Bizango Blast! My first game on iPhone/iPad! Unreal powered physics fun + a FREE version!

archerx · September 2011

After many months of hard work I have finally released my first game (ever) for the iOS devices Bizango Blast!

Story

The Lonies need your help to defend their land from a mysterious invasion, you take control of the Bizango Cannon and attack the bad guys, while at the same time making sure not to hurt the kidnapped eggs! Careful your Cannon is pretty powerful and can bring down structures quite easily taking down everything with it, including your precious eggs!

Features

There are five worlds with 10 levels each for a total of 50 levels! You also have 3 powers which are given to you as your progress through the worlds to help you defeat the bad guys. Also the environment starts becoming more dynamic and more involved in the game play. Physics based game play which means many ways to be the levels and healthy dose of the unexpected!

Made with the UDK so iphone 3Gs, iTouch 4, iPad and up can run it. Sorry first and second gen

It's a universal app so iPad users have no fear the resolution will adjust correctly!

All this $.99

iTunes Link! Click here to download!

Enough words I'll let the videos I made do the talking!

Here is the trailer I made for it

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xg3ZjPZEeuE

Here a preview / overview of the menu and a few levels with developer commentary by me.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_IQ0Rz6K5eY

And the final video is mostly for people interested in game development. It's a simple overview on how Bizango Blast was made using the UDK!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dGXS7v0uu4Y

Bizango Blast had a bit of a rough release but it is now up to version 1.3 where everything has been worked out.

Not sure? Well try it out for yourself with the FREE version, it has 10 levels to get you wrecking stuff.

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/bizango-blast-free/id461738837?ls=1&mt=8

I suggest that people interested in games give development a try. I downloaded the UDK in January, did all the 3D Buzz video tutorials, worked my ass off and produced this fun little game. It's not easy but the experience is worth it

Promo Codes!

M9KPFAM7H9W6

EW9MW6T6M7XN

MHPN7PLEATM6

4PREY434YRAR

AE6TE3MRHJ9X

I hope you enjoy!

Tube · September 2011

This was made with permission

archerx · September 2011

Thank you for letting me post here, I appreciate it very much!

I got some nice feed back from another forum and it has inspired an update. Some people said they were expecting the entire cannon to move with the up arrow and not just the panel in front. They said that it made the aiming a bit too abstract and confusing. Looking at it now I agree, I did a test and having the entire cannon pitch instead of just the panel feels better.

If I have time I'll add some more levels

archerx · September 2011

I hope that my game is not that unremarkable that no one replies

If you don't like it please tell me why, that way I can learn and possible improve the game.

Here's a little walk through that explains how the game works.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VjwBTGb58uM

The_Spaniard · September 2011

I'll give your free version a shot.

minor incident · September 2011

I was not aware Tube ever actually approved these posts. That alone makes me want to at least give it a shot. It certainly looks really cool.

MrDelish · September 2011

iPhone/iPad games normally don't get too much attention on these forums. I'll try this out later tonight.

schmads · September 2011

I'm going to grab the free version, and I appreciate all of the effort put into your explanation of the game and other information in your post.

zilo · September 2011

You might have some luck crossposting to the iOS games thread. It doesn't get a ton of traffic but every bit helps.

B:L · September 2011

Since I downloaded the full version, I'll give my review:

Artistically, it's a bit simple. Your starfish Loonies are unique and colorful, and possibly psychedelic, but a bland skyblue background and unexciting scenery drags the production values down. The only stage design I really liked were the mushroom levels, because it stood out. The blandness stands out even more in between stages with 70% of the screen being empty and skyblue.

I think you did a good job overall with the sound. The soundtrack worked nicely, and the shooting and hitting effects were crisp as well. I particularly liked the staticy transmission effect from hitting the radar thingies. The only sound effect I highly disapproved of was the RIP noise when you select something in the menu. It was very annoying and didn't fit well at all.

Gameplay works fine as a first person meter-based launching physics game. It's a bit tough to tell though what angle you'll be shooting at from a first person perspective, I can only wonder if an angle display can alleviate that. It's also tough to tell depth in 3D, which isn't too much of a problem with the split shot but the explosion shots are a wash. You had a good idea going with the stacked structures and the physics of destroying them, but they were too simple (one structure per group instead of a possibly huge combined structure) and they practically disappeared in the later levels, instead becoming a less interesting target shooting trial. The space level had very annoying quirks as well, as you probably randomized the orbits, because sometimes even a full power shot will be dragged down and off course immediately upon firing since the orbit is right in front of the catapult. The only way to fix it was to exit and restart. Also, some enemies didn't "die" after getting hit or falling off a structure. I also didn't like how in between the last shot and the results screen, things can still happen such as losing an egg, which gets particularly annoying in "timed" puzzles where orbiting rocks can smash them.

The scoring system is a bit wonky in that the player has no idea how to earn a higher score, or how to earn more stars. Also, some abilities are explained AFTER they're introduced, which you might think is quirky but it is very frustrating. Explaining how a player can hold down an ability is extremely beneficial.

I think it's a solid albeit short puzzle launcher game, plus it doesn't even have the levels of the free version. You'll probably need to focus more on marketability, because these characters are decently designed. Out of curiosity, why did you choose the Unreal engine over any of the other engines out there? Was it easy working with it?

The important thing now is to get the word out about your game. I'll help spread the word.

Hope your game does well!

archerx · September 2011

Thank you very much for the replies!

B:L - Thank you for your review, I really appreciate it and I will certainly be addressing the issues you brought up on the update I'm working on. It's nice having fresh perspectives because after working for months I kind of lost objectivity.

When making the puzzles I tried to make a little of everything. It's good to know that you like the puzzles with the crazy structures, any levels that you like out all of them? I want to build more levels but I don't know which ones are liked and which are not.

archerx · October 2011

Bizango Blast is free until holloween!

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/bizango-blast/id452982745

Give it a try if you like physics based games, you might like it

Penny Arcade

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Bizango Blast! My first game on iPhone/iPad! Unreal powered physics fun + a FREE version!

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