Support NeoGAF

[MrCheez]

Hey peeps,

GAF has been my daily obsession for years, so it goes without saying that I am really excited to share my newly released (and first) game with you guys. (so excited that, in fact, GAF has made it into another game's credits! Whaddya know!)

The game is Wispin for the iPhone and iPod Touch, and it's got a $0.99 launch sale (extended for the holiday weekend and ENDING SOON)

---

~ MEDIA ~

YouTube Trailer!

Soundtrack Sample

---

~ REVIEWS ~

TouchArcade Review: "Wispin - Color Me Impressed" "Wispin is a breath of fresh air in iOS gaming. "

AppSpy Review - 5/5 Stars "Wispin is a gem of a title that lacks any real comparison, but once you're in it's hard not to keep coming back."

GameZebo Review - 4.5/5 Stars "Wispin looks like a cartoon come to life and plays like a dream."

Nodpad.com Review "A+ for Addictive Arcade Awesomeness" "Wispin takes basic, fast-paced gameplay, and adds just enough twists to it until we’re nearly taken to the point of superlative arcade bliss."

iPhone Alley Review: Wispin, An App of Crazy, Colorific Fun! " Stock up on all of your daily needs before you buy the game because once you start to play there’s no time for anything else."

---

~ DESCRIPTION + FEATURE LIST~

Get ready for zany color-matching arcade action!!

The land of Ether is experiencing a rather inconvenient pest problem! It's up to Wispin and his handy color-changing abilities to wipe out the Blooper infestation and save the day!


FEATURES

- Totally unique fusion of color-matching gameplay and retro arcade action!

- The innovative "Touch Color Wheel" acts similar to a joystick - slide your thumb around to change colors and Bust Bloopers!

- Stylized cartoon graphics featuring HD Retina display support!

- Two endless gameplay modes, Achievements, statistics tracking, and Game Center leaderboards!

- Wacky weapons (including CHEESE), powerups, bonuses, and an escalating multiplier/combo system that encourages frantic and challenging risk/reward gameplay!

- Customizable game options including joystick and tilt controls!

- Color Blind and left-handed control support!

- It's fun on a bun!

----


Read more on the official site: http://www.wispingame.com

Buy Now On Itunes

More so than everywhere else on the web, I'm really interested in hearing your guy's feedback. We are going to be adding more to the game in near future (modes, items, enemies, gameplay refinements and polish, etc) and I'm really passionate about making it as rad as possible.

Thanks again, GAF! Hope you enjoy :O

 

[wolfmat]

Bought. I'll post impressions once I get around to playing it. Good luck!

Edit: Will also put this into the hands of one of my nephews. The other is too young tho.

 

[MiloFoxburr]

Looks great. I just bought it. Hope it does well for you.

 

[Salsa]

Looks really really good. Good luck man, would buy if i had an iOS device

 

[ChackanKun]

Can anyone explain exactly how it plays? I didn't quite understand it lol!

 

[Bebpo]

I don't play iphone games, but I really like the art. Nice job!

 

[wolfmat]

Can anyone explain exactly how it plays? I didn't quite understand it lol!

I think you have to choose a color and Wispin can then only pick up dudes with that color. Also, there's items that mix things up a bit.

 

[MrCheez]

Thanks so much for the support guys It's definitely nerve-wracking putting 'your baby' out there, but we've received so much great feedback already that we are feeling good and excited to continue our new "official" careers as game developers

Bought. I'll post impressions once I get around to playing it. Good luck!

Edit: Will also put this into the hands of one of my nephews. The other is too young tho.

I'm especially excited to hear the younger player's impressions! We definitely wanted to make the game super challenging as you progress (because we've always loved masochistic games..) but we're hoping anyone can get pulled in and enjoy at least the beginning waves.

Can anyone explain exactly how it plays? I didn't quite understand it lol!

Sure, it's definitely a little confusing It plays very much like a retro arcade game in that you control your character on a field (via tilt or joystick options, your choice), and all the enemies you encounter are color coded. In the bottom left hand corner is that large Color Wheel, which you can either tap or use like a traditional joystick (sliding your thumb in circles). As you touch the different colored parts of the wheel, Wispin changes colors.

