Today we have some exciting news: N++ is coming, and this time it’s really, tangibly soon! It’s finally time! Check out our release date announcement trailer:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=llMTIG3mukA
(The video was once again made by Richard E. Flanagan, and the music is by Raigan Burns)
Yes! You’ll have N++ in your hands at the end of July! This July! July 28th! We are so excited. It’s almost here!!!
We’ll have lots more news and details in the next few weeks, but in the meantime, here’s a few details we wrote up over on the PlayStation blog:
https://blog.us.playstation.com/2015/07/14/n-launches-on-ps4-july-28th/
woooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!
So glad to see this as this is a must buy for me and a highly anticipated game. How much will it be?
That info should be up soon! It’s 20% off if you preorder as a PSPlus member.
And for all of you, NOTE: This kind of discount will not be happening much, so if you’re looking to get N++ on the cheap, now’s your chance! Actually we’ll be raising the price when the first big update comes out (it will effectively double the size of the game). More info on that soon 😉
Holly molly that’s two weeks, I’m eager to seeing it!
When do we get the steam port?
WOW! Cant wait to play this amazing game, my first digital game this generation.
First: Grats on getting the game through certification and in general with the game, it’s awesome!
But can you please make a pre-order option for Europeans too? I have a gift card ready for it actually
Because I want to show my support beforehand, and getting the N++ theme would be SO awesome 🙂 and for a student, the discount would be welcomed too 😉
@innuendo: We’re a tiny team of three with limited resources, but if the game sells well enough on PS4, we hope to be able to afford to port it.
@nimoke: unfortunately it’s not up to us at all, it’s up to Sony. And when we say “Sony”, you should know that that is a complex term. Sony EU is completely different from Sony US (and Sony Japan) , which are each completely different entities from the Sony PSN Store. The PLAY promo (which is what the discount and pre-orders and bonus theme are part of) is a Sony US thing that the Store agreed to. We really wish we could help but it’s completely out of our hands 🙁
Yeaaaaaa! This is why I bought a ps4 🙂
YES! Already been pre ordered. As soon as I seen the news I went to the ps store. I’ve been checking almost everyday for the official word and I am super excited. Good luck and I hope the game does well.
i can’t fricken wait
OOOHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH MY GOOOOOOOOOOOD!!!!
YES!!!! ITS FINALLY RELEASE!!!!
please make it free because im too lazy to donate and i can’t wait!!!!
maybe it will be on pc
@Pootis: it’s not quite out yet! That happens on the 28th. Hopefully it sells well enough to allow us to afford to port!
Its out for US on 28th but EU on 29th according to PS blog, mistype or should i be sad? 🙂
@Woody: oh — Sony EU posted the blog post, so presumably they made that change. We’ll double-check — as far as we knew, they were both launching on the same day…
Oh ok thanks for checking, didn’t want to book the wrong days off work! 🙂 congrats on going gold, lets hope N++ smashes it.
the whole reason I wanted a PS 4 in the first place was this game… OMG 13 days to go!!!
Alrighty! pre-ordered! YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
woops… didn’t think that would break the page
when the n++ comes out are all the color schemes going to be unlocked
i’ll just play the beta until it lasts
No pre-order, no theme and an extra day of waiting for us in the EU. Not your fault at all, thats how the console release stuff works, but its just anoying 🙁
But at least we also get the 20% off as ps+ members for the first 14 days right? 🙂
Any news yet M&R Regarding EU release date, sorry to keep asking its just i don’t want to book holiday for 28th if its 29th gotta savor those days 🙂
As far as we can tell it will be the 29th in Europe; apparently this is common for Sony? No worries, we understand 🙂
My reaction when N++ is free on PS4 and its on pc confirmed https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P3ALwKeSEYs
And this reaction when N++ its Not free to play and its not on PC https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WWaLxFIVX1s
Pootis, its NOT free to play, and will never be. If you are lucky it might come for PS+ one day, but you still have to pay for that subscription. But Metanet needs to earn for a living, so no it wont be free
Just curious but is the 20% discount for PS plus members all the way up until the 27th, day before N++ releases?
