Gameloft Game Discussion (Octavia Clones + Sunset Shimmer)

[Venusy Accompanying music.(original)]

Since this has been popping up in a few places (and would be likely to pop up in a few more), I thought it might be a good idea to consolidate everything into one new thread.



9th Nov Edit: Here's a list of Ponygoons to add to your game!
https://skydrive.live.com/redir?page=vi ... k2L40ZxLC8

15th Nov Edit: And here's various lists of things to minmax your store assignments depending on what you need, along with allowing you to see what everything costs, and marvel at what little chance you ever have of unlocking Princess Celestia without paying. Thanks to Kamek for this!
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc ... 3UkE#gid=5

29th Jan Edit: Dupe exploit found by Grim! (Does not work with H&HD update, so don't update if you can).

25th Oct Edit:

Click here to view video.

Some gameplay.

Win awesome prizes like Princess Celestia!

15th Oct Edit: Gameplay demo (thanks to Pineapple):

Click here to view video.

Developer: Gameloft
Platforms: iOS, Android
Price: Free - in-app purchases for coin and gem packs.
Release Date: Out Now! (iOS App Store/Google Play for Android)



Story Summary: Something bad has probably happened, and it's up to Twilight Sparkle (and once you buy them, her friends) to rebuild Ponyville!
I don't think this hasn't actually been confirmed yet, but it's the story to every single one of these kind of village builders set in a place that should have an existing town.
8th November Edit: Actual story: Nightmare Moon has returned... somehow, capturing all the ponies. Luckily, Twilight Sparkle managed to escape! Find the Elements of Harmony!

Gameplay Summary: It's a freemium village building game, and will likely be very similar to Gameloft's other freemium village building games. You will probably start with a certain amount of coins and gems. Coins will likely be used to purchase buildings (and new ponies), which will then give a consistent allowance of coins and XP from then on. Gems will likely be used to purchase certain other buildings/ponies, along with instantly completing tasks. However, they will probably be much harder to collect, only being awarded on interaction with an infrequently appearing gameplay element (such as Spike running around with them), or by gambling them in minigames. Of course, if you run out of either, you can always buy more with real cash!


(thanks to Hollow in the toy thread for the second screenshot)

Currently known minigames include a flying one (which, similar to the minigame in Adventures in Ponyville on the Hub website, gives earth ponies and unicorns wings), and one involving bouncing a ball (don't know if there are any shots of this).
15th Oct Edit: Four at launch, catching apples, bouncing a ball, racing through clouds, and connect the dots.


(Again, thanks to Hollow for this)

Other Information: As shown above, the game will give official names to background ponies. Which I am sure will go completely well when it comes to Derpy! It uses 3D models instead of sprites (understandable given the number of ponies and the isometric perspective), and uses the fan made Celestia Medium Redux font instead of the official Generation B (compare text above with the real thing, though imagine it with the "i" working properly).

[Grimhi]

Gameloft, huh?

They sure do work on a lot of games I would never dare to try.

e: Forgot the obligatory "FREEMIUM?! THIS GAME WAS RUINED BEFORE IT STARTED! "

[UnintelGenWant it? Need it? Know what "it" is?Vote in the workshop now!Y'know... If you want to.]

Well, it doesn't look too bad. I don't have an I-device or anything, so I won't be getting this. So far I really like the visual design and what they've done to make Ponyville look 3D (Outside of that shot of Twilight with wings, looks off) and FINALLY some official 3D models. I have no idea if people rip models from apps (I imagine some do/can) but I want rips pretty bad. Even if they are pretty low poly- I wanna see them.


Also I laugh at the idea Twi has to buy friends.

[Poor Yorick]

Rebuilding Ponyville? Does that mean I can troll Rarity by building Sweet Apple Acres next to her boutique?

[drunkill]

I'll totally grab it on android (hopefully samsung galaxy s3 is supported, I presume it will be) and try it out, won't be paying cashmonies for it though, I know the road that leads towards...

Edit: gameloft blogpost with another image of the townbuilder:
http://blog.gameloft.com/index.php/2012 ... ponyville/

[RobotzorThere's no meat in these, just more corndogs]

Rebuilding Ponyville? Does that mean I can troll Rarity by building Sweet Apple Acres next to her boutique?

Everything changed when the calamity happened.

[AppleCobbler44Yeah, what she said]

Not sure whether to buy it or not (then again, all i use my iPhone for is jotting down notes for my reviews and fanfic ideas, listening to music, and photos.)