You have to be the same color as an enemy to take him out. Red defeats red, blue defeats blue, and so on. (And you 'take out' enemies simply by flying through them) You're immune to enemies and projectiles of your same color, but you're susceptible to enemies and projectiles/explosions of different colors. Defeating three same-colored enemies in a row temporarily adds to your movement speed (an increase which stacks), and defeating enemies quickly gives you combo multipliers (that directly multiply your score). The idea is that: the better you're doing, the harder it's going to get, but the bigger rewards you'll reap. That type of risk/reward gameplay is very appealing to us.

Items and bonuses are also available. Two modes in the game (second most be unlocked): Standard mode (enemies come in waves, game starts off slow and builds up to become more challenging, you have three lives) and Super Intense Mode (tons of enemies on screen right off the bat, 1 hit, time/survival based.. meant for quick 'pick up and play' gameplay. ) Both modes are endless.

Game also features unlockable achievements (both with Game Center and without) , leaderboards (Game Center only for now), HD Retina display support, statistics tracking (available for all devices - internet connection not required).

Hope that helps.. sorry for the fast sloppy description, been a crazy day getting the word out and receiving all the feedback

 

[TechSamurai]

I am enjoying the game quite a bit, the controls feel a little loose, but once you speed up they respond just right. In other words the farther you progress the better the game gets.

I had an enemy turn orange for a while..how do you beat that? (Eventually it turned back to red and was promptly busted)

Nice work!

 

[MrCheez]

I am enjoying the game quite a bit, the controls feel a little loose, but once you speed up they respond just right. In other words the farther you progress the better the game gets.

I had an enemy turn orange for a while..how do you beat that? (Eventually it turned back to red and was promptly busted)

Nice work!

Thanks man Controls are definitely something we're trying to gather as much feedback on as possible. We're hoping to polish and refine them a little in the coming weeks. Please let us know what you think of tilt as well!

Bloopers that turn into a non-RGB color can be busted with either the "Rainbow Blast" item, or the special "Pinspin" move (which activates on a x20 multiplier), if neither are available you'll have to avoid until they turn back

 

[Barkley's Justice]

nice1. congrats!

 

[djtiesto]

Looks cool, do you guys think you're gonna port to any other platforms (Android, XBLIG, etc) any time soon?

 

[Agent White]

Bought! Hope you find success on the app store MrCheez

 

[erpg]

Don't own either of the devices, but congratulations on the release. I wish you success.

 

[Sheik790]

Love love love this game. Can't say it enough Cheez.

 

[celebi23]

MrCheez, congrats on the iOS app! Just bought it. Yay for GAF developers

 

[Zomba13]

looks really good and fun. Will buy when I've got my iPod Touch.

 

[MrCheez]

You guys are amazing, I know I'm going to start sounding like a broken record but thank you so much!

Let me know if you peeps have any other questions

Looks cool, do you guys think you're gonna port to any other platforms (Android, XBLIG, etc) any time soon?

If the game does at least decently, it is definitely something we want to pursue. However, I don't think it'll be "soon" just because of our limited resources at the moment. If it were to happen it would probably be in a few months or so.. here's hoping! I'll definitely keep you guys posted!

 

[Shaneus]

I needed an excuse to redeem one of my two $30 iTunes cards... consider Wispin bought

 

[Haunted]

Cool art, best of luck to you OP!


GAF is looking out for its people.

 

[MrCheez]

GAF support is the best support! Although we unfortunately didn't receive a feature spot from Apple today (I think we got approved a little too late), we've still made it up to 106 on the Arcade list! Not too shabby

P.S. Haunted, seeing your name and avatar just brought me back to the Brawl-thread days

 

[MrCheez]

For anyone with an iPod Touch 4G: we're in the process of submitting a fix for a crashing issue tonight - the game should still be playable on your devices, but you might experience crashing during some loading screens. Try rebooting in the meantime, and the fix should be available for a few days. Sorry for the inconvenience!

We've gotten up to 74 on the Arcade list! Please let me know if you guys have any feedback you'd like to share.. how are you finding the difficulty level/scaling/progression?