@Nimoke: thank you 🙂
@Trey: We think so!
Hi again,
really happy that I now a release day! Congrats!
But a few open questions come up, that I could’nt find an answer:
1) somebody @neoGAF mentioned: No online co-op!? I hope he is mistaken. The Xbox 360 Version already had it!
I don’t know anybody who could play the medium to hardcore levels with me, if it is only local co-op.
2) The resume function: Is it limited by one “resume-slot” or can I “save” more Episodes at certain levels within these 5 Levels?
thanx
bye
zoetl
@me ^^
Online Multiplayer only was posted in the beta-thread by M&R!?
Sorry I can’t belive this. The ultimate mega version of N comes with no online multiplayer. This is so disappointing, I was sure it is online, but it is cut off!? So my “promotion-tour” amoung friends has ended now. Sorry to say that, it is just … 🙁
So most likely I will never play a big chunk of the games level: All Co-op and all race-Level. And maybe there are Co-op trophies as well, than that adds up to the sadness….
bye
zoetl
Sorry, my last post should read: Local multiplayer only
As postet from M&R.
But everyone who read it should know what I ment.
bye
Zoetl
@Zoetl It might not be possible to have “real” online multiplayer, but i guess you could make use of a nice PS4 feature: The Shareplay function. I know it wont be the same, as the progress wont count for both of you most likely and the trophies neither.
Unless M&R made it like that? In rocket league etc, both players in a local co-op can earn trophies and have their “progress” saved 🙂
@Nimoke:
Hm, maybe it is worth a try. But I expect shareplay to be very laggy …
Just read on polygon this:
Why you don’t want an online mode in Tower
But I’m not convinced that the main problem here is tech. Perhaps it is money for netcoding/dedicated servers.
How mich of the game is single player and how much mp? 50/50?
I apologize for my spelling etc.
I won’t do this on a tablet any more 😉
We had to choose whether to implement online level sharing or network multiplayer — we couldn’t afford to do both, in terms of time as well as money.
We thought level sharing would be better, because the netcode was never going to be as good as in-person (N+ was always laggy and buggy, we really felt terrible about it, and we got a lot of complaints). The N games are sadly the worst-case for online networking because there’s absolutely no way to hide latency 🙁
(We’ve even had problems with latency while showing the game, at PAX last year the TVs we rented made it almost unplayable due to latency; even 100ms makes a big difference!)
So, we had to decide between adding great online level sharing, or okay online multiplayer. We’re perfectionists so we decided to go with what we knew we could execute well on.
Also, a lot of the Co-op and Race levels were designed for in-person multiplayer; the Co-op levels require a lot more coordination than in N+, and in Race, there are many levels with sort of “troll” traps which kill all the other players, which is fun when you’re playing with friends (because if you pull stuff like that too much they’ll just punch you) but would just be enraging if some anonymous stranger did it to you.
We feel bad because we know a lot of people don’t have friends nearby who can come over to play (and/or don’t have 4 controllers), but we’re really happy with how the game turned out, we think that the local multiplayer is very strong, so we hope that everyone understands our decision.
It would have taken another 8-12 months if we wanted to add online multiplayer (we only have a single programmer who is *very* busy with the rest of the game), and we already felt bad for how long people were waiting! (Plus, at this point we’ve spent so much time/money making the game that it’s unclear whether we’re going to break even… however it’s exactly what we wanted so we’re happy with that.)
In terms of number of levels, there are 1445 Solo (single-player) levels, 470 Co-op and 445 Race; so, Solo is still the focus, but we did spent a lot of time making Co-op and Race as special as possible. (We’re really hoping Race gets popular in competitive play, we spent a lot of time making sure it’s well-balanced and dynamic).
Thank you for explaining your thoughts and decisions.
After reading there is no online-mp, I was sure not to buy the game. Mostly because of frustration.
Shortly after that I wrote my comments.
I’ve been passionately playing video-games for more than 35 years now and N+ on Xbox was one of my alltime-favs!
Happily I saw the N++-announcement for PS4 and another main-reason to buy the console was there.
