Skylanders - Screen Caps Added in Post #4

Mnementh

<font color=red>I like the Steelers <b>almost</b>
Joined
Aug 8, 2006
I think I found a game that may be somewhat similar to VMK, though I've only scratched the surface of the game so far. Some of you may already know about it, but for those who don't, here's what I can tell you so far:

Skylanders: Spyro's Universe is still in beta but I believe you can play it for as little as $8. Basically, you buy Skylanders figures at stores. They come in 1-character packs, which retail for about $8 at Walmart/ Sam's Club, Target, Best Buy, and Game Stop or $10 at Toys R Us, or you can get 3-character packs which retail for $20 at most stores or $25 at Toys R Us. There is also a starter pack that you comes with a console video game (completely separate from the online game, but in the same universe) and three exclusive figures, including Spyro (that little purple dragon from Playstation games of the '90s). The starter pack retails for about $70 for most consoles and PC or $60 for Wii.

Each character you buy comes with, in addition to other things, a code that you can enter in the game to put that character into the online game. The characters are divided into "types" (think Pokemon) with each type of character having different abilities. During the tutorial, the guide will ask you to add a Magic character, a Water character, and a Tech character to the game, which are the 3 types that come with the starter pack, so I'm not 100% sure what will happen in the game if you don't have those three types, but I'm sure it will let you advance.

As for gameplay, once you add a character to the game, you can click on the ground to move, like VMK. While you are at your home base, you can play three different mini-games to earn coins and experience to level up. One of these three is similar to angry birds, another involves using a gun turret to shoot down airships attacking your home base, and the third game is a "tower-defense" style game, where you have to stop enemies from stealing your gems. Depending on what type of character you are currently using, each has a different ability to use in each of those games. You can also leave your home base and go to a central hub, which I believe changes with the time of year, because right now, it's all snowy and the guy that flies you there is wearing a Santa hat. At the central hub, you can socialize, send friend requests, etc. I believe there are also more games and things to play there, but I'm not 100% sure, because I've only spent about 3 total seconds there so far.

If anyone wants me to give them more details as I play through the game, let me know and I'll post more.
 
Yes, it sounds interesting. Please keep us posted on what you think. Curious to hear your thoughts.

The problem I have found with games that I have tried is I tend to get bored fast, need diversity. That is just me, not sure if others experience that as well.
 
Well, having played it for at least a little bit almost daily, I'm starting to find it a bit boring, myself, honestly. The upside is that, with it still being in very early beta (I think the open beta just started in November or December), I expect, and hope for, them to add a lot more to it.

I've spent more time in the main hub and realized that, unless I'm missing something, you can only choose from pre-made phrases to communicate. I haven't seen ways to actually type your own messages to anyone. And all characters are currently named "PortalMaster[whatever your Portal Master number is]".

In addition to the three games that I mentioned you can play from your home base, down in the main hub, there are 5-6 games you can play down in the hub, a couple of which are redundant where you just run around the area and try to find treasure. There is also a game where you try to swat bugs, and if you keep swatting bugs that look the same, while avoiding the bad red bugs, your score increases faster. And there's a game where a sheep is shot out of a cannon and you try to control the sheep to bounce off clouds to keep it in the air as long as possible.

The only purpose I can see so far for the money you receive from playing these games is to use to upgrade your home base. You can buy different varieties of trees and bridges, as well as whole new themes that make your area look entirely different. Also, the most important thing that you can buy are upgrades that make your place more spacious, which also unlocks new items available for sale, such as wells and items to grow more plants (which the Skylanders can eat to level up). The more Skylanders you have registered with the online game, the more space is available for you to buy. I'll see if I can grab a few screen shots next time I'm on the game.
 
Okay, I got a bunch of screen caps for anyone who's interested. First, the basics. This is the inside of your lair with all of the Skylanders in it.

Lair.jpg


Next is the (currently very basic, but I'm hoping there will be an expansion later) map screen:

MapScreen.jpg


Now, I tried to get a panoramic view of the mainland, so you could see what it looks like while it's all wintery, but the place is so massive, that I barely scratched the surface of the place. Here's how far I got:

MainlandPanorama.jpg


(It's perpetual night time so the lights can shine better, I assume.) And here's a better look at the giant Christmas tree in the lower left. You can smash apart the presents and snowmen to get money.

MainlandChristmasTree.jpg


Now for the games, since that's mostly what the online version of Skylanders is about right now. First, the three games that you can play right outside your lair. In each case below, the first picture is what you click on to trigger the game to start and the second picture is a shot of the actual game.

CASTLE ASSAULT
CastleAssaultStart.jpg
CastleAssault.jpg


This is the game that's similar to Angry Birds. Depending on what "type" of Skylander you're using, the projectiles you fire are different. You have to figure out the best ones to get the job done.

GROUND DEFENSE
GroundDefenseStart.jpg
GroundDefense.jpg


Basically keep the little green trolls and orange dogs from stealing the gems coming out of the ground (the hole by Spyro's wing) and watch out for the guys holding the bombs. The red marks on the ground show where the little bomb's range is, as well as airship cannon fire from above. Get hit by any of that and you get knocked out and have to click repeatedly to snap out of it. Attack all the enemies before you lose all your gems to win. (Good attack and speed stats for your chosen Skylander help in this game).