 

[Aaron]

I bought it and think it's really fun. More challenging than I expected, only made it to wave 6. I think it controls well and my deaths were my own fault. If it have one minor issue, I think the blue enemies are too dark and blend a little with the background, making them harder to spot when they come up out of the ground.

 

[wondermega]

looks great, congratulations! if my iPhone didn't keep busting then I would try to DL it...

 

[golem]

Looks cool, bought

 

[Enk]

This looks like it could be a lot of fun and potentially addictive. Wish I had and iPhone to play it with though. :-/

 

[Kaldea]

Will buy when I use my iPod Touch next. Looks fun!

 

[MrCheez]

You guys rock Don't forget to pass along some feedback after you give it a spin!

I bought it and think it's really fun. More challenging than I expected, only made it to wave 6. I think it controls well and my deaths were my own fault. If it have one minor issue, I think the blue enemies are too dark and blend a little with the background, making them harder to spot when they come up out of the ground.

Great point about the blue enemies, I'm making a note to take a look at it. Thanks for pointing that out!

Interesting tidbit: all our sprites for Wispin and the Bloopers are in fact grayscale, and the colors are being changed through code (this way we do not need to provide separate sprites for each color). Where it gets tricky, however, is with the parts of the sprites that needed to be white (Wispin's body and Blooper eyes, for example), since the coloring algorithm wants to fill in everything that isn't black with the chosen color. We got around this by actually separating all the white layers from the sprites - so every character in the game actually has a floating "white layer" positioned on top of them

I'm planning to do a 'Making Of' blogpost soon, and probably include a bunch of concept art as well. I'll be sure to copy that stuff here when I do!

 

[bigdaddygamebot]

My daughter loves this game. SO bright and charming. This game makes me want to go out and get an iPad just so we can play it on a bigger screen.

Get thee to an XBL-erry sir.

 

[MrCheez]

My daughter loves this game. SO bright and charming. This game makes me want to go out and get an iPad just so we can play it on a bigger screen.

Something like this is probably the very best compliment we could receive - thank you! Do you mind if I ask how old she is any how she does with the game's difficulty?

BTW: We submitted that ipod Touch 4g bugfix last night and also tweaked a few small things (lowered the spawncount of Blaargs in Super Intense Mode, few other bug fixes here and there). We're already working on the next patch/update, so let me know if you guys spot anything that could use our attention for a fix or adjustment.

Oh, and if you're curious just who "We" is whenever I say "We", our team is comprised primarily of myself and an amazing programmer who I met through an online collab (can you believe an online collab led to the completion of a project of this size? I guess it happens all the time with mods and stuff.. but I'm still amazed everything worked out so well!), as well as two of my industry friends (one doing sound, another did the menus and helped me out with a few other pieces of artwork). This game has pretty much been our entire world for the past 5 months, and we primarily had to work together over the internet, as I no longer live in the same state as those guys (moved to Portland)... it's been interesting

 

[bigdaddygamebot]

Something like this is probably the very best compliment we could receive - thank you! Do you mind if I ask how old she is any how she does with the game's difficulty?

BTW: We submitted that ipod Touch 4g bugfix last night and also tweaked a few small things (lowered the spawncount of Blaargs in Super Intense Mode, few other bug fixes here and there). We're already working on the next patch/update, so let me know if you guys spot anything that could use our attention for a fix or adjustment.

Oh, and if you're curious just who "We" is whenever I say "We", our team is comprised primarily of myself and an amazing programmer who I met through an online collab (can you believe an online collab led to the completion of a project of this size? I guess it happens all the time with mods and stuff.. but I'm still amazed everything worked out so well!), as well as two of my industry friends (one doing sound, another did the menus and helped me out with a few other pieces of artwork). This game has pretty much been our entire world for the past 5 months, and we primarily had to work together over the internet, as I no longer live in the same state as those guys (moved to Portland)... it's been interesting

She's four and a half. The "cheese lure" and the "bombs" are a bit too much for her to really grasp. She understands the concept but she has no idea how to use them to her advantage.

