Futurama app: Game of Drones

[on:]

Hi, guys! Long time no see. Sorry I went for a two-year hiatus.
There's a Futurama game app for Google Play! Here -> https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.wooga.futurama

[Reply #1 on:]

[Reply #2 on:]

Was excited for this, played a bit. Awful.

[Reply #3 on:]

How so?

[Reply #4 on:]

Just a Candy Crush clone. And Candy Crush is awful. Having Futurama characters slapped on didn't save this unfortunately.

[Reply #5 on:]

Thanks for the save.  I don't usually like puzzle games, and I definitely don't want to play Candy Crush Clone^TM.

[Reply #6 on:]

Having Futurama characters slapped on didn't save this unfortunately.

Gotta say, I think you're in the minority, here. The vast majority of the repsonses I've seen to the app have been pretty positive. They nailed the dialogue & the way the characters look, and the attention-to-detail in the 3D map screens (as well as the references to the show) is fantastic.

[Reply #7 on:]

Perhaps his opinion related with the fact that it's a candy crush clone.  Is that what the game actually is, and/or do you have further commentary on the gameplay Danny?

[Reply #8 on:]

I didn't play that far into it, but I did enjoy the 3D map you see the ship fly through between the levels or however that was. But the gameplay just isn't fun.

[Reply #9 on:]

Having never played or even seen Candy Crush, I thought Game of Drones looked fine.  It just didn't hook me in at all.

[Reply #10 on:]

Since Radiorama came out, that convinced me to give Worlds of Tomorrow another try. While waiting endlessly for things to regenerate and replenish in that free-to-play mobile game, I decided to try waiting endlessly for things to regenerate and replenish in this free-to-play mobile game.

The game is pretty fun. If you've played Candy Crush, you know what to expect. The power-ups and boosters seem a bit unique, but not game-changing.

The writing, voices, and animations are all on key. I enjoy looking at the 3D environments in the level select pathway. The comic-book style storytelling is very engaging. It makes me nostalgic for Grabbed by the Ghoulies on the original Xbox.

Lots of fun characters from throughout the show's many runs make an appearance, with new dialogue that fits perfectly into character.

The game plays kind of sluggishly on my phone, so sometimes it reads my swipes incorrectly and I waste a move and end up losing the round when having just one more move would have allowed me to win. And one time it used one of the uncommon boosters when my finger was nowhere near the part of the screen that displays the boosters. It takes a long time to replenish these lives and power-ups, and I end up not being able to play the game when I want to. All because of the pay-to-win model.

I can't really think of much that sets this game apart from the many Candy Crush games and their many, many clones. But if you enjoy puzzle games and Futurama, you should enjoy Game of Drones.

I don't think of this game as Futurama: Game of Drones or a Candy Crush clone. Instead, I think of it as The Loading Screen Game. You slog slowly from one loading screen to another, and sometimes you have to wait at a loading screen for a menu to appear then wait through another loading screen, whereas they could have had the options on the first screen so you only had to wait to load once. You'll have to go through a couple loading screens just to get from one level to the next, which seems pretty unnecessary.

Show spoiler

Loading Screen


Loading Screen


Loading Screen


Downloading Screen


Loading Screen

[Reply #11 on:]

The game plays kind of sluggishly on my phone, so sometimes it reads my swipes incorrectly and I waste a move and end up losing the round when having just one more move would have allowed me to win.

This happens to me, too, and I actually suspect the game is somehow programmed to misread my swipes when I'm thisclose to winning so that I'll lose, and waste a life, and potentially have to pay actual, real-life money for more of them. (Which I would never do, on account of I am cheap and that is ridiculous.)

That said, though, I find that the combination of watching videos to earn an extra life, spinning the Wheel of Robots, and collecting trading cards allows for more or less uninterrupted (free) game play. I think I've played for at least 90 minutes, straight through, by some combination of watching videos, landing on one of the infinite life spaces on the wheel, and collecting enough trading cards to have some infinite life rewards in reserve.

Anyway, I've been playing this game pretty consistently since it came out, but I'm only on level 385 (of, like, upwards of 500?) because I am trying to get three stars on every one, and some of them are really fucking tough. At this rate, I'll finish some time in 2019 (unless they add more levels, which they have done several times in the past). Fingers crossed!

[Reply #12 on:]

Is this game worth my attention?  I'm not a huge fan of the insistent money draw yadda yadda nickel/dime framework, but who is?

