iPhone/iPod Touch Games Thread

flyinj · 2009-12-22T13:55:05.000Z

Dave Long:

3GS only really doesn’t make me happy.

I agree. And I have a 3GS.

The beauty of console development is a stable, closed platform. Everyone has the exact same hadware, you make a game, and it will work on everyone’s box.

Once you start fragmenting the base, it gets harder and harder to justify developing for. How many sales are you losing from making a 3GS-only game? Then how many will you exclude next year by making a 4G-only SKU? This is the main problem with Android development. You have no idea how many phones out there can acutally run your game.

WarrenM · 2009-12-22T13:58:24.000Z

I don’t have an iPhone but isn’t the 3GS the faster model? If so, that’s probably why we require it. UE3 needs SOME processor power.

DaveLong · 2009-12-22T14:02:18.000Z

It’s not that much faster than the 3G model, and frankly, bringing the PC mentality to iPhone development isn’t going to make you any friends.

Please have a look at what John Carmack has been saying about iPhone and doing on iPhone. He’s got it figured out.

wumpus · 2009-12-22T14:05:22.000Z

Dave, Apple obsoletes their own crap at a rate that is unprecedented in the tech industry.

At some point your 3G will be useless, at least for high end gaming. Who cares?

WarrenM · 2009-12-22T14:05:30.000Z

OK, understand that I am not representing Epic or their decisions here. I had nothing to do with the iPhone port, I’m just asking questions and presenting the link because I thought it would be relevant news. That’s all.

Linoleum · 2009-12-22T14:11:18.000Z

Dave Long:

It’s not that much faster than the 3G model, and frankly, bringing the PC mentality to iPhone development isn’t going to make you any friends.

Please have a look at what John Carmack has been saying about iPhone and doing on iPhone. He’s got it figured out.

The CPU isn’t much faster, the PowerVR chip is significantly faster and more capable in the 3GS. It’s a big, big difference.

If people who bitch that only Apple only offers mid-range GPU solutions as the highest end BTO options on the iMac are going to start complaining that Apple is at the bleeding edge of the mobile 3D tech curve with iPhone refreshes, I’m going to be very amused.

Seriously, people want Apple to keep using a several year old graphics chip in the iPhone for another 5 years? I’m not understanding the logic of the complaint here.

DaveLong · 2009-12-22T14:16:19.000Z

Uh… I don’t own a Mac of any type and never have.

It’s a phone that happens to play games. Fragmenting that userbase seems pretty stupid, mainly because the most important use is as a phone so basically you’re already getting less sales of game apps in general because that’s not why people own a phone. Then you want to restrict it to the smallest subset of those phone owners? OK. But don’t make me read your whiny bitching when the sales don’t meet your expectations six months later.

Also, it seems to me that there is a lot more money in a port of the engine to the Wii. Porting to the smallest subset of iPhone users is mild insanity by comparison. I guess Epic really does hate Nintendo or something?

flyinj · 2009-12-22T14:18:42.000Z

Linoleum:

Seriously, people want Apple to keep using a several year old graphics chip in the iPhone for another 5 years? I’m not understanding the logic of the complaint here.

The complaint is that, as a developer, you want a large install base. You have to justify developing for a platform. If Apple fragments their install base every year, it gets harder and harder to invest any development budget into a platform because your potential user base keeps diminishing.

The best aspect of the iPhone is the developer support and the app store. If Apple starts fragmenting this base every year, they’re going to lose a lot of development support on the platform.

This is why Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo don’t come out with a new console with small incremental performance and graphical improvements every year. They easily could, but this would fragment the user base thus losing developer support for the exact same reasons.

wumpus · 2009-12-22T14:21:12.000Z

a lot more money in a port of the engine to the Wii.

The 3GS is way more powerful than the Wii.

Sad but true.

fuzzyslug · 2009-12-22T14:39:38.000Z

Let’s keep in mind that the phone market is a different beast altogether. People tend to update their device in lockstep with their service contract, i.e. approximately every two years. Devices in the phone market die out much faster than you expect. The market is very much a moving target.

(I should note that I develop an application for Windows Mobile, Palm OS, BlackBerry, and, in progress, the iPhone.)

Because of that, supporting the 3GS (and above) sounds very reasonable, especially given that this is an engine and not a finished product. You need to leave time for developers to not only create games but go through the licensing paperwork and such.

Adree · 2009-12-22T17:07:13.000Z

Dave Long:

Uh… I don’t own a Mac of any type and never have.

It’s a phone that happens to play games. Fragmenting that userbase seems pretty stupid, mainly because the most important use is as a phone so basically you’re already getting less sales of game apps in general because that’s not why people own a phone. Then you want to restrict it to the smallest subset of those phone owners? OK. But don’t make me read your whiny bitching when the sales don’t meet your expectations six months later.

Also, it seems to me that there is a lot more money in a port of the engine to the Wii. Porting to the smallest subset of iPhone users is mild insanity by comparison. I guess Epic really does hate Nintendo or something?

Both systems don’t need more fpses with terrible clunky controls.

MattKeil · 2009-12-22T17:08:37.000Z

Dave Long:

]
Also, it seems to me that there is a lot more money in a port of the engine to the Wii. Porting to the smallest subset of iPhone users is mild insanity by comparison. I guess Epic really does hate Nintendo or something?

