Hero Academy (iOS) Players

[bishop]

The appearance of game balance is often more important to the casual player than balance itself. Nobody wants to play an unfair game. The economic model F2P games has unfortunately exacerbated this problem. If a player thinks Zerg, Chun Li, Shang, etc are too strong, they can just switch to the "overpowered" characters. People often find their impressions were exaggerated or even flat out wrong. There is no such opportunity for discovery in a heads-up, competitive F2P game.

To make matters worse, there is no ranking system in Hero Academy. Newer players are randomly assigned opponents who have hundreds of games of experience. Whatever race the experienced player is playing will appear to be grossly imbalanced. Now factor in the casual player's view that his opponent paid for this race... How many people followed ElGuapo's gameplay trajectory? Play a few games, get slaughtered in a game that feels unfair, give up and move on to the next of a thousand possible games.

[slantz]

For what it's worth, I always play random, but if I had to chooes the race that gives me the best chance of winning (with my play style anyway), I'd choose the Council -- the starting free race.

The balance at times has admittedly been off. (The Council started off a bit too strong, and Elves and Dwarves started off too weak). But the game feels pretty darned balanced these days.

I'm surprised to hear anyone say the Tribe feels too strong. I've had a hard time winning with them. I thought they sounded super strong on paper, but in reality I have a hard time getting good mileage out of them.

[slantz]

Looks like Hero Academy got an update today that adds a tutorial mode and some single player challenges. Haven't tried it out yet though.

[LMN8R]

The challenges are pretty neat

[Xemu]

BTW all the challenges are free, and there's a set for each team - which you can play regardless of whether you own the team. So you can use them to check out a team you don't own, see if you like them (or just learn to play against).

[Dave Perkins]

Smart marketing!

[Telefrog]

Coming to Steam.

Cross-Platform Multiplayer Gaming – Challenge friends on Steam or iOS to asynchronous one-on-one battles via online multiplayer. Play a heated bout in twenty minutes or across a full day, whenever you have a few moments. Play all of your Hero Academy matches at your desk, on your iPad, or on the go with your iPhone!

Exclusive TF2 team – The Steam version of Hero Academy includes the Council starter team and an exclusive new team featuring characters, upgrades, and abilities from Team Fortress 2! You can only unlock this team via Steam, but once unlocked you can use them anywhere that you play Hero Academy.

Team Fortress 2 unlockable items – Each expansion team purchased in Hero Academy on Steam will unlock a unique cosmetic item in Team Fortress 2.

[Teiman]

:-O

brilliant

[LMN8R]

Just when I thought my love for Robot Entertainment couldn't grow stronger....

[dannimal]

Is this the first (or one of) instance of iOS/Steam crossover multiplayer? If so, it is both brilliant and about damn time.

[DennyA]

I will be buying this again. :)

[DeForrestation]

Holy whoa. Time to front page this app again.

[bishop]

I wish the challenges had a bit more depth. It would be nice to play multi-turn positions, which would allow exciting scenarios like kamikaze crystal rushes or defending said rushes. Though this would either require a limited AI, or force some poor QA guy to script all possible permutations.

[amandachen]

Hopefully it's out on steam later today (ignore the bit on the steam page that says August 16th).

[Xemu]

We are now live on Steam!! http://store.steampowered.com/app/209270/

[Cold Blooded]

We are now live on Steam!! http://store.steampowered.com/app/209270/

Excellent news. Purchased forthwith.

[LMN8R]

If I've already been playing Hero Academy on iOS and have a lot of teams unlocked, can I use that existing account for the Steam version?

The prices for the extra armies seem high on PC. On iOS they're just $1-3 each, but on Steam it looks like they're $5 each? That's kinda crazy, especially since the base game itself isn't free like the iOS version

[Xemu]

Yep, anything you've bought on iOS carries over to Steam (and vice versa).

The stuff you can buy is grouped up a bit differently on Steam - A team pack on Steam contains the team itself, avatars, and the linked TF2 item.