She loves the colour swapping and definitely gets that Wispin's "feathers" need to be blue if she wants to scare away the blue monsters.

She would be able to control it much better if it was with an actual controller as opposed to using a virtual one. She keeps touching the screen where she wants him to go, as opposed to touching the virtual d-pad.

But...well...she's four and a half so I'm probably being a bad father for letting her play games to begin with.

She also likes to climb my back and, peek over my shoulder and watch me play it, all while telling me what colours to grab next, when to throw bombs and shouting out constantly how many of each colour are on screen.

My daughter is definitely capable of using a d-pad or an analog stick, but she gets muddled on the iPod Touch as she's used to simply touching the screen where she wants to go as opposed to touching the d-pad on the screen that directs her to where she wants to go...if ya dig.

If you made a more simplified version with the same graphics...you'd have the new hotness for preschoolers, methinks.

 

[The Technomancer]

Hm, I think I might grab this when I'm home over Thanksgiving. Looks like fun and its always nice to support a GAF dev.

 

[bigdaddygamebot]

Also...we haven't gotten very far in it but she thinks it's a fuckin' tragedy that there's no purple or pink.

She's a very particular girl...

 

[McBradders]

Bought.

Fuuu- stupid slow work wifi

 

[Carlisle]

Bought, I'll play it later when I get some time.

GAF support is great

 

[MrCheez]

Also...we haven't gotten very far in it but she thinks it's a fuckin' tragedy that there's no purple or pink.

She's a very particular girl...

I absolutely LOVED reading the impressions of your daughter playing.. passed it on to the rest of the team and we all got "warm-fuzzies"

Although Wispin cannot turn purple or pink, if you keep your eyes open you'll sometimes run into purple Bloopers Also, if you want a change of pace: try turning color blind mode on in the options. It gives Wispin the ability to turn teal or yellow.. maybe she'll like those colors

Thanks again, it seriously made us smile!

 

[cnet128]

One small query: I find that a lot of the time I lose health, it's because I ran into an enemy while still the wrong colour... despite the fact that I'm sure I'd positioned my finger on the correct colour immediately beforehand >_< Are there any situations where Wispin's colour-changing is delayed, or am I just being clumsy? Maybe the responsiveness of the colour-wheel could be upped somehow?

Either way, it's clearly not bothering me *that* much, since I'm loving the game regardless! Good work!

EDIT: Just went back and played the game some more, and I didn't experience this issue at all; it all felt hugely responsive. I guess it was just me taking a little while to get accustomed to the controls. No complaints remaining. Great game!

 

[ChackanKun]

Ok just bought it, both to support a fellow Gaffer and also because so much feedback got me curious lol

Edit: Very fun game! Only thing I'd recommend is to tighten the joystick gameplay since it feels a bit loose. Also, I noticed a bit of delay when changing colors.

Other than that, everything runs great! Very vibrant and charming, good job!

Edit 2: OMG! Wispin (I guess that's the character name) just got all rainbow and on ecstasy? Some kind of power-up I guess? :lol

 

[MrCheez]

Although the support and feedback has been incredible (thank you again guys, really), unfortunately the sales have been far below our hopes/predictions. On day 2 we felt like we were doing fairly well, we had gotten up to 53 in Arcade.. however now we're all the way back down to 91. :/ We're hoping things pick up next week if Apple happens to feature us.. and we're also hoping some of the bigger blogs/news sites pick up the story and make some posts.. we'll see, still early and we're still trying to stay optimistic. Definitely a tough market, though, and despite all the work we've done it sure isn't easy to get the word out. GAF has been amazing, though!

Oh, and from our calculations, about 20%-ish of the people on the leaderboards are playing pirated copies. Ouch.. Obviously piracy is never a great thing, but in our case (being so tiny) it really hurts.

Ok just bought it, both to support a fellow Gaffer and also because so much feedback got me curious lol

Edit: Very fun game! Only thing I'd recommend is to tighten the joystick gameplay since it feels a bit loose. Also, I noticed a bit of delay when changing colors.

Other than that, everything runs great! Very vibrant and charming, good job!

