Jump to content
IGNORED

The iOS gaming thread

Scog

By Scog
in Discussion

 Share

Recommended Posts

Vorgot

Vorgot

Posted
Posted

I know it's now really old, but I missed it while it was gone. Drop 7 has not been working for ages, I think iOS 12 broke it, but noticed that it was fine again over the weekend. Really the only game I play on my phone.

2
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Pistol

Pistol

Posted
Posted
5 hours ago, SteveH said:

What's everybodys controller of choice? I noticed some games are controller compatible, but not sure which to go for, as you can't use an Xbox One or PS4 controller?

 

I have a SteelSeries Nimbus controller, and it's pretty great. It's a full size controller, so not ideal for portability, but my main reason for getting one was so I could hook my iPhone up to hotel room TV s for when I'm away with work. I have bought a clip for it so I can attach the iPhone to it which works very well, but you wouldn't want to walk around with it in your pocket!

 

It uses the PlayStation stick layout which isn't my preference, but hardly the end of the world. Everything else about the pad is great. It's one of the only pads (AFAIK) to use Bluetooth 4.1, so has the minimum possible lag and the battery lasts for ages.

 

They're normally around £50, but CeX seek them for a shade over £20; I got a grade C one for £21.50 delivered and there's not a thing wrong with it.

 

The other one I was seriously considering was a GameVice. They do look really good, and would be excellent for gaming on the go, but although it has a lightning port it only supports charging so I wouldn't have been able to use my lightning to HDMI adapter at the same time as the controller so that ruled it out for me.

3
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Pistol

Pistol

Posted
Posted

No worries! There's a really good review of it here https://afterpad.com/steelseries-nimbus-the-afterpad-review/ (works fine in Safari but the layout seems messed up on IE).

 

 

The clip I bought for it cost £1.75 from a China based eBay seller, works a treat. It's one of the ones designed for an Xbox One controller, they fit the Nimbus too, the only slight issue is whilst you can turn the pad on with the clip in place, you have to remove it before you can turn it off. Hardly a deal breaker. You can get them quicker (but costlier) from UK based sellers.

 

I can take some photos of it if you like.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Pistol

Pistol

Posted
Posted
8 hours ago, MK-1601 said:

I like Eli Hodapp (and TouchArcade has been a massive boon to the more hardcore mobile games scene) but he has some peculiar notions about how the business of games works.

 

There will be some cases where it's practical to update an old iOS game to meet modern requirements, but for the vast majority it will be very expensive and difficult, assuming the original code even still exists, and the owner wants anything to do with iOS again (good luck convincing Jeff Minter!).

 

But the more glaring issue is that his proposed company doesn't solve anything. If a game has been taken off the store because it was commercially non-viable on that store, reviving it won't magically fix that.

 

The way to preserve games that no longer work on their original intented platform is to make them available on other platforms where their availability isn't dependent on them being actively maintained, or to open source them so the community can step in to keep them alive.

 

The App Store has moved on massively over the years as well. Some of the early stuff that sold millions was very basic by modern standards - essentially Flash games - whereas today Fortnite, Minecraft and lots of direct ports of PC and console adventure and strategy games exist on the store (as well as so many awesome native original games, both premium and F2P). There are some people who would pay $1 to play Flight Control, Rolando or whatever again but I severely doubt there are enough of them to make a viable business.

 

Unfortunately I think you're right. The only way I could see it being really viable is if someone has come up with a clever emulator or wrapper that somehow makes a 32-bit app work within a 64-bit environment; if they are having to actually go and modify the individual apps, that's fraught with issues. Not only do you have to sort out the rights to do it with the developers (assuming they still exist) you've got all the labour associated with updating the app, then you've somehow got to make a profit from it whilst simultaneously giving the rights holder a cut as well as Apple's usual out of the miniscule margins.

 

 

If I could pay a one off free for an app and then that allowed me to put my own 32-bit apps into it somehow, I'd go for that, but I can't see how Apple would approve such a thing as it would circumvent their app store. Presumably you'd also need some way of sideloading the app files onto your device too. And it could stop working with iOS updates.

 

 

I reckon it's most likely they're attempting updating individual apps, which as you say is highly unlikely to be viable. For one thing, a lot of people are likely to balk at paying again for an old game they already paid for (forgetting that going from 32-bit to 64-bit was effectively like a console generation change, most will just see it as "it's still an iPhone why should I have to buy this game again reeeeeeeeee").

 

 

I don't think it's got legs but saying that I'm one of the ones who would gladly pay for Hook Champ again.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
carleton

carleton

Posted
Posted

I programmed a successful iOS app back in the day, Say What You See. I tried to get a deal together with the bloke who published it to rework it with higher res canvases and newer OSs etc. but we couldn’t agree terms. And that’s just 2 or 3 people discussing an original IP. It’s a shame, the app would still work as a game today. Feels like we’re throwing money away.