Maybe they’re just intimidated by the runaway success of The Conduit.

Angrycoder · 2009-12-22T18:32:28.000Z

Dave Long:

Uh… I don’t own a Mac of any type and never have.

It’s a phone that happens to play games. Fragmenting that userbase seems pretty stupid, mainly because the most important use is as a phone so basically you’re already getting less sales of game apps in general because that’s not why people own a phone. Then you want to restrict it to the smallest subset of those phone owners? OK. But don’t make me read your whiny bitching when the sales don’t meet your expectations six months later.

Also, it seems to me that there is a lot more money in a port of the engine to the Wii. Porting to the smallest subset of iPhone users is mild insanity by comparison. I guess Epic really does hate Nintendo or something?

Your comparisons to consoles or fixed platforms or whatever don’t work. People don’t keep their phones for several years, one or two years max. Yeah, the iphone is a phone, but its also a gadget for people with too much disposable income. People line up to get them every time a new one is released.

krayzkrok · 2009-12-22T18:33:48.000Z

nlanza:

I still don’t really know what the ring-of-colors powerup that isn’t the “blow up everything on screen” one does, tho’.

Took me a while as well, but it simply slows everything back down again. I usually just tap them instinctively when I see them now, can’t see any added advantage from dragging through one in a chain.

I was afraid the 1UP token might unbalance the game in the new version, but it actually adds to the tension when you don’t have one knowing they’re out there.

Vlork:

Well, looks like GeoSpark has managed to draw me back out of lurking, if only to brag - my current GeoSpark high score is 139,880 :) My OpenFeint username is “BTL”, if anyone wants to add me.

Oh crap. (slinks off)

nlanza · 2009-12-22T19:03:34.000Z

krayzkrok:

I was afraid the 1UP token might unbalance the game in the new version, but it actually adds to the tension when you don’t have one knowing they’re out there.

Yeah, I’m loving the “oh crap, lost my 1UP, gotta survive until the next one” tension.

Talorc · 2009-12-22T21:33:09.000Z

fuzzyslug:

Let’s keep in mind that the phone market is a different beast altogether. People tend to update their device in lockstep with their service contract, i.e. approximately every two years. Devices in the phone market die out much faster than you expect. The market is very much a moving target.

Totally true, my current 3G handset contract ends next Xmas, and I will be switching to a 3GS straight afterwards. (if not sooner and just pay out the remaining months)

Chris_Nahr · 2009-12-23T00:36:45.000Z

More tower defense news… Sentinel: Mars Defense looks nearly as good as Savage Moon on the PS3, although the gameplay is somewhat simpler. Flyers are restricted to the same fixed track as all other creeps, and barriers are pre-placed. Still, having barriers at all is unusual for iPhone TD games, and there’s a nice twist where you can buy repair drones that fix up those barriers, and collect cash when they’re not busy repairing. I also quite like the mix of towers and creeps.

The sequel, Sentinel 2: Earth Defense, adds orbital weapons and offers another four maps like the original, plus 10 challenge missions on those maps. That’s not a lot of maps either way, but at least the first game is free now so you can pretend that the sequel’s $3 price tag pays for both games. Also, Sentinel 2 supports OpenFeint! Recommended.

edit: The sequel also has four maps, not five. Who told me it’s five maps?

Hans_Lauring · 2009-12-23T01:00:05.000Z

Talorc:

Totally true, my current 3G handset contract ends next Xmas, and I will be switching to a 3GS straight afterwards. (if not sooner and just pay out the remaining months)

Exactly. In fact my iPhone is the first phone I actually kept for a full year before switching.

Misguided · 2009-12-23T05:11:13.000Z

flyinj:

You know, you can do both.

As a matter of fact, I’d never consider telling someone to get an iPhone if they wanted to game. The point of the iPhone is to have awesome games that you can play anywhere that supplement your other outlets.

What I find I really enjoy on iPhone are some of the simpler games that are almost-but-not-quite time wasters.

Bejeweled (esp Blitz)
Angry Birds
Orbital
Pinball Dreams/Fantasies

I have some more in-depth puzzle games and strategy games that are good, but I don’t find myself going back to them. I’ve bought adventure games and sRPGs that I’ve barely played.

My iPhone has become a companion to my DS in many ways. I’m not buying anything else on DS that’s in that “casual category”, because I’d rather have it on my phone where I can play it 5 minutes without needing the cart. Peggle is a great example. 30 bucks for the DS version (which I was super-excited about) and I like the 5 dollar iPhone version better. The more in-depth titles I prefer on the DS.

krayzkrok · 2009-12-23T05:37:14.000Z

My “guilty pleasure” iPhone game is… erm… Cows in Space. It’s ostensibly about firing balls to knock floating cows into stars, with various hazards introduced along the way. It’s like a simplified version of pool, but for some reason it’s extremely addictive especially when it comes to figuring out how to get the coveted three star rating for each of the 50+ levels (much harder than it seems). It’s not perfect (finger in the way while aiming, occasionally firing a ball when you intend to move your launcher), but at least it’s free.