Edit 2: OMG! Wispin (I guess that's the character name) just got all rainbow and on ecstasy? Some kind of power-up I guess? :lol

"On ecstasy" :lol Love it ! That's "Pinspin" , happens with every x20 combo multiplier

Can you provide a few more details on how you'd like to see the joystick "tightened up"? We've had a few people comment that it was "loose", but we're finding that critique a little vague so far and finding it a little difficult to figure out how to improve it or what exactly to address. What would you change specifically?

Do you feel teh color changing has a delay all the time, or only after attacking an enemy?

Feel free to anyone else who wants to chime in answering those questions too, it's super helpful!

 

[ChackanKun]

Well, I can't really explain the "loose" part of the joystick lol. It just feels like the character goes farther than the position in the joystick. Dunno if it makes any sense lol?

About the delay, normally after attacking yes.

 

[MrCheez]

Well, I can't really explain the "loose" part of the joystick lol. It just feels like the character goes farther than the position in the joystick. Dunno if it makes any sense lol?

About the delay, normally after attacking yes.

As it works now, you are incapable of changing color for a split second while you're attacking an enemy, because you're still technically in the middle of that attack. We're considering removing it, but need to test a little bit.

Still definitely tweaking the joystick as well. Thanks for the feedback!

 

[MrCheez]

Great new Wispin review over at Gamezebo.com! 4.5/5 Stars!

"Wispin looks like a cartoon come to life and plays like a dream"

http://www.gamezebo.com/iphone-games/wispin/review

 

[Jangaroo]

About the controls, I don't really have any complaints about it. However, somebody brought up the whole delay after attacking an enemy thing so maybe that's what's bothering some people.

 

[MrCheez]

Hey guys, I wanted to throw three promo codes GAF's way for anyone who hasn't had a chance to try the game, first come first serve:

T7F3PTLMA7R3
XKFHFPLHA4XK
77HLMFF7E447

Sorry for not providing these when I created the thread.. my initial objective was to reserve the promo codes for reviewers, in an attempt to get the word out as much as possible. But I was thinking today about how I wanted to give back to GAF a little.. and realized I had these extras lying around. Hope three posters out there enjoy them!

About the controls, I don't really have any complaints about it. However, somebody brought up the whole delay after attacking an enemy thing so maybe that's what's bothering some people.

Thanks for the feedback man. We adjusted this slightly in addition to "tightening" up the joystick a bit for the update (which I'm really hoping will go into review tomorrow.. guess Apple's been busy with the holidays), so hopefully these two things will help

 

[MrCheez]

Update has finally been approved and is available for download on the app store! This update contains the fix to the iPod Touch 4 crashing, as well as improvements to the joystick controls among a few other small improvements. Check it out:

Wispin 1.0.1 Update! We've listened to the feedback provided so far and implemented the following changes and fixes:

- iPod Touch 4G Crashing issues resolved! Thanks for your patience!

- Screen will now orientation flip when flipping device 180 degrees!

- Joystick control option has been tweaked and improved - should feel tighter and less 'loose'!

- Tilt Calibration improved!

- Wispin "hitbox" adjustment, making it easier to hit enemies and reducing misses!

- Canyon and Super Intense Mode have been made less difficult and received adjusting enemy spawn rates.

- Super Intense Mode has received various other tweaks to make it more enjoyable!

- Item spawn rates adjusted

- Various other bug fixes 'n such!

Thanks for your support!
Keep the feedback a-comin'! feedback@grumpyfacestudios.com

Follow our shenanigans:
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/grumpyface
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/grumpyfacestudios
Blog: http://grumpyfacestudios.blogspot.com/

Also a super sweet new nodpad.com review: "Wispin Review: A+ for Addictive Arcade Awesomeness"

 

[red shoe paul]

I'm getting pissed off because I'm always dying when another color is hidden INSIDE another color. Also spawn health more frequently..

Another thing, it gets WAY too challenging so quickly. At wave 6 to be more exact..

This is also free for today only for anybody who didn't have it before.

 

[Jme]

Just spotted Wispin HD (iPad) in the Featured Game of the Week section - Congrats!

 

[ChackanKun]

Very well deserved! Congrats!