From that standpoint the dissapointment was respectively high for me!
Just writing this to make you understand my point of view.
For me this is not “just another indie title – who cares, next please”!
Rethinking now, I will buy N++ when it comes out. Your post sounds honestly and convincing to me.
The solo-part alone is 5-6 times bigger than N+ and who knows, maybe shareplay or a non-gaming friend will let me check out the easy mp-levels.
A Demo would be nice for convincing people of the quality, but maybe word to mouth and great reviews will do their part!
wish you good luck and high sales
bye
zoetl (from germany, so spelling maybe …)
PS: An answer to my resum-option question (can I “save” on different episodes or just one) would be nice 😉
@zoetl: thanks! I’m really sorry, I can understand how you would be upset, as a fan of N+.
I’m sorry to have more bad news, but we had to cut resume as well; it was very buggy and we couldn’t figure out what the problem was (and we were running out of time) so we had to cut it. However, it’s been added to the “later” list so hopefully we’ll be able to figure it out once the game launches and we have a bit of time.
Similarly, we won’t have a demo at launch because that takes an extra day or two and we just didn’t have time before launch; we’re actually still fixing bugs right now, which is a bit crazy (normally games are finished at least a month before they’re released, but in our case there have been so many problems (some from the beta) that we had to fix, so we’re still not done).
I think you won’t be disappointed once you play N++, we’ve tried to make sure that anyone who liked N+ will be blown away by how much we’ve improved everything 🙂
Ok, no “resume” at release ^^
The first weeks I’m ok with that. But after a while it would be good for my sanity, if that will be implemented in a future update.
As long as it’s not on the “never” list there is hope.
5 hardcore-level without saving will kill me 😉
in the meantime PS4 has a resume feature built right in that you can use: http://kotaku.com/you-can-finally-suspend-games-on-ps4-now-1693866804
So there is no way to save progress, you have to clear all levels in an episode for it to be saved? 🙂
And just to repeat myself: Trophy information?
THERE IS JUST 1 WEEK LEFT! (and 1 day ekstra for europeans) 😀
@Nimoke: yes, that’s the classic way the N series operates — we’ll try to patch in a resume feature later on. After you’ve beat them, you can play levels individually as well, in case you need extra practice in the episode!
Trophy info is coming, all in good time 🙂
We did the best we could to match the NA launch of N++, so we’ve confirmed, it’s launching on July 28th in Europe as well! Plus we wrangled a 10% discount for PS Plus members in Europe for two weeks following launch, because we love our EU fans. Enjoy!
@M&R Awesome with the release date and discount! Do you know if it’s released at midnight or during the afternoon update?
The game looks amazing. Congrats on getting it to PS4. If it ever lands on Steam i will buy it Day 1 😉
If it releases at midnight Tuesday, it means just 26hours and 11 minutes from now! WOOOP
Would it be possible for online play in a future update because that really is a purchase-decider for me and also will there be free levelpacks???
@Anton: Please read our response above carefully. N++ is a worst-case scenario for lag: http://www.polygon.com/2014/3/11/5491146/why-you-dont-want-an-online-mode-towerfall
There’s no place to hide it, so much so that even tvs/monitors with moderate latency can make the game extremely frustrating to play.
We were not satisfied with N+’s online multiplayer, and got a LOT of complaints from players as well. We know online multiplayer will not be a very good experience, and we’re not motivated to add something we know won’t be very good.
It will also require a substantial amount of time to add — network code is horrible stuff, and it would take at least 6 full-time months to write, maybe more if debugging doesn’t go well. We think that time could be better spent.
So we won’t rule it out completely, but to be honest, it’s extremely unlikely.
—
on pricing: When you buy N++, you are purchasing a “lifetime pass” to all future content. So buy early, the price will go up as we add content!
preordered a few days ago. the game unlocked 3 hours ago. only to find no online multiplayer. as much as i love the N franchise i wouldnt have bought it if i had known it was only local. wish i could get a refund. you should put that information up so people know
Will N++ get an update that includes online multiplayer like N+ was.
My Buddy and I got N++ expecting it too be online multiplayer.