I just don't know.  It's probably a better game than any game I've ever made.

[Reply #13 on:]

This happens to me, too, and I actually suspect the game is somehow programmed to misread my swipes when I'm thisclose to winning so that I'll lose, and waste a life, and potentially have to pay actual, real-life money for more of them.

Kind of like those claw grip machines. They're programmed to only perform a full grasp 1 out of every x attempts. It's really got nothing to do with skill and not even much to do with luck. It's just a numbers game. The same is true for a lot of casino slot machines and even in the basis of Candy Crush and Candy Crush clones. Granted, there is some skill involved in these games, but a lot of it is just waiting until the computer decides to give you a good setup.

Dang, I can't even imagine trying to get three stars on every level. When I was playing Candy Crush a few years ago, I gave up on trying to get three stars after about 50 levels or so. And I gave up on that after just a few levels and Game of Drones. Lol. I think I'm currently on level 98 or something.

winna, if you're sufficiently curious, you might as well download the game and try it out.

[Reply #14 on:]

Is there a good game hiding underneath it? Like I if I found all of the assets and rebuilt the game without all of the crap?

My sister plays it, she wanted me to play it.  I dunno.

[Reply #15 on:]

Well, it really is just a Candy Crush clone. The power-ups are a little different, but not in any significant way. There isn't anything more to the game than that. The 3D environments and comic strip dialogue that I mentioned in my earlier post are nice little touches, but they aren't that big of a presence and won't make the game any more enjoyable for you if you don't already like Candy Crush-style games. Continuing from some posts above:

Perhaps his opinion related with the fact that it's a candy crush clone.  Is that what the game actually is, and/or do you have further commentary on the gameplay Danny?

...there really isn't anything meaningful to it. It's honestly more rough around the edges than Candy Crush, both from a technical and an aesthetic standpoint. The game runs slow, involves an inordinate amount of loading time, and lacks the shiny veneer of the Candy Crush games that encourage the release of endorphins (probably).

For me personally, it's a nice little diversion when I'm waiting for something else to happen. And honestly, if it weren't for the Futurama motif, I probably wouldn't even be playing it. Your mileage may vary.

[Reply #16 on:]

I thought it was like an rpg from the video, like final fantasy 1 with menus to attack. 

Maybe I should just make a futurama final fantasy clone.  I think I already did that though.

[Reply #17 on:]

The other mobile game has RPG battles.

[Reply #18 on:]

Kind of like those claw grip machines. They're programmed to only perform a full grasp 1 out of every x attempts. It's really got nothing to do with skill and not even much to do with luck. It's just a numbers game.

As someone who has a dedicated album on Facebook ("Quit Playing (Crane) Games With My Heart") for the various victories I have had over grocery store claw machines, the reminder that there is in fact no real strategy or craft to my chosen hobby is a cruel one.

Dang, I can't even imagine trying to get three stars on every level.

Yeah, the folly of it all becomes super apparent when you spend multiple weeks--in some cases, months--on a single level that you've already cleared a hundred times, but failed to get more than two stars on. I've been plugging away at Level 385 for at least two weeks already, to no avail. I find that the puzzles themselves don't get much harder, the farther along you go, but the AI's generosity in terms of the pieces and set-ups it gives you is much, much less.

[Reply #19 on:]

As someone who has a dedicated album on Facebook ("Quit Playing (Crane) Games With My Heart") for the various victories I have had over grocery store claw machines, the reminder that there is in fact no real strategy or craft to my chosen hobby is a cruel one.

Show spoiler

[Reply #20 on:]

As someone who has a dedicated album on Facebook ("Quit Playing (Crane) Games With My Heart") for the various victories I have had over grocery store claw machines, the reminder that there is in fact no real strategy or craft to my chosen hobby is a cruel one.

it's enough to make someone ponder just how many of our views in life rest on foundations built from false premises.

[Reply #21 on:]

Probably many people pass through many lives like that.  Really makes you wonder.

[Reply #22 on:]

Does anyone have this still? It cut me off at level 50 and I want it so bad. It's the best game I ever played.

[Reply #23 on:]

Ah, this takes me back--I spent probably a solid 18 months working my way through this game. Unfortunately, Game of Drones was removed from the various app stores about a year ago, so I fear you're out of luck there.

I believe Worlds of Tomorrow is still an ongoing concern, but I never got into it m'self. Other PEELers seemed to enjoy it well enough, though.

