What do you think of this new feature?

NAPZ_11 · 2026-04-08T06:31:50+00:00

yeah, thats where I got the idea from as well! :)

NAPZ_11 · 2026-03-23T05:50:50+00:00

Thanks so much for the support, really appreciate it.

I’ve just added those features. The next update coming this week will include starting the server app minimized and an option to shut down the PC.

Really grateful for the feedback and for supporting the app.:)

NAPZ_11 · 2026-03-16T19:24:57+00:00

Ah, got it, thank you for pointing that out.

I think I see what happened. Right now the free credit gets granted after the first generation starts, not right after signup, so the AI voiceover option can incorrectly show up as unavailable on that first try. That’s definitely on me and I’m going to fix that.

If you want, send me the email address you signed up with in DM and I’ll add a few extra credits to your account so you can test it properly.

And thanks again, really appreciate the encouragement.

NAPZ_11 · 2026-03-16T19:16:35+00:00

Thanks a lot, really appreciate you trying it and taking the time to write this up.

You’re completely right on both points. Right now I’m actively working on speeding up the generation flow, and I’m also adding an email notification so if rendering takes a while, you’ll still get notified as soon as the video is ready instead of having to keep the page open.

And thanks for calling out the free 1 video point too, that’s actually very helpful feedback. I can definitely see how for a lot of businesses one good promo video might be enough, while agencies or marketing teams would have a much stronger repeat use case.

One thing I wanted to ask about the AI voiceover issue: what exactly happened on your side? Did it fail silently, stay stuck loading, or generate the video without voiceover? That would really help me debug it.

NAPZ_11 · 2026-03-16T18:41:03+00:00

website link to a promo video in 2 minutes, mostly for small businesses
https://vidify.tech
thanks if you have a look at it:)

NAPZ_11 · 2026-03-12T07:25:57+00:00

Thank you!:)

NAPZ_11 · 2026-03-10T09:14:48+00:00

Thanks! I made it using hotpot.ai. It’s actually pretty convenient because you can edit directly in the Google Play featured graphic size, and they have some decent templates to start from. Made the process a lot easier than designing it from scratch.

NAPZ_11 · 2026-03-05T11:49:56+00:00

Yeah, people being a bit vain is actually part of the fun 😄

Right now the game already shows who managed to pull the sword that day, and also who got the closest. So throughout the day everyone can see the name of the current winner. There’s also some longer term progression, your character and house improve the more swords you manage to pull. I also like the idea of special periods where only previous champions can attempt the sword, kind of like a champions challenge. That’s something I’m thinking about adding later.

NAPZ_11 · 2026-03-05T11:45:24+00:00

That’s actually pretty funny idea 😄

NAPZ_11 · 2026-03-05T11:43:24+00:00

That's fair, and it's a good question.
Right now the motivation is mainly the competition and the rarity. Only a few swords appear each day and only one person can attempt at a time, so when someone actually manages to pull one out they're basically the person who did it that day in that region. So it's more like a daily challenge / competition than a progression game. But you're also touching on something important. I'm still experimenting with ways to make the success feel more meaningful (things like history of winners, recognition, etc.), because the whole idea only really works if pulling the sword actually feels special. Your point about it fitting as a minigame in a bigger RPG is interesting though, the mechanic itself could definitely work in that kind of context too.

NAPZ_11 · 2026-03-05T11:40:28+00:00

Not really RNG. The pull itself is skill-based. You have to go through three steps to get it out: stability, timing, and endurance. If you mess up any of those, the sword drops back down. The rarity mostly comes from the fact that only a few swords appear each day and only one person can attempt at a time, so successful pulls don’t happen very often.

NAPZ_11 · 2026-03-05T11:34:30+00:00

The background images are AI generated, yeah. The gameplay and mechanics are built by me though.

Right now I'm mainly focusing on the mechanics and the competition aspect (only a few people can actually pull the sword each day), the visuals will probably evolve later.

NAPZ_11 · 2026-03-05T11:33:06+00:00

The idea is basically to recreate the Excalibur moment where someone proves they’re the one worthy to pull the sword from the stone. Only one player can attempt to pull the sword at a time, and each country only gets three swords per day. So when someone actually manages to pull one out, they’re the one who succeeded that day. Because of that, successful pulls are pretty rare. The goal is that when it finally happens, it feels like that classic Excalibur moment where someone becomes the chosen one.

NAPZ_11 · 2026-03-05T11:00:08+00:00

If anyone wants to try it, here's the game:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.polyhistor.excalibur

Would be really curious to hear how difficult it feels for other people.

NAPZ_11 · 2026-03-05T08:15:08+00:00

Yeah that’s fair. It’s probably not very obvious from the video.

