. The new character classes, gameplay tweaks, and other MMO-style holiday updates really show the team's commitment to creating--and maintaining--a first class, core MMO experience on mobile devices.

So those folks over at Spacetime Studios, they’re alright. After releasing two more than a little successful iOS MMOs (Pocket Legends, Star Legends), they’ve gone and put out a third. But what’s left after anthropomorphic woodland creatures and space-faring explorers? Vampires, natch.

Taking a page or two from the modern day vampire handbook, Dark Legends puts players in control of a young (as in recently turned) vampire simply trying to survive in a world that knows they exist and wants them gone. It takes a slightly different approach to the player’s interactions with the world this time around. Some missions put the player in direct control of their character as they cut a bloody swath through their enemies while others simply take real time to complete automatically at the cost of a little energy. Both provide experience and the like, of course. As expected, avatars can be customized with a number of special weapons and clothing items, as well as proudly displayed to others when playing together in a group or with guild mates.

Dark Legends is lurking on the App Store right now. Joining the ranks of the Undead is completely free, too. Typical micro-transactions and in-app-purchases are available those who want to show their support with money or pick up a few vanity items, though.

This week at 148Apps.com, we checked out stunning cool new multiplayer features in two fan-favorite games: Infinity Blade 2 and SpellTower. Carter Dotson had this to say about IB2's new features: "Infinity Blade 2‘s first major content update has finally dropped on the App Store, bringing its new ClashMob feature to the game. The ClashMob challenges are asynchronous multiplayer events where everyone who participates contributes toward some collective goal."

And Jennifer Allen writes that, "SpellTower has just got even better with a major new update coming to the app. The big update is the addition of Debate Mode, multiplayer support via bluetooth providing a Rush-style battle of word skills amongst players."

Read more about Infinity Blade 2 here and about SpellTower here.

The fun continued at GiggleApps.com with Amy Solomon's review of the odd Dynastid Beetle. She writes, "Dynastid Beetle is a fun and educational interactive app for children. To those living in the United States, an application dedicated to learning about a beetle may seem like an odd choice, so it is worth noting that dynastid Beetles are commonly kept as pets within Asian households. Versions of this app are available for both iPad as well as iPhone. This interactive app contains five sections – each dedicated to teaching a specific aspect about the lives of dynastic beetles."

Want to know more about one of the more original apps for kids on the App Store? Read Solomon's full review on GiggleApps.

Finally, on AndroidRundown.com, Carter Dotson introduced MMO Dark Legends for Chrome and Android, and had this to say about the game for iOS: "The game is available now on Google Play for Android, and from the Chrome Web Store. The iOS version is expected to release after a two-week exclusivity period with Google, but player accounts will transfer between platforms by logging into the same account; it currently works between the Chrome and Android versions, just as it worked with Pocket Legends and Star Legends."

Read the full story on AndroidRundown.

And we're out...Keep up to date with everything related to news, reviews and contests by following us on Twitter and Liking us on Facebook. See you next weekend.

Spacetime Studios' long-awaited new MMO, Dark Legends, has finally released on Android and Google Chrome. Spacetime claims that this is the first simultaneous cross-platform launch of an MMORPG; while their previous games were all playable cross-platform via iOS, Android, and Chrome, this is the first title to launch with support for multiple platforms.

I spoke recently with Cinco Barnes at Spacetime Studios, and he remarked on how this entry in the series is designed to have a different appeal than other games in the series. This is designed to be more like classical vampire legends versus 'modern' vampires like the Twilight series. Vampires are designed to be powerful, and their attacks are meant to have a brutality to them. The game overall is designed to appeal to an older audience, with buckets of blood, darker environments, and vampires that aren't afraid to show some skin.

The game uses a new structure, with story events that can be viewed to advance the story and collect rewards. The combat missions are still there, and it's of course possible to play both online and solo in these missions. New outfits can be bought, other players can be interacted with in the game's overworld, and there's also player-vs-player combat available through this overworld.