[Reply #24 on:]

Don't supposed it's installed on a phone you wanna sell?

[Reply #25 on:]

Heh, sorry to disappoint! I uninstalled the app from my phone at some point in 2017 or 2018. I do share your disappointment that it's no longer available, though--it was a neat little diversion that occupied many, many hours of my life.

[Reply #26 on:]

I got someone tryna make an apk of the full game. Or I'm gonna find somesone selling a phone with it on n see if I can copy all data that way.

If I ever find it I'll do what I can to help you get it too. It's phenomenal. Love twitcher, love how cute everything is. Moon ferrets! It lets me play up to level 50 n that's it for now. Not givin up though.

[Reply #27 on:]

I believe in you!

[Reply #28 on:]

I downloaded that game a long time ago it's very good I'm still playing it

[Reply #29 on:]

It's the best game I ever played.

You have played spectacularly bad games, my friend. Game of Drones is not really a game. It's a forum for microtransactions. The game is slanted towards the player's defeat when the player is not using the premium content, and contains multiple mechanisms for the extraction of money from the player so as to keep the player supplied with said content.

Since there are some items that are extremely hard to collect without the paid content, it's essentially pay-to-win. Since the microtransactions no longer function (the game is no longer supported and this means they took out the option to buy premium content and made unlocking small amounts of it only possible via relentless grinding), it's become essentially impossible to complete the collectible portions of the game, as well as essentially impossible to complete every level at 3 stars (some of them require the use of premium content to get to three stars for completion).

People who like this stuff are the reason EA feels justified in making games where part of the content is paid DLC that might take multiple payments to show up depending on the good nature of RNGesus on the day in question.

[Reply #30 on:]

Heh, KoL all over again!
Say no to the collectors, if you're in chat, have a trophy if you can guess my cryptic pants message.

If somebody has a copy though, we could reverse engineer it and turn it into an actual game.

[Reply #31 on:]

Ok, standing corrected - it's the best thing I ever played with (non-human). I'm not into real games, whatever they are. I had the infinite money mod (I knew it wouldn't be complete-able, it's a free game after all - they had to pay Patrick M Verone somehow. You really don't have to complete stuff y'know - it's all about fun. If it's not fun, stop man, watch a cartoon, make a smoothie, don't get addicted to candy crush).

I like easy stuff; life's hard enough. I played it for Twitcher (like they're real) and the cut scenes n dialogue, and the music had such a Futurama feel, love how immersive it was. I found the gameplay (or non-gameplay) more fun, having never played candy crush. Plus it was kinda hypnotic and I like the heart drone. Also, it feels like you're playing candy crush with the Futurama characters you love. I wanted to be with Leela so much man.

Winna I've never known if you're being serious for like 12 years now, but if you are, that's very cool. I've got loads of copies but it's those friggin' additional downloads... if any of you can find the additional assets in your phone's files or app data (From Mars Vegas onwards) n can find it in your heart to email them to me, I'll be sure to pass 'em on to all other fans who need it. We gotta look out for each other when we have precious little content.

[Reply #32 on:]

I was serious about the idea of reverse engineering it;  I don't't know whether i am competent enough to complete  it, but I see no reason why I couldn't give it a try.  If I could do it though, I can't give an ETA on when I'd be done--weird schedule.  The additional files you have, along with a description perhaps (I've never seen or played the game, or candy crush, though I'm semi familiar).

If you have access to the additional files and feel comfortable with it, feel free to email them to me (email in profile); if/when I receive them, I'll try and respond in thread.  Even if they can't rebuild the game, you might get some assets back and forward them elsewhere.  You don't have to explain to me why you like a thing; if it turns into a project it seems cool to me


Also...12 years, eh?
I think I'm mostly serious, but I have a thrown sense of humor.  This place is like my multi-player diary, when I'm using this account anyways.

[Reply #33 on:]

Do the writers really like game of thrones?  Or did cc just force them to reference it as much as possible ?

[Reply #34 on:]

I can't remember which episode it is exactly, but a messenger crow is sent to Planet Express and I seem to recall on the commentary that DXC said it was a little homage to GOT because they're all fans.

[Reply #35 on:]

All I know is that the constant game of thrones references got really annoying for me after a while and this is someone who is rather indifferent to the constant pop culture shout outs.  It felt like watching Rupauls Drag Race All Stars when one queen just wouldn't shut up about the Hunger Games.  Yes yes it was 2012 and it was still annoying.