I'd rather have a Windows Sim game BUT the iOs's and mobile devices have a grip on these kinds of games and tactical games, sadly. (Wish there were more games like XCOM on Windows).

I wish Firaxis (Civillization) was given the job for this (and not EA because of $$$ like in their Sims games).

But the town looks great. The close up models... not so great. I'm sure if this was given to some other bigger company, they'd probably manage to replicate the show's look on a video game. South Park and the Stick of whatever, the Simpsons Movie, and other games show that they can come quite close to the actual source.

EDIT: Wait... is that, Jesus? Am I reading it right? I guess it's suppose to be like, Hesus in Spanish but still... I'm irked to know there's a background pony with a name spelt, Jesus Kinda like how most characters don't have real names like Peter, Julia, Sam, and etc.

[AramekYour MRI results have shown total infection to now be approximately one fifth of the full mass of the tissue."So you're saying..."Your brain is about 20% tumor.]

HAY-Zoos.
You know! Like the food they eat!

[Ashenai You're dorkin' up the skies, Twilight Sparkle.]

EDIT: Wait... is that, Jesus? Am I reading it right? I guess it's suppose to be like, Hesus in Spanish but still... I'm irked to know there's a background pony with a name spelt, Jesus Kinda like how most characters don't have real names like Peter, Julia, Sam, and etc.

That character is from the Big Lebowski parody in Cutie Pox, and that pony is based on a character from the movie called Jesús Quintana!

[EquestriaGuySelf-requested.]

Fillies, dude......

[Wayoshi]

It honestly looks like one of those crappy FB games. And I'm never on FB.

[Venusy Accompanying music.(original)]

Well, it doesn't look too bad. I don't have an I-device or anything, so I won't be getting this. So far I really like the visual design and what they've done to make Ponyville look 3D (Outside of that shot of Twilight with wings, looks off) and FINALLY some official 3D models. I have no idea if people rip models from apps (I imagine some do/can) but I want rips pretty bad. Even if they are pretty low poly- I wanna see them.

I don't know about mobile model ripping either, but I'm sure someone will find a way.

Rebuilding Ponyville? Does that mean I can troll Rarity by building Sweet Apple Acres next to her boutique?

Well, in the first screenshot, they're already trolling Applejack by putting the barn in the centre of town and probably nowhere near the orchard, so yes! There might be some sort of happiness mechanic to try and prevent that though, but it'll probably just limit bonus cash a bit.

Not sure whether to buy it or not (then again, all i use my iPhone for is jotting down notes for my reviews and fanfic ideas, listening to music, and photos.)

Good news - it's free(mium)!

I wish Firaxis (Civillization) was given the job for this (and not EA because of $$$ like in their Sims games).

I might be misreading your comment, but this isn't EA. What EA did do is Monopoly Hotels, which is also freemium, and also features ponies, but is by far the most exploitative of these games I've ever seen. (How strange that a game based on a game about capitalism should provide such an example of greed! )

But the town looks great. The close up models... not so great. I'm sure if this was given to some other bigger company, they'd probably manage to replicate the show's look on a video game. South Park and the Stick of whatever, the Simpsons Movie, and other games show that they can come quite close to the actual source.

I'm sure there will be a bigger budget game later (presumably by someone else), but I think it's a matter of costs more than size of the company. I know THQ needs to sell a pretty ridiculous amount of copies of South Park: The Stick of Truth to break even on it, while Gameloft is so cheap that they aren't even using the official font (although thinking about it, most of the merchandise omits the "Friendship is Magic" part of the logo, and the comic covers have it in a very different font. Maybe Generation B's licensing terms are really restrictive?).

EDIT: Wait... is that, Jesus? Am I reading it right? I guess it's suppose to be like, Hesus in Spanish but still... I'm irked to know there's a background pony with a name spelt, Jesus Kinda like how most characters don't have real names like Peter, Julia, Sam, and etc.

I do have to wonder if they've just gone down the list of fan names for background ponies, resulting in massive legal trouble later. Still, I could conceivably see a racehorse owner naming their horses with Big Lebowski-themed horse puns.

It honestly looks like one of those crappy FB games. And I'm never on FB.

These village building games do have a tendency to look pretty similar. Largely because they are pretty similar. I'm definitely more interested in it in terms of content rather than general gameplay.

