The iPad/iPhone/iPod Touch Gaming |Thread4| NOT Doomed

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Shadowrun any good? It had a price drop to 99c and I've heard some problems with the game. Is the game ruined with IAP as well?

If you mean Shadowgun, it is definitely worth a buck. One of the prettiest games on the platform and, while simplistic gameplay-wise, it's a solid 3rd person shooter that's got style and some soul.

edit: on a different note, just discovered Air Mail is only a buck atm. It's a beautiful and very charming top-notch 3D flying/packet-delivery game.
 
Yeah, same. The only time it ever feels like it's trying to get you into buying something is when it offers you a car for sale for only $10k or 10 tokens, but you only have a few hundred and 3 tokens to your name. Other than that, it doesn't feel *too* grindy (yet). Only done 2/3 of the races against the first "boss" though, so we'll see how that goes.

I like how it uses push notifications to make you feel like you're actually being challenged by real people though. And telling you when you have fuel to use. Very well done.

Word of warning: If you aren't willing to spend £1.99, you won't win the boss car. Don't take his wager. I roundly thrashed him on the three races but if you accept his wager afterwards, it'll tell you to buy a one-use 'super boost'. I didn't buy it, raced the guy anyway and he completely destroyed me.

It's getting pretty grindey for me (on Tier 2 boss) but I'm mitigating much of it by only playing on my cig breaks and waiting for 70% off deals before buying a car.

Thing is, I'm not sure I can go any further than tier 2 without paying. All the tier 3 and above cars require payment in 'gold' which as you've seen, is scarce as fuck.

This is one of those games where I wish I could just pay £29.99 and have everything available. Operating two different in-app currencies (gold & cash) guarantees that I'll never pay a penny though. Worst idea you can have in a 'freemium' game.
 
This is one of those games where I wish I could just pay £29.99 and have everything available. Operating two different in-app currencies (gold & cash) guarantees that I'll never pay a penny though. Worst idea you can have in a 'freemium' game.

It's really starting to kill my buzz on iOS gaming in general. It's so frustrating when you have a game/concept that you enjoy and then you are tied to this payment scheme that becomes a game unto itself.

To me, the best model is the Lite/Paid model. Give us a taste of the game, then we'll gladly fork over 5-15 dollars for the full game if we like it.
 
It's really starting to kill my buzz on iOS gaming in general. It's so frustrating when you have a game/concept that you enjoy and then you are tied to this payment scheme that becomes a game unto itself.

To me, the best model is the Lite/Paid model. Give us a taste of the game, then we'll gladly fork over 5-15 dollars for the full game if we like it.

The business is heavily weighted towards whales though, and the lite/paid model is not designed to exploit them. As a developer, you'd be leaving money on the table.

We're not really the target audience for most iOS stuff.
 
The business is heavily weighted towards whales though, and the lite/paid model is not designed to exploit them. As a developer, you'd be leaving money on the table.

I'm not ready to accept this as a reality, yet. I think there have been companies that have had incredible success at exploiting whales and way more that have made games chasing them and failing in the process. Not only financially, but also their reputation as a game maker (coughGamevilcough). Maybe I am way off and am underestimating the amount of whales WW and their appetite for new ways to paytowin. Maybe even a "failed" whale game is enough to keep the lights on.

I think this platform is still in it's infancy and has a ways to grow.
 
I´ve been sort of out of touch of IOS gaming for a while.
I bought Bejeweled the other day and managed to download it over 3g, when did they raise the downloadlimit from 20 megs?
 
Excuse the shameless self promotion below this line :]

-------------

Hi GAF,

My name is Michael and I'm one of the developers behind the Dutch indie game studio: Picomy.

We've been working on Heroki - an upcoming iOS title for over 2 years now and I thought I'd like to share this here;

Teaser trailer:
http://youtu.be/04Y5MBYr8Ms

Off-screen Demo Footage (showcasting our 'Flow Motion Control' scheme)
http://youtu.be/hfToSmH6G-0

The story evolves around a young boy - Heroki - who has a piecefull life in his sky village Levantia. One day, a magic element has been stolen by the antagonist and it's up to Heroki to find this magic element to save his village.