SKY DEFENSE
SkyDefenseStart.jpg
SkyDefense.jpg


Simple enough. Just shoot down all the airships by aiming and clicking the mose before they destroy your cannon. As your Skylander eats plants outside of the game, it will earn "boosts" (the little blue lightning bolt in the top left). You can use boosts on this game by holding in the left mouse button to charge and then release to fire. Each "type" of Skylander does something different when you fire a boost.

And finally, here are the games you can play on the mainland:

GEM RUSH
GemRushStart.jpg
GemRush.jpg


Probably the most basic of all games, just run around and collect as many gems as possible in 1 minute. I suppose the goal is to find the optimal path (because the gems are in the same spots every time) and it helps to use a Skylander with a high speed stat.

ROUNDUP
RoundupStart.jpg
Roundup.jpg


This explains pretty well what Roundup is about:

RoundupExplanation.jpg


My personal most hated game because it's so tedious. The white sheep are worth the fewest points, followed by black, and then gold. On the bright side, this game has the best payout. If you get one gold sheep in the pen, that alone is worth 100 coins, but those gold sheep are smart. They know what you're trying to do and will aviod you every chance they get. Honestly, I can't see a difference regardless what kind of Skylander you use for this game.

SHEEP SHOT
SheepShotStart.jpg
SheepShot.jpg


While you don't have control over the cannon's aim that the sheep is shot out of, you can control the sheep by moving the mouse back and forth. The goal is to bounce it off as many clouds as possible (big clouds have a bigger bounce) before it falls off the bottom of the screen. The sheep in this game are wearing antlers and a Rudolph nose for the holidays! Since you aren't controlling an actual Skylander for this game, I don't think it matters which one you use.

SWAT!
SWATStart.jpg
SWAT.jpg


Just smack the bugs on the screen. The more you smack the same type of bug in succession, the higher your bonus score will be. Those red "dragonflies" or whatever they are make you lose points and waste time. The red ladybug (at the top of the screen) adds 5 seconds to your time if you can hit it. The gold bug (bottom center) gives you huge bonus points and will not end your combo, but it's fast and really hard to hit. Your Skylander's speed and/or luck stats may matter for this game but, again, I'm not sure.

TREASURE HUNT
TreasureHuntStart.jpg
TreasureHunt.jpg


Just run around the mainland and find as many treasure chests as you can within the time limit, then attack them until they open for points. There are small, medium, and large chests (the two pictured are both large chests) with large chests taking the most attacks to open. Of course, a Skylander with a high speed stat and attack stat would help the most here.


So that's it for the basics and the games. There's quite a bit more (and I could go on forever about it), but I won't bother. I'm sure you get the idea. Let me know if you intend to play and I'll see if I can find you on the game.
 


Mint, is there a play for free option or do you have to buy one of those figures to even start?

It does look well put together
 
I'm pretty sure you need at least 1 figure to play. Without owning at least 1 figure, the best you can do is "rent" a character for 30 minutes. If you don't earn enough money in those 30 minutes to "rent" another one (and the price goes up each time you rent), you won't be able to do anything.

However, like I said before, the single packs are only $8 in most stores and they are much easier to find now than they were a few weeks ago. A one time cost of eight dollars is much cheaper than the majority of games with their recurring monthly fees.
 
Okay, it turns out I was incorrect. I created a dummy account out of curiosity and it turns out you can play for free. They will give you three Skylanders for free to start if you don't have any to register.

The only problem you will have is if you care about upgrading your lair. You can't enlarge it or change the theming of it without actually owning some characters. If that doesn't matter, you're fine playing for free.
 


ah but thats good to know. I like to test drive these things before I would ever invest in them. I will have to check this out for sure mint now
 
Well, they now finally let all players have names, rather than "Portalmaster #######". Unfortunately, you can't entirely choose your own name. There are three name "wheels" that you can cycle through to create a three-part name, sort of like the generated names some new players got on VMK.

I am now "Cosmo Starpirate" :banana:
 
at least you didnt end up as ace best ace

ROFL
 
ace best ace

Coolio maybe that name is still available. Thanks for the screencap Mint and the details about the investment.

Dare I say it again, there was a game that we were ready to pay for and did not get bored. :rolleyes1
 
Well, I just edited the first picture of post #4 to show what it looks like to have the complete collection in the game (at least until the sequel comes out).

Here are what all 37 of the real figures look like (plus the 12 accessories at the back):

DSCN4039.jpg


I've been trying to chronicle the changes that have been made to the game over its short life, sort of like what some people did with VMK. I won't clutter this thread with any more pictures, but here's a link to my Photobucket album where I'm keeping screenshots of all the changes, if anyone is interested. They have made one addition recently that I really do like, and that is the objectives. They're basically like short, one-step quests and, at least so far, the rewards are only coins, but they give you a reason to play, rather than just wandering around playing games and trying to find coins. I do have a picture of the objectives screen in the link above.
 
I'm sorry, I couldn't see your first post, I directly jumped to 4th post. sorry to hear that it is not free :(
 
Sorry I didn't see this sooner. I haven't checked this much lately.

I believe I did mention that if you don't have any actual figures to use, the game will give you some for free (three, I think it was), so it is a free game, with an option to pay to own your own figures.

To be honest, I haven't played in a couple of months because of computer issues. I don't know how much has changed in that time.
 

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