Combat has been modified to add charge attacks, which deal extra damage; it's possible to even charge up special attacks for extra effects. Note that special attacks draw from the same blood meter as health does. However, it's also possible to feed on enemies' blood, refilling that meter.

The game is available now on Google Play for Android, and from the Chrome Web Store. The iOS version is expected to release after a two-week exclusivity period with Google, but player accounts will transfer between platforms by logging into the same account; it currently works between the Chrome and Android versions, just as it worked with Pocket Legends and Star Legends.

As a bonus to our loyal readers, stay tuned to @148Apps, @AndroidRundown, and our 148Apps and Android Rundown Facebook pages for info on a contest to get an exclusive in-game weapon.

Clear the calendar and kiss those loved ones goodbye, celebrated iOS MMO Pocket Legends is turning 2 years-old. But this isn't any old birthday party, no sir. Spacetime Studios is doing it backwards by giving gifts to the party-goers, not the guest of honor.

What this means is that the developer has made all premium areas free to access. Now anyone can quest, loot grind, or pointlessly emote in each of the six exclusive zones (Sandstone Caves, Skeller's Return, Croc Feud, Frozen Nightmares, Shadow Caves, and Wyldwood). Those who've dropped some cash to access these areas already have no need to fret. All players who have paid to unlock these environments will be getting a special in-game vanity helm (the Frozen Crown of Gratitude) to lord over all those plebeians who didn't show their support monetarily. Similarly, everyone will be able to purchase a special 2012 Anniversary hat during the event which can bestow tiny clones of itself atop the heads of those who wave to the original wearer.

Star Legends users haven't been forgotten either. Bird, Elf, and Bear "Bobble Head" masks will be available throughout the week-long celebration. Anyone curious to see what all the fuss is about, get back to a game they might have been absent from for a while, or might just be between marathon sessions can check out both MMOs for absolutely free. Just act fast if oddball hats are a priority. The festivities will only last through the end of next week.

Spacetime Studios is celebrating their win this year in the 2011 Best App Ever awards for Best MMO Game for Star Legends, a top pick here as well. In fact, both the iOS and the Android version took the top spot in this category. It also doesn't hurt that Spacetime's other MMO, Pocket Legends, won Best Multiplayer Game in the Android category, as well.

To get the word out, they're offering players an entry to win a Chromebook as well as a chance to win a pile of platinum (in game currency) just for logging in to the game. In addition, they're taking half off the price of Premium Starter Characters in the MMO, and giving away a commemorative Best Antenna Ever Vanity Helmet for their avatar.

The contest and the associated deals will run from February 1st through the 8th, so get in there while you can, and find out what all the buzz is about. New players as well as old will be entered into the contests automatically, so what have you got to lose?

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With not one but two popular MMORPGs under their belt already, one would think that Spacetime Studios might be interested in taking a little break. Nope. DroidGamers have discovered that, rather than simply being content with resounding success they've decided it's time to make yet another one. It's planned for mobile devices, it's going to be "... a bit of a departure from the formula that Pocket Legends established," and its called Dark Legends.

I wish I had more info to share about it, but after checking the initial forum announcement, their official Facebook page and the completely unhelpful teaser site (I know, what else could I expect from a teaser site?) I've come up with zip. Well okay, that's not entirely true. It's fair to assume that it'll probably have a somewhat darker theme than either of the developer's previous titles. It's also looking like Spacetime will be refining their Massively Multiplayer craft even further, and given the leap in quality from Pocket Legends to Star Legends it's certainly something to be excited about.

148apps will no doubt be keeping an eye out for further developments. In the meantime, I'd advise being patient. Or possibly keeping busy with one (or both) of those other mobile MMOs while waiting. Patiently.