[Pocketis she just gonna go booty booty]

I'm sure there will be a bigger budget game later (presumably by someone else), but I think it's a matter of costs more than size of the company. I know THQ needs to sell a pretty ridiculous amount of copies of South Park: The Stick of Truth to break even on it, while Gameloft is so cheap that they aren't even using the official font (although thinking about it, most of the merchandise omits the "Friendship is Magic" part of the logo, and the comic covers have it in a very different font. Maybe Generation B's licensing terms are really restrictive?).

From the Font Bros. website: "By default, our license agreement does not allow you to embed the fonts, outlines from the font, or rasterized images created using the font in to any software including Apps without a license upgrade. We also understand most App developers are individuals and have priced our fonts for mobile Apps reasonably!"

So, probably Gameloft are just shameless cheapasses.

[Pineapplebecause I do not]

Ok, i got a short video of the head of gameloft PR demoing the game and answering a few questions. I also got her card for Fenster, and a physical game from a fan developer from same.

[AppleCobbler44Yeah, what she said]

What I meant was if they gave the MLP franschise to a big company, I would never give it to EA since they exploit content by placing prices on additional content that's usually cut from the original game.

[drunkill]

Everyone does that. It's called DLC.

[Lazy]

Everyone does that. It's called DLC.

The name and popularity doesn't make it alright. Sometimes it's good, but on-disc DLC is never okay.
That's not particularly relevant, though, since this seems to be your freemium type of model-free to play with a grind for items that you can pay to bypass.
Usually not exclusive content to people who pay that way, just faster rewards.

Ok, i got a short video of the head of gameloft PR demoing the game and answering a few questions. I also got her card for Fenster, and a physical game from a fan developer from same.

Is this something you can show/talk about?

[Pineapplebecause I do not]

It's something you should see very soon. Also the PR Manager for Gameloft knows the name "Round Stable" now.

The physical game is Changeling Challenge which I will be glad to forward on to fenster if he wants to see it, otherwise I'll do a little review myself because it's just completely charming. The TwiGun is a little bit awkward because of being a modified nerf gun and not something custom manufactured, but pretty much everything in the box is hand made with original art. C-Quel is also working on a pony themed board game but didn't have time to tell me much about it.

[Ashenai You're dorkin' up the skies, Twilight Sparkle.]

The physical game is Changeling Challenge which I will be glad to forward on to fenster if he wants to see it, otherwise I'll do a little review myself because it's just completely charming. The TwiGun is a little bit awkward because of being a modified nerf gun and not something custom manufactured, but pretty much everything in the box is hand made with original art.

My god look at that thing, it's adorable

[Pineapplebecause I do not]

http://youtu.be/BsJZB4-I6Lg

I held the camera as still as I could but it's still a bit shaky, this was completely impromptu or I would have brought my tripod. She started showing me the game and I just whipped out the camera and made her start over.

[Wayoshi]

OK, this is looking better than I thought. My YT comment:

Haha play catch with the CMC because they will be talented at it since it is a computer program
1:15 - the 3D head-on angle looks... blocky? I dunno.
EqD is probably going to make this a post, hopefully they credit properly.
Oh hello Jeff Lebrowski etc., how u doin'. ...Magnum? Who?

[AppleCobbler44Yeah, what she said]

Volleyball...?

Eh, at least it's free (unless you're spoiled and blow money away like a doofus). Until then, I'll be trying to keep my eye on those goddamn changelings from stabbing me in the back.



*Looks at Kathleen Barr's track record with VA characters, 99% of which are villains*... eh... sorry, I prefer to work alone

[HollowThis place needs a miracle.]

For Derpy, the Gameloft presenter told me she "can't say the D word" so she's definitely not being named Derpy officially.

She told me "there will be muffins" though, whatever that may mean.

[CorpusCavernosum]

Fillies, dude......

MOD EDIT: Don't say that.

[Venusy Accompanying music.(original)]

1:15 - the 3D head-on angle looks... blocky? I dunno.

Yeah, it looks like they've optimized it for certain angles, so something weird goes on when you see them turn.

EqD is probably going to make this a post, hopefully they credit properly.

It doesn't matter now if they don't thanks to the video intro.

...Magnum? Who?

Rarity's dad. And from checking, that is his fan name, so yeah, it's fairly likely they just copied from the list.

[AppleCobbler44Yeah, what she said]

Mind if I ask: What's the dislike with EqD?

Is it that they don't always credit people all the time? Are the submission rules too strict/elitist?