3
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Stejay

Stejay

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, carleton said:

I programmed a successful iOS app back in the day, Say What You See. I tried to get a deal together with the bloke who published it to rework it with higher res canvases and newer OSs etc. but we couldn’t agree terms. And that’s just 2 or 3 people discussing an original IP. It’s a shame, the app would still work as a game today. Feels like we’re throwing money away.

 

It was pretty awesome too. Definitely something that would work nowadays still.

1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Bushtopher

Bushtopher

Posted
Posted
On 23/11/2018 at 14:32, Bushtopher said:

If anyone fancies a challenging cryptic puzzle game I can highly recommend this new app: 

 

Quiz Time! - Underground by Christopher Bush
https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/quiz-time-underground/id1443669257?mt=8

 

(I made this!!)

 

I’m entirely self taught (well, with a lot of help from google and a few people on here) and keen to improve so feedback is welcome from anyone who gives it a go. 

 

I’ve just released an updated version of my app - now renamed to Quiz Time! Cryptic Challenge and featuring 3 challenging cryptic style quizzes - Books, Cities and Towns, and London Tube Map. 

 

If anyone fancies giving it a go (free to download - 5 free questions per quiz, the. 99p to unlock a full quiz of 100 questions) then I’d really appreciate it and would love to hear your feedback (and a review if you like it!) 

1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Vorgot

Vorgot

Posted
Posted
On 11/03/2019 at 16:34, carleton said:

I programmed a successful iOS app back in the day, Say What You See. I tried to get a deal together with the bloke who published it to rework it with higher res canvases and newer OSs etc. but we couldn’t agree terms. And that’s just 2 or 3 people discussing an original IP. It’s a shame, the app would still work as a game today. Feels like we’re throwing money away.

FWIW, I bloody loved that game, bought all the canvases. Its a massive shame as it would still work beautifully today, and I bet it would be massively popular. Was gutted when I had to go Android for a couple of years, came back to iPhone and it was gone. But I hope it made some money for you when it was available

Link to comment
Share on other sites
carleton

carleton

Posted
Posted
2 hours ago, Vorgot said:

FWIW, I bloody loved that game, bought all the canvases. Its a massive shame as it would still work beautifully today, and I bet it would be massively popular. Was gutted when I had to go Android for a couple of years, came back to iPhone and it was gone. But I hope it made some money for you when it was available

 

Cheers, it was a great app to work on with @jon_cybernet but we weren’t the money men. Somebody made a mint off it though. Jon and I came up with the hint coin idea which effectively cost nothing but made tens of thousands alone. I should have negotiated a royalty but I was happy enough for the paid work. My task was to effectively fix the broken Collection app which had bombed after the original SWYS was a huge success.  Actually got the gig via RLLMUK.

2
Link to comment
Share on other sites
jon_cybernet

jon_cybernet

Posted
Posted
40 minutes ago, carleton said:

 

Cheers, it was a great app to work on with @jon_cybernet but we weren’t the money men. Somebody made a mint off it though. Jon and I came up with the hint coin idea which effectively cost nothing but made tens of thousands alone. I should have negotiated a royalty but I was happy enough for the paid work. My task was to effectively fix the broken Collection app which had bombed after the original SWYS was a huge success.  Actually got the gig via RLLMUK.

 

I wish I’d got a royalty too. ;)

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Stejay

Stejay

Posted
Posted

Has anyone here played Tick Tock: A Tale for Two by Other Tales Interactive ApS?


https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/tick-tock-a-tale-for-two/id1357651989?mt=8

 

It was the recent app of the week on Tapsmart.com. It sounds quite intriguing as it requires two people with the app playing simultaneously with them having half the clues each needed to solve puzzles.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
jonathanhoey

jonathanhoey

Posted
Posted
On ‎20‎/‎12‎/‎2018 at 13:04, Gotters said:

a new ftp lemmings game has just been released

 

https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2018-12-20-sonys-just-released-a-new-lemmings-game

 

downloading now, could be good, or could be an IAP filled abomination to the original classic.

 

On ‎20‎/‎12‎/‎2018 at 22:25, The Bag said:

 

So far my impression is it’s very average.  Unlike Lemmings you don’t click on a lemming to them into, say, a digger you click on a grid cell & say dig here.  This does allow you to plan ahead and makes it less frantic, perhaps better for a mobile game but I think robs it of something.  The F2P system is energy, it doesn’t cost energy to enter a level (that I’ve noticed) but it costs energy to do all these actions in the level.  So naturally the cost of a level ramps up over time as they become more complex, e.g. the early levels were two or three actions, now they’re five to seven.  Cancelling an action returns the energy.

 

Energy refills over time, can be refilled with 900 in game coins, or you can pay £6.99 for 2 energy free hours.  The only other thing I can currently see to spend coins on are eggs which hatch collectible lemmings (from Tribes) unclear whether they affect gameplay but you are rewarded for completing a set of them.