[Via DroidGamers]

I have two very notable things to mention here. First thing: Spacetime Studios, as previously indicated up there in rather large letters, has indeed released their two popular free-to-play iPhone/iPad MMORPGs on Chrome. I'm of course referring to Pocket Legends (desktop client found here) and Star Legends (client is this-a-way). iOS, Android, Mac, PC - they're up there for pretty much anyone to play now. And they're still as free as they ever were. This is no doubt an interesting bit of news for non mobile device-owning MMO enthusiasts, but there's a little more to the story. Hence the "Makes Gaming History" bit.

Second thing: What makes this even more awesome and worthy of the H-word is that either game can be played cross-platform with each and every device they're available for, thanks in no small part to the incorporation of Google's Chrome Native Client (NaCl) with the Spacetime Engine. What all this means is that someone on an iPhone can play simultaneously with others who are using an Android phone, tablet or home computer. It's all handled by one lone global server. Not only is this extremely cool, it also opens up all manner of possibilities for the future. At least I hope it does.

Color me impressed. Of course, this is just one guy's opinion. I'm curious to see what the rest of the community (148apps and beyond) makes of all this.

Historically, 148Apps has steered away from official reviews of free games and apps. The idea was that users could download them with no real risk to their wallet, and find out on their own if the app or game was worth keeping on their iOS device. However, we've decided to change that unofficial policy because, frankly, there are more and more of them releasing every day. As the number of free to download apps increases, so does the number of wasted downloads and bandwidth. As always, we're here to help.

But before we could do that, we had to make sure that all of our writers were approaching these games from the same angle. Let's face it, all free games are not created equal. So we created a short term list for our writers, to help us all get on the same page when talking about them. We thought it might be a good idea to share this list with you too. Here is a list of typical terms that can be used to discuss this hot new genre of mobile gaming.

Game Types

Free to play (F2P) - This type of game allows play without restriction, but will often make in-app purchases available to increase the rate of progress or ease of success. Free to play games can be freemium games, Lite versions, or time-limited demos. This is the umbrella term for all these types of gaming business models, and as such can be applied to a wide variety of games in the App Store, like Pocket Legends, Tiny Tower, Farmville and Zombie Farm.

Freemium - A freemium game, then, is one in which developers allow players to download the game for free, and then charge a "premium" for extra or advanced features. Many of these kinds of games are feature or time limited, in that users must either wait for items to be built or harvested or pay for instant gratification. Other games offer weapons or other items for sale that cannot be acquired any other way (i.e., by waiting or earning more in-game currency). One example of this strategy is Gun Bros. The games mentioned above, like Farmville and Tiny Tower, can also be classified as freemium games, as they offer faster progress via the purchase of in-app items. Some freemium games allow a lot of gameplay before in-app purchases are encouraged, and others only allow a little, or have extreme waiting periods, like Smurfs' Village.

Ad supported - An ad supported game will include advertisements as interstitials, or banners, or within the game levels themselves. Some ad supported games will give an in-app purchase option to remove said advertisements. An example of this kind of game is Hanging With Friends, where gameplay is not restricted, but ads are shown until the "full" version is purchased.

Subscription based - These are games in which it is required to pay to play for a certain, limited amount of time. Many times, these games can seem like a freemium game, before the user hits a hard pay wall where they must subscribe. Order and Chaos, while not a free download, is an example of a subscription based game on iOS.

Social game - This type of game is really a misnomer, and can be applied to a broad spectrum of games, like time management games, farming games, and the like. The social aspect of these games is fairly small, and is typically simply visiting other players' farms and towns or viewing their progress in their own game. Social games are not to be confused with multiplayer or co-op gameplay.

Terms

Pay wall - This is the point in the game where players can no longer make any progress or complete any more game play without paying in some way. A soft pay wall is usually temporary, and involves waiting for game progress, like crops to grow. A hard pay wall is one past which there can be no game play or progress without purchase, similar to a time-limited demo on a console, or by completing a special offer or download of another of the game developer's games.