There also seems to sense that EqD people are... unpleasant?

[GravensteinSHINE THAT LAMP ON THIS SAD, SAD MAN]

They don't seem to have any quality control standards, don't verify news stories, often take large chunks of articles from other sites without giving credit, and HAVE PORNOGRAPHERS AS FEATURED ARTISTS.

[ComradeCosmobot]

^^^ And that.

Mind if I ask: What's the dislike with EqD?

Is it that they don't always credit people all the time? Are the submission rules too strict/elitist?

There also seems to sense that EqD people are... unpleasant?

There are a number of reasons people on this forum do not like EqD:

• EqD is very personality driven. This usually means that you have to be on good terms with at least one member of the staff (or be a VIP) in order to actually get your stuff (be it news or fancontent) posted in a timely manner.
• There's not a lot of quality control on their posts, so it's hard to take their content seriously. The number of times I've visited the site and seen either a post that has no substantive content or is a fanfic that masquerades as a serious article (tagged with "not-fanfiction", to boot), or both at the same time, are too many to count.
• It's easy to get "blackballed" if you play with the wrong crowds. Whether it's due to his affiliation with Ponygoons or not is up for debate, but KefkaFloyd has lost track of the number of times he's submitted artwork to EqD and then never seen it posted (this despite being an artist on WLF and being a modestly popular artist selling posters at cons in his own right). Another recent example is the "Hastily Made Ponyville Tourism Video", which only managed to be posted on EqD several days after it was submitted, and only after nearly a half-dozen others submitted it.
• They do not cite sources consistently, and often don't cite them at all. I don't think they've properly cited The Round Stable once over the past few months. In all of the past instances that they have given credit to Ponygoons as a site at all, they have either cited "Ponygoons" or (more bizarrely) "MLPonies". More often, they will simply cite the username of the poster, rather than the site, and in many of these cases, they've gotten the username of the poster wrong. This pattern of behavior is so frequent and predictable that it appears to be all but deliberate on their part.
• We also know that they've (directly or indirectly) directly rehosted content from Ponygoons or The Round Stable without asking permission. Although this has been going on for as long as Ponygoons has had exclusive content (dating all the way back to when HH interviewed Jayson at the first Bronycon), the most recent example of this was the "S3 in November" e-mail, in which they demonstrably used the image and e-mail link that were originally posted on TRS. (Although to be fair they may have been copy-pasted in an e-mail. It is difficult to prove.)

Fake Edit: Better reformatting, so that I can direct people to this post in the future.

[UnintelGenWant it? Need it? Know what "it" is?Vote in the workshop now!Y'know... If you want to.]

Fake edit: What ^^^ and ^^^^ said

Mind if I ask: What's the dislike with EqD?

Is it that they don't always credit people all the time? Are the submission rules too strict/elitist?

There also seems to sense that EqD people are... unpleasant?

There are some general reasons EqD gets a bad rap- I'd go into detail, but I don't want a ban or anything for fanning the flames but know:

~They don't cite sources and are completely unorganized

~Some members (As well as the website itself) have shaky and traceable pasts that are generally unpleasant and can't be brought up in polite company.

~They perpetuate and fuel a lot of the problems with the fans- and seem to care more about the fans and themselves over simply liking a cartoon. A lot of the "We've taken a show for little girls" or "This is our manly show" attitudes stems from there. (But not entirely)

Now that I've seen that video, I'm even more excited for it. Seriously, while it'll just be another generic city builder with some minigames slapped on, it looks to have some polish and quality to it as well. The mention that nothing HAS to be bought is also a nice surprise (That is, if they aren't lying- which is possible)

When it comes to 2D characters being rendered in 3D, there'll will always be hiccups- I overall like what they've done to alleviate this problem. It will probably never go away, but I am hopeful one day we will have the technology to render 3D characters with all the limitations and aesthetics that are grounded by 2D animation. I'm sick of just sticking cel-shading on everything and calling it a day.

[CorpusCavernosum]

^^^ And that.



EqD is very personality driven. There's not a lot of quality control on their posts (so it's hard to take their content seriously), they've effectively blackballed certain members of the community (by effectively favoring other content and "forgetting" to post content by certain artists (especially members of the Ponygoons community. Kefka hasn't had a single artwork posted in ages, and the recent "Ponyville Tourism Video" only made it up about four days after it was posted, and it took over a half-dozen people e-mailing it to EqD to get recognition)), and, finally, they have done a very very poor job of properly citing sources.

