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The Official iPhone/iPod Touch Gaming Thread

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LCfiner said:
alright, my simcity impressions.

first of all, holy shit, it's simcity 3000 on my friggin' phone!

So far, I love it. they have a very nice UI for building zones, water lines, roads, etc, while still being able to fluidly move and zoom the map.

they've added little buttons next to the zone (or road, pipe, etc) edges to move and adjust them. this allows you to differentiate between standard screen taps, that move the map, and the taps on those icons, that move the element you're placing. it works very well for me. I think it's a good solution.

All the icons for placing items are clear and large enough to tap. when an element is going to introduce a lot of options (like picking a school hospital, etc) a new screen comes up with clear images of the institutions. you slide from one to the next. It never gets overwhelming or too crammed, which is important for a game where you spend a lot of time in menus.

I did have a crash this morning but when I reopened the app, it had automatically saved the work i had done, so i did not lose my power plant, industrial zones and water tower. so that's nice. i expect more crashes in the future as the cities get even larger. I hope a patch will fix this but it seems to be common with too many iphone games right now (low memory warnings)

another thing. similar to Safari on the iphone, they've prioritized the fluidity of map scrolling over the map rendering. so as you slide and zoom the city, the buildings disappear and you only see the zone colors (similar to the checkerboard on a safari page getting scrolled). the buildings fade in very quickly once you stop moving the map. I think that was a good design choice. sluggish scrolling would be much worse.

so, yeah, if you liked simcity 3000, this is the real deal, kids. It looks to be all here, but with UI elements optimized for the iphone. get it, it's good.
Click to expand...
Why did you not mention the lack of terrain elevation? This is a HUGE deal to me. I would have rather they went with SC2000 if it meant the inclusion of transformable terrain. As it stands, all cities are completely flat. I'm not too fond of how hard it can be to place things without zooming way in, as well as the lack of a rotate button. Unfortunately, I'm already regretting my purchase.
 
Anyone know what the difference between motionx poker and motionx poker quest is? i'm trying to figure out which one i'm supposed to be buying right now
 
Flunkie said:
Hey Dacvak, how did you like X-Plane Helicopter and Amateur Surgeon?

Anyone else have any experiences with the X-Plane games? I've been kind of wanting to buy one.
Click to expand...

I haven't played X-Plane Helicopter yet (bought it and had to get to a WiFi point to DL it), but if the first X-Plane is any indication, it's going to be absolutely fucking incredible. I LOVE X-Plane. It's easily one of my favorite apps, and the absolute best handheld flight sim I've ever played.

Amateur Surgeon is pretty good. It's like Trauma Center, only with a more arcadey feel. It's less precise, but still a good void-filler if you're craving some on-the-go surgery. I'd recommend it.

I'm looking forward to playing X-Plane Helicopter. It should be done downloading by now.
 
Mutagenic said:
Why did you not mention the lack of terrain elevation? This is a HUGE deal to me. I would have rather they went with SC2000 if it meant the inclusion of transformable terrain. As it stands, all cities are completely flat. I'm not too fond of how hard it can be to place things without zooming way in, as well as the lack of a rotate button. Unfortunately, I'm already regretting my purchase.
Click to expand...


sorry, it was an aspect of sc3000 that i never spent much time on. I didn't think to play around with that on the iphone version. you are right that it is missing.
 
Stoney Mason said:
So which should I get? 7 Cities or Fieldrunners
Click to expand...
Well I love FieldRunners and I don't really like fixed paths, I prefer mazes, but yesterday I bought 7 Cities (along with half a dozen other games, I knew clicking on this topic was a very stupid move) and holy shit is it good.

Some aspects are better in Fieldrunners (zooming is a bit better, and better art) but pretty much all "core game"/gameplay aspects 7c wins hands down. Overall 7c is way better than FR, even when you're a mazeTD whore.
(you could also go with both, of course)
 
*written from my iPhone*
so, it's almost 7am. I was supposed to go to sleep at 3, but I've been playing 7cities too much. Shit is like crack.

Work is gonna suck tomorrow.
 
Mutagenic said:
Why did you not mention the lack of terrain elevation? This is a HUGE deal to me. I would have rather they went with SC2000 if it meant the inclusion of transformable terrain. As it stands, all cities are completely flat. I'm not too fond of how hard it can be to place things without zooming way in, as well as the lack of a rotate button. Unfortunately, I'm already regretting my purchase.
Click to expand...