Heroki has a different game design then traditional 2.5D platformers. The main focus of the game lies on the flying aspect. This results in an almost unlimited freedom and exploration.

Our goal is to create a really rich and deep action/adventure game experience for iOS. Some of Heroki's features are:

- A touching story
- 5 large worlds to explore
- Lots of interactive characters/enemies
- Fly to Levantia (your hometown) at any point in the game
- Character upgrades (lots of them)
- Lots of sidequests
- Flow Motion Control (See offscreen video)
- Dynamic audio (lots of them)
- Full 3D environments (including backgrounds)

The game is being made with our own pICON engine so that we can maximize the full quality of the game.

You can visit our blog for much more information about Heroki: www.picomy.com

Thanks for taking the time to read this! :]
 
Excuse the shameless self promotion below this line :]

-------------

Hi GAF,

My name is Michael and I'm one of the developers behind the Dutch indie game studio: Picomy.

We've been working on Heroki - an upcoming iOS title for over 2 years now and I thought I'd like to share this here;

Teaser trailer:
http://youtu.be/04Y5MBYr8Ms

Off-screen Demo Footage (showcasting our 'Flow Motion Control' scheme)
http://youtu.be/hfToSmH6G-0

The story evolves around a young boy - Heroki - who has a piecefull life in his sky village Levantia. One day, a magic element has been stolen by the antagonist and it's up to Heroki to find this magic element to save his village.

Heroki has a different game design then traditional 2.5D platformers. The main focus of the game lies on the flying aspect. This results in an almost unlimited freedom and exploration.

Our goal is to create a really rich and deep action/adventure game experience for iOS. Some of Heroki's features are:

- A touching story
- 5 large worlds to explore
- Lots of interactive characters/enemies
- Fly to Levantia (your hometown) at any point in the game
- Character upgrades (lots of them)
- Lots of sidequests
- Flow Motion Control (See offscreen video)
- Dynamic audio (lots of them)
- Full 3D environments (including backgrounds)

The game is being made with our own pICON engine so that we can maximize the full quality of the game.

You can visit our blog for much more information about Heroki: www.picomy.com

Thanks for taking the time to read this! :]

Wow, that looks great! Love the art style
 
Excuse the shameless self promotion below this line :]

Looks really good! Though I'm not sure I understand the controls. Any ETA? Universal?

edit: nevermind, just read your blog. Your game looks jaw dropping. I really like the artstyle. Can't wait. :)

Heroki_World01.png
 
Hi GAF,

My name is Michael and I'm one of the developers behind the Dutch indie game studio: Picomy.

We've been working on Heroki - an upcoming iOS title for over 2 years now and I thought I'd like to share this here

Hey Michael, I think I remember posting a video for your game a few months back. Sounds like you're getting really to release soon? Look forward to it.
 
Thanks so much for the kind words everyone!

Looks really good! Though I'm not sure I understand the controls. Any ETA? Universal?
I'm actually glad you're asking about the controls. Allow me to explain the control scheme a little bit better:

You have to think of your fingertip as a gust of wind – constantly blowing wind in every direction. This generates lift for Heroki by 'blowing' him to al directions. The closer you place your finger nearby Heroki, the faster he accelerates. The player can descent fast when you trigger a ‘freefall’ by a single tap above Heroki. Your finger is always placed behind the action and therefore never blocking your view and keeping a clear field of where you want to go.

This allows the player to complete the game using one finger the whole time - that includes all the special ability controls. Multitouch is also supported (with thumbs) and that's the playstyle I personally prefer to play Heroki (see the end of the offscreen video).

I hope this explanation gives you a better 'picture' of the controls. :)


Universal? Yes
ETA? Soon.. Sorry for not being more specifik but right now, we're negotiating with a big publisher. It's safe to say within a few months.
 
Goddamn, CSR Racing has it's hooks in me. It's extremely aggressive with the IAP stuff but so far, I'm quite happy just to wait for my gas to refill and I'm happy to grind for my Cash / Gold. Such a simple premise, well executed.

Saw that only like 3/15 cars you can actually buy with cash, the rest with tokens, INSTANTLY lost a lot of motivation to actually play the game. So dumb.
 