I don't think they've properly cited The Round Stable once over the past few months. They either cite Ponygoons (or "MLPonies") directly (rather than using The Round Stable name), or they misspell the poster's name, or some other similar form of misrepresentation, so often that it appears to be all but deliberate on their part. We also know that they've (directly or indirectly) used content that was first posted on The Round Stable without even citing the source (most recently, the "November" e-mail for S3, where they not only lifted the image we posted, but the e-mail link as well)

What do you expect from a bunch of dumbass college community college kids? I'm a journalist; people who don't cite their sources anger me (unless said sources have requested anonymity).

[AppleCobbler44Yeah, what she said]

and HAVE PORNOGRAPHERS AS FEATURED ARTISTS.

Eh... not going to defend r34 or what people's fantasies are (but I will say: As long as their fantasies don't physically harm any one else, then fine and keep it to yourself but I can see it hurting the 'reputation' of the fandom). However, some do draw some very well done safe artwork. One of them (wont name him/her cuz... is it wrong to post?) draws one of the best humanized ponies.

Personally, the 'best' solution (but unlikely cuz the world is just unfair) where both sides kinda win is if the pornographers just go by a different aliases to keep their safe 4 work and NSFW apart from one another on the same account. Maybe I'm just too tolerant of people and their private lives

EDIT: But I do strongly agree about the egotistic adminstrators. They push too hard and sometimes approves of forcing MLP onto other things (which also is why the fandom gets a bad rep)

[Venusy Accompanying music.(original)]

The mention that nothing HAS to be bought is also a nice surprise (That is, if they aren't lying- which is possible)

Technically, nothing HAS to be bought in Monopoly Hotels either - it just requires rolling snake eyes on loaded dice as part of an already infrequent random event hundreds and hundreds of times! I don't expect this to be anywhere near as bad though, as you can likely just grind whatever the most exploitable minigame is for gems.

[TailspinQueen of the skies]

This looks real cute. There are a few weird moments, because the ponies are 3D models (if I'm seeing it correctly), like when Sweetie Bell turns toward the player, but overall doesn't seem bad at all.

[dilettantewait what]

Oh geez, looking at this, I get all excited because pony game! But looking at something that sounds basically like the ponified version of Farmville sounds really...off-putting. The minigames sound cool and all, but as with so many games that are free-mium, it sounds like the upgrades will either take forever to unlock or you can just give in and buy the stuff. Seeing ponies in a game? Cool. Yeah, that's pretty good. But I've never found these kinds of games enjoyable, and I'm the kind of person that loves mindless time-wasters.

In summation...eh.

[TailspinQueen of the skies]

I've never played Farmville or any similar games, so pretty much this is the first time I've had contact with this type of freemium game. But I don't have a tablet so I'm not going to play it anyway.

[Pineapplebecause I do not]

Personally, the 'best' solution (but unlikely cuz the world is just unfair) where both sides kinda win is if the pornographers just go by a different aliases to keep their safe 4 work and NSFW apart from one another on the same account. Maybe I'm just too tolerant of people and their private lives

That's the real issue, they have their "adult" work on their tumblr or dA, sometimes not even tagged, alongside the mostly clean stuff that's being linked to. For better or worse EQD is the face of the fandom, and it's not safe to let your kid read.

[Pineapplebecause I do not]

Yeah I'm sure it won't run on my Android phone (I can't even run Angry Birds at full speed) so I'm not gonna be able to play it either.

[Grimhi]

"Not good enough to be bought with gems, am I?"

The minigames sound cool and all, but as with so many games that are free-mium, it sounds like the upgrades will either take forever to unlock or you can just give in and buy the stuff.

That's basically the only way most freemium devs know how to stay in business right now. Create leveling-up or expanding tasks that take a very long time, then offer to shorten that time for money.

I think I already talked about freemium/F2P games enough in another thread. I just hold out hope that we're only in the crude beginnings of what can shape up to be the better way to distribute games.

[Hyper!!!I had two avatars, but the admins were able to do something about it...]

Are the submission rules too strict/elitist?

It is more like "HOLY SHIT A FANWORK FOR FO:E POSTED? MOST OF US ADMIT TO NOT EVEN READING THAT FIC!!! POST POST POST!!!"

I wish I had a smart phone, probably won't get to play it.

[kefkafloyd]

Enough kvetching. Talk about the game.