Grind / Craft / Farm - This is what typically makes up the lion's share of activity within a freemium game. Farming, growing crops, building towers, managing customers are all examples of this type of activity. This can be contrasted with the generally accepted concept of a game having activities that are intrinsically rewarding in themselves, have some sort of conflict or skill acquisition curve, and will continue even if extrinsic rewards like crop growth are discontinued.

Daily/Monthly Active Users (DAU / MAU) - Typically used in the business of games, this term describes the amount these games are used as a measure of how many players are active in a game on a daily or monthly basis.

In-Game Currency - In-game currency is what is used for players to build or purchase objects to progress in the game. There can be two kinds of currency, generally, including an easily-earned currency as well as a purchasable type of currency, referred to below as in-game credits.

In-Game Credits - This is the type of currency is rarely awarded, but easily purchased; it allows players to rapidly progress in the game. Some games use this to negate the waiting for items to be built or ready to harvest, others use it to bypass building or growing altogether, while still others allow players to exchange it for the main form of in-game currency itself.

One thing to note is that many of these terms and game types are not mutually exclusive. Many games, like most things in life, are a mixture of the above, and new games are most likely in development that mix and match the game types (and invent new ones!) in new and interesting ways.

(More reading (Wikipedia) Free to Play, Freemium)

(Collaborators on this post: Jeff Scott, Carter Dotson, Jennifer Allen)

In a forum post today on their website, Spacetime Studios "Admin and Community Guy" Sam Hayne confirmed that their highly anticipated title, Star Legends (formerly known as Blackstar), has been submitted to Apple as of July 11, and that the companies are working together to get it live on the App Store.

Hayne went so far as to imply that the Apple submission is what is holding the game from release, saying, "As you know, we always launch simultaneously to all of our channels (Apple App Store, Android Marketplace, GetJar)."

We couldn't be more excited, and have been so since the announcement of the game in February, and our own hands-on time with it at GDC 2011.

Assuming the name change brings this game in line with the Pocket Legends brand, we're sure this new sci fi themed MMO will be as much or more of a hit than its predecessor, with the pedigree the team brings to the table - the team worked on the original PC-based Blackstar from NCSoft before that project was shut down and Spacetime studios re-acquired the rights to the engine and the intellectual property.

Stay tuned here for details as they emerge - we've got our eye on this one.

The massively multiplayer online RPG marketplace has yet to really take off on mobile platforms, especially as established players in the MMO space have yet to really attack mobile devices at all, allowing newcomers to unleash their ideas on these platforms. Spacetime Studios have explored the mobile MMORPG market themselves with the crossplatform Pocket Legends, a fantasy MMORPG that was launched on iOS, and later found its way to Android. However, Spacetime Studios are now setting their eyes on the stars, with a very cool new project: launching their sci-fi MMORPG Blackstar on iOS and Android later this year.

Based on Spacetime Studios' crossplatform Spacetime Engine that they've been working on with Pocket Legends, Blackstar is described as a "3D, real-time, persistent MMO," that was originally designed as a PC title that was in development for PC before funding ran out in 2008. The story of Blackstar takes place in the 41st century between three distinct races, the alien Riven, the cybernetic Scorn, and the human Mode. The game promises to lose very little from its original incarnation in this transition to mobile, promising thousands of items to collect, and a robust set of social features to chat and team up with people in game. Spacetime Studios' CEO, Gary Gattis says "“Blackstar’s production design and overall polish will be unmatched in mobile gaming. We were able to nurture the IP to its maximum potential through years of development – a luxury never before seen in Mobile gaming." Spacetime Studios has provided a screenshot of the game, still in development:

The game will be fully 3D, support both iOS devices and Android (including tablet-sized devices), and will be playable over EDGE, 3G, 4G, and of course Wi-Fi connections. With the game not only launching on both Android and iOS sometime in Q2 2011, but also being based on a fully-fledged MMORPG once in development for PC, the traditional home of these games, Blackstar shows a lot of promise. Due to the speed that the mobile market moves at, developers often don't have the time to nurture and develop an idea like how Spacetime Studios has had with Blackstar - and they have also had the time to work on and perfect their mobile technology with Pocket Legends. With both the impressive and developed concept, along with proven technology, Blackstar could prove to be huge when it launches later this year on iOS and Android.

