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[vitorlanna]

Thanks JobLeonard! I'll definately look into a simple premium PC version, see if it works. I like that model better too.

So! Many things have been done. "Freezing pongos" (and craws, the predators) is back as a power-up. Also there is a power-up to freeze time (actually, it just slows time).

I have defined a proper palette for the game! A shame it took me so long to make one, they make life much easier. You can probably tell that I could make it even smaller, but I'm happy with it as it is.


And these pongos are back!

Updated animations and palette.

They are not fully back as I still intend to make some adjustments, but now you can get one of them at random by buying a mytery egg.


(vampire dance!:) )

[vitorlanna]

Some skin ideas I was toying with! Those won't all be in the game. I was trying to see if I could make some easy and interesting options (that is, that wouldn't require a huge amount of rework in the animations, but were still interesting).
One of these is based on MIB, one on Yu-gi-oh, one is an alien that tried to look like a Pongo but got some details wrong.

Any favorites?

[Stricle]

The visuals are still great!
My favorites are the second (bat-pongo) and the last of the second row.

It's funny how few pixels can change entirely an expression.

[Sersh]

+1 i really like the visuals you have there!

[jctwood]

I really love this.

[foofter]

Great progress so far.

I like all the pongo skins, except the bottom two brown ones - somehow the colors and shadows don't look right, like maybe too saturated? (Not that I should be giving you advice on colors and saturation!  ) - and the dark one with shades on middle far left gets so dark that it's hard to read (altho maybe that gives it a cool, mysterious vibe). I guess my favorites are the two green ones and the dark blue-green one.

The enemy is also likable, threatening and cute, which is great. Have you thought about making more than one? That might also bring the world to life and make the player feel more connection with the characters.

[vitorlanna]

Thanks everyone! From those skins, my first idea was to keep just the first row and the first 3 of the second row, but good thing I asked since others seem to be popular too!

I also have plenty of plans for other enemies and creatures (I even was thinking about adding mounts in some levels)!


It's not the focus for now, got some stuff that needs finishing before thinking about adding new content... But I at least added eyes in the stars and chests so they are creatures too! So now the game is more alive.

Also added coins! It was easier that I thought it'd be. It also opens the door to add other items such as fruit pongos or craws could eat to cause various effects!

[Frostee]

Just found this! Looks awesome man.

[vitorlanna]

Thanks Frostee! =D

So, I'm revamping some graphics. Here's the previous store:

And here's the new one:


Personally I think the new one is much better!

[Stricle]

I think both are good. (But I prefer the second one as well)

[vitorlanna]

The game is out!!!
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.Stormfree.PongoMarch

Well, it's out on the US, Canada and Latin America at least!

It's far from over, there are many updates (and launches) still to come, but it's great to have gotten so far!
I mean, the last commercial game I launched was 4 years ago. Wow.

So yeah! If you like it, please download it! =D It's free! And I still accept feedback, if you don't like something feel free to say so! Plenty of updates to come.

[vitorlanna]

Someone made a video playing the game! =D I need to figure out how to record something with this quality for the trailer... I already saw somethings I should probably fix in the video. Happy anyway, though!

[vitorlanna]

So, when it comes to tutorials, most people skip any text and prefer figuring out themselves. But as it turns out, there's also many people who prefer to read an explanation before playing.
 


My solution were tips. Before tapping play on any level that introduces a game concept, there's a short, illustrated and completely skippable text. (That was added after trying to make levels to introduce game concepts as intuitively as possible.)

I thought about adding an "X" close button at the top of the tip, but I figure that'd make it look like a popup that had to be closed before playing - this way you don't need to interact with at all, no additional clicks.

I haven't had a lot of new people play in front of me since adding the tips, but so far the feedback seems pretty positive!

[DanBarr]

the graphics are beautiful, they remind me of the Game Boy Advance.

[vitorlanna]

Thanks Dan! 

So, I went with a bunch of iterations of the chapter menu, this is what I'm going with for now:

Not perfect, but better than previous versions in showing that each chapter has easy levels and hard levels, and showing when they are unlocked and how to access them.

Also worked on new pongos and working in a level editor that players will be able to access, but I'll show them when they are ready!

Also revising the level design to adress the problem of uneven difficulty.

[JobLeonard]

Anything you dislike about them? I think they look great - the only thing I might suggest is making the font match the faux pixel resolution

[vitorlanna]

Anything you dislike about them? I think they look great - the only thing I might suggest is making the font match the faux pixel resolution

Thanks! I tried a pixel font, but due to a few issues decided to stick with this one for now.

I think the animation could improve a bit and the icons of the chapters aren't very clear on what the chapter is about at first glance. Also I need better sfx to go along with the animation. I'm much happier with this version than previous ones, though!

[vitorlanna]

The level editor is here!
And the game is launched globally!
On Android, at least. Wherever you are, if you have an android and internet you can probably download it! And share levels you make with friends.

Download link: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.Stormfree.PongoMarch

Also the new icon is probably my favorite picture of a pongo yet:


Not sure if it's a good idea to launch right before I'm going to travel and won't be able to correct anything for some time...

(Btw any reviews on google play are really appreciated, or any feedback on the state of the game here as well. I have my laundry list of things to fix/change/add, but it's good to know what others think!)