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iOS Gaming March 2017 | Switch to iOS

A

awp69

Member
protonium said:
This may have been discussed before but what are your opinions on RocketCat's pricing strategy? Premium games at a premium price, regular content updates that increase the price, and no sales (?).

I can't think of another developer/publisher that follows this approach on mobile or otherwise but I guess it's working out for them. The closest comparisons that I can think of are IAPs/DLC that are perceived differently and some Alpha/Beta releases on PC. I like the idea since it seems like with a lot of apps it's a race to the bottom with regards to pricing. Also, price drops tend to be met with disappointment from early-ish adopters whereas their strategy is the reverse.
Click to expand...

I like the strategy and the fact that they promote it that way. To me, it's a win-win because it rewards early adopters and also helps boost sales at the onset to help fund additional development.

Just plain old launch sales are, IMO, much better than a sale a month or two later for the same reasons. It burns a bit especially when a dev drops the price sometimes within days of release.
 
P

Pachimari

Member
Bought F1 2016. The touch controls didn't feel tight but I'm sure I can adjust it further. That said, I deleted it immediately as it took up 2-3gb on my device.

Osmos for iPad is on sale for 99c now too.
 
B

bonesquad

Member
How do you add friends in Card Thief? I feel like I'm missing something obvious (not unlike how to actually do well in the game...), but none of us can figure out how. We wanted to compare our meager scores.
 
PittaGAF

PittaGAF

Member
bonesquad said:
How do you add friends in Card Thief? I feel like I'm missing something obvious (not unlike how to actually do well in the game...), but none of us can figure out how. We wanted to compare our meager scores.
Click to expand...

Well...you aren't missing anything.
Since Apple deleted the Game Center app, each dev must implement the add GC friends feature in their app.
Something unfortunately very few dev did.
So you are stuck with the friends you already have or find another app to add friends (I use Lost Cities).
The dev of Card Thief may be looking into this anyway, we talked about this the other day.
 
R

RustyO

Member
protonium said:
This may have been discussed before but what are your opinions on RocketCat's pricing strategy? Premium games at a premium price, regular content updates that increase the price, and no sales (?).

I can't think of another developer/publisher that follows this approach on mobile or otherwise but I guess it's working out for them. The closest comparisons that I can think of are IAPs/DLC that are perceived differently and some Alpha/Beta releases on PC. I like the idea since it seems like with a lot of apps it's a race to the bottom with regards to pricing. Also, price drops tend to be met with disappointment from early-ish adopters whereas their strategy is the reverse.
Click to expand...

One would assume that it's working for them? I appreciate and respect it. I've released software at a premium price, constant updates / enhancements and no sales. I get messages / emails from cats demanding discounts, or calling me an idiot for not making it free. If I was to release / when I release on iOS; I'd probably take the same approach as RocketCat.

The only caveat I have there is with the product being offered.

I get all my iOS games info / recommendations from some monthly thread on a random gaming forum.

Wayward Souls for example, cats gushed about it, but I wasn't sure it was for me, therefore I skipped it. If I'm not jumping in at $x, I'm not grabbing it at $x+1 or $x+2 or $x+y; so sans demo or IAP/Unlock [*] then its a pass for me I'm afraid / falls off my radar.

Thats not questioning in any way the game / quality / content etc. Just wonder how many potential sales / customers they are missing out on with the policy... but I assume they know whats working for them, so fair play to them.

[*] Not sure if Wayward Souls / Death Road To Canada has a demo or IAP/Unlock.
 
B

bonesquad

Member
PittaGAF said:
Well...you aren't missing anything.
Since Apple deleted the Game Center app, each dev must implement the add GC friends feature in their app.
Something unfortunately very few dev did.
So you are stuck with the friends you already have or find another app to add friends (I use Lost Cities).
The dev of Card Thief may be looking into this anyway, we talked about this the other day.
Click to expand...
Ah, I don't feel quite so stupid then. Thanks for the Lost Cities tip, I'm trying that method as soon as they accept my request... I feel better about myself looking at my 52 with friends than seeing all those 90+ on the global board.
 
A

awp69

Member
Meganoid 2017 is in Early Access on Android so figured I'd give it a try and, wow, so much different than the first game. Brutally hard rogue-like in Metroidvania as opposed to level based with some Steamworld Dig / Splunkey comparisons in terms of blowing up floors to get to lower areas, collecting gems, etc.

You get three lives but I was not able to even get past the first area. It's supposedly being tweaked so not sure what the difficulty will be like in the end.

Very promising so far. Also has controller support.
 
M

More_Badass

Member
A cool minimalist strategy game. Hoplite vibes. I hope he ports his other games to mobile
Militia, $3.99
screen520x924.jpeg


===

I'm biased of course, because I've already loved these games on PC, but it's great to be able to play Death Road and Sunless Sea on mobile. Death Road definitely feels like a game made with mobile in mind while Sunless Sea feels like a port, if that makes any sense.
 
