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

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I wonder if we should add more Knizia game to that list - I also own Ra, Medici and Ingenious. They're not that well known though, so I'm not sure... (Ingenious is LOADS of fun though, everyone should get it.)

Let me know of anything that's a board or deck game that has online multiplayer and I'll add it in.

Let's make use of the new thread guys!
 
What's a good card building game for beginners? Figure iPad is a good place to start to keep costs down. Solitaire options are good

If you like Solitaire, get Fairway Solitaire, it's awesome. (full game unlocks with IAP)

Card building games we've talked about on the last 2 pages ;) Ascencion is great, even though maybe a bit hard for a first time. Food Fight is fun, Assassin's Creed Recollection is a great trading card game for iOS.

@Heel: Ingenious is a board game, it plays... somewhat similar to Blokus if that tells you anything. Or domino. :D
 
fwiw I think we should limit the games on that spreadsheet to games that at least have online play. async play preferably since you can get big value from the list for async set-ups, but even liveplay since you can at least get a feel for how many people have it and then maybe ask in the thread if people want to play
 
fwiw I think we should limit the games on that spreadsheet to games that at least have online play. async play preferably since you can get big value from the list for async set-ups, but even liveplay since you can at least get a feel for how many people have it and then maybe ask in the thread if people want to play

Yeah, definitely online multiplayer only. Just trying to figure out where to draw the line. Do we include stuff like Words with Friends, other word games, dominoes, chess?
 
I hear ya on the iPad, no interest in carrying that thing around and when I'm at home, I want access to Windows programs plus Firefox, not Safari. I have 2 laptops and 2 desktops that all run pretty much the same software so no matter which machine I use, I have a homogeneous working environment. Using an idevice at home means having to think about "apps" that would made decent substitutes.

I have an iPod Touch 4g/32 and it's super portable to the point of hardly knowing it's in your pocket; it's almost too thin. As far as I know there aren't any games it can't play versus iPhone. The only difference hardware wise is the iPhone has 512MB RAM vs 256 in the Touch and the camera resolution is lower on the Touch. And yes, the Touch 4Gs have a gyroscope.
The iPod touch has the last gen CPU/GPU (like iPad 1, iPhone 4, ~3GS) with 256MB (like iPad 1, iPhone 3GS). I don't know how many are cutting support for it but I know Cave's HD games require 512MB and run at a reduced framerate on the iPhone 4, while (iirc) Infinity Blade has lower quality assets with 256MB.

To the original guy that asked, if possible/if you have the patience, wait for an update. I wouldn't be too surprised if it got the single core A5 w/512MB the Apple TV got. Or considering iPod bumps have been around September before, just buy now and sell later to upgrade when new ones come out.
 
Finally got my new iPad. It's pretty impressive. Kind of sad that a lot of my old games I need to buy over again if I want the ipad versions. Some of prices are terrible too. $10 for ipad versions of games I paid a dollar for on iPod Touch.
 
Finally got my new iPad. It's pretty impressive. Kind of sad that a lot of my old games I need to buy over again if I want the ipad versions. Some of prices are terrible too. $10 for ipad versions of games I paid a dollar for on iPod Touch.

Yep. Im waiting for a lot of sales on games i want to double dip on
 
Beril - Gunman Clive looks fantastic - I can see you've put in a lot of hard work!

One comment Id like to make - I've always found two way d-pad (left and right) work much better than the four way (up down left right), e.g. Bike Baron and Super Crate Box had great twitch control, but something like Mage Gauntlet which is probably the best of the four way controls a bit fiddly. I suppose as its a mega man type game you need to have the down button to duck?

Also I'd like to ask - how did you get on with Helium Boy in the end? I'm in the same sort of situation as you are with our app sQuiz: Reel Trivia, it just doesn't get any sales anymore (however we haven't promoted it yet, we haven't sent it out to review sites as we haven't put the multiplayer mode in yet). I remember reading a post about how you weren't getting very many sales but then you made a press release on PRMAC and got some sales that way. What I've found is - trying to sell a good quality mass market game (especially a trivia game) is really hit and miss on the iOS store cause there's so much crap out there. It's probably easier to make a twitch based game and sell a few units in the first few months and let it be. Most of the hardcore gamers who are the initial people who buy games don't buy trivia games really.

