InstantAction Beta Blog

Rokkitball Tourney

Introducing the first official Rokkitball tournament! Get your teams ready and register before January 23rd to secure your shot at glory! Head over to the forums to register your team name and members.

-The tournament will be bracket style with single elimination.

-Matches will be decided by the results of two games, hosted by a representative from each team. The scores of each game will be added up to declare a winner.

-Only the Gauntlet arena will be used.

-3 vs 3 style of play.

-Prizes will be awarded to the winning team.

-Hosted by InstantAction VIP's (ask KptKrunch or Stguy045 if you have any questions, or post here and get a response)!

Rokkitball Super Sale

In case you missed it there is a bunch of Rokkitball content on sale.  I'm talking about 9 different Rokkitball bundles stacked full of content. 

Today is the last day for this sale, so if you want some Rokkitball content on the cheap, now is the time.  Image of some of the packs included!

 

Head to the store to grab your content

-Dr Wiley

Weekly Sale

This week be sure to get your Rokkits off with the Rokkitball sale.  With around 10 different bundles on sale at 40% discounts be sure you grab some of these. 

Below is a sample of what's for sale.  Log into the store to find them all.  Check out the store for Premium Bundles, Rokkitball Heads, Uniforms, and Avatars - on sale now!

The Future of Rokkitball

From Rokkitball Developer Justin DuJardin:

"Starting with the next release, we will be debuting our new monetization strategy for Rokkitball.  This is a good deal for everyone involved, and we've worked hard to make sure of it.   Please read and understand all the information here before jumping to conclusions.   

Users will be able to play Rokkitball for FREE every day, on ANY of the 4 maps, not just Gauntlet.  The catch is that a user will only be able to play a certain number of games per day if they play for free. 

If users wish to play more than is allowed for free, they may purchase a rental that allows them to play unlimited number of games per day, called an ActionPass.

FreePlays :
Every 24 hours, Rokkitball users are granted (n) FreePlays (likely 3-4/day), that allow them to play (n) games of Rokkitball free of charge, on ANY map.  This is the FREE aspect of the game.

* Players are given a certain number of games on ALL MAPS per day
* This number will be tweaked to amount to slightly less than 1 hour per-day
* FreePlays cost you nothing and are refilled every 24 hours
* FreePlay users may play against ActionPass users

ActionPass :
Users may rent a pass to play unlimited numbers of games for the period of that pass.  This is called an ActionPass and is treated as a rental of the game. 

* 1 Day ActionPass = 75 ActionTokens (no USD equivalent)
* 1 Month Rental = $3.99 USD (includes an 80 ActionToken "bonus" when purchased)
* 12 Month Rental = $11.99 USD (includes an 240 ActionToken "bonus" when purchased)

* Players are given unlimited numbers of games on ALL MAPS per day
* ActionPass users may play against FreePlay users

But I've already purchased content, what about me?

The devil is in the details, and oh man what details we have for you.   In order to remain in equity with users that have already purchased content and supported RB, anyone who has purchased ANY content for RB prior to this release, will be granted a Lifetime rental of the game.   That is they will be granted a rental that does not expire as long as the game remains available on the site.  Once this goes live though, this grandfather clause will go away, so go purchase your content today!

Additional Content
* Any content that does not affect someone's ability to play the game is considered Additional content
* All Additional Content is purchased, not rented.  Once you purchase it you can use it with FreePlays or ActionPass
* Heads
* Jersey Patterns
* Team Color Packs

I've missed information here undoubtedly, so instead of jumping to conclusions, please ask questions about this that you would like answered [in the forums]. "

Longer Loooong Shot!

Looks like Stoja16 may have incited a war.  Pafker (an intern in New York) has captured his long shot reaching 424 feet.  Is this the longest long shot we'll see?  I doubt it.

Loooongshot!

Stoja16 posted this insanely long longshot in Rokkitball.  At 420 feet.  That's almost goal to goal.  Check it out here:

Rokkitball Game face

Get your Rokkitball game face on with 8 new characters.  Just head to the store, and look 'em up.  You may also notice that they're cleverly named after Rokkitball developers.  Actual developer may appear different than these faces in real life.

So get in there and differentiate yourselves.

-Dr Wiley

Rokkitball Development Q&A

GarageGames.com has recently posted an interview with Alex Swanson of the Rokkitball team and Deborah Marshall of GarageGames tech and tools.

Here's a snippit of the interview:

Rokkitball Concept art by Lance Bass

"Deborah Marshall:  How did you balance the FPS shooter aspects of the game with the sports aspect of it?

Alex Swanson: This was actually a pretty difficult balance to find. When we started on the game it had a very strong FPS feel. There was not really any way to control the ball aside from scooting it away from yourself by shooting it. Ball control is pretty critical when it comes to having a sport-like strategy game, and after a while it became clear that just having rockets was not going to be sufficient.
Once the magno-beam was implemented, we spent a lot of time tweaking the balance between it and the effectiveness of the rockets to move the ball and disrupt other players. We wanted disruption and rocket ability to be important, but taken too far it made trying to control the ball up close impossible - you'd just get hammered by high speed, rapid-fire rockets. That was no fun, so we slowed the rockets down to a point where it is possible to avoid them if you are paying attention, and limited their rate of fire to a point where, even in a 4v4 game, it is possible to grab and move the ball.

This made the rocket strategy a lot more strategic - having good aim is certainly a major factor toward being good at the game, but know when and when not to use your rockets is equally important.

Not having the player die as a result of rocket impacts also helped the game develop a more "sports-like" feel. Rockets allow you to "check" a player and take momentarily reduce their ability to act by draining their energy, but it doesn't just clear them out and force them to restart in another location. This is much more like the way that a real-world sport plays, and I think adds a lot to the sports feel of the game."

Click here for the full Q&A.

-Dr Wiley

Staff Competition Smackdown

You think you've got what it takes to beat the InstantAction staff do you?  The competition goes down Friday, June 6th, at 9am PST, then again at 4pm PST. 

Here are some names to look for tomorrow morning and afternoon.  Better yet, find them now and add them as friends.  This way you'll know who is online and you can join up or send intimidating messages, to get pumped.

SecretSauce
spearfish
microwavedboy
Jimbeam
birthdaybot (I've heard he's extremely good)
GG_MaxR
steveng
DrWiley  <----That's me!
Crash7800
WickedScepter
justind
bvesco
AliBaba
Mrstickball

Find 'em, beat 'em, brag to the world.  See you there!

-Dr Wiley

Rokkitball Gets 3 New Maps!

With today's release you'll find 3 brand spankin' new multiplayer maps!  Cathedral, S-Hook, and Canyon. 

• Cathedral - is a large map with goals on both sides and higher scoring goals near the back.

Shoot inside the cup!

• S-Hook - is a long winding map.  If you want to grab some easy points head to the closer goal.  However, the big points to be had will take some winding.

S-Hooks got curves

• Canyon - takes place in a canyon...clever I know.  You've got conveyor belts that push you and the ball up a ramp towards the goals, and all the goals are grouped together near the end of each side for maximum chaos.

Rokks...get it?

You can grab the 3 maps for 1250 ActionTokens or get the Limited Edition bundle which includes all 3 maps, Rokkitball Avatars, and New Team Uniform Colors for 1700 ActionTokens.

ROKK ON!

-Dr Wiley