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

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Bamihap

Good at being the bigger man
NEW PAGE:

CODES GIVEAWAY

I always let the thread flow wherever you guys take it, never I have got in the way just because I posted the OP and took one or the other side of a particular discussion or argument. As it should be, of course. However, this seems a bit of a special case to me.

I will contact mods about enforcing this rule if they see it fit, and hopefully both sides are happy with the solution:
Codes are still welcomed, but you guys will have to do it without huge ass images (a small screen, app icon or whatever is fine obviously) to go with the codes and from now on just use one of these two options:
_
PMs.
or
Quote to REVEAL. Quote to reveal hides the codes and let them be visible only by quoting said post, you grab the code (without clicking on POST after that of course), then PM the nice guy who's giving away the codes and let him know which one you've grabbed. DON'T post the quote and DON'T post "thanks I grabbed this one": you'll send that by pm to the gifter, who will update its original post when all the codes are gone.
To use quote to reveal, use the EMAIL TAG putting the code after = and before the closing bracket ]
_
EXAMPLE (quote this post to reveal how to do it):
[email=this is where you put the code]

When and if Mario and other fellow gafDevs figure out a better method for them, we'll talk about it and see if a special case can be made only for actual devs, but it has to stick to the "not bothering for the majority" rule nontheless.

Now we can also stop cloggin up the thread not only with the huge quoted pics but also with this discussion being brought up over and over. I hope I don't come off as a dick or someone protective of "his" thread because it's not like that, I'm a firm believer than anyone can make an OP and he's easily replaceable, hell you could make an empty op with just a title and still get the best thread ever and that is evidence enough that OPs don't matter, they're just a side dish: there's no fuckin ownership of a thread since the people posting in it are the ones who make or break it, basically the community owns a thread under the direction of the admins/mods.
Giving away codes is a form of promotion. Developers want people to post "thanks for the code to game X". It gives exposure.

And imo a thank you post is not a lot to ask for. You guys are getting a lot of games for free. Don't think you can complain :). I'm for structure, but keep in mind why developers are giving codes away.
 

Bamihap

Good at being the bigger man
Kids vs Goblins for mac: NXMHYY4AR4TN

Use it in the mac app store.

I know, not iOS. But the game is also available on iOS.
 

Dash Kappei

Not actually that important
bamiapp you're late to the party. You misunderstood my post, haven't read my previous ones and probably haven't followed the discussion closely, I honestly don't feel like posting a full recap but if you go back a week itt and read mine/devs/gaffers posts you'll have a better understanding of the situation, thanks :)
The only thing that is important to point out is that there's a difference between a thank you post which does no harm and sure is welcomed and a repost of x times of a huge ass image when everyone and their mother are (thankfully) posting codes in this thread. There's no reason for normal posters to do the "quote huge ass image" to get a freemyapps code. Devs, is another thing, to be discussed afterwards when we get more details. But bear in mind that this thread main purpose is discussion of iOS games, if promotion becomes a priority over discussion we can build a full on thread for it like there is for other platforms and their free codes giveaways.

What the heck is wrong with the old system? Stop listening to a vocal minority.

But it's not my call to make, is it? It's only fair to listen to both sides, and to propose something. It wouldn't be me reinforcing said rules or whatever, so what I'm doing is really just listening and we'll see what mods think about it.
I thought it was all fine before, you know I was pro-codes, but apparently many think it wasn't.
I also have to point out I'm not sure it's a minority anymore, hence the problem. Even on here it seems to have become pretty close to 50/50 and I've also been getting one too many pms about it.

Aaron said:
Those rules are strict and convoluted for giving away codes to $1 games. For the people who were bitching about 'quote to reveal' the problem really is with you and not the system. Maybe you should lighten up just a little, and play the games you've got instead of complaining so much about free stuff.

These discussions won't ever go away it seems, the thread IS doomed then :p hopefully we'll get there.

That is just a frame of reference, they're not set in stone by all means and I haven't posted them (yet) in the OP for a reason, it's open for suggestions before mods get involved (or not, as I've said already).
It's definitely not convoluted for whom posts the codes, since they just need to use the reveal tag, then if they want to update or not the post with "codes all gone". As it is the people's call if they want to send a "thank you grabbed xxxx" pm or not. So if you tell me what part you find convoluted we'll try to fix/change/get rid of said part.

I mean, the gist of it is:
Codes are still more than welcomed, only just without quoting multiple times huge ass images.
[b]You can do anything with them bar asking to "quote this post/this image x times to get x codes by pm".[/b]
 

Aaron

Member
Those rules are strict and convoluted for giving away codes to $1 games. For the people who were bitching about 'quote to reveal' the problem really is with you and not the system. Maybe you should lighten up just a little, and play the games you've got instead of complaining so much about free stuff.
 