[roBurky]

You really should shout about the linked cross-platform accounts, Xemu, as its a brilliant feature, and one that we're really not trained to expect from ports.

I bought it a few hours ago, and have already started up a few games with the TF2 gang. Holy crap, the heavy's a bit scary.

[LMN8R]

Oh Dear.

https://twitter.com/Jonathan_Blow/st...47709295534080
https://twitter.com/Jonathan_Blow/st...48089563693056

Mr. Blow: Please stop being so arbitrarily stubborn.

[Chaplin]

Yep, anything you've bought on iOS carries over to Steam (and vice versa).

The stuff you can buy is grouped up a bit differently on Steam - A team pack on Steam contains the team itself, avatars, and the linked TF2 item.

How does this work? Is the steam product tied to my steam account or once I purchase it will ask me to either create or point to my iOS account?

[lokiju]

I was so excited for this on iOS until I found out there's really no single player (which is fine, to each their own). Then I almost purchased it on Steam since it states there is SP on the front page...only to find out it's the same challenges, and not normal game mode. I wish developers wouldn't advertise a single player experience unless the full game can be played against an AI.

[Chaplin]

I was so excited for this on iOS until I found out there's really no single player (which is fine, to each their own). Then I almost purchased it on Steam since it states there is SP on the front page...only to find out it's the same challenges, and not normal game mode. I wish developers wouldn't advertise a single player experience unless the full game can be played against an AI.

Agree.

I am hoping with an influx of steam players, the chances of playing a game in a reasonable time has gone up. Somehow this gaming generation of iOS has turned into snail mail driven chess games from a century ago. I hates it so.

Otherwise with slow turns and no AI, I am still left with a game I really WANT to play, but no satisfying way to play it.

[roBurky]

How does this work? Is the steam product tied to my steam account or once I purchase it will ask me to either create or point to my iOS account?

I found this, which is what led me to buy it:
http://forums.steampowered.com/forum...php?p=32217005

5. I play Hero Academy on my iPhone and I never enter a password there; what should I use to login from Steam?

A. The easiest thing to do is to set a password from your iOS device (under Settings), and then use it to log in to Hero Academy on Steam. If you don’t have your device, or just don’t want to mess around with it, you can also just request a password reset on the Hero Academy Steam login page.

You have a Hero Academy account, which is the email you use on your iThing. You add a password to your account in the settings in iOS Hero Academy, then you can enter your Hero Academy email and password on Steam when you play it for the first time.

[bishop]

Lack of true single player is holding the game back. Asynchronous mp only is just a tremendous barrier to entry for a new player. Though admittedly developing a half-way passable AI would require a significant amount of development resources. I'm fairly certain a half-way passable AI would quickly pay for itself (easy statement to make when I'm not the one funding the projects)

Hero Academy is a great simple strategy game with lots of polish and character. It's a shame it hasn't gotten the recognition, or place on the app sales charts, it deserves.

[Funkula]

I've been losing interest in the game for the last month or so, but the TF2 update really revitalizes the game. They play radically differently from every other faction, and I think they're the most complicated faction yet. I kind of question making them a default unlock on that basis, as I wonder if new players will struggle with the difficulty curve.

[Lykurgos]

Thanks to the PC version and Steam, I'm in. Please add Lykurgos to the players list

Would anyone like a game against a hopeless newbie? Challenge me please or ask me to challenge you.

FYI I have the game only via Steam, not iOS, so my turnaround will be limited to non-working hours! :)

[DennyA]

All my games have died out (:cough: slantz :cough:), so I'm very open to more games. DennyA.

[Jason Lutes]

I've just started dabbling myself, now that it's on Steam. Player name jlutes. Lykurgos, we have a match going right now!

[Lykurgos]

All my games have died out (:cough: slantz :cough:), so I'm very open to more games. DennyA.

Challenged!

I've just started dabbling myself, now that it's on Steam. Player name jlutes. Lykurgos, we have a match going right now!

Accepted!

Hey, is this like chess where a dufus can lose in the first turn by making a ham-fisted move? If so, I hope I haven't given myself away yet :)