[SNEAK PEEK] Harbor Master from Imangi Studios

[nattylux]

*****
It's out!

Harbor Master - $0.99 (http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=313014213&mt=8)
*****


Hey guys,

We've been hard at work on our next game, and we think you're going to love it.

***

Imagine that you're the Harbor Master at a busy port in the Mediterranean.

Ships are coming and going and delivering cargo, and it's YOUR job to direct them in and out of their docks, and make sure they don't collide.


The town is depending on the delivered goods to grow and prosper. The more cargo you deliver, the more houses your town flourishes and grows. You are quite powerful around here!


If you grow your town enough, your fame will spread far and wide, and your services will be demanded in other port cities all over the world, all with their own geography and special challenges.



[Edit - June 4 - old screenshots removed]



Features:
- 3 types of boats. The speedboats are small and fast, but only deliver one load of cargo. The biggest boats are slow-moving, but deliver four loads of cargo.
- Unlockable level maps
- Global high scores
- Original soundtrack by yours truly :)

***

I've been playing nonstop for the past three days (I'm the current world leader! :)), and I think you guys will get addicted to Harbor Master too. We plan to submit at the end of May.

Videos, beta, and all sorts of other good stuff coming soon!

- Natalia


**** EDIT May 29 ****


That was then. This is now:


http://forums.toucharcade.com/picture.php?albumid=149&pictureid=859
http://forums.toucharcade.com/picture.php?albumid=149&pictureid=860
http://forums.toucharcade.com/picture.php?albumid=149&pictureid=861

**** EDIT June 4 ****

Check out the icon!

http://forums.toucharcade.com/picture.php?albumid=149&pictureid=889

[Wailord]

How does this differ from Flight Control? No offense, just wondering what would compel someone to get it if they already of FC.

[Ljohnson72]

Forgive me for sounding rude but this seems like a Flight Control copy? Will be interesting to see how it does when released.

[djcraze]

Just by looking, it seems Harbor Master rewards you for doing more dockings (By builting your town).. where as Flight Control is just landing planes.... Or so I think, I don't own Flight Control.. I just read the description on the App Store.

[inbrissy]

Even tho its similar to Flight Control, there is no reason there isn't room for more then one Flight Control Type app.

I think its a great idea. I like the look of it. Wouldn't mind seeing some of the town images and how it grows.

Good luck with the development.

[Macjames]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 2_2_1 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/525.18.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/3.1.1 Mobile/5H11 Safari/525.20)

Looks very interesting.

[nattylux]

We loved Flight Control, and it definitely inspired us. There are many twists to Harbor Master that make it a really cool and different game in its own right:

- You have to guide ships in and out of their docks. In Flight Control, when you land your planes, they disappear. In Harbor Master, when you dock a ship, it sits there for a few seconds unloading its cargo (the bigger the ship, the longer it takes to unload). You then need to guide it out in order to free up the dock for the next ship.

- Different types of ships are worth different point values. In flight control, all planes are the same. In Harbor Master, bigger ships carry 4 times as much cargo as the little ships. However, the bigger ships are slower. That makes you think about prioritizing - which ones do you want to dock first?

- Multiple unlockable level maps.

- Your town grows as you deliver more and more cargo.

[nattylux]

That was then. This is now:


http://forums.toucharcade.com/picture.php?albumid=149&pictureid=859
http://forums.toucharcade.com/picture.php?albumid=149&pictureid=860
http://forums.toucharcade.com/picture.php?albumid=149&pictureid=861


Better, no? Our artists are awesome. We've also just started the public beta, and people LOVE it. Would love any feedback you guys have!

[Bessamy]

Wow, I love the look of it. And it does sound interesting. I do so love Flight Control. Thanks for the preview!

[nattylux]

Glad you like it, Bessamy! Our beta testers are loving it as well, so I think this will be a great game when it comes out!

[diesel]

Assuming this game is .99 cents like flight control, you all need to stop your "what makes this different from flight control whining". It's .99 cents. If you liked FC, why not get another dollar game and continue to support a developer that gave you a great CHEAP first game.