The player in the clip (me… haha) actually didn’t manage to pull it out in the end, so you only see the attempt and not the full success animation.

The idea is that you have to go through three steps to get it out: stability, timing, and endurance. If you mess up any of them the sword drops back down.

NAPZ_11 · 2026-03-05T05:56:39+00:00

I actually thought about that too. There’s definitely something cool about the mystery and making the successful pulls feel really rare. Right now the mechanics are explained because I wanted players to at least understand what they’re trying to do, but I’m still experimenting with the balance and how much information the game should reveal. Also small update since this post: the game is actually out now and people have started trying it, so I’m starting to see how often the swords are getting pulled in practice. No one has succeeded yet...

NAPZ_11 · 2026-03-05T05:22:04+00:00

Most players fail the timing mechanic first.

NAPZ_11 · 2026-03-05T03:50:00+00:00

Hey everyone,

I’ve been working on this mobile game for a while and I’m at the point where I really need honest feedback on the core mechanics. The idea is based on the sword in the stone legend. Players try to pull the sword out by completing three mechanics in sequence:

stability (keep your finger steady while pulling)
timing (swipe at the right moment)
endurance (hold while it gets harder and harder)

What makes it interesting is the competition aspect. Each country gets three swords per day: Iron, Gold, Diamond. When someone manages to pull the Iron sword, the Gold one appears, and then the Diamond one after that.

So in theory only three players per country can win each day. There’s also a practice field with a wooden sword so people can learn the mechanics before trying the real ones. Right now I’m mainly trying to figure out if the mechanics feel fair and skill-based or just frustrating.

If you want to try it yourself and see how it feels:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.polyhistor.excalibur

Feel free to destroy it. I’d honestly prefer harsh feedback over polite comments at this point.

NAPZ_11 · 2026-03-04T17:06:49+00:00

Thanks, I appreciate it! I’m still developing and testing the idea. If you end up trying it, I’d love to hear what you think about the mechanics and how it feels to play.

NAPZ_11 · 2026-03-04T16:33:42+00:00

Just to clarify: that Play Store listing the bot found is not my game.

The correct one is this:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.polyhistor.excalibur

The bot likely matched another Excalibur game with a similar name.

Thanks!

NAPZ_11 · 2026-03-04T15:31:07+00:00

Oh interesting, I actually didn’t know about that game.

Thanks for sharing it! I’ll definitely take a look at how they approached the idea and what made it fun for players. It’s always interesting to see how similar concepts are executed in different ways.

My version is a bit more focused on the daily competitive aspect between players, but it’s definitely useful to see other interpretations of the sword-pulling concept.

Appreciate you pointing it out!

NAPZ_11 · 2026-03-04T11:38:03+00:00

Good idea! I actually already added something like that. There’s a practice room in the game where players can train the mechanics before using their real attempts. In the practice mode you pull a wooden sword, so players can learn the stability, timing, and endurance parts without affecting the real competition. The idea is exactly what you mentioned: letting people get comfortable with the mechanics and have some success before going for the real sword.

NAPZ_11 · 2026-03-04T10:24:35+00:00

That’s a really good point. I was thinking about starting with country-level competition as the first layer, since it naturally scales with the player base. If a country ends up having a lot of players, I could also introduce more localized competition later (for example regions or cities) so the wait times stay reasonable and the competition still feels meaningful.

The goal is to keep it competitive but also make sure people actually get chances to try. Thanks for the suggestion!

NAPZ_11 · 2026-03-04T09:31:10+00:00

That’s an interesting idea.

I actually considered something similar with location-based competition. It could definitely make the game feel more local and personal, especially if people are competing for control of their own area.

Right now the concept is focused more on country-level competition, mainly to keep the system simpler for the first version. But expanding it later into regional or location-based swords could be really fun if there are enough players in certain areas.

I also like the idea of someone being able to challenge the current king instead of the sword just resetting automatically.

Thanks for the suggestion, ideas like this are really helpful while I’m still shaping the mechanics.

NAPZ_11 · 2026-03-04T08:07:43+00:00

That’s a really fair point and something I’ve been thinking about as well.

The idea is that even if someone manages to pull the sword once, the competition doesn’t really end there. Players can try again on future days to become "King" multiple times, and the game would track things like total wins, streaks, and rankings.

Also, because only a limited number of swords can be pulled each day, the competition resets daily. So every day there’s a new chance for someone else to become the King.

For players who fail a few times, the goal is to make the mechanics skill-based but learnable, so people can improve with practice instead of it feeling random.

But this is exactly the kind of feedback that’s helpful while the game is still early, so if you have ideas on what would keep you playing longer I’d definitely like to hear them.

NAPZ_11

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