Also to the iphone devs out there - are there any good free app a day sites that do it for free? Free app a day costs $3000 and we're not ready to invest that money yet until we make some money. It blows my mind how much they make (5xapps a day for $3000 minimum) thats some serious money for advertising some apps!!! ($5m a year) I registered for freeappcalendar - but they don't do voting anymore and its $200 a day - not bad i admit. So any free ones?

Yes the game does use all four directions on the dpad, there's a lot of ducking, climbing on ladders and a few other things that uses the up and down directions. I could probably have tailored the gameplay a bit more for touch controls, but honestly I kindof just made the game how I wanted it and hoped for the best regarding touch controls. It works well enough but it's much better with a controller, iCade or Xperia Play.

Helium Boy has sold really bad overall, apart from me being clueless about PR in general, and the game having its share of problems, I also screwed up the little momentum it had by indroducing a weird random bug when updating it to a Universal App; some people couldn't get it to run on iPad and it earned me a bunch of one star reviews, and I wasn't able to fix it until recently
 
Well.. Power of coin has finally got to the point where I can't play it anymore!

Level 180+, all bonuses and a surplus of over 8000 coins that generates quicker than I can throw them and I no longer get any enjoyment out of the game :(

Still with no IAP definitely one of the best value games i've downloaded in a while.
 
Finally got my new iPad. It's pretty impressive. Kind of sad that a lot of my old games I need to buy over again if I want the ipad versions. Some of prices are terrible too. $10 for ipad versions of games I paid a dollar for on iPod Touch.
On the plus side, since the new iPad runs iPhone/iPod games at their retina resolution (if they have the high res assets) they look ok enough, vs on the iPad 1/2 where it's just a hard pixel double and looks like a chunky mess.
 
Well.. Power of coin has finally got to the point where I can't play it anymore!

Level 180+, all bonuses and a surplus of over 8000 coins that generates quicker than I can throw them and I no longer get any enjoyment out of the game :(

Still with no IAP definitely one of the best value games i've downloaded in a while.

Wow! I'm level 53 and I was worried that I might be near the end. So glad to hear there's a long way left yet.

No idea why I'm playing this so much. I haven't made any in-app purchases and I'm having a blast so I guess I shouldn't moan. I even found myself playing it over the weekend when I had a nice block of time for 'proper' gaming.

Prope gaming > Proper gaming!
 
Wow! I'm level 53 and I was worried that I might be near the end. So glad to hear there's a long way left yet.

No idea why I'm playing this so much. I haven't made any in-app purchases and I'm having a blast so I guess I shouldn't moan. I even found myself playing it over the weekend when I had a nice block of time for 'proper' gaming.

Prope gaming > Proper gaming!

It definitely continues to be addictive/enjoyable/crack-like for a while yet and you should stick with it until you get your first jackpot as it is a hell of a lot of fun!

Towards the end though I was getting so many coin bonuses, as well as constant lightning/earth coins and a constant stream of firing coins my iPad 2 slowed to a crawl several times. Never expected Power of Coin to be the game that pushed my iPad to its limits!
 
Any good shmups for iPad?

Space Invaders Infinity Gene is the best of them all (in fact, it's still one of the best games on iOS).

The Cave games are really good too, but personally I'm not a big fan of the art style and music in them - They play wonderfully, though.
 
Eh I bought infinity gene like three years ago it's just ok. That game is so old. That's sad if it's the best shmup on the platform.

Ended up purchasing groovecoaster which looks alright. It's basically infinity gene but a rhythm game or something idk it's not done downloading yet.
 
Eh I bought infinity gene like three years ago it's just ok. That game is so old. That's sad if it's the best shmup on the platform.

Ended up purchasing groovecoaster which looks alright. It's basically infinity gene but a rhythm game or something idk it's not done downloading yet.

It's a totally different game. It's a rhythm tap game.

I think most people would argue that the bullet hell shooters from Cave are the best ones on iOS. I just love Infinity Gene so much.
 