[JBmoney13]

You know I really dislike this whole, "Its just like another game" comment, anyone who knows anything about video games knows that most games are inspired or even copies of another game within that genre. Look at fighting games, First Person shooters, Tower Defense games, 3rd person shooters, Side scrolling shooters, its all the same basic design with minor alterations. Consumers, you benefit from this because you have more options and it forces competition between the developers. And if you have an iPhone or iPod get used to having a lot of choices, for $0.99 or $1.99 you can't really complain.

If I see another, "its just like that other game" comment, I think I might go crazy. Its called Genre's people deal with it, people who are sick of drawing lines for planes can now draw lines for boats, for an additional $0.99 think of it as another level if it makes you happy. Judging the game after looking at 5 still pictures is just not right.

nattylux, you have my support for your efforts, the game looks polished and i know you added some great features to keep the game interesting. Great Job :D

[JBmoney13]

How does this differ from Flight Control? No offense, just wondering what would compel someone to get it if they already of FC.

Because it's a buck and it looks different, and people like different looks. Let me say that again in a different way, it's not very expensive and its fun to play.

Oh and you should want to support a developer who cares and takes his time to join a forum and listen to what you have to say.

And you've played Flight Control so many times and you know you'll never get passed 100 so give it up, and try something new, maybe boats is your thing.

[Pelorus]

How does this differ from Flight Control? No offense, just wondering what would compel someone to get it if they already of FC.

Flight Control wasn't the first game of it's type so why buy it, etc.

This game looks cool and I think the guys developing it have put a pretty good slant on it.

[nattylux]

Wow guys, thanks so much for the support!

And I agree with everything you all are saying.

Flight Control is a GREAT game. It was definitely an inspiration. But we added so many twists in Harbor Master that it's really a different game of the same genre. You can have both Flight Control and Harbor Master on your phone and enjoy either one depending on what you're in the mood for.

Given what our beta testers are saying, I can promise you this: if you liked Flight Control, you will like Harbor Master. That's almost a guarantee. But here's another interesting observation. Many people who did NOT like Flight Control actually like Harbor Master - a lot. There is enough variation to keep them coming back.

And just overall, our beta testers are LOVING Harbor Master. Everyone is addicted. Our testers have played over 1000 games in the past 2 days alone. So... it's pretty addictive :)

I think you guys are going to love it! And thanks again for the support :)

[hefeglass]

no way...Flight control was inspiration?
i would have never guessed it...because this games looks so unbelievably orignal!

ok..i read a little more..there are couple new aspects..i suppose

[nattylux]

no way...Flight control was inspiration?
i would have never guessed it...because this games looks so unbelievably orignal!

ok..i read a little more..there are couple new aspects..i suppose

Haha - alright, alright, I get it ;)

Side note - we've released three other 100% original critically-acclaimed games. Nothing else like them out there. Feel free to check them out if you're craving something totally different:

Imangi (http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=284899739&mt=8)
Imangi Word Squares (http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=292698925&mt=8)
Little Red Sled (http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=305514350&mt=8)

[ceuyan]

I'd buy this game even tho this looks like a mash up of flight control and vipValet. I'm addicted to time/timing management games.

[nattylux]

I'd buy this game even tho this looks like a mash up of flight control and vipValet. I'm addicted to time/timing management games.

Ooh - I haven't tried vipValet myself, will need to check it out. I also love time management games :)

[nattylux]

Check it out - we have an icon!

Sleek, eh?

http://forums.toucharcade.com/picture.php?albumid=149&pictureid=889

[nattylux]

Check it out - just posted the trailer video!

Harbor Master Trailer (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pyDuM_fZoDE&fmt=22)

[Bessamy]

Looking forward to this game! =)

[hazza.jockel]

Looks good. Ill defiantly buy it when it comes out and i get some iTunes store credit.

To those that are saying that it looks like flight control:
There were about 1000 different fart apps in the app store and they seemed to do well so I'm sure these 2 games will do fine together.



To the OP: One thing i don't like about flight control is that once you have got a high score starting from the beginning is very boring so I hope you have come up with a way to solve this. Maybe add checkpoints?

[ImNoSuperMan]

Similar to flight control or not, the game looks good enough in the pics. Though I`d buy it only if the reviews are good enough.

