The iOS gaming thread

[Rev. Stuart Campbell]

I'm wondering if Stu hasn't got it mixed up, actually. He mentions dodging balls...there is a ball dodging game on iPhone that uses the same mechanic as TTL, which gets old very fast. I can't remember what that's called, but you could imagine it being called Tilt To Live.

EDIT: And he mentions crappy control...Tilt To Live is the most perfectly calibrated and satisfyingly precise gyro game on the iPhone,

Its constant claims to be such a thing are about half of what annoys me about it. The controls are no such thing, nor even remotely close - if I choose Custom, hit the Set button and then hold the iThing absolutely stock still, the ship will still wander drunkenly off into a corner. It's doing it as I type, with the ship having reached the south-west extremity of the screen inside 30 seconds even though the iThing is sitting flat on a table. (I've just tried it again, in the exact same position, and this time the ship lodged itself in the south-east corner.)

The much more modest Need For Cheese pisses all over it in that regard, as well as most others. TTL is nicely presented with some neat ideas, but a precision tilt-dodging game without reliable controls is about as much use as a motorbike without a front wheel.

[Rev. Stuart Campbell]

Jetpack Joyride is the one I recognized.

Jetpack Joyride isn't an endless runner. It's broadly speaking a cave-flyer game, a completely different genre, but even then there's so much more to it that it transcends the basic type. It'd be really weird to have an iOS "best of" chart without a proper endless runner, as they're one of the format's signature styles. Canabalt, Run!, Ovenbreak Infinity, Hellkid, Dalton The Awesome, Run Like Hell Deluxe, Red Jumping Hood, Monster Dash, Rogue Runner and at least 10 more crackers... surely any vaguely representative chart would have to find room for one of them?

That's a fair point -I thought Stu's comments further up were far more bilious last night than they actually are (they aren't).

Sorry Stu.

Heavens. Apology accepted.

[Chooch]

Its constant claims to be such a thing are about half of what annoys me about it. The controls are no such thing, nor even remotely close - if I choose Custom, hit the Set button and then hold the iThing absolutely stock still, the ship will still wander drunkenly off into a corner. It's doing it as I type, with the ship having reached the south-west extremity of the screen inside 30 seconds even though the iThing is sitting flat on a table. (I've just tried it again, in the exact same position, and this time the ship lodged itself in the south-east corner.)

The much more modest Need For Cheese pisses all over it in that regard, as well as most others. TTL is nicely presented with some neat ideas, but a precision tilt-dodging game without reliable controls is about as much use as a motorbike without a front wheel.

It controls wonderfully.

Achievements such as not attacking anything for 50 seconds would be impossible with poor controls as you need to dart about avoiding tens of the little red dots which speed up the longer they are on screen.

[Rev. Stuart Campbell]

Also, for anyone still not following Free App Hero on Twitter, Pinball Ride Free is that rarest of beasts, a game where the "lite" version is actually better than the full version.

[Rev. Stuart Campbell]

It controls wonderfully.

Achievements such as not attacking anything for 50 seconds would be impossible with poor controls as you need to dart about avoiding tens of the little red dots which speed up the longer they are on screen.

Of course they wouldn't be - you'd just have to constantly adjust to account for the inaccuracy of the controls, which is rubbish but eminently possible.

The calibration of any tilt game where your character doesn't stay still on a totally unmoving solid surface is shit by definition. And TTL's failings aren't a matter of opinion or interpretation, they're reproduceable fact - try it for yourself. Put it on a table, hit "Set" and then see where the ship is 20 seconds later. Anywhere but "exactly where it started" is made of fail.

[Gringo]

Space invaders infinity gene anyone?

[Clipper]

Its constant claims to be such a thing are about half of what annoys me about it. The controls are no such thing, nor even remotely close - if I choose Custom, hit the Set button and then hold the iThing absolutely stock still, the ship will still wander drunkenly off into a corner. It's doing it as I type, with the ship having reached the south-west extremity of the screen inside 30 seconds even though the iThing is sitting flat on a table. (I've just tried it again, in the exact same position, and this time the ship lodged itself in the south-east corner.)

Thats odd I am fairly anti-tilt controls but even I quite like tilt to lives implementation.

I just tried the custom setting flat on desk a few times and mostly stock still with maybe a slight imperceptible amount of movement which is indeed at random directions but nothing major enough t cause it to reach edge of screen in 30.

What I did note is even if I leant on desk when i touched the "set" button then when i leant back that was enough to make it change slightyl and give some movement...

seems incredibly sensitive when you set it up.

[K]

The calibration of any tilt game where your character doesn't stay still on a totally unmoving solid surface is shit by definition. And TTL's failings aren't a matter of opinion or interpretation, they're reproduceable fact - try it for yourself. Put it on a table, hit "Set" and then see where the ship is 20 seconds later. Anywhere but "exactly where it started" is made of fail.

I just tried this, and the ship didn't move a pixel.

[Rev. Stuart Campbell]

I just tried this, and the ship didn't move a pixel.

Then I must be living in some sort of weird fluctuating gravity well or something. In the light of this week's physics news, I guess anything is possible.

[toythatkills]

I just tried this, and the ship didn't move a pixel.