MasLegio

Banned
Giving away codes is a form of promotion. Developers want people to post "thanks for the code to game X". It gives exposure.

And imo a thank you post is not a lot to ask for. You guys are getting a lot of games for free. Don't think you can complain :). I'm for structure, but keep in mind why developers are giving codes away.

should this thread be about discussing iOS games or for free promotion?
 

Ministration

Neo Member
...TLDR: I selfishly want Retina updated graphics in everything I purchase even though I get why it's not a top priority.

It's next to impossible to expect players to think about what developers, especially tiny indie shops, have to go through in order to commit to an Retina update. It would be nice, but unrealistic. So we went to figure out what kind of work needed to be done to make Ravenmark fully optimized for Retina, and this is what we found.

Ravenmark as it stands (with 3 campaigns) is already just over 500MB. To support the new iPad Retina Display, all current assets need to be resized - and we've estimated this would add 1.2GB to the package size. (Just for reference, the Kingdom Rush Retina iPad update made the app balloon from 64.2MB to 219MB.)

So, a universal Ravenmark build that's nearly 1.8GB - that's how it'll stand WITHOUT the assets from the future campaigns we'll be adding. Apple's app size limit is 2GB. I think you can see the basic problem - not to mention, who the hell really wants to keep a 1.8GB app on their iDevice?

To work around those size restraints, one feasible option would be for us to release a separate HD app that only works on the new iPad. However, this pretty much excludes everyone who's already purchased the original universal build. I would expect a real angry backlash and lots of one-star ratings if we committed to this idea, even if we tried to rationally explain why we needed to do this.

Or we can do what we're doing now, and not release a true Retina update/option, thereby missing out on customers who make their choices based on Retina support. Still a very poor option that may be eroding potential unit sales, but at least nobody gets hurt, it seems.

Interestingly, we've had players tell us they thought Ravenmark was *already* in Retina mode on their new iPads, and if we didn't point out the lack of sharpness in text, they would never have noticed the difference.
 

Bamihap

Good at being the bigger man
It's next to impossible to expect players to think about what developers, especially tiny indie shops, have to go through in order to commit to an Retina update. It would be nice, but unrealistic. So we went to figure out what kind of work needed to be done to make Ravenmark fully optimized for Retina, and this is what we found.

Ravenmark as it stands (with 3 campaigns) is already just over 500MB. To support the new iPad Retina Display, all current assets need to be resized - and we've estimated this would add 1.2GB to the package size. (Just for reference, the Kingdom Rush Retina iPad update made the app balloon from 64.2MB to 219MB.)

So, a universal Ravenmark build that's nearly 1.8GB - that's how it'll stand WITHOUT the assets from the future campaigns we'll be adding. Apple's app size limit is 2GB. I think you can see the basic problem - not to mention, who the hell really wants to keep a 1.8GB app on their iDevice?

To work around those size restraints, one feasible option would be for us to release a separate HD app that only works on the new iPad. However, this pretty much excludes everyone who's already purchased the original universal build. I would expect a real angry backlash and lots of one-star ratings if we committed to this idea, even if we tried to rationally explain why we needed to do this.

Or we can do what we're doing now, and not release a true Retina update/option, thereby missing out on customers who make their choices based on Retina support. Still a very poor option that may be eroding potential unit sales, but at least nobody gets hurt, it seems.

Interestingly, we've had players tell us they thought Ravenmark was *already* in Retina mode on their new iPads, and if we didn't point out the lack of sharpness in text, they would never have noticed the difference.
In moving images most people probably won't notice retina.

It's just like with the Xbox 360. A lot of Xbox games are rendered at 960x544, and people can't see the difference between that and full 1080p rendered material. Infinity Blade 2 is being promoted as the premier retina game, but it's internal render resolution is way lower. Most of the indie devs don't have fancy tools that can render at lower resolutions while outputting at retina. So thats why a lot of retina games run slower than non-retina games on iPad 2.

Retina is great, but there is a huge downside. Performance wise, file size wise and development wise.
 

Kaezul

Member
Anyone having problems with FreeAppDaily? I just found out about it and I can't get it to update that I've downloaded the apps. Missed out on Angry birds yesterday and looks like I'll miss out on draw something if I can't get it to work =(( I've done it on my own iPhone and a friends and both won't update that the apps were downloaded.
 