[Reply #36 on:]

You know, I haven't seen the new-run episodes since watching through Game of Thrones for the first time--now I'm kind of curious to see how many references there are in season seven that I might have missed the first time around. (I would undoubtedly find these references annoying, but no matter!)

Also, regarding the question of the writers' GOT fandom, I'd imagine that's part of the reason they cast Emilia Clarke as Zoidberg's love interest in "Stench and Stenchibility."

[Reply #37 on:]

Emelia Clark sold me as Marianne so I'm going to allow it but honestly I wish they would stop casting big budget names in characters in TV in general as it often makes it too expensive for the character to be brought back.

[Reply #38 on:]

I am in the middle of writing and storyboarding some ideas for fan episodes but I think I might be better of turning into a game.  I am surprised at how much I enjoyed World's of Tomorrow but for someone who hasn't got a working debit card it's a real slog sometimes and the gameplay is often too fast paced but often too repitive and mindless especially the battles.   If I do make a fangame I deffo want to make it more in line of games like Phantasy Star, Star Ocean, the Xeno series and Rogue Galaxy, keeping the RPG battle elements more fun.

I do like the Chrono Cross elements and seeing the different characters interact is what keeps me coming to WOT.

One thing I'm also going is I'm inspired by Valkyrie Profile in that the characters fight in units, and creating combos with each unit is the key to victory.  The units are

Fry
Leela
Bender

Unit 2
Amy
Kif
Zoidberg

Unit 3
Micky
Ruth
Esther

Unit 4
Babs
Hermes
Morgan

Unit 5
Sally
Dwight
Cubert

You can swap characters around but their effectiveness in battle and in combos depend on their affinities for one another which you can build up through off battle interactions but also in battle

Also to make the battle system more fun I'm thinking it making a card based rpg like Baten Kaitos.  Every character gets their own deck.  They also have each their own portable weapons system that takes the form of a mundane item but becomes a Swiss army weapon for battle.  Ruth and Amy invented these.  Fry's takes the form of a giant Philips Swiss army knife.  Esther in my headcanon loves eggs in general so her portable weapons system is a fabrige Easter egg.  Ruth's is her cigarette lighter, Mickys is a deck of tarot cards and Amy's is a tube of lipstick that becomes a cannon.  Hermes has a calculator .

[Reply #39 on:]

I'm also really expanding the personalities and back stories of Ruth and Esther as I was really delighted at how fleshed out and dynamic they were for two background characters rather then being generic floozies.  A lot of Futurama characters seem like reincarnations of Simpsons characters.  Fry is very similar to Homer as a young man.  Leela is pretty much an angry bitter version of Marge while Amy feels like a grown up version of Lisa.  Bender feels like Bart but mostly feels like his own character.   Ruth and Esther feel like the Futurama equivalent of Patty and Selma as young women, with their abrasivness dialled down and the inherent vulnerability of both characters played up.  They also remind me of Edna Krabappel and Elizabeth Hoover (who really needed her own episode).  Their designs also seem very film.noir inspired and it's also not hard to think of Roxy and Velma from Chicago.  Esther is also very inspired by Monroebot having similar hair and eyes.  Both Ruth and Esther have very expressive catlike eyes.  I also like how much they resemble grown up robot versions of Patty and Violet from Peabuts but Ruth also seems like her appearance and thick nasal Brooklyn accent seems like it was directly inspired by Marisa Tomei as Lisa in My Cousin Vinny.

I've had so much fun drawing those two Yiddish fembots that I've got sketchbooks full of their adventures.  One thing I've done is that they and Micky (my oc that I came up with so I can voice) are superheroes that form their own girl group, the Rhinemaidens where they perform covers of their favourite bands: Micky loves the Supremes and Mary Wells, Esther worships The Three Degrees while Ruth is a fan of the Ronettes and Expose.  They also are members of the PE Crew on missions to make it feel more like Firefly.  Ruth is an engineering student but she specialises in weapons.  Micky is a biologist so he tends to the ships oxygen gardens but also is an assistant nurse and Esther is the ships main medic as head nurse.  Since her name means star she is also a navigator.   

Esther and Micky both have an unrequited affection for Fry and I thought it might be interesting to explore two best friends falling in love with the same man who of course will never return their feelings as he only has eyes for Leela and is oblivious to how deeply they want him for their boyfriend