next »

[Madgarden]

Fight...



Rescue...



Survive...


Or die trying!



SAUCELIFTER! is available now in the App Store.

Read Blake Patterson's wonderful review right here on Touch Arcade.

It's a lot like the PC version, but tiltier and with more stuff!

[Cymon]

Makin me wish I had an iPhone. Or and iPodTouch.

Hope you make lots and lots from this one, can quit your day job, and hire me as your personal... something.

[eobet]

I bit the bullet and bought it.

The animation and some of the pixel art put into polygons is really clever and well made.

But one huge things bothers me:

The laser from the saucer should target the spot where I touched. Sure it might make the game easier, but perhaps it could be a toggle in the options? I just think that's more... appropriate.

Also, the hilite graphics around the options (for sound volume, etc) look very much like arrows, even though touching to the left doesn't lower the volume, it only continues the toggling cycle...

[Madgarden]

Cymon, thanks.

eobet, you're right about the menu option, I'll be fixing that up for the next update. I'd thought about the omni-shooting, but it really didn't fit with the game-play style I wanted (or what the original game inspiration, "Choplifter," successfully employs). Also, one thing that bugs me about some of the touch gaming is the fingers always obscuring the action. So, with Saucelifter I try to minimize this with the current control scheme.

[Fuzz]

Where can you get the PC version?

[Madgarden]

I can tell you, but it will cost you 50 bucks!

Just kidding. It's here: http://www.allegro.cc/depot/Saucelifter

[Syrion]

Choplifter was also one of the few and one of my favorite games I played on the C64 when I was young (when the C64 was already ancient). I've played the PC version of Saucelifter now and it's really fun I especially like how it's all very smooth, for example the way the "legs" unfold when you're close to the surface. Also, the difficulty seems to ramp up nicely. I think on the C64 it got pretty frustrating as soon as the jets appeared, because it was just too hard to avoid getting shot by them. But in your game all enemies seem to be appropriately easy to defeat on their own, yet it still becomes very difficult when there's all kinds of them attacking you.
I suppose the graphics could be more detailed, but the style is still very suitable, and I missed some kind of catchy but not repetitive background music.

I guess this would definitely be a game I'd buy if I had an iPhone


By the way, I never quite understood why you actually have to blow up the civilians' houses in order to rescue them. It's like you're some kind of madly dutiful soldier tasked to rescue everyone and go about that job no matter what it takes..

[Madgarden]

Yes, those cheap jets in Choplifter frustrated me too, heh.

Blowing up houses is kind of insane (though maybe it's a sort of terrorist/hostage thing?), which is why I thought prison bunkers on a military base made more sense.

Glad you like the PC version! The iPhone version adds (and is adding) new enemies and stuff like day/night effects, plus some planned secrets. I'll eventually port this stuff back to the PC again.

[Cymon]

Rise from your grave!

Madgarden's making a new release of this for the iPhone with a windows download and he let me play an early build of it that was so cool I had to share. The result was pleasingly amusing. I hope you get a kick out of it.

http://bytejacker.fliggo.com/video/u1jrNNpQ.

[Syrion]

Uuh, that's pretty cool, nice video
Unexpectedly, I am actually getting an iPod Touch in about two weeks, and I've already got the Lite version sitting on my PC, waiting to jump on it I've been in a free app download frenzy last night, and from what I've seen Saucelifter! still appears to be one of the few really polished and fitting cheaper games for the iPhone/iPod Touch.

Considering that you also mentioned day/night effects, does that mean that the upcomming version won't be the final one?

I just noticed that to me this "teleport pad" on the ground looks a bit strange. I actually liked the base that used to be at the place in Choplifter, but the whole change of theme and thus making it a teleport pad is also great. I just think that maybe it could be enhanced, because it strikes me as a bit odd that the aliens have installed a whole pad there in the ground. Maybe it could be some kind of fancy static translucent beam, that only lights up a lot more as the prisoners are teleported up.
Of course, the pad is not a "flaw" in my opinion, it's just a little less ideal than the other designs in my yes

Anyway, great work! I'm looking forward to trying it out.