Groove coaster is quite a bit of fun. Didn't even know it existed until now. Yeah IG is great. I they'd update geometry wars for the new iPad. Or make a sequel to galaxies. Geowars galaxies,is the best.
 
just played power of coin for the first time...have no idea what I'm supposed to do other than throw coins at the screen, also seems to run poorly on my 3gs
 
Yes the game does use all four directions on the dpad, there's a lot of ducking, climbing on ladders and a few other things that uses the up and down directions. I could probably have tailored the gameplay a bit more for touch controls, but honestly I kindof just made the game how I wanted it and hoped for the best regarding touch controls. It works well enough but it's much better with a controller, iCade or Xperia Play.

Helium Boy has sold really bad overall, apart from me being clueless about PR in general, and the game having its share of problems, I also screwed up the little momentum it had by indroducing a weird random bug when updating it to a Universal App; some people couldn't get it to run on iPad and it earned me a bunch of one star reviews, and I wasn't able to fix it until recently

I've done a 180 on virtual d-pads... i used to think that you have to develop for the platform and that on iOS it needed to be all touch based. however thinking about it a bit more if there's a character on screen it absolutely needs a virtual d-pad, but yeah i think if there's a character on screen and you have to touch the screen to move him its really not intuitive... I didn't like Aquaria's implementation on the iPad and while its super smooth, i don't really like covering up the screen with my hand. even temple run is kind of awkward... tiny wings works though, but the gameplay was very simple and mostly a variation of the one action.

*rolls eyes at 1 star reviews* - App store should really have some sort of button where you can email the developer rather than have users give the game a low rating. I can see why they don't think they need this as the best games should rise up to the top anyway. And I suppose as a customer I want to be informed if a game is not working properly before I buy it. I think the iTunes store is starting to get affected by all the big name publishers getting in on the act with massive marketing campaigns. It's pretty hard for little guys to compete.
 
Well.. Power of coin has finally got to the point where I can't play it anymore!

Level 180+, all bonuses and a surplus of over 8000 coins that generates quicker than I can throw them and I no longer get any enjoyment out of the game :(

Still with no IAP definitely one of the best value games i've downloaded in a while.
I no longer get enjoyment out of it, but there's something strangely cathartic about seeing a shitload of coins drop at once. Oh yeah, get this:
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BTW Absolutely love Gunman Clive. I never played much Megaman so I'm more thinking it's a sweet-arse combination of Shinobi and Rolling Thunder. Still, love the style and the direction. Are the graphics options for those with lesser devices? I have it cranked on my 4S and it never skips a beat.
 
BTW Absolutely love Gunman Clive. I never played much Megaman so I'm more thinking it's a sweet-arse combination of Shinobi and Rolling Thunder. Still, love the style and the direction. Are the graphics options for those with lesser devices? I have it cranked on my 4S and it never skips a beat.

Glad you like it, never played Rolling Thunder. And yes, it's runs like crap on iPad 1 on anything other than basic rendering mode (though the difference isn't really that big visually), but on the iPad 2 and on the 4S there shouldn't be any problems. Lowering the screen size also helps minimize issues with fingers covering the action, as well as improve the performance.
 
Glad you like it, never played Rolling Thunder. And yes, it's runs like crap on iPad 1 on anything other than basic rendering mode (though the difference isn't really that big visually), but on the iPad 2 and on the 4S there shouldn't be any problems. Lowering the screen size also helps minimize issues with fingers covering the action, as well as improve the performance.
For reference :)
(obviously not saying you ripped it off, just felt like a very good combination of two games I'm familiar with)
Actually looking forward to getting an 8-bitty or iControlPad for this. Have there been any plans for an indie-style PC release? Because it looks like it'd translate fairly well/easily to an ultra high-res (in comparison to 4S Retina) display with the polygonal graphics etc. And that's pretty much the only way I'll ever play it with my Saturn USB pad ;)
 
BTW Absolutely love Gunman Clive. I never played much Megaman so I'm more thinking it's a sweet-arse combination of Shinobi and Rolling Thunder. Still, love the style and the direction. Are the graphics options for those with lesser devices? I have it cranked on my 4S and it never skips a beat.

damn, sold. Never cared for Megaman (sorry, I'll get my coat), but loved Shinobi and rolling thunder
 
How many levels does Gunman Clive have?