Saw that only like 3/15 cars you can actually buy with cash, the rest with tokens, INSTANTLY lost a lot of motivation to actually play the game. So dumb.
I just beat the tier 2 boss and about half of the tier 3 cars unlocked for in-game currency as well as 'gold', so I'll give them that. I grabbed the ZL1 at $120k and now I'm waiting 45 minutes for delivery. Sigh.
 
Heroki looks fantastic. Hope it does well for you guys. Just curious, does it run at native resolution on the new iPad? Didn't expect much when I watched the trailer, but I'm now genuinely interested.

edit: I think I'm gonna get Asphalt. The last one was one of the only traditional racing games I played through to the end of the career and enjoyed(forgot about reckless 2, oops). I read that the controls and the game in general has been tweaked to work better, so that can't hurt.
 
I just beat the tier 2 boss and about half of the tier 3 cars unlocked for in-game currency as well as 'gold', so I'll give them that. I grabbed the ZL1 at $120k and now I'm waiting 45 minutes for delivery. Sigh.

aaaaaah okay I didn't get that far to notice that other cars would unlock for coin-currency, kk. thanks
 
An RPG maybe? Or a strategy game with a bunch of levels?

Can't go wrong wiht the Square Enix games. But if you dont want to spend $15 on one game (FFT) how about multiple small games!

- Ash
- War of Eustrath
- Hunters
- Guardian Saga
- Dragon Fantasy
- Cthuhul Saves The World
- Ravenmark
- Squids
- Squids WW
- Adventure Bar Story
- Shining Force
- The Bard's Tale
- Across Age DX
- Great Little War Game
- Greed Corp
- Doom 2 RPG
- Wolfenstein RPG
 
Played a little Frisbee 2. Enjoyable game, but it reeks of the current IAP based game design philosophy that is making me wretch at iOS gaming.

Every part of the game is designed to gradually accrue coins, nothing else. Of course they sell packs of coins in the IAP store.

Recently I completed 100%ed Mario 3D Land, and I've been wondering what that would be like if it had IAP. I guess the gradual coin collecting in this game is similar, and the fact that you can effectively gain coins from Street Pass is a little like getting them through IAP, but it doesn't feel like the game is ever trying to manipulate you.

Meanwhile its been a long time since I played any game on iOS with IAP that didn't feel like it was smugly leading you towards a pay wall. :/

I could use a nice friendly non meta-currency driven game to get my out of my iOS slump. :[
 
Can't go wrong wiht the Square Enix games. But if you dont want to spend $15 on one game (FFT) how about multiple small games!

- Ash
- War of Eustrath
- Hunters
- Guardian Saga
- Dragon Fantasy
- Cthuhul Saves The World
- Ravenmark
- Squids
- Squids WW
- Adventure Bar Story
- Shining Force
- The Bard's Tale
- Across Age DX
- Great Little War Game
- Greed Corp
- Doom 2 RPG
- Wolfenstein RPG

Just wanted to point out that Ravenmark is definitely great. Get it. And it's looooooooong.
 
Played a little Frisbee 2. Enjoyable game, but it reeks of the current IAP based game design philosophy that is making me wretch at iOS gaming.

Every part of the game is designed to gradually accrue coins, nothing else. Of course they sell packs of coins in the IAP store.

Recently I completed 100%ed Mario 3D Land, and I've been wondering what that would be like if it had IAP. I guess the gradual coin collecting in this game is similar, and the fact that you can effectively gain coins from Street Pass is a little like getting them through IAP, but it doesn't feel like the game is ever trying to manipulate you.

Meanwhile its been a long time since I played any game on iOS with IAP that didn't feel like it was smugly leading you towards a pay wall. :/

I could use a nice friendly non meta-currency driven game to get my out of my iOS slump. :[

Interesting discussion in where I lean more towards the 'annoyed' customer side regarding In App Purchases. Specially when some games force the player to purchase a coin pack to progress in a game and/or sometimes even interupt the gameplay by reminding them to spend some money in their shop - all very pushy.