Anyone having problems with FreeAppDaily? I just found out about it and I can't get it to update that I've downloaded the apps. Missed out on Angry birds yesterday and looks like I'll miss out on draw something if I can't get it to work =(( I've done it on my own iPhone and a friends and both won't update that the apps were downloaded.

If you found out about it within the last day or so, you're too late. The app has been removed from the App Store. If you downloaded this:

20120501-fgifn1fybj74f4e9pajntcw4tk.jpg


You downloaded a bunk app that will not give you free games in return. Delete it.

Also, quote for Draw Something (ad-free) code.

 

RedAssedApe

Banned
What games have showed a decrease in performance on the new iPad because of the added Retina?

I think Anandtech gives a good overview in their review as to what to expect:

http://www.anandtech.com/show/5688/apple-ipad-2012-review/3

If you found out about it within the last day or so, you're too late. The app has been removed from the App Store. If you downloaded this:

20120501-fgifn1fybj74f4e9pajntcw4tk.jpg


You downloaded a bunk app that will not give you free games in return. Delete it.

freeappdaily.me via Safari worked for me earlier today...although it requires facebook and profile like freemyapps
 

Kaezul

Member
If you found out about it within the last day or so, you're too late. The app has been removed from the App Store. If you downloaded this:

20120501-fgifn1fybj74f4e9pajntcw4tk.jpg


You downloaded a bunk app that will not give you free games in return. Delete it.

Ya I just found out about it yesterday and saw the itunes app was removed. But I've been trying to do it with freeappdaily.me. I downloaded all 3 apps and played them and it won't show that i completed it.
 

SmokyDave

Member
I'm now level 477 in Power Of Coin. I have about 35,000 coins and at least 30 of each prize. You would think I'd stop playing, but no, just can't put it down.

I'm so grateful that it doesn't track 'hours played'. I've been ignoring Fez & Trials Evolution to play this.
 

RedAssedApe

Banned
Granted I was only like 10-11 at the time, I remember the 7th Guest puzzles being tougher. I guess I did get a little smarter over the years. This makes me happy. lol
 

SmokyDave

Member
Granted I was only like 10-11 at the time, I remember the 7th Guest puzzles being tougher. I guess I did get a little smarter over the years. This makes me happy. lol

Don't forget they took the real bitch out (the microscope puzzle). I think that's available as a separate, fleshed-out app of it's own.
 
Blind people, maybe :p
Agreed. The New iPad is just not up to it most of the times.
More than you would think actually. Loads of games don't render at 1080.

For all the things apple have done right about the app store, a lot of times it's very obvious that they are not considering games (at all) when designing their devices. The new iPad is definitely designed with reading, watching photos/videos and surfing in mind, not gaming.

edit: and I'm not only talking about performance and file sizes now (even if that is huge problem - Textures and sound is what takes up most data), I'm mostly talking development costs. For small studios this makes a lot of difference, when producing 2D art assets.
 

kinggroin

Banned
I'm now level 477 in Power Of Coin. I have about 35,000 coins and at least 30 of each prize. You would think I'd stop playing, but no, just can't put it down.

I'm so grateful that it doesn't track 'hours played'. I've been ignoring Fez & Trials Evolution to play this.


I'm only level 47, but I noticed that the Gods have already been recycled? Other than OCD, is there anymore reason to continue?

Also, the iPad 3 is easily the worst iteration of its product line. It does one thing incredibly well (reading text and/or images) and another thing fairly good (watching HD movies....on a 4:3 display). Battery life is terrible at higher brightness levels, it takes ages to charge, it warms up much more compared to its predecessor and most of the competition, its heavier, and has performance issues with the OS and some of the more demanding apps.

Yet, its because that one thing it does so well also happens to be THE main usage for me that I bought in. Reading comics on the 3 is a peerless experience, and only the weight becomes an issue after long periods.
 

Shaneus

Member
I'm now level 477 in Power Of Coin. I have about 35,000 coins and at least 30 of each prize. You would think I'd stop playing, but no, just can't put it down.

I'm so grateful that it doesn't track 'hours played'. I've been ignoring Fez & Trials Evolution to play this.
Ahaha, you too? We're about even as well. Level 460, 35700 coins. At 500 I'm deleting the fucking thing once and for all. I haven't checked my prizes since I levelled all of them up, I bet there's a shitload more to be made there. Probably another few thousand. I swear I get just as excited about coins dropping and levelling up as Lional Hutz did with his smoking monkey:
7jclL.jpg

Look! He's taking another puff!