So far the game is awesome but plZ add online multiplayer! 😀
Never say never, but as of now we have no plans; we could only afford online multiplayer or online level sharing, and we decided the latter was more important (and we could execute it better).
If the game sells well enough to justify 6-8 more months of work, we will definitely consider adding online multiplayer though!
Love the game, Metanet. And FOUR player local co-op? That is so awesome. Started playing the minute it released with a friend and we are so excited to play it with more friends in the future. Too bad about no online, but what the hell, split screen will always be better. And I always remember playing the first N by myself on PC and having so much fun (never got around to N+) so local co-op AN awesome addition. Thanks for all the hard work that went into this amazing game, it runs/looks so smoothly!
M&R: what about steam version?? Is it possible sometime in future?
I can’t believe there’s no online. Huge disappointment. That’s the only reason I bought it! Is there a way to get my money back? I’d buy it again if they put in this core component to a multiplayer game… I don’t understand how the last game had it and N++ doesn’t. I’d really like my money back, I have no reason to play this game now. And shareplay isn’t an adequate workaround. Even on great connections, shareplay has terrible delay.
What about ninja customization?
I was very excited about this game, I participated in the beta and really enjoyed it. I purchased it the day it came out. When I found out there was no online multiplayer I was devastated. Being able to go through levels with people online was the highlight of n+ for me. You say that you had to choose between online level sharing or online multiplayer. That doesn’t sound like the ultimate n game to me. Its a bit of a step backwards if you ask me.
You guys definitely excel at creating a platform experience that is fluid. Just because you were not satisfied with the n+ online multiplayer doesn’t mean that you had to drop it. You improved the other aspects of n, couldn’t you have just improved the online portion as well? So you say it may have taken an additional 8 months of work. I would have been fine waiting 2 years for a version of n++ that included online multiplayer.
Maybe if you had asked your fans about what they really wanted included in the game we would have been able to give you some input regarding this decision.
Anyway I do admit that I have had a lot of fun times playing your n games in the past. Boy I could go on and on about all the crazy stuff that happened to me in online n+ multiplayer (those nail biting experiences where everyone else is dead and relying on you to get to the door lol). So thank you for those memories. Unfortunately it looks like the fun online experiences with n has come to an end for me and I won’t be playing n++.
@nplusplayer: thanks for writing, we definitely understand your frustration and confusion.
It’s one of those situations where every choice we could have made would have negative consequences. We were primarily concerned with executing what we knew we could do perfectly, extremely well, to create the best possible game we could make, and we’ve absolutely done that. It’s smooth, lag and loading time free, and is as beautiful and dense as we wanted. It is absolutely the ultimate version of this game.
We understand that to you, multiplayer is the core of the experience, and that is totally valid. PlayStation has Share Play built-in, did you try that?
Multiplayer is not why everyone plays this series though. we did do some polling, and since N was pretty solidly a single-player game from its inception 11 years ago, single player and level sharing has been the major concern of most players.
The inclusion of multiplayer in N+ was forced upon us by Microsoft, but it turned out to be a very cool addition to the game, which is why we brought it to N++ as well — everyone loved local MP in N+, but only some loved online (and, the ones who did love it didn’t tell us — we only heard from the people that hated it because of the lag, and there were a lot of them).
Then as now, it’s pretty crippling when people write to specifically tell you how disappointed they are in your game.
You say you would have waited 2 years more for online multiplayer, and we appreciate that, but your fellow players who wrote to us every day to ask where the game is might not have been so kind.
we haven’t ruled out online multiplayer, but it’s a very difficult problem to solve, and even harder to do well — that’s why it’ll require so much development time. We have no money, so it’s not just something we can do and hope for the best, we have to devote any funds we make to paying the rent. This is the reality of game development as a small team.
Glad you enjoyed the Beta, even though it didn’t have online multiplayer.
I just got the game and it’s downloading so the only thing I can say something about is the game icon which is… plain ugly. Wow, I saw it before on a screenshot but I thought it was an internal placeholder one. Why you guys did not go with the colorful logo? This one looks especially bad when its zoomed out (when the game is not currently selected).