16 plus 4 boss levels

For reference :)
(obviously not saying you ripped it off, just felt like a very good combination of two games I'm familiar with)
Actually looking forward to getting an 8-bitty or iControlPad for this. Have there been any plans for an indie-style PC release? Because it looks like it'd translate fairly well/easily to an ultra high-res (in comparison to 4S Retina) display with the polygonal graphics etc. And that's pretty much the only way I'll ever play it with my Saturn USB pad ;)

Yes there will be a PC version, it will probably be released in a few weeks
 
Is there any kind of challenge mode or incentive to replay Gunman Clive? If not, it's something you should consider adding. The iOS games that sell the best tend to be ones with infinite re-playability.
 
Well.. Power of coin has finally got to the point where I can't play it anymore!

Level 180+, all bonuses and a surplus of over 8000 coins that generates quicker than I can throw them and I no longer get any enjoyment out of the game :(

Still with no IAP definitely one of the best value games i've downloaded in a while.

Wow! I'm level 53 and I was worried that I might be near the end. So glad to hear there's a long way left yet.

No idea why I'm playing this so much. I haven't made any in-app purchases and I'm having a blast so I guess I shouldn't moan. I even found myself playing it over the weekend when I had a nice block of time for 'proper' gaming.

Prope gaming > Proper gaming!

Yeah, I reached this point yesterday as well. It was around level 80 or 85 when I finally managed to sink that damn yellow sword and complete my first sword set. That was pretty much the end of the game, because when you don't have to worry about sinking prizes, there's no need to aim at all. Just pump coins in as quickly as possible and wait for the right prizes to show up.

I got pretty lucky after that and almost immediately completed the second and third sword sets, and then it just gets silly. I couldn't lose all my coins now even if I wanted to. Though I have been wondering if it is possible to sell all my prizes and start from scratch with my massive bank.
 
Any good shmups for iPad?

Shogun from Int13 is really good. It's kind if an homage to japanese bullet hell and it has a super fun grazing mechanic.
Danmaku Unlimited and Storm Strikers are ok if you don't mind 2x mode.

Also the HD Cave games are top notch, though I thought I've seen you post about them, no?
 
Is there any kind of challenge mode or incentive to replay Gunman Clive? If not, it's something you should consider adding. The iOS games that sell the best tend to be ones with infinite re-playability.

Currently no, nothing; I probably should add some achievemetns and a leaderboard for speedrunning or something and possibly add some extra short challenge levels as iAP, but it's not really the type of thing I'm interested in. I've focused on making an enjoyable handcrafted experience from start to finish. There are a few new things introduced on pretty much every level and a lot of things that only appear a few times in the game as well as some levels with completely different gameplay. I know it's not the optimal way to make money on iOS and especially not the best type of project when I have to do all the leveldesign art and coding myself.
 
Old school turn based multiplatform CRPG Avernum: Escape from the Pit is out for iPad.
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mzl.kfsstsit.480x480-75.jpg
mzl.kladzbdi.480x480-75.jpg
mzl.qxslocsf.480x480-75.jpg

Kinda debating if I should get this or wait for the PC version (it should come soon, was supposed to be simultaneous after Mac).

Does anyone have it, is it super smooth and the interface intuitive or will it stagger, load slow, and I'll miss right clicks/hotkeys etc?

Edit: on iPad2 so no high res either for me, I hope inventories, dialogues, etc, aren't annoyingly small and easy to mistap.

I liked Avadon on PC but this would be my first real Spiderweb RPG (Avadon being their Icewind Dale of sorts, simplified in depth).

Although the asset reuse will annoy me I can get past that if the game is as good as I hope. Did Technomancer make an OT or?
 
Any good shmups for iPad?

Get Dodonpachi Resurrection HD, Bug Princess 1 (2 comes out on Thursday) and Darius Gaiden. You can Get Espgaluda 2 too, but its a fair bit harder!
If you dont mind the 2x mode, get all the cave games...
 