Man, I remember looking at this game weirdly when I first got it. Thought it was too weird. Yu Suzuki knew something I didn't, though. Bastard.
 

aechris

Member
Every fucking time I did something it switched to the Facebook app and wanted me to post about it. FUCK THAT GAME

On the very same pop-up notification that tells you what you've achieved (before it goes to Facebook), there' a couple boxes you can uncheck so it never does it even again.

The game is awesome and I've been playing the hell out of it. Best time sink since Tiny Tower!
 

SmokyDave

Member
I'm only level 47, but I noticed that the Gods have already been recycled? Other than OCD, is there anymore reason to continue?
There is no reason at all to play the game. None. I still can't put it down.

When the bosses cycle through, the last guy (big lightning troll) drops an orb. Collect 3 of them and next time round, you'll trigger a jackpot. That broke the game for me and left me generating more coins than I could spend. I've carried on through 3 jackpots now.


Ahaha, you too? We're about even as well. Level 460, 35700 coins. At 500 I'm deleting the fucking thing once and for all. I haven't checked my prizes since I levelled all of them up, I bet there's a shitload more to be made there. Probably another few thousand. I swear I get just as excited about coins dropping and levelling up as Lional Hutz did with his smoking monkey:

Look! He's taking another puff!

Man, I remember looking at this game weirdly when I first got it. Thought it was too weird. Yu Suzuki knew something I didn't, though. Bastard.
I've promised myself the same thing. I bet I don't though because I want to see if 999 is the cap.
 
Reflexions is free. It's a puzzle game in which you have to flip mirrors around to bounce a ball to an exit, collecting stuff along the way and avoiding enemies. It's cool. Looks basically exactly the same as that Ichi thing that someone in this thread is making.

mzl.mlqhrgvw.320x480-75.jpg


Also free is On The Hop which is not so good. Remember Mr. Ninja, where you're on a rotating disk and you have to jump off at the right time to get to the next disk? It's kind of an ugly bad version of that, where every time you tap to jump it misses out about ten frames and doesn't make any sense at all.
 

Dacvak

No one shall be brought before our LORD David Bowie without the true and secret knowledge of the Photoshop. For in that time, so shall He appear.
Ahaha, you too? We're about even as well. Level 460, 35700 coins. At 500 I'm deleting the fucking thing once and for all. I haven't checked my prizes since I levelled all of them up, I bet there's a shitload more to be made there. Probably another few thousand. I swear I get just as excited about coins dropping and levelling up as Lional Hutz did with his smoking monkey:

Look! He's taking another puff!

Man, I remember looking at this game weirdly when I first got it. Thought it was too weird. Yu Suzuki knew something I didn't, though. Bastard.
Holy crap. How do you do it? Im at like level 37 and I thought that was high. I still haven't figured out what the prizes do... What do they do? Are there any secret tips to being good at this?
 

SeanR1221

Member
I'm now level 477 in Power Of Coin. I have about 35,000 coins and at least 30 of each prize. You would think I'd stop playing, but no, just can't put it down.

I'm so grateful that it doesn't track 'hours played'. I've been ignoring Fez & Trials Evolution to play this.
Damn you, Dave. Checked out the free version just to try and now I'm going to be late for work.
 

kinggroin

Banned
Holy crap. How do you do it? Im at like level 37 and I thought that was high. I still haven't figured out what the prizes do... What do they do? Are there any secret tips to being good at this?

I just launch my coins in an H formation. Two vertically on each side to push them, and one in the middle to fill in the gaps :-/
 

rezuth

Member
On the very same pop-up notification that tells you what you've achieved (before it goes to Facebook), there' a couple boxes you can uncheck so it never does it even again.

The game is awesome and I've been playing the hell out of it. Best time sink since Tiny Tower!

I don't know if the game bugged out on me then or something but there was no popup. It just straight switched me to the Facebook app and that was it. Guess I'll have to redownload it.
 

Shaneus

Member
Damn you, Dave. Checked out the free version just to try and now I'm going to be late for work.
There's only a free one, isn't there? I got the free one, found you got X coins after leaving it a day. Played around with the date enough to get over the hump which would've required either extreme patience or dollary-doos.

Holy crap. How do you do it? Im at like level 37 and I thought that was high. I still haven't figured out what the prizes do... What do they do? Are there any secret tips to being good at this?
I don't use any technique at all, really! I just find it cathartic when you drop a few coins and a shitload drop down.

As for prizes, just collect all of them, sell the ones you don't need for extra coin if you're early on in the game and running low. Once you get three of each colour of each type you get bonuses (like quicker coin reloading, quicker fire) etc. The killer with those (which is where I should've ended it) is the rewards that give you the purple/green coins even if they go over the side and the same for the prizes. Nothing gives you the lightning/wave etc. over the sides, IIRC.