S

Saucycarpdog

Member
awp69 said:
Meganoid 2017 is in Early Access on Android so figured I'd give it a try and, wow, so much different than the first game. Brutally hard rogue-like in Metroidvania as opposed to level based with some Steamworld Dig / Splunkey comparisons in terms of blowing up floors to get to lower areas, collecting gems, etc.

You get three lives but I was not able to even get past the first area. It's supposedly being tweaked so not sure what the difficulty will be like in the end.

Very promising so far. Also has controller support.
Click to expand...
A portable spelunky-like sounds amazing. If it has a ton of secrets, which is my favorite part of spelunky, then I'm there Day 1.
 
A

awp69

Member
Saucycarpdog said:
A portable spelunky-like sounds amazing. If it has a ton of secrets, which is my favorite part of spelunky, then I'm there Day 1.
Click to expand...

Haven't played much yet to know if there are secrets but I will say it is MUCH harder than Spelunky in its current form.
 
C

CrashPrime

Member
I am not sure if this is the right thread, but I am looking for a controller solution. I am upgrading to the new 2017 iPad (A9 cpu, 2gb ram, Air 1 body) which just came out today but is sort of the "budget" model. I am coming from an iPad 2 from 6 years ago. Apple does a pretty good job not making their tablets obsolete after 1 cycle.

The only one I am seeing is the GameVice which runs a bit expensive at ~$100.

Gamevice-controller-for-iPad-Pro_product-shot-1.jpg
Click to expand...

Is this my only choice for physical controls on side scrolling games?
 
K

killercow

Member
CrashPrime said:
I am not sure if this is the right thread, but I am looking for a controller solution. I am upgrading to the new 2017 iPad (A9 cpu, 2gb ram, Air 1 body) which just came out today but is sort of the "budget" model. I am coming from an iPad 2 from 6 years ago. Apple does a pretty good job not making their tablets obsolete after 1 cycle.

The only one I am seeing is the GameVice which runs a bit expensive at ~$100.

Is this my only choice for physical controls on side scrolling games?
Click to expand...

You can buy either a controller that you hold while the iPad is standing or a form fitting controller. If it's the latter, only The Gamevice exists. If you want to check one of the former, go to afterpad.com and check each controller's review. Do note that they aren't cheap as Apple takes a cut on them.
 
S

sheaaaa

Member
protonium said:
This may have been discussed before but what are your opinions on RocketCat's pricing strategy? Premium games at a premium price, regular content updates that increase the price, and no sales (?).

I can't think of another developer/publisher that follows this approach on mobile or otherwise but I guess it's working out for them. The closest comparisons that I can think of are IAPs/DLC that are perceived differently and some Alpha/Beta releases on PC. I like the idea since it seems like with a lot of apps it's a race to the bottom with regards to pricing. Also, price drops tend to be met with disappointment from early-ish adopters whereas their strategy is the reverse.
Click to expand...

For me, it ensures that I'll never get their games. Wayward Souls, for example, didn't look appealing enough to be worth the price they were asking for when it came out, let alone with a higher price tag.
 
H

heringer

Member
sheaaaa said:
For me, it ensures that I'll never get their games. Wayward Souls, for example, didn't look appealing enough to be worth the price they were asking for when it came out, let alone with a higher price tag.
Click to expand...

Wayward Souls is quite possibly one of the best mobile games. It's easily in my top 5. It was so worth it at $5.
 
8

8sanders

Murderer's Gut Feeling™
sheaaaa said:
For me, it ensures that I'll never get their games. Wayward Souls, for example, didn't look appealing enough to be worth the price they were asking for when it came out, let alone with a higher price tag.
Click to expand...

Wow. One of the best iOS games of all time.....
 
A

awp69

Member
heringer said:
Wayward Souls is quite possibly one of the best mobile games. It's easily in my top 5. It was so worth it at $5.
Click to expand...

8sanders said:
Wow. One of the best iOS games of all time.....
Click to expand...

While I certainly agree from my own standpoint, I can see where some may not have liked it. You're talking about a pretty difficult roguelike. It's fairly niche despite being a great game. TBH, even though I love the game, I still haven't finished it because I suck :( .

That said, I think even those who don't care for it, should agree that it's well worth at least $5 or more for those that do.

To put an exclamation point on that, the whole philosophy that mobile games need to be free or $.99 is complete bullshit overall. Sadly, outside of groups like us, there are lots of people that think that way.

That's why all the premium games of late have really been inspiring to me.
 
A

awp69

Member
More_Badass said:
Just when I thought I was out:

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1355142
Keep your fingers crossed for Planescape on iPad

Beamdog also retweeted/mentioned the countdown and they're the ones behind the Baldur/Icewind Enhanced Editions
Click to expand...

Had thought about that one on console but I think I'll sit out any more text/narrative driven games for a while (know it's a CRPG but supposed to be very dialogue driven vs. confrontation).

Got too much on my plate and those kind of games demand a good time sink. Having enough trouble getting into Sunless Sea.
 
