First iPad campaign ended due to events beyond my control.

[Parkingtigers]

Had posted this today on the TouchArcade thread for this game, but realised it would be easier seen here so crossposting.


I bought this today, and the update has fixed a lot of the biggest UI issues mentioned on TA and Pocket Tactics, so it's definitely worth buying now.

That said, there are still some lingering rough edges. Two things in particular stood out during my first crack at the campaign.

1/ At the start of a turn, the UI pops up with all the available commands for the chariot. The trouble with this, is that the commands lay over the top of any nearby chariots. In a tight race, jostling for position, tapping around on the opponents to check the condition of their horses is very useful to highlight the greatest danger. With the commands being an immovable overlay, this means you sometimes are prevented from doing this, and at the time you most need to do so.

Proposed solution: tapping on my own chariot to hide the commands UI, so that I could inspect the rivals and then select my own auriga to bring the UI back up.

2/ I played a solid 3 hours, utterly addicted to trying to get my Syrian legionaries up to snuff in Caesarea. Had some epic races, and had about 13k denari in the bank and two promising aurigas. My best man flipped his chariot and was being dragged, and died seconds later before I even had the option to try and escape to the stands. I'd never lost a man before, and the game offered the option to save him by paying 13.5k denari (presumably for the best medical care available in Syria). I knew it would just about wipe out my bankroll, but figured the investment in the auriga's skills outweighed the expense so I pressed the button to accept it.

The very instant I pressed the button, I went to the "Vae Victus" game over screen. Wtf? Apparently I didn't have enough money to support my team and so it was the end of the line. This was ridiculous for several reasons. First, I wouldn't have tried to save my top dude if I had known that this could happen. Second, I shouldn't have been offered the option to press a button (with no way of checking my current balance) that would result in an instant game over. Third, I still had men and horses that I could have sold to keep my team running, but had no option to even visit the management screen to do so.

Three hours of play, clawing my way into the ancient racing scene while learning how to drive these chariots, having the best possible time and being thankful that I took the plunge on the game, then a game over right out of the blue that SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN POSSIBLE. It left a really bitter aftertaste to what had been a splendid afternoon's gaming.

Proposed solution:
The screen with an option to save a dead auriga should show the cost AND the current bankroll. It should NOT be possible to select it if funds are not available. And in all cases, there should be an option to sell assets to buy things/prevent bankruptcy. The game isn't over until I no longer have a single functioning chariot to put into the circus.

It's a great game, it honestly is fun as hell. But it needs some more polishing Slitherdudes. In addition to the above, I would also like to add in a request to be able to pan around during a turn. Yes I can zoom out a bit, and yes I can pan around between turns, but sometimes there is action happening offscreen during a move and I can't move the camera to watch the AI battling it out.

[Turnopia]

2/ I played a solid 3 hours, utterly addicted to trying to get my Syrian legionaries up to snuff in Caesarea. Had some epic races, and had about 13k denari in the bank and two promising aurigas. My best man flipped his chariot and was being dragged, and died seconds later before I even had the option to try and escape to the stands. I'd never lost a man before, and the game offered the option to save him by paying 13.5k denari (presumably for the best medical care available in Syria). I knew it would just about wipe out my bankroll, but figured the investment in the auriga's skills outweighed the expense so I pressed the button to accept it.

The very instant I pressed the button, I went to the "Vae Victus" game over screen. Wtf? Apparently I didn't have enough money to support my team and so it was the end of the line. This was ridiculous for several reasons. First, I wouldn't have tried to save my top dude if I had known that this could happen. Second, I shouldn't have been offered the option to press a button (with no way of checking my current balance) that would result in an instant game over. Third, I still had men and horses that I could have sold to keep my team running, but had no option to even visit the management screen to do so.

Three hours of play, clawing my way into the ancient racing scene while learning how to drive these chariots, having the best possible time and being thankful that I took the plunge on the game, then a game over right out of the blue that SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN POSSIBLE. It left a really bitter aftertaste to what had been a splendid afternoon's gaming.

That is an an unfortunate concatenation of two circumstances: when you saved your auriga at the end of the race I guess you really had enough money to save it, the defeat screen arises afterwards when the city scene is loaded and the game calculates that with your current team components and the possible purchases you could do with your current money (if any) you could not assemble a full functional team. However, I fully understand the bitterness.

[Herode_2]

That's not concatenation of circumstances but a matter of ergonomy.
The "save auriga" button should be displayed in the management screen until the beginning of the next race.
This would leave the player the opportunity to evaluate how relevant saving his auriga could be.