 

After the start levels are setup to allow multiple ways through them, though anyone who has played lemmings before will be able to spot the optimal path.  Ties back to the energy system, punishing or taking advantage of inexperience players who will spend more energy to complete the same levels?  Generous win conditions, e.g. 5 of 15 lemmings saved.

 

Don't know if I’ll continue with it.  Mostly played it this afternoon to see if it was doing anything interesting and write a quick breakdown of it me mechanics & systems.

 

 

I missed the new Lemmings game (and these posts) at the time. Spotted it in the App Store and tried it on a whim.

 

Boy is it disappointing.

 

Mechanically I think they've done quite a good job of fitting it to a touchscreen interface. It's recognisably Lemmings, and the gameplay itself is fine, and fairly satisfying. As @The Bagobserves above, it's been turned into an environment puzzle where you place instructions on a grid rather than interacting with specific individual lemmings.

 

The number of skills has been cut down as well - there are really only Blockers, Builders, Floaters and Diggers now. Miners and Bashers have been lumped in with Diggers, and Climbers are just gone completely. I do like the fact that you no longer have to kill a Blocker when everyone else has gone. You can just tap on him and send him on his way.

 

The problem, predictably, is the microtransaction model. It ruins the whole thing. The puzzles in the original games depended on constraining your supply of specific skills, so you had to think about what you had in hand and come up with clever ways to use them. In this, everything is brute force. If a big level will require more actions than you have energy remaining, just throw money at it.


Two hours of 'free play' is £6.99. I'd have been perfectly happy to pay that as a one-off, if this interface had been married to some well-designed puzzles.

 

The highest single IAP ("best value!") is A HUNDRED POUNDS. I genuinely think that shouldn't be allowed.  

 

I'm aware I'm ranting about the IAP model in general rather than really talking about this specific game.

 

It's just painfully disappointing in this case because there's the guts of something really good here, and they've fucked it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
MK-1601

MK-1601

Posted
Posted
On 11/03/2019 at 16:34, carleton said:

I programmed a successful iOS app back in the day, Say What You See. I tried to get a deal together with the bloke who published it to rework it with higher res canvases and newer OSs etc. but we couldn’t agree terms. And that’s just 2 or 3 people discussing an original IP. It’s a shame, the app would still work as a game today. Feels like we’re throwing money away.

Yeah, it's definitely due a revival.

1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
jon_cybernet

jon_cybernet

Posted
Posted
On 30/03/2019 at 12:59, schmojo said:

It's a little counterproductive, but why not just start your own that you own the rights to? 

 

It's not as if those Rebus puzzles are completely original.

 

We did discuss it, it would obviously be easier if we could do a deal, as we’d have the advantage of starting off with 50+ canvasses and a name that some people will recognise. 

 

Building up a new set of canvasses though would take money (they weren’t cheap to produce) and time (or quick to paint). 

 

Its obviously doable, just feels like we’d need a bit of a cash injection to pay the artists if we were to do it ourselves. 

 

Id love to do it though, got tons of ideas on how I’d refresh the app, and I work at MediaTonic now, so have access to some awesome art talent. 

 

I suppose the other alternative might be to kickstart it, but not sure how far we’d get without any brand recognition or really reputation, other than as the guys that made Say What You See. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Spacehost

Spacehost

Posted
Posted

TES: Blades is in general early access, and oh boy, it has the most bafflingly shit onboarding process I've ever seen. It would be redeemable if it was good, but it is not.

 

Everyone worried that it would be the best bits of Skyrim welded to the merciless gameplay conventions of a modern mobile title can rest easy, it's the exact opposite.

 

It's an inexplicable load of Skyrim-adjacent guff with zero charm in an ugly environment with the sort of gameplay and UI experiences one would expect from a mobile RPG six or seven years ago. It controls like one of those dreams where you can't stop yourself walking into a giant pit in the ground as you flail around for a way to stop.

 

If you looked at that mobile demo from 2011 where you could walk around an empty city admiring things and thought, "I'd like to see this in a game, but maybe most of a decade from now, uglier, and with the builder gameplay from the beta of Dawn of Titans in it", you finally got your wish.

 

It looks and plays like the mobile game someone in CSI: Miami would use to track a guy who murdered a game designer called Rodd Poward for making a really shit mobile version of a popular RPG.

 

There's a whole currency for lumber, despite the fact there's environmental lumber you can't pick up all over the dungeons. Why.

 

Irredeemable tosh. There's an inkling of a good idea in here but it feel instantly dated.

4
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Spacehost

Spacehost

Posted
Posted

The first thing you do is get a cutscene, then it tells you to hit some elf dude seventeen times, then downloads 800MB of data, and then the game actually starts.

 

It feels like what it probably is: some long-stagnant TES iOS project resurrected to try and pad out Bethesda’s barren mobile portfolio.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share
Go to topic listing

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue. Use of this website is subject to our Privacy Policy, Terms of Use, and Guidelines.

  I accept