Same here. I've always prefered the art of SC2000 and I feel it would have been a better fit for the iphone.
 
tabsina said:
Anyone know what the difference between motionx poker and motionx poker quest is? i'm trying to figure out which one i'm supposed to be buying right now
Click to expand...
Gameplay-wise? Very little.

MotionX Poker has a Chinese/oriental theme that I found a bit less intrusive than Poker Quest's Egyptian theme, but that could just be that I've noticed the change.

Poker Quest is generally a bit more polished, though. Things like how there's a roll button that you can use instead of shaking the phone, and a few other minor interface tweaks that are beneficial. It also detects whether or not you have the mute switch on, which MotionX doesn't do because, as I understand it, that feature was only added to the SDK in 2.2. Both have essentially the same unlockables as far as I can tell, so unless the theming is a deal-breaker to you for some reason, go with the new one.
 
TheExodu5 said:
iPhone app devs...pimp your games here man. I'm pretty sure it's fine with the TOS as long as you announce who you are and don't try to go viral.
Click to expand...

I have kinda been waiting on this because we have a Lite version currently wending its way through Apple, but it's taking a while. :P I work at the company that made Ivory Tiles (I did all the programming and puzzle design). It's been getting pretty good reviews, if you like block puzzles you should check it out, or wait until the Lite version and then check that out. The full version is only $2 though, this is our first attempt in the market and I think we lowballed it a little.

IPhoneImages.jpg


If anybody's played it please let me know what you think, I'm working on more puzzles as we speak and there's a patch in the queue. I guess Apple is pretty overworked right now =)
 
TheExodu5 said:
iPhone app devs...pimp your games here man. I'm pretty sure it's fine with the TOS as long as you announce who you are and don't try to go viral.
Click to expand...

Well I PMed EviLore before posting our Bomboozle stuff earlier and... well, he didn't message me back saying it wasn't allowed, and I haven't been banned for doing so yet, so I guess it's fine! As long as you make it clear it's you that made it and you're going about it in an honest manner.

(P.S. http://www.bomboozle.com/, special Christmas price of $0.99! Ahem.)
 
I want to hear more from X-Plane buyers, of all three versions. Is X-Plane Airliner out now? I literally didn't know about these games until today (haven't got an Ipod Touch, getting one soon), and as a HUGE flight sim enthusiast I have lots of respect for the X-Plane brand. I've read positive things now, but mainly about the original. What about Helicopter and Airliner? How 'long' can you fly, especially on Airliner (as in, how much ground can you cover). The number of airports is certainly very impressive.
 
Dacvak said:
Holy SHIT!

After playing just 10 minutes of 7 Cities, I can absolutely say this is WAY better than Fieldrunners. Lots of maps (it seems), lots of weapons, actual enemy paths, and dynamic damage ratios. (Certain towers to extra damage to certain enemies, not just "more power towers do more damage period.") Plus, each tower automatically levels up just by it being in use. Of course, you can still upgrade your towers. Those are different things. It also saves if you get a call or hit Home.

Either way, this is FAR more deep than Fieldrunners and absolutely worth the money. Damn, so good. I'm going to go play it some more.

Edit: Also, in order to unlock better weapons (and it seems like there are a LOT of them), you have to play a lot and unlock them outside of each game. So when you first start, you only have like 4 different weapons. And the more you play, the more you unlock and can use throughout the game. It's fucking awesome.
Click to expand...
Goddam you just sold me. I know fieldrunners isn't very deep, but it was one of the better TD games on the App Store because of its polish.
 
Flunkie said:
Space Deadbeef
Trace
Tap Tap Revenge
Crazy Penguin Catapult Lite
JellyCar
Reign of Swords Free
Topple
MazeFinger
Click to expand...
Hi! I work in Digital Chocolate. In addition to Crazy Penguin Catapult Lite, we also released another I-phone game: Chocolate Shop Frenzy. Link to the demos:
http://www.digitalchocolate.com/iphone/
Let's hope to post free games it isn't spam. If it's spam, please let me know and will remove the link ^_^

I'm glad to see you guys like this game (you're not the first who post it as favourite in this thread). I didn't expect that from Gaffers. :)

Edit: More info about these 2 games : http://www.slidetoplay.com/story/dchoc-arrives-on-iphone
 
JSnake said:
Cool, will it be worth picking up once the patch comes out or are there bigger problems besides framerate?
Click to expand...
I think that's the only issue that is outstanding right now. I've heard a little complaints on the controls, but that's minimal compared to all the gripe about the framerate. Once it's patched, I'll definitely pick it up.