Is there any kind of challenge mode or incentive to replay Gunman Clive? If not, it's something you should consider adding. The iOS games that sell the best tend to be ones with infinite re-playability.

The games that sell the best are the ones that are simple to play. That this involves most of them having infinite replayability is a coincidence rather than the cause.

Nothing with a virtual control pad will ever sell gangbusters, because virtual control pads are shit and that woman in the office playing Temple Run has literally no interest in using one, nor ever will she. He could add all the modes in the world but there's only a small market to target with the game, however good it is. It's never going to be mainstream.
 
The games that sell the best are the ones that are simple to play. That this involves most of them having infinite replayability is a coincidence rather than the cause.

Nothing with a virtual control pad will ever sell gangbusters, because virtual control pads are shit and that woman in the office playing Temple Run has literally no interest in using one, nor ever will she. He could add all the modes in the world but there's only a small market to target with the game, however good it is. It's never going to be mainstream.

Its the games that have a very defined concept that people understand in 10 seconds and then varies that concept that sell well. if it was easy to do, then everyone would be millionaires by now.

thats true that the mainstream have no patience for a dpad.... they are not interested in fine-tuning their skill level to get better at the game unlike gamers. its like when you take away the dpad they forget they are playing a game.
 
I can't wait until the Spell Tower retina update is released!

That game is really fantastic, and by far my favorite word game on iOS. Compared to Puzzle Juice or WEILDER, I really prefer the streamlined experience of making words, and admire lack of gimmicky mechanics.

If missed it, I highly recommend it!
 
On the plus side, since the new iPad runs iPhone/iPod games at their retina resolution (if they have the high res assets) they look ok enough, vs on the iPad 1/2 where it's just a hard pixel double and looks like a chunky mess.

Retina iPhone apps on iPad 2 was a bit weird, in that you usually ended up with retina graphics without scaling (the iPad 1/2's resolution is still larger than iPhone retina, but not by much) but text would be rendered at standard 1x rather than retina. This didn't happen with RetinaPad (requires jailbreak) and doesn't happen on the 3rd gen iPad at all.
 
Having spent some time with imperium Galactica 2 I'm a bit conflicted.

It's an amazing game, an old space 4X favorite of mine that's 12 years old. But it's a shoddy port in the end with the bare minimum given regards to the platform PC > iPad transition. It's the full fledged PC game, with the exception of multiplayer and minor camera control omissions wrapped in a thin iOS skin.

No game center integration or other iOS features like multitasking support. The UI works well but the touch interactivity is hit & miss-sloppy during actual gameplay. Feels like they've just hid the mouse cursor and replaced it with a "droplet" effect that registers your taps 0.5 seconds too late. I've also had the iOS header with the wifi/clock/battery stats appear and overlap UI elements randomly, further adding to the "PC game in an iOS skin" feeling.

There has also been no advancements or additions done to help new players into the game. The tutorial consists of a lowres video explaining the basics of the menues but it doesn't actually explain anything in regards to why you should do X when and why when playing. The campaigns dump you with 2 star systems and a fleet and that's it, off you go. This game needs its manual, it's a crime that the 100 page PC manual hasn't been included as a PDF or similar.

Anyone interested in this game be ready to fend for yourself (or at least download the manual from somewhere and read up!). It's a great game if you're already familiar with it but coming in cold will burn you hard.

Maybe the devs will update the game with new features and such but I'm not betting anything on that.
 
I assume crpg means classic western rpg... Ultima or Baldurs Gate style..

cRPG originally was short for Computer RPG, but your definition holds...it definitely does hold its roots in the conventions of western RPGs of the Ultima series, the D&D Gold Box games, Eye of the Beholder games, Baldur's Gate games...basically if it was on PC before 2000, it's a style that would get lumped into the cRPG subgenre, as opposed to the Secret of Manas, FFs, and Lufias of the JRPG subgenre that was all over the consoles during that era.
 