PittaGAF

PittaGAF

Member
Just fully completed Ticket to Earth.
It was pretty awesome and calling it a puzzle RPG would be really injustice.
It's much more similar to Banner Saga or SteamWorld Heist...the 'chain' mechanic serves both for positional advantage and for charging attacks, but other than that you are juggling between many skills and strategies, so different from, let's say, Dungeon Raid.
I really liked it and I'm looking forward next chapter, last missions were pretty great. Loved that different enemies are subject to different skills (human, robots and mutants)...forced me to change equipped skills before combat a lot.
 
C

CrashPrime

Member
killercow said:
You can buy either a controller that you hold while the iPad is standing or a form fitting controller. If it's the latter, only The Gamevice exists. If you want to check one of the former, go to afterpad.com and check each controller's review. Do note that they aren't cheap as Apple takes a cut on them.
Click to expand...

I have been looking into something else as that Gamevice is like $100.

If I were to have a jailbroken device could I use something like the iPega 9023 to play the Metal Slugs and Ducktales Remastered?

Maybe some kind of bluetooth controller middleware that allows the iPega 9023 to appear as a MFi device?

Just got myself a brand new ipad 2017 ordered and I am excited to do some gaming but I want a nice controller for it Switch style.
 
K

killercow

Member
CrashPrime said:
I have been looking into something else as that Gamevice is like $100.

If I were to have a jailbroken device could I use something like the iPega 9023 to play the Metal Slugs and Ducktales Remastered?

Maybe some kind of bluetooth controller middleware that allows the iPega 9023 to appear as a MFi device?

Just got myself a brand new ipad 2017 ordered and I am excited to do some gaming but I want a nice controller for it Switch style.
Click to expand...

You could if you're jailbroken and you could also use a ps4 controller but you can't do it yet on the new ipad and it won't be for a while.
 
P

Pachimari

Member
imwMuYP.jpg
Click to expand...
So I'm playing Sunless Sea as I was in the right mood for it at night. And there's a lot to take it. It is heavely text-based but there's a lot of stuff you can do. You can help sailors get to certain destinations, you can go explore and write your book, you can turn off your lights and hide from hostile ships, you can discover new islands and harbors where you can hire officers, buy food for your crew or even explore castles and stuff. I have the feeling that this game is huge, and if you die your legacy goes on to a new character. This game is not bad at all, you just need to be in the mood to read and learn.
 
S

sheaaaa

Member
More_Badass said:
It was $5
Click to expand...

I just wasn't interested enough to drop $5 on it and the price going up isn't going to help that.

Great that people like it and bought it at full price, but never putting it on sale means that people who have filed the game away under "will get it on discount" will never get it.

Which is fine of course, it's their prerogative and I wish them all the best. Just replying to a question that was asked.

For context, I gladly pay full price for games I'm interested in. Bought Imbroglio day one, and plan to pick up Card Thief really soon.
 
A

awp69

Member
More_Badass said:
This looks pretty decent

Erin: The Last Aos Sí, https://appsto.re/us/OiR2hb.i
http://www.danielfranko.com/erin.html
Click to expand...

The rudimentary, muddy graphical style may turn people off but that would be a mistake. Although I haven't played a lot yet, the turn based combat with QTE style spells is pretty fun. The way the turns work with the possibility of being interrupted depending on where you are on the meter is a little random though. Great orchestral soundtrack.

Also has a pay what you want full game unlock -- with options from $1.99 up to $14.99.
 
B

besiktas1

Member
A touch off topic but didn't know where else to ask.

Is there an app that let's me listen to my audio books that I can transfer over from my PC? Just drag and drop it like I can do with my videos in vlc
 
8

8sanders

Murderer's Gut Feeling™
besiktas1 said:
Does it save my progress and that? Basically, I've just bought a 7 should be arriving tomorrow.
On android I use material audiobook player which saves my progress, then hides it from library. Works perfectly for me.
Click to expand...
As long as the meta data of your audio says it is an audiobook, yes, iTunes will do that.
 
PittaGAF

PittaGAF

Member
Pachimari said:
Fuck I finally died in Kingdom, and now I'm a king. Don't know what I'm doing but oh well.
Click to expand...

What do you mean? You was a queen in the previous run?
When you select a new game, you can change king/queen and colors just swiping up and down while the game is loading.
 
S

Saucycarpdog

Member
DRtC just got updated with new content. It's part of that planned update with the rest of the update (like mifi support) coming later this week.
 
T

Tendo

Member
How does death road to Canada compare to the PC version? Same features I'm assuming? How does it play on iOS?
 
R

Rodney McKay

Member
Donald Bubbins said:
This was the last good one I played. Always on the lookout for the next one.
Click to expand...

Ironhide Games (the Kingdom Rush developers) are working on Iron Marines and Kingdom Rush 4.

Iron Marines seems like they're taking the mechanics from Kingdom Rush and implementing them into more of an RTS style game. I've been waiting for this one for over a year when it was pushed to 2017.

Kingdom Rush 4 probably wont be until after that one comes out, so probably a long way off, maybe even 2018. :(
 
PittaGAF

PittaGAF

Member
The second Oxenfree playthrough is even better than the first.
So many new things!!!

And I never, EVER, replay a stric story game.
But I'm SO GLAD I did!!!!
 
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