I think the key to implement iAP succesfully is to find a right balance in where the 'experienced' players could earn all the upgrades/items in a game without spending any iAP at all without too much effort. The more 'inexperienced' / "lazy?" gamers could optionally buy some coins/stuff to speed up the progress of a game. In this case, iAP becomes highly optional in which I believe - is the only right way to implement such model.

Heroki will feature some "iAP" too. Now I put that on quotes deliberately because it's much more donation-wise implemented then a necessary procedure. This way, Indie developers like us, can apply lower purchase prices and can potentially reach a wider target audience.
 
I just beat the tier 2 boss and about half of the tier 3 cars unlocked for in-game currency as well as 'gold', so I'll give them that. I grabbed the ZL1 at $120k and now I'm waiting 45 minutes for delivery. Sigh.
Do what I did with Power of Coin. Change date to tomorrow. Open game. Reap rewards. Close game. Change date back. A month actually gives you a full tank AND one of those token things.

Cheap and tacky, but it works if you're impatient.

mdb: I prefer that way of thinking. I was like that with Jetpack Joyride when it was still being sold for a dollar. I bought it, but also bought the coin counterfeit IAP, not entirely because I wanted to achieve everything faster but because it was easier to show my appreciation of the app. FWIW though, I'd buy yours for a high price, regardless of IAP ;)
 
Excuse the shameless self promotion below this line :]

-------------

Hi GAF,

My name is Michael and I'm one of the developers behind the Dutch indie game studio: Picomy.

Speaking of self promoting, you guys could use an editor on your blog and presumably for the game text as well. Your products look great, but the amount of typos I noticed could hinder your credibility. I'm Belgian myself, I also speak Dutch but consider English to be my second native language. I'm going to be applying for some copywriting jobs soon so if you would like me to check out your blog or any other materials you'd feel comfortable sharing I would be more than happy to go over them and correct the mistakes I see along with some other tips as a free service. As long as I can mention it as a project on my resume. Feel free to send me a PM if you're interested.
 
Played a little Frisbee 2. Enjoyable game, but it reeks of the current IAP based game design philosophy that is making me wretch at iOS gaming.

Every part of the game is designed to gradually accrue coins, nothing else. Of course they sell packs of coins in the IAP store.

Recently I completed 100%ed Mario 3D Land, and I've been wondering what that would be like if it had IAP. I guess the gradual coin collecting in this game is similar, and the fact that you can effectively gain coins from Street Pass is a little like getting them through IAP, but it doesn't feel like the game is ever trying to manipulate you.

Meanwhile its been a long time since I played any game on iOS with IAP that didn't feel like it was smugly leading you towards a pay wall. :/

I could use a nice friendly non meta-currency driven game to get my out of my iOS slump. :[

I'm going to have to disagree with you on this one. The really great part about Frisbee Forever is how you pretty much unlock the game as you go. You can watch the free videos for ~250 free star coins a day (which I do and have done since the first game). That helps offset ANY sort of grind, but really, you spend time trying to get gold on the levels, and by the time you do, you should have enough to open the next world.

By going into the Get Coins tab or looking at the additional purchases, yeah, I can see how you'd get discouraged. But play the game enough and you'll see how useless those things are. The only item I've bought so far is the first level of Magnet. I've got 651 star coins and have only completed the first world and half the second.

Frisbee Forever is one of the few games I feel DOESN'T shove IAPs down your throat...
 
I'm hankering to get back into something like Space Miner or I Dig It. Any recent releases, in the last 6 months or so, that would scratch that itch?
 
My friends list on GC has flat out stopped showing what was the last game played by everyone for days now, only showing "Never Played" below the usernames. Is anyone else having this problem? I'm worried if it's only me and that I may need to do a restore in order to fix it.
 
I keep hoping we'll see some 4th of July sales soon. I'm afraid to buy anything.

Also has anyone played the iPad versions of Uplink or Space Chem? I'm interested in those
 
My friends list on GC has flat out stopped showing what was the last game played by everyone for days now, only showing "Never Played" below the usernames. Is anyone else having this problem? I'm worried if it's only me and that I may need to do a restore in order to fix it.
Yup, same. You jailbroken?
 
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