Neon Poly = Tetris + 1010! + Bombs đź’Ą - Now on iOS and Android!

General (non-technical) New Apps / Works in Progress
#1

UPDATE: Neon Poly is now available worldwide on iOS and Google Play!

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/neon-poly-shape-puzzle-game/id1104971820?ls=1&mt=8

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.lobsterclawsoftware.neonpoly

ORIGINAL POST:

Greetings fellow Corona developers! After 18 months of development, we are finally releasing our first Corona-built game, Neon Poly! It’s a puzzle game in the vein of Tetris or 1010! If you like what you see and would like to get your hands on the game before June 21, grab a code from here: http://forums.toucharcade.com/showthread.php?t=307563.

All of the graphics in Neon Poly have been generated programmatically by leveraging various filters as well as Canvas Textures. With this release, Lobster Claw Software owes a debt of gratitude to the entire Corona Labs community with special thanks to Charles McKeever (aka “Corona Geek”) and Ed Maurina (aka “Roaming Gamer”) without whom we would not have known where to begin. Thank you!

[sharedmedia=core:attachments:6456] [sharedmedia=core:attachments:6460][sharedmedia=core:attachments:6459] [sharedmedia=core:attachments:6457][sharedmedia=core:attachments:6458]

[media]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IBDWjFC0Kfg&feature=youtu.be[/media]

Neon Poly is an easy-to-play yet fun-to-master puzzle game. Nine different board configurations provide hours of puzzling fun for all ages and skill levels.

Create and then clear full lines of squares, hexagons, or triangles by rotating and then dragging and dropping pieces onto the board. Earn bonus points by clearing multiple lines in a single move. Earn XP for each line that is cleared and spend the XP on Power Ups to perform special moves!

There are no time limits! Play at your own pace until there are no more moves on the board. Most importantly, have fun!

Three types of game boards to choose from: Square, Hexagon, and Triangle.
Three sizes of board to choose from: Small, Medium and Large.
Pieces can be rotated before being placed on the board.
Game can be played in both portrait and landscape mode. Rotate your device to your heart’s content!

Power Ups include:
Bomb - Clears a small region of the board.
Lightning - Clears two to three lines of the board.
Atomic Blast - Clears the entire board.
Drop Hint - Reveals a potential drop point for one of the available pieces.
Remove a Piece - Removes one of the three playing pieces and replaces it with a random new piece that is not like the one that was removed.
Pick a Piece - Choose a playing piece from among all possible pieces, rotate it if needed, and then drag and drop it onto the board.

* Hexagon and Triangle boards are initially locked but can easily be unlocked by achieving a high score or via an in-app purchase.
* Power ups require the use of XP. XP can be earned simply by playing the game, but you can also gain XP by watching a video or making an in-app purchase.

#2

Nice work :slight_smile:

#3

I snagged one of the promo codes. If you would like us to feature the app, please visit https://coronalabs.wufoo.com/forms/showcase-app-submission/ and fill out the form.  We could run this on Wednesday, your launch day if you like.

Rob

#4

@Rob did you need to say it twice or is it a glitch in the matrix?

#5

Glitch in the matrix.

#6

That would be fabulous Rob! Thank you! I have filled out the form.

#7

Neon Poly is officially out now for everyone to download and play! Enjoy! https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/neon-poly-shape-puzzle-game/id1104971820?ls=1&mt=8

#8

Android coming soon?

#9

Congrats, nice work!

Downloaded and tried it. Solid game, but I also have some feedback where I see room for improvements. Remember it’s just my 2 cents, so take it for whatever it’s worth, other players may not agree with me.  :slight_smile:

  1. Consider changing the font for a more “non-default” font that fits better with the rest of the graphics. It could help making the entire game look more polished and professional.

  2. I felt that the gameplay was too slow to really get me hooked from the start. Maybe a smaller board would help? Or a time constraint of some sort? 

Anyway, well done and keep up the good work!

#10

The Android release is planned for later this summer. I expect it to be done by end of August.

Markus, thank you for the feedback! We ran a small soft launch back in April with an earlier version of the game. At that time, we were using a different font, one that better fit with the theme of the game, in my opinion. Unfortunately, the overwhelming response to the font and was that it was not very legible. After several attempts at trying different fonts and sizes, and reducing/removing the neon glow from the text, the custom font was ultimately removed in favor of the current one. Readability won out over aesthetics.

In regards to the game play pace, I totally agree! The intent of the game is to be slow paced. That’s by design. However, again during the soft launch, several people gave the same feedback as you. I have come to agree that the game needs a timed version. That feature (along with other related features) is now planned for a later release!

#11

Neon Poly just got it’s first major review and it’s REALLY good. AppAdvice did a front page write up entitled “Tetris Just met its Match in Neon Poly, a Great New Puzzle Game”. They gave it a score of 9.0!

#12

@Sphere Game Studios and all other Android peeps, the Android version is out now on Google Play! https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.lobsterclawsoftware.neonpoly

We had not planned on getting it out so soon but we have been spending money on promoting the iOS version so it started to fill like a waste to not have the Android version out there too.

Due to the way Android handle textures, the Android version is not yet on par with the iOS version. (Keep reading for technical details below.) I am not terribly fond of the differences in the leaderboards between the two systems either.

In regards to the textures, in the iOS version of the game all graphics are generated each time the game is launched and they stay in memory from then on. On Android, this would cause significant problems since Android dumps all texture caches out of memory any time the game goes to the background! This forces me to refresh all of the texture caches every time the app is brought back to the foreground. This includes after viewing ads, viewing the leaderboard, and making IAPs. That would cause a HUGE lag to refresh all caches each time these things occur. Needless to say that on Android I have implemented a file-based caching system that handles about 70-80% of the graphics. The remaining ones still need to be refreshed each time. Over the next few weeks, I plan to pre-generate these remaining graphics and package them with the APK so that there will be no lag at all.

#13

Nice work :slight_smile:

#14

I snagged one of the promo codes. If you would like us to feature the app, please visit https://coronalabs.wufoo.com/forms/showcase-app-submission/ and fill out the form.  We could run this on Wednesday, your launch day if you like.

Rob

#15

@Rob did you need to say it twice or is it a glitch in the matrix?

#16

Glitch in the matrix.

#17

That would be fabulous Rob! Thank you! I have filled out the form.

#18

Neon Poly is officially out now for everyone to download and play! Enjoy! https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/neon-poly-shape-puzzle-game/id1104971820?ls=1&mt=8

#19

Android coming soon?

#20

Congrats, nice work!

Downloaded and tried it. Solid game, but I also have some feedback where I see room for improvements. Remember it’s just my 2 cents, so take it for whatever it’s worth, other players may not agree with me.  :slight_smile:

  1. Consider changing the font for a more “non-default” font that fits better with the rest of the graphics. It could help making the entire game look more polished and professional.

  2. I felt that the gameplay was too slow to really get me hooked from the start. Maybe a smaller board would help? Or a time constraint of some sort? 

Anyway, well done and keep up the good work!