[Cymon]

Considering that you also mentioned day/night effects, does that mean that the upcomming version won't be the final one?

The day night effects are implemented in the latest version. And I'm pretty sure Paul wants to move on to other things. This next version will probably be the last.

[Syrion]

The day night effects are implemented in the latest version. And I'm pretty sure Paul wants to move on to other things. This next version will probably be the last.

I see, thanks.
Fair enough, Saucelifter! is obviously a very complete game already

[Aquin]

Goddamn I need to buy an iPhone.  So many good indie games... 

[Alex May]

Rise from your grave!

Madgarden's making a new release of this for the iPhone with a windows download and he let me play an early build of it that was so cool I had to share. The result was pleasingly amusing. I hope you get a kick out of it.

http://bytejacker.fliggo.com/video/u1jrNNpQ.

That was a really entertaining video, well done. Sold me the game anyway

[György Straub]

oh man, the visual style is genius and the gameplay feels awesome. I didn't like how the camera pans out when an enemy is near, but that's not a biggie. (EDIT: found the letterbox option.) This was the demo - I'm definitely getting something with an i, as there really is a lot of awesome stuff for it.

on a technical note, how straightforward is it to port allegro (or for that matter, SDL) code to iPhone/iPod? it's sort of silly, as although I'm developing primarily on Mac, I never had a closer look at Objective C / Cocoa. But there we go -- I'd really appreciate a casual whack on the head to the right direction.

(btw, the demo ran flawlessly in Crossover.)

[Loren Schmidt]

Hot damn.

This is one of the most stylish, polished things I've seen in ages. The aerial combat looks really fun. I love the landing animation, and those great running lights on the Reptiloid saucer.

Purple and white saucers are so stylish. I've got to get one of those.

[Madgarden]

Thanks for the awesome video Cymon! Heh I love it...

on a technical note, how straightforward is it to port allegro (or for that matter, SDL) code to iPhone/iPod? it's sort of silly, as although I'm developing primarily on Mac, I never had a closer look at Objective C / Cocoa. But there we go -- I'd really appreciate a casual whack on the head to the right direction.

Well... it really just depends on how you put it all together. I just treat the Allegro stuff as a back-end, and essentially make a "driver" for it. Then I swap out the back-end for iPhone stuff. If you have Allegro all throughout your code, then it will be more work, obviously.

MisterX... yeah, the pad is basically just a triangle. I figure the aliens plopped it down before they started their rescue operation, probably using some awesome alien nanotechnology we can't possibly comprehend. Either that, or it was just one of the first objects I made in the game.

Glad you guys are liking it. I'll try to get the Windows version ready before too long. I may still make another update or two, but yes I do have other projects I want to get on to. Plus, there's also the sequel.

[Loren Schmidt]

I really think you pulled the look off well, and I'd love to see more games that play with flat shaded 2d polygons. Along with pixel art, it seems like one of the styles best suited for small team or single developer projects, but I don't see it employed very frequently. I'd be interested in hearing a bit about the tools you used to make the art. How much of the art is data driven versus hard coded?

[Hayden Scott-Baron]

Wow, this is great! I had heard of the game elsewhere but never tried it until now. 60fps makes a huge difference for tilt games like this, and the clean visuals are ideal when you're tilting around. I love the auto zoom out too.

However, I'm trying the demo right now and I'm 'stuck'. I don't know what to do. I rescued a bunch of people and dropped them on the triangle but I don't know what to do now. It keeps telling me to land, but when I land it tells me to fly. Am I doing something wrong?

edit: but I've just bought it nevertheless

[Kepa]

Hayden: I had the same problem you did when I played the demo.  It was quite awhile ago, though, so I have no idea how I resolved it.  I just remember the onscreen text can be a little unintentionally misleading sometimes?  Sorry for my vague advice, which I have blown my third post on.

When I first tried the demo I thought of how super polished it seemed.  Love the graphics, reminds me of Flashback.  The controls were good, which surprised me because as a rule, I really don't like games that rely on the accelerometer.  If there's any sense in the universe, this game will take off.