Developers should now ask us to post a screencap of their game to win the code! Loopholes!
You didn't think that through completely, did you?
 
as it stands (with 3 campaigns) is already just over 500MB. To support the new iPad Retina Display, all current assets need to be resized - and we've estimated this would add 1.2GB to the package size. (Just for reference, the Kingdom Rush Retina iPad update made the app balloon from 64.2MB to 219MB.)

So, a universal Ravenmark build that's nearly 1.8GB - that's how it'll stand WITHOUT the assets from the future campaigns we'll be adding. Apple's app size limit is 2GB. I think you can see the basic problem - not to mention, who the hell really wants to keep a 1.8GB app on their iDevice?

To work around those size restraints, one feasible option would be for us to release a separate HD app that only works on the new iPad. However, this pretty much excludes everyone who's already purchased the original universal build. I would expect a real angry backlash and lots of one-star ratings if we committed to this idea, even if we tried to rationally explain why we needed to do this.

Honest question: what are the logistics behind adding a retina graphics pack via IAP (whether free or paid)? From a customer standpoint I think having the graphics as IAP works best in that no one is forced to download a gigantic app containing assets their display can't even make use of. What are the difficulties in implementing this? Do IAPs involve the dev having to self-host content? Are they harder to get approval for?

Another good point is that there are customers who wouldn't even notice the difference as long as text is rendered sharply - is it difficult to get text to render at the device's naive resolution while upscaling the graphics around it?
 

Dacvak

No one shall be brought before our LORD David Bowie without the true and secret knowledge of the Photoshop. For in that time, so shall He appear.
There's only a free one, isn't there? I got the free one, found you got X coins after leaving it a day. Played around with the date enough to get over the hump which would've required either extreme patience or dollary-doos.


I don't use any technique at all, really! I just find it cathartic when you drop a few coins and a shitload drop down.

As for prizes, just collect all of them, sell the ones you don't need for extra coin if you're early on in the game and running low. Once you get three of each colour of each type you get bonuses (like quicker coin reloading, quicker fire) etc. The killer with those (which is where I should've ended it) is the rewards that give you the purple/green coins even if they go over the side and the same for the prizes. Nothing gives you the lightning/wave etc. over the sides, IIRC.


You didn't think that through completely, did you?

So which of those prizes gives the best bonus?
 

RubxQub

φίλω ἐξεχέγλουτον καί ψευδολόγον οὖκ εἰπόν
I'm kind of hesitant to start playing the 7th Guest again. Playing that game as a kid made me afraid of dolls for a long ass time... :lol
 

ToxicAdam

Member
I'm now level 477 in Power Of Coin. I have about 35,000 coins and at least 30 of each prize. You would think I'd stop playing, but no, just can't put it down.

I'm so grateful that it doesn't track 'hours played'. I've been ignoring Fez & Trials Evolution to play this.


Holy crap, Dave. I think we need to stage an intervention. I got burned out on that game fairly quickly after it became impossible to lose. But was very addicted to it up to that point.

I feel like that kind of game can become huge if they just add a bit more variety to the enemies and maybe a few sidequests.
 
Hmm, AppZapp lists 7th Guest going free soon...

No code give away needed; meaning no one yelling at me.

I didn't even know there was a 7th Guest app! Does it have the original voice work too?

I remember recording that "OH my Carl, what a big ORGAN" voice for my answering machine back in the day. Oh wow. That was 19 years ago.
 

SmokyDave

Member
So which of those prizes gives the best bonus?

Helm - The number of Gift Of Coin is increased.
Bracelet - Increases duration of Power Of Lightning.
Armour - Increases duration of Power Of Earth.
Shield - The effect of XP bonuses and coin bonuses sunk into the prize bin increases.
Sword - Prizes are acquired even when sunk over the sides. At lvl 3, Bonus Coins too.
Hammer - The amount of coins necessary to sink the Bonus Coins is decreased.

Boots - Faster automatic time recovery.

I've bolded the two that I feel are most effective.


Holy crap, Dave. I think we need to stage an intervention. I got burned out on that game fairly quickly after it became impossible to lose. But was very addicted to it up to that point.

I feel like that kind of game can become huge if they just add a bit more variety to the enemies and maybe a few sidequests.
....help me.

If I listed all the games I've bought (and ignored) since starting PoC, you wouldn't believe me.

Edit: I just sold my excess prizes and now I have more than 45,000 coins.
 
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