I'll be honest: I think Pocket Legends is pretty darn cool. I reviewed the game back in its infancy, and since then it's continued to expand. If you haven't played it before, Pocket Legends is a true MMORPG, complete with PvP, boss fights, dungeons, and plenty of loot.

The newest update charges you with "preventing a disaster of galactic proportions" as aliens once again threaten the land of Pocket Legends. Of course, this is mostly pretense for giving players some welcome features: a higher level cap, boss-filled dungeons, two PvP maps, and more loot. Who doesn't love loot?

Here's the list of other recent updates:

Lost Expedition Base Camp: a new towne full of quests and loot
Leaderboards: compete for most kills, most deaths, K/D ratio, most gold
Loadouts that allow you to save and reload different configurations
Item sets (collections of items that give additional bonuses when equipped)
An additional inventory slot for wearing fancy helmets
UI updates including the ability to map all 12 of your skills at once
Exploding barrels to add to the carnage in PvP
Plus a whole lot more!

If you haven't tried Pocket Legends yet, now's as good a time as any; the game keeps growing, with updates pushed out almost every two days, and if you don't mind its simplicity and occasional UI annoyances, Pocket Legends can be a real blast. It's free to try (you don't even need to register anymore!), so what are you waiting for?

It's really quite amazing how powerful the iPhone has become since the original model came out. In many respects it is a more powerful handheld game device than the current generation of dedicated gaming handhelds, even outdoing the specs of Nintendo's latest incarnation, the DSi 3D (albeit not with the awesome 3D tech).

Spacetime Studios (Pocket Legends), realizing the vast gaming potential of the iOS, is expanding (and soon licensing) the Spacetime 3D MMO game engine to support different devices interacting on the same server. The devices aren't limited to the iPhone/Android sphere though - they plan to make it possible for mobile users to play simultaneously with PC users.

“The Spacetime Engine offers seamless global multiplayer gameplay to anyone with an iPad, iPhone or iPod Touch over 3G, Edge, and wireless networks. We plan to add Android and PC users to the mix.” said Anthony L. Sommers, co-founder and CTO of Spacetime Studios. “In the near future, it will be possible to be on the bus in California with your iPhone, playing with someone in a park in France on their Android device, and both be playing in the same server set with someone in South Korea on their PC.”

The Spacetime 3D Engine should be available for developers sometime in 2011, and Pocket Legends should be getting the multi platform treatment soon. Beware though, the world is now one day closer to being able to play World of Warcraft-like games on the go. Our collective productivity is in trouble.

When Spacetime studios created Pocket Legends, their well received iPhone MMORPG, they anticipated that people would play in small chunks, 3-5 minutes at a time. They strung a bunch of small play sessions together around the small land of Forest Haven, in a "battle.net" approach, so that people could get maximum enjoyment.

It turns out, to Spacetime's surprise, that people wanted to do a lot more, so they created a new world. The new world, called Alterra, consists of a series of towns, that all lead to a new game type: quests. Quests are a way that the developers can drive your characters along on different story paths, opening the way for a ton of new game content.

“The Pocket Legends: Adventures update has finally fulfilled our goal – to combine the rich gameplay experience of PC and console MMOs with the quick pace of mobile games," says Gary Gattis, President, Spacetime Studios. "None of this would have been possible without the feedback from the fans, which helped us take our title to the next level and create a living, breathing world.”

In its current form, Forest Haven has 19 quests, Dark Forest has 12 quests, and Balefort Castle has 18 quests, but there are many more that will be added in future updates. If you haven't picked up Pocket Legends, pick it up today for free in the App Store; I think you'll like it.

Be sure to check out the additional screens after the jump.

[Source: Spacetime Studios Blog]