MORE ON NGMOCO’S IPHONE FPS LIVEFIRE AND IN-GAME BUYING POWER
Following yesterday’s big Apple conference reveal, ngmoco have returned home with a more detailed look at their plans for the iPhone 3.0’s new in-game purchases, push notifications, and multiplayer options.
On their newly announced online multiplayer shooter LiveFire, which (as I expected) will use a refined version of DropShip‘s faux-dual-analog controls “for simultaneous movement, look/aim, crosshair zoom and jump (using shake),” ‘ngmofo’ Chris explains its Xbox-Live-esque push invites:
Say I’m in a multiplayer match getting handled by some highly-skilled players from somewhere in the world and I really wish one of my friends was in there helping me out Just open your friends list (this functionality is enabled by ngmoco’s networking platform that ships in TouchPets) from within the game, tap on a friend’s badge and the game sends them a call for help via push notification. When your friend accepts the invite the game launches automatically and you can fight alongside a buddy instead of a stranger.
He also headed off complaints about purchasing power beating out player skill, with the more monetarily endowed being able to buy stronger weapons and dominate the game (and echoed the same sentiments for Stumptown Game Machine’s pet sim Touch Pets Dogs):
The design direction is to allow players to earn credits within the game that can be used to redeem upgrades in the form of new weapons, armor and other gear to modify their capabilities in combat. The more you play and the greater your skill, the more credits you will earn relative to players who rarely play — not unlike an EXP system. So it’s fair to assume that dedicated players will have some pretty awesome gear earned during the course of playing…
Take comfort in knowing that you will be able to earn enough credits through normal gameplay to buy that rocket launcher in-game without paying extra for it… We will probably end up with traditional expansion packs for LiveFire as well as individual player upgrades you can purchase from iTunes instead of earning them all through gameplay achievement. But we’ll definitely allow players to have a meaningful, balanced and fun gaming experience directly after download from the app store. We’ll closely consider each decision related to In-app Commerce to ensure we’re doing the right thing for the game.
You can see Apple’s entire presentation streaming here, with ngmoco’s contributions coming about 50 minutes in.
Commerce, SDK 3 and more in LiveFire and Touch Pets Dogs [gamemakers @ ngmoco:)]
Previously:
iPhone 3.0: ngmoco show off new FPS, Touch Pets Dogs microtransactions – Offworld
Ngmoco: Rolando sequel coming, Touch Pets Dogs announced – Offworld
Touch me I'm slick: ngmoco/Hand Circus's Rolando – Offworld
Ngmoco tease spherical 3D tower defense iPhone game Star Defense …
ngmoco shows off iPhone's Dr. Awesome, Dropship – Offworld
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