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iOS Gaming December 2016 | It's app-me, Mario

Oynox

Member
iOSGAF is the best place to keep up with mobile gaming

Indeed. I use this thread more than Toucharcade (though I use the app regularly), Pockettactics and Pocketgamer. Btw. I do not understand how Pocketgamers desktop webpage still looks like shite from the 00s or alike..
 
iOSGAF is the best place to keep up with mobile gaming
It's my one stop shop. Never fails to deliver. So thank you all who participate and contribute.
Indeed. I use this thread more than Toucharcade (though I use the app regularly), Pockettactics and Pocketgamer. Btw. I do not understand how Pocketgamers desktop webpage still looks like shite from the 00s or alike..
I agree 1000%

This is actually the place I come to first (and usually last)
Hey, it's comments like that why I'm happy these threads stay active. 2016 will be two years I've been doing the monthly threads after Tunesmith. Always great to see the new names that pop up in here
 
If you like these sorts of games check out the Train Conductor series:
https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/train-conductor-world/id932228293?mt=8

Thank you for that. I have been playing Train Conductor World quite a bit until I hit a wall (which was fairly late I have to admit). I would suggest that game to you as well though the gameplay is a bit different.

Yeah I absolutely adore Train Conductor World. I should get back into that game. 💕
 

GWX

Member
Super excited for Bully on iOS, but I do need to know if anyone here has any impressions on performance on iPad Air 2. I'd be grateful!
 
Yup. Can't come soon enough. Hope it controls well. Hope it doesn't eat battery life.

This is one of those games that's going to be perfect, if they don't blow it, ya know?
I feel these are the kinds of devs who would can the project if they felt the touch controls weren't good enough. Considering how much effort they put into this, in both design (it's even playable in portrait!) and whatnot (the whole Apple rejecting the app earlier this year), I think it's going to be a really good port

And iOS has a history of really good dual sticks. Radiangames, Solomon's Keep, Leap of Fate, etc.
 

Pachimari

Member
Okay, I don't understand Mini Metro at all. The tutorial intro is very poor at explaining what I'm actually supposed to do. I know I need to connect stations through lines, and that I got tunnels for rivers and trains I can put on the tracks. But then small symbols appear beside every station, and I assume if a triangle pops up then I need to connect that with the stations which has a triangle symbol on them. Is that how it works? Because right now it feels like I'm just randomly pulling lines to se if they connect.
 
Okay, I don't understand Mini Metro at all. The tutorial intro is very poor at explaining what I'm actually supposed to do. I know I need to connect stations through lines, and that I got tunnels for rivers and trains I can put on the tracks. But then small symbols appear beside every station, and I assume if a triangle pops up then I need to connect that with the stations which has a triangle symbol on them. Is that how it works? Because right now it feels like I'm just randomly pulling lines to se if they connect.
Think of it like SpacecChem. You need to manage the input (passengers) and output (getting those passengers to stations). As each stage progresses, you get more stations and need to use your limited amount of bridges and cars to shuttle the passengers around efficiently, while making sure stations don't get overcrowded.

You need to strategically consider your line placement. Do you make long tracks that pick up a lot of passengers but takes longer to reach stations? Shorter loops that reach less stations? Where do you place bridges and tunnels? Which upgrades will best suit your map and current track layout?

Also don't be afraid to erase some tracks as the stages get bigger and you have more cars, bridges, and stations to use. Your early set-up will not be effective on a larger scale

It took a while for the game to click with me. Don't think if it as trains and passengers, but more abstractly: building an efficient network for transporting resources and then optimizing under pressure and tight limitations,
 

jon bones

hot hot hanuman-on-man action
Okay, I don't understand Mini Metro at all. The tutorial intro is very poor at explaining what I'm actually supposed to do. I know I need to connect stations through lines, and that I got tunnels for rivers and trains I can put on the tracks. But then small symbols appear beside every station, and I assume if a triangle pops up then I need to connect that with the stations which has a triangle symbol on them. Is that how it works? Because right now it feels like I'm just randomly pulling lines to se if they connect.

the tiny dark shapes are people who want to go any station (large white) of the same shape

use the pause button to delete and redraw lines as you progress

the number in the top right is how many passengers sucessfully arrived at their requested destination
 

Mario

Sidhe / PikPok
IMO .. Toucharcade reviews give me the vibe that they are paid (most but not all)

We've never been given the opportunity or any indication we could pay for a review.

In fact, even when we've advertised on their site with full takeover ads, we've had "bad" reviews a couple of times (almost to where it felt like they were trying to make a point).

I doubt anybody is paying for reviews there.
 
IMO .. Toucharcade reviews give me the vibe that they are paid (most but not all)
While I do feel they hand out five stars too much to the point that a perfect score from them feels pretty meaningless, I don't think that's a fair (or logical) conclusion for them or any gaming site really.

I tend to trust individual reviewers though. Shaun Musgrave is their best reviewer by far. If he gives a game a good score, you know it's worth it (Yankai's Triangle hint hint)
 

okno

Member
While I do feel they hand out five stars too much to the point that a the perfect score from them feels pretty meaningless, I don't think that's a fair (or logical) conclusion for them or any gaming site really.

