In 2009 Origin8 released Sentinel, a sci fi Tower Defense game. The app and its following two installments (Sentinel 2: Earth Defense & Sentinel 3: Homeworld) have been consistently highly rated and reviewed. Fans of the series can now rejoice as Sentinel 4: Dark Star has been submitted to Apple for approval.
Sentinel 4: Dark Star will offer players a new campaign with 26 unique maps, an endless mode, new enemies, a huge array of weapons including Uber towers, and the new improved Stronghold. You will also have access to Commander heroes that can earn experience and level-up. As you win you can upload your score to the Global Nexus, which rewards you for furthering the worldwide cooperative push. Origin8 has also retooled the game's tech to include real-time dynamic lighting and shader effects to give the game atmosphere.
While there is no set release date yet for Sentinel 4: Dark Star, fans take heart as it will not be long now.
Our rating: :: A LITTLE LOST (IN SPACE) :: Read Review »
Out There, the dark sci-fi adventure game by Mi-Clos Studio, has hit 100,000 sales. To celebrate their momentous achievement Mi-Clos is slashing the price of the game in half for the next few days.
The game features a soundtrack by award-winning composer Siddhartha Barnhoorn (Antichamber, The Stanley Parable) and has won multiple awards for its design. Mi-Clos Studio also says that a special edition for PC is in the works.
Now that's it's $1.99, this is a great time to check out Out There.
Being both a licensed tie-in and free-to-play makes it seem like Tales of Honor already has two strikes against it. However, the experience has potential - it just falters due to repetitive, unchanging gameplay.
One of the consistently most positive things about the rise of the App Store is the ability for one-person developers to get somewhere and release their own titles, under their own steam and hard work. Sacrifices might need to be made but it's encouraging to see so many creative spirits work so hard at achieving their dreams.
One such person is John Stricker, developer of Captain Casual, a title that he's declared to be an 'epic science fiction action adventure comedy'. Its Kickstarter campaign has just launched so we had a word with John about how the project came to be.
Captain Casual's developer, John Stricker.
148apps: How did the idea for Captain Casual come about? John Stricker (JS): I was doing some pretty intensive work as a software consultant, and at the end of the day it would be difficult to take my mind off of the projects I was working on and get some sleep. I found that imagining stories helped me relax as I was trying to sleep. Maybe this was part of me trying to take my own mind off work, but I liked to create characters that were very relaxed, take-it-easy kinds of people and then imagine them being put into situations where they had to play the role of a hero. Captain Casual started with the idea of putting a laid-back person into the role of a starship captain, so instead of someone like Patrick Stewart playing the role of the captain it was someone more like Jeff Bridges in The Big Lebowski.
148apps: Why the name Captain Casual? JS: Because it's awesome! I mean, why has no one created a game character named this yet? It's also fun to take the word "Casual" and use it for a character name in a mobile game since in the gaming community there's a stereotype of mobile games being too "casual" for "serious" gamers.
148apps: Have any other games or other forms of media influence your idea? JS: A lot of the backstory for Captain Casual takes cues from Iain M. Bank's fantastic Culture novels, and the comic tone of the game can't help but be influenced by Douglas Adam's Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy books (which I have read countless times). In terms of gaming influences, Bioware's RPGs (e.g. the Baldur's Gate Series, Knights of the Old Republic) have probably influenced me more than any other games. They do such a great job of storytelling, dialog, and gameplay, and while Captain Casual isn't an RPG, I hope to convey something of the same sense of being part of an epic adventure while playing the game. And, of course, Star Trek in all its incarnations is a big influence.
148apps: How big a game will Captain Casual be? JS: It's going to be bigger than The Beatles! We're talking blockbuster, here. You're probably looking for more of an answer about the game's length though. In terms of game length, Captain Casual is designed to be a relatively short game, with a full playthrough lasting a couple of hours. The main reason for this is that the story in the game unfolds more like a movie where there is a minimum of repetitive action. Every mission is going to have the player doing something that they haven't done before. To add challenge and extend the life of the game, there will also be a hardcore mode where if a player fails a level they have to start the game from the beginning.
148apps: Are there any plans for in-app purchases or will Captain Casual be a one-off payment kind of game? JS: There are no plans for in-app purchases as I feel that would ruin the tone of the game. Its hard to keep a sense of atmosphere and engagement when you're also periodically asking the player for more money. Also, I don't want the game to be a different experience for different players depending upon how much money they put into the game.
148apps: How hard has it been to juggle your work life and this project? JS: Since April of this year I've been working full time on Captain Casual. I am fortunate enough to have a time-limited period (my wife and I have agreed on a one-year limit) to do this, but this is why I really need the extra support from Kickstarter as I have no income at this point. I've taken my hobby and made it my work, so in some ways now I feel like I'm working all of the time. Still, it feels great to be able to put so much effort into something I love. Hopefully the Kickstarter will go well and I'll be able to continue working on Captain Casual full time!
Captain Casual'sKickstarter has just under a month to go, with John asking for a fairly low $5,000 to complete the game. With only a $5 pledge needed in order to have some input in terms of what ship models and color schemes to use, as well as a free copy of the game upon release, that's a pretty tempting offer if you ask me. Higher pledges offer more benefits, too, with t-shirts, beta invites, and even custom digital images up for grabs.
The campaign is live now, so do consider contributing. We'll be sure to keep an eye on Captain Casual's progress.