I'm getting the same thing Stu gets, moves around all over the place.

I've never had an issue playing the actual game though.

[carleton]

I'm getting the same thing Stu gets, moves around all over the place.

I've never had an issue playing the actual game though.

Sounds like you two have got knackered tilt sensors. I guess the games which work fine for Stu are less sensitive.

[Rev. Stuart Campbell]

It's doing the same - though a bit less markedly - on my iPhone 4 as it did on the Touch, on the same table, both at default sensitivity. (After 30 seconds the ship is obscuring the "ne" of "neutral".) So the idea that we've all somehow got broken devices seems doubtful.

(I also went back to the Touch and set horizontal and vertical sensitivity to -80, and after 20 seconds the ship was three-quarters of the way along the top edge of the screen.)

[deerokus]

It moves slightly for me on my ipod Touch when in my speaker dock or sitting on my desk.

[ZOK]

Hmmm, I have never ever played using custom controls...I just hold it flat.

It's steady as a rock. And as someone with well over seven million points in Code Red mode, I've played it a few times, ya get me?

[ZOK]

It's doing the same - though a bit less markedly - on my iPhone 4 as it did on the Touch, on the same table, both at default sensitivity. (After 30 seconds the ship is obscuring the "ne" of "neutral".) So the idea that we've all somehow got broken devices seems doubtful.

(I also went back to the Touch and set horizontal and vertical sensitivity to -80, and after 20 seconds the ship was three-quarters of the way along the top edge of the screen.)

Maybe your flat is on a slope? You live in Bath don't you, it's the most likely explanation!

[K]

Interestingly (or possibly not interestingly) I tried out Tilt To Live on my (probably required by statute to be snooker table-flat) desk at work before; I just tried it on a slightly wonkaloid table in my palatial flat, and there was some definite drift on the part of the little arrow. So it does seem to be a bit variable.

[SaintM]

Isn't the whole point of the calibrate bit that it does not need to be flat, just stable?

[ZOK]

I don't understand though...if you are going to hold it flat, like on a table, why do you need to calibrate it? During the game you will never, ever hold it in one position for more than a fraction of a second. The game controls are designed around movement!

Actually play the game, then tell me the controls are crappy. The Need for Cheese example that Stu gave is so glitchy in comparison to TTL that I wonder he didn't post it as a joke.

TTL is universally acknowledged for having the best tilt controls of any iOS game, by players, not by the power of marketing. The makers haven't just said they are great and everyone magically believed them-they are simply perfect!

[Pistol]

Tilt to Live has always had issues with the Custom control setting; I wouldn't attempt to benchmark it by that.

Just play it with regular controls. You're never still for more than a millisecond or you're dead anyway.

[Rev. Stuart Campbell]

Interesting, and some might say quite evidently wrong, usage of "universally" there. And of "perfect", come to that. Is moving around randomly when the player doesn't touch the controls a game-design ideal now?

[Pistol]

Ah, but as has been said, it's the custom control setting / auto-calibration that does that! Use the default controls and it doesn't!

[Davros sock drawer]

Fascinating chat guys!

That was interesting, we talked about it. Let's stop talking now!

[aaronlivo]

Edit: EA iPad game sale a lot of games for 69p!

Monopoly

Sim City Deluxe Edition

Tetris

Need for speed hot pursuit

Scrabble

Command & Conquer

The game of life

Dead Space

Risk

bop It

Shift 2

NBA Jam

Battlefield: Bad Company 2

Reckless Racing

Battleship

And more check the top charts out

Edited September 23, 2011 by aaronlivo

[shock33]

A few of those still seem full price (risk notably as I was interested in that one)

[aaronlivo]

A few of those still seem full price (risk notably as I was interested in that one)

That's strange it's showing up at 69p on my iPad

[shock33]

Maybe iPad Or universal ones only?

[aaronlivo]

Maybe iPad Or universal ones only?

It's an iPad only sale I'm afraid according to EA's website

[gingerling]

69p for NBA Jam! Bloody crazy!

It's brilliant

[MrHendo]

Deo and Warp Dash are now free to play.

Also Osmos is on sale for 69p, BUY IT!

Quoting in case anyone missed this in the great Fascinating Custom Tilt debate - the two free games are ok but I really like Osmos. Got a bit stuck at the point where they introduce anti-matter but I really love the music and trippy feel of it.

EDIT: Free games no longer free, but Osmos is still 69p and well worth it.

[Cheeko]

Interesting, and some might say quite evidently wrong, usage of "universally" there. And of "perfect", come to that. Is moving around randomly when the player doesn't touch the controls a game-design ideal now?

You seem to be clinging on to this issue as proof that the game is fundamentally flawed but it's like talking about the science of how the canvas is setup when discussing the quality of an art piece.

Yes, you're right the calibration doesnt seem to have a dead zone so when you set it it usually drifts. However, when playing the game you aren't just starting from your exact calibration position and steering from there, you're watching the ship on screen and moving the device relative to what's happening, it's so sensitive you never notice such a minor drift so it's a moot point during play.

Also, the choice not to have a dead zone I imagine is an intentional choice by developers to keep you in constant motion during the game to add tension and momentum to play.