Peru said:
I want to hear more from X-Plane buyers, of all three versions. Is X-Plane Airliner out now? I literally didn't know about these games until today (haven't got an Ipod Touch, getting one soon), and as a HUGE flight sim enthusiast I have lots of respect for the X-Plane brand. I've read positive things now, but mainly about the original. What about Helicopter and Airliner? How 'long' can you fly, especially on Airliner (as in, how much ground can you cover). The number of airports is certainly very impressive.
Click to expand...
I'm very curious about the X-Plane games as well. I downloaded the demo for PC and tried it out, and it seemed fun if a little overwhelming.

yurinka said:
Hi! I work in Digital Chocolate. In addition to Crazy Penguin Catapult Lite, we also released another I-phone game: Chocolate Shop Frenzy. Link to the demos:
http://www.digitalchocolate.com/iphone/
Let's hope to post free games it isn't spam. If it's spam, please let me know and will remove the link ^_^

I'm glad to see you guys like this game (you're not the first who post it as favourite in this thread). I didn't expect that from Gaffers. :)

Edit: More info about these 2 games : http://www.slidetoplay.com/story/dchoc-arrives-on-iphone
Click to expand...
I saw that, and in spite of my loving Crazy Penguin Catapult, I don't really like Chocolate Shop Frenzy. I don't normally lite Diner Dash type games, and this is no different.

giga said:
Yeah. The Obelisk tower is awesome. o.o
Click to expand...
It's so badass. It's like an old age Hammer of Dawn. :D
 
giga said:
Yeah. The Obelisk tower is awesome. o.o
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I don't know what I like most about it though, the fact that it buffs so much (I mean +44% damage and +20% range with 3 obelisks, ain't cheap but damn...) or the infinite range Independance Day laser with only a boosted cannon tower.

That thing's fantastic @_@
 
FIELDRUNNERS

DON'T BE FOOLED BY THESE VIRAL MARKETERS

7 cities is a) way too fucking easy b) boring as hell c) tacky as fuck

i'd rather play bloons than 7 cities

don't make the same mistake i did... fieldrunners is far better... far more balanced... far more fun
 
yes sir, that would be me!

1112 Episode 02 is on the way, and another new project that have no equivalent and that can be (WILL be) a huge seller is on the way!

appstore is beeing crowded now, but there is still room for quality games:)

too bad I don't have any good ways of advertising like gameloft or EA...
it's easy to have its product lost in the depth of the appstore if you don't have any friends at apple ...
 
I bought 1112 last night Kalten, and have enjoyed it. I will definitely buy any further episodes. But don't worry, good games have a great chance at "word of mouth" sales, and a bunch of my friends plan on picking it up after I showed it to them today.

I also picked up 7 Cities TD, Simcity, and I love Katamari. I love all three, although I can't wait for a potential patch for Katamari, the framerate is really holding it back from true greatness.
 
thanks for the support then !!
it sold really well here in france, it was ok too all other europa, but the US appstore is a different matter! The sales are so huge there !!!
you have no idea!

You have to sell 500 a day just to enter the top 100 at the 99 position!
the Top ten apps are selling like 7k to 10k A DAY!
that's insane!

(I'm selling between 80-120 a day in the US right now) I keep my finger crossed!
 
Kalten said:
thanks for the support then !!
it sold really well here in france, it was ok too all other europa, but the US appstore is a different matter! The sales are so huge there !!!
you have no idea!

You have to sell 500 a day just to enter the top 100 at the 99 position!
the Top ten apps are selling like 7k to 10k A DAY!
that's insane!

(I'm selling between 80-120 a day in the US right now) I keep my finger crossed!
Click to expand...
that's amazing. developers must be eating the app store up with that kind of coverage.
 
giga said:
that's amazing. developers must be eating the app store up with that kind of coverage.
Click to expand...

It does sort of make you happy to imagine what will be available 6 months out from now. X-Com please somebody. X-Com please!

This thing is so made for turn based strategy games.
 