[ctt1wbw]

This looks like fun. I worked at Port Operations at the Naval Base in Norfolk for a few years. I did stuff like this.

[nattylux]

Hurray! Harbor Master is finally out!

Harbor Master - App Store Link (http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=313014213&mt=8)

Just $0.99.

Get it, love it, post back impressions. Can't wait to hear what you think!

@ctt1wbw That is so cool that our game actually reminds you of your work at a port. I love it. Would love to hear what you think of the gameplay!

[ceuyan]

The game is beautiful, nattylux.

It is a good change up from Flight Control. Also adding the departing port was a nice change. It's like if Flight Control added take off to the game.

For those of you that think this is just another Flight Control you are right in some ways but think of Flight Control as Street Fighter I. Street Fighter I got fighting games on the map just like Flight Control. Now think of Harbor Master as Street Fighter II, where things are cleaned up and with added features. Street Fighter II added more characters to play and Harbor Master added whirl pools and departure.

mad props Imangi!!!!!

[nattylux]

Nice! So glad you like it, ceuyan.

What's your name on the high score list? I'll watch out for you.

[nattylux]

We passed 1 million cargo units shipped yesterday, 3 days after launch. Nice work, guys :)

What's everyone's favorite port?

[nattylux]

Hey guys,

Just want to let you know that we just submitted an update with a new port! In Cannon Beach, you need to defend your ships from the pirates!

Here's how it's going to work:

1. The pirates attack a ship
2. Steal the ship's cargo (if the ship is empty, they look around for 2 seconds to see that there's no cargo)
3. And then SINK the ship, which ends the game.

So you need to sink the pirates BEFORE they sink one of your ships. You do this by firing your cannon at them. It takes two shots to sink the pirate ship.

Here's a screenshot:

http://forums.toucharcade.com/picture.php?albumid=149&pictureid=1009

Hopefully it will get approved soon, and then you'll have a whole new port to play with :)

[peterb69]

I'm looking forward to the new port. This is a fun little game.

Presently, are there just 3 ports?

[nattylux]

Yes, there are 3 ports now. The fourth (Cannon Beach) has been submitted and should be out in about a week (pending approval).

We also are going to do semi-weekly updates for a while, adding a new port or cool feature with each update. So you're going to get a lot of ports for your 99c :)

[CylonGlitch]

My only suggestion, and this may sound petty, but what about a free version with one port?

[nattylux]

We just about to submit Update 2 of Harbor Master - Smugglers' Reef!

http://forums.toucharcade.com/picture.php?albumid=149&pictureid=1090

One very simple tweak that makes a huge difference in the gameplay: ships can carry multiple colors of cargo.

When a ship comes in with different cargo colors, you must unload one color at one dock, and then move the ship to the other dock to unload the remaining cargo. It's hectic and crazy and you have to be even better at prioritizing. If you love time management games, you'll really love this level!

We also added Twitter integration! If you play a particularly amazing game and want to tell the world about your score, you can choose to tweet it right after the game. Thanks to the very awesome Ian Marsh for helping us with the code, since he did Twitter integration so well in Scoops and Moon Drop.

We've also started working on Update 3 - the Very Special Episode. Will be submitting it within 2 weeks!

Hopefully Smugglers' Reef will be out in the store within a week, pending Apple's approval time.

And a huge thanks to all you guys for helping make Harbor Master such a huge success! We're going to keep working hard to bring you more awesome updates!

:D

[labman]

for Harbor Master I like it and enjoy it honestly I like it more the Flight Control I guess I'm a salty at heart! keep up the good work!

[nattylux]

Thanks, labman! We love the water ourselves - nice to meet a fellow salty :)

[Doju]

Now this is a great game, we know that, but the developer! Wow!

I bought the game just because of this developer. Comes to our forums, great personality, answers our questions, tons of free updates. Keep it up, I'm really impressed with not only the app, but the people behind it.

[nattylux]

Awww, thanks! And we didn't even pay you to say that! :D

If you're interested in learning more about us, check out the little video tour we did of our "offices" (AKA 1-bedroom apartment) :D

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=txyYgkq5zGo