@Josh: well, we wanted something striking and distinct.. those icons are always busy/ugly/noisy, we were trying to go for something more austere and minimal. N++ stands out this way 🙂
@M&R I think theres enough people who are dedicated to this game to help you with a Steam port and online multiplayer code.
-OR-
I would strongly consider raising funds via KickStarter or similar platform to fund the port to Steam with online multiplayer. I think this way you don’t have to worry as to whether all the dedication your team puts in is worth the effort.
Very Respectfully,
Tim
A long time N, N 2.0, N+ player (former Xbox 360 dead 🙁 ).
Metanet is right. Online multiplayer is simply not possible to do acceptably.
There’s simply no way ot get everything synchronized without enforcing horrible lag. packets take time to travel across the internet, and there’s no way to hide lag with prediction in a game with this much twitch.
Sure you say you want online multiplayer, but if you find yourself being killed by a gauss turret you KNOW you got out of the way of in time, you will rage. Pretty much that’s what happened with N+. The level design would have to be crippled to make the possible under lag.
They VERY much did the Right Thing here.
BTW for those talking about PC versions, there are really only 2 options.
1) Steam. this brings it to all x86/64 PCs. Level sharing with Steamworks. Leaderboards on steam.
2) xbox for WIndows. this may get the game on platforms that steam couldn’t, and sharing would be done through Xbox Live.
I personally would like choice 1 better, but MS may make choice 2 an attractive option.
Anyone who says a DRM free version is good isn’t thinking this through. Even if the game was free of steam or MS, you would still need a metanet account with a registered purchase of n++. so there would still be DRM eve if it was sold through gog.com. but it would be GOOD drm, like steam, app store, etc. By requiring an account wit ha registered purchase for the all important level sharing functionality, you make the retail product better than the pirated one. 🙂 Yeah steam is crackable, but you’d lose the leaderboards and sharing.
In any case, the game should support the following controllers natively.
1) xInput. this includes xbox and xbone controllers. This includes button prompts. Easiest option.
2) sixaxis+dual shock 3. this culd be detected as a native controller, and then pre-mapped.
3) dual shock 4. this one’s also pretty easy. 🙂 include button prompts.
4) ps2 to usb converters. these can easily be detected by counting the number of buttons and axes available (hint. they have 12 buttons and a POV hat, or 16 buttons, and 4 axes.), and then calibrated by asking you if this is a playstation controller, and if so, to press the directions and/or buttons by their PSX label. then it would have button prompts too. 🙂
5) other directinput devices. no button prompts for this. Required for supporting number 4 above, so might as well.
6) keyboard, of course. 🙂
Hi everyone; thanks for your feedback!
We really want to bring N++ to as many people and platforms as possible, and we’re determined to do so however we can (including kickstarter if need be)
However, currently we’re struggling to even finish the PS4 version, so it’s going to be a while before we can figure out a plan.
We’ll keep you posted as soon as we have something to announce! Thanks for your patience 🙂
p.s – about the networking, we agree with Chuck. It will take 8-12 months of engineering work, and even then the experience will be inferior to local. If we do a kickstarter it will almost certainly be a stretch goal, but honestly it’s never going to be as good as local, and we’d rather N++ be about consistently executing to a high quality standard rather than doing a bunch of things only “okay” :/
I played a bunch of the co-op levels today, and I want to let everyone know they’re pretty great so far. If you can wrangle up another person, it’s a fun time.
My question, though, is about co-op trophies. My friend wasn’t earning them while we were playing – is that by design? Does only the main person who launched the game get trophies?
@Mike: thanks! 🙂
Sadly that’s expected behaviour, our programmer couldn’t figure out how to get trophies to propagate online. We tried to keep the number of multiplayer trophies to a minimum as a result… Sorry. 🙁
Please, listen to me. N++ is The best platformer that I ever played, and then is the best platformer in the world. If you develop the game also for iOS and Android, you will get a lot of others downloads, because platformers are much played on mobile. If you think that mobile screens are smaller, develop the game for iPad and tablet only, please. Thank you for read this,
Lorenzo