I assume crpg means classic western rpg... Ultima or Baldurs Gate style..

cRPG originally was short for Computer RPG, but your definition holds...it definitely does hold its roots in the conventions of western RPGs of the Ultima series, the D&D Gold Box games, Eye of the Beholder games, Baldur's Gate games...basically if it was on PC before 2000, it's a style that would get lumped into the cRPG subgenre, as opposed to the Secret of Manas, FFs, and Lufias of the JRPG subgenre that was all over the consoles during that era.

Thanks! I did a quick google search and got computer rpg, which didn't really tell me anything, so I thought I'd ask. I'm definitely intrigued and plan on getting the Baldur's Gate iOS when it comes out.
 
The games that sell the best are the ones that are simple to play. That this involves most of them having infinite replayability is a coincidence rather than the cause.

Nothing with a virtual control pad will ever sell gangbusters, because virtual control pads are shit and that woman in the office playing Temple Run has literally no interest in using one, nor ever will she. He could add all the modes in the world but there's only a small market to target with the game, however good it is. It's never going to be mainstream.

That's not at all true. I've seen ample games with virtual controls on the Top 25 of the App Store, GTAIII being a prime and obvious example. What is true, however -- and for the reasons you already mentioned -- is those games don't generally stay in the Top 25 for long. People play them, lose interest quickly (because the controls fucking suck), and the buzz isn't there to sustain them in the rankings. The fact that McMillen (Team Meat) was so adamant that they won't use shitty virtual controls for their game confirms I'm not crazy (at least in this sense) regarding the iOS interface and how developers insist on shoehorning virtual controls into their games, rather than spend a bit more time finding a more practical and enjoyable solution.
 
Has anyone noticed issues with GameCenter achievements not triggering? I had a problem with Beat Sneak Bandit, but I seemed to have fixed it-but now I'm noticing my achievements not triggering in Anomaly Warzone Earth....
 
Currently no, nothing; I probably should add some achievemetns and a leaderboard for speedrunning or something and possibly add some extra short challenge levels as iAP, but it's not really the type of thing I'm interested in. I've focused on making an enjoyable handcrafted experience from start to finish. There are a few new things introduced on pretty much every level and a lot of things that only appear a few times in the game as well as some levels with completely different gameplay. I know it's not the optimal way to make money on iOS and especially not the best type of project when I have to do all the leveldesign art and coding myself.

Oooh i was actually wondering that when I was playing through it - I wish there was some sort of time measurements for the levels with accompanying gamecenter-leaderboard, it'd be perfect for the game and add so much replayability, what with highscore competition and such.
 
Old school turn based multiplatform CRPG Avernum: Escape from the Pit is out for iPad.
mzl.iqilicwd.480x480-75.jpg
mzl.ajapihtq.480x480-75.jpg
mzl.kfsstsit.480x480-75.jpg
mzl.kladzbdi.480x480-75.jpg
mzl.qxslocsf.480x480-75.jpg

Kinda debating if I should get this or wait for the PC version (it should come soon, was supposed to be simultaneous after Mac).

Does anyone have it, is it super smooth and the interface intuitive or will it stagger, load slow, and I'll miss right clicks/hotkeys etc?

Edit: on iPad2 so no high res either for me, I hope inventories, dialogues, etc, aren't annoyingly small and easy to mistap.

I liked Avadon on PC but this would be my first real Spiderweb RPG (Avadon being their Icewind Dale of sorts, simplified in depth).

Although the asset reuse will annoy me I can get past that if the game is as good as I hope. Did Technomancer make an OT or?

I loved Avadon's engine and interface; I felt it was strong evidence the genre could work well on a tablet, but I did feel it was a bit on the shallower side. If you're trying to tell me that Avadon is to Icewind Dale as Avernum is to Baldur's Gate, I need to a) send money to Spiderweb and b) drive home and change mah shorts.
 
That's not at all true. I've seen ample games with virtual controls on the Top 25 of the App Store, GTAIII being a prime and obvious example.

GTAIII is obviously an anomaly, though. I wonder how far you'd have to go down the game chart to find, say, the third game with virtual buttons that wasn't part of an established franchise outside iOS.
 
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