Stoney Mason said:
It does sort of make you happy to imagine what will be available 6 months out from now. X-Com please somebody. X-Com please!

This thing is so made for turn based strategy games.
Click to expand...

Civ Rev too please!
 
giga said:
that's amazing. developers must be eating the app store up with that kind of coverage.
Click to expand...

Unfortunately, for bigger developers, it really sucks. Because the prices are super low and most people wouldn't pay more than $10 for an iPhone app, even if they'd pay $20 or $30 (or more) to buy the exact same thing on a console. And that just isn't enough money to put much development time into a game and still make a profit. I've worked on 5 (quality) iPhone games so far, now I'm working on my 6th and this is probably my last one because we just aren't making enough money.

An indy, though, can make some good scratch if they are lucky!
 
Dreamwriter said:
Unfortunately, for bigger developers, it really sucks. Because the prices are super low and most people wouldn't pay more than $10 for an iPhone app, even if they'd pay $20 or $30 (or more) to buy the exact same thing on a console. And that just isn't enough money to put much development time into a game and still make a profit. I've worked on 5 (quality) iPhone games so far, now I'm working on my 6th and this is probably my last one because we just aren't making enough money.

An indy, though, can make some good scratch if they are lucky!
Click to expand...


pretty much my worst fears for the iphone as a gaming platform, realized. :(

I hope the market can support some 20 dollar games going forward. oh well, baby steps.
 
Dreamwriter said:
Unfortunately, for bigger developers, it really sucks. Because the prices are super low and most people wouldn't pay more than $10 for an iPhone app, even if they'd pay $20 or $30 (or more) to buy the exact same thing on a console. And that just isn't enough money to put much development time into a game and still make a profit. I've worked on 5 (quality) iPhone games so far, now I'm working on my 6th and this is probably my last one because we just aren't making enough money.

An indy, though, can make some good scratch if they are lucky!
Click to expand...

I'm sure there are some things that are in the works or being talked about that would be worth a higher price point, but at this point nothing on the iPhone would see for $20 or $30 on a console.

I'm not saying what you are making isn't quality (I have no idea what you are making) but there has been nothing worth more than $10 yet.
 
Dreamwriter said:
Unfortunately, for bigger developers, it really sucks. Because the prices are super low and most people wouldn't pay more than $10 for an iPhone app, even if they'd pay $20 or $30 (or more) to buy the exact same thing on a console. And that just isn't enough money to put much development time into a game and still make a profit. I've worked on 5 (quality) iPhone games so far, now I'm working on my 6th and this is probably my last one because we just aren't making enough money.

An indy, though, can make some good scratch if they are lucky!
Click to expand...

I would have no problem at all paying $20 for full size/deep games. The rest of the userbase...

Anyway, that sucks. Hopefully the 6th times the charm.
 
eznark said:
I'm sure there are some things that are in the works or being talked about that would be worth a higher price point, but at this point nothing on the iPhone would see for $20 or $30 on a console.

I'm not saying what you are making isn't quality (I have no idea what you are making) but there has been nothing worth more than $10 yet.
Click to expand...


I would say that both Rolando and Simcity, released this week, would sell for either 20 or 30 bucks on the DS or PSP. No caveats.

they are, of course, very new games. Before these two, I'd say only a couple games in the past 6 months would be worth the 10 bucks.
 
LCfiner said:
I would say that both Rolando and Simcity, released this week, would sell for either 20 or 30 bucks on the DS or PSP. No caveats.
Click to expand...
That doesn't mean it's right. Particularly on PSP. DS has a very big cost in cart production, and that's got to be figured into prices somehow. Besides, 20 years ago, noone even dreamt of today's prices, but Sim City was still doing the rounds. It was originally a 16 bit game for Amiga/ST and cost about $15 on floppy disk. Don't let current trends deceive you.
 
I would assume that the lack of manufacturing/shipment/marketing costs would justify some lower cost games on the app store? Then again, game publishers are pretty damn greedy.
 
The App Store has more in common with XBLA than it does PSP/DS, and I think the pricing will trend similarly. We'll start to see some higher quality titles push the envelope, first $15, then $20.

The biggest problem with the App Store is not the initial pricing, it's the constant fire sales. No one will buy anything at full price if they think it will be half off or more a week later.

Hopefully ngmoco stick to the $9.99 for Rolando for a while. Since I just bought it. :lol
 
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