I tend to trust individual reviewers though. Shaun Musgrave is their best reviewer by far. If he gives a game a good score, you know it's worth it (Yankai's Triangle hint hint)

Completely agree. Felt the same way for a bit about TA, but noticed after a minute that some reviewers take their jobs more seriously than others. There's really not one mobile review site that I fully trust, at all.
 

killercow

Member
The discussion in the thread about it has been spirited to say the least

And I fell it's justified here. I'll never understand the excuse of "we need it because the game has social elements". Well, just turn it off when there's no connection and sync it back when you're back online!

Much like the excuse that piracy's rampant on mobile. It might be on Android (and a constant internet check could be bypassed there) but on iOS I don't feel like the majority of users know how to jailbreak their devices (which is impossible on the latest versions of iOS anyway) or run an unsigned IPA.

That penalizes iPad users even more and, as I use that to play mobile games, it's going to be quite a pain to run the game most of the time when I'm not at home.
 

Widge

Member
Galaxy On Fire 3 has appeared.

I had 2 ages ago. It was ok if clunky. This is a FTP effort. It has a main campaign and then what looks like separate skirmishes to take on. Production wise, the visuals are stunning but obviously I'm not far enough into this to determine how vicious the paywall is.

There is also some other FTP thing called Dawn Of Titans, which looks like Total War with optional huge giants. Again, no comment on the paywall here.

Part of me has a little internal weep because I fear what could be amazing games might be hamstrung by their economic model. See: just about any management sim game.
 

Tunesmith

formerly "chigiri"
And I fell it's justified here. I'll never understand the excuse of "we need it because the game has social elements". Well, just turn it off when there's no connection and sync it back when you're back online!

Much like the excuse that piracy's rampant on mobile. It might be on Android (and a constant internet check could be bypassed there) but on iOS I don't feel like the majority of users know how to jailbreak their devices (which is impossible on the latest versions of iOS anyway) or run an unsigned IPA.

That penalizes iPad users even more and, as I use that to play mobile games, it's going to be quite a pain to run the game most of the time when I'm not at home.

Primarily always-online is due to;

  • Not as easy to compromise the integrity of the community, leader boards etc. Can't do any offline tweaking of values (assuming they're doing server validation!). There are still hacks that can occur but they're less risky and typically easy to detect.
  • Ensures game progress and customer data is synced across devices and the game servers
  • No traditional piracy of IAPs (again, assuming they're doing server validation!)

iOS or Android makes no real difference.

Presumably you can buy stuff for in-game coins gathered during gameplay and I guess they want to try and limit people giving themselves 99999999999 coins or 9,223,372,036,854,775,807 leader board score.

Edit: That thread gave me a few more grey hairs I think (but at least I learnt that Words with Friends has an offline solo mode!).
 

killercow

Member
Primarily always-online is due to;

  • Not as easy to compromise the integrity of the community, leader boards etc. Can't do any offline tweaking of values (assuming they're doing server validation!). There are still hacks that can occur but they're less risky and typically easy to detect.
  • Ensures game progress and customer data is synced across devices and the game servers
  • No traditional piracy of IAPs (again, assuming they're doing server validation!)

I feel like iOS or Android does matter actually.

On iOS you can't modify/import/replace the files that you have on your iDevice since iOS8-9 unless you're jailbroken. It's way easier to modify an APK or the files that you find on your Android device. That also goes for iAP piracy which is already quite hard to do on iOS and especially here since the game requires iOS 8+.

Furthermore, you could always check for online once/when you buy (which you obviously need at that time), already ensuring that almost no-one on iOS will crack it. And anyways, even if you are using a jailbroken device with a tweak that can crack iAPs, always online won't change anything since they can't crack server-side checks and can crack the other types of iAPs while being connected.

You could also always copy the data back when you're online to the servers the way most iCloud stuff works thus rendering the excuse of "always online to ensure progress" moot.

For leaderboards I thought it was mostly Game Center that was way too easy to cheat but here, presumably, it's using Nintendo's system that could always check for discrepancies when you get back online without having to enforce an always online drm.
Although I do agree that this is probably the only explanation that sort of makes sense but still doesn't justify it for a not so F2P game.
 

Pachimari

Member
Think of it like SpacecChem. You need to manage the input (passengers) and output (getting those passengers to stations). As each stage progresses, you get more stations and need to use your limited amount of bridges and cars to shuttle the passengers around efficiently, while making sure stations don't get overcrowded.

You need to strategically consider your line placement. Do you make long tracks that pick up a lot of passengers but takes longer to reach stations? Shorter loops that reach less stations? Where do you place bridges and tunnels? Which upgrades will best suit your map and current track layout?

Also don't be afraid to erase some tracks as the stages get bigger and you have more cars, bridges, and stations to use. Your early set-up will not be effective on a larger scale

It took a while for the game to click with me. Don't think if it as trains and passengers, but more abstractly: building an efficient network for transporting resources and then optimizing under pressure and tight limitations,

the tiny dark shapes are people who want to go any station (large white) of the same shape

use the pause button to delete and redraw lines as you progress

the number in the top right is how many passengers sucessfully arrived at their requested destination
Hmm, still doesn't make much sense to me. I'll try it out again tonight with what you guys have said in mind.
 

awp69

Member
Lost Socks is on sale for $.99. If you don't have it, I consider it a must have on iOS for a hard as nails auto running platformer.

Forgot that it came out this year. Have to remember it for my GoTY list!
 
Talking about Death Road to Canada, the devs recently posted a news update to steam community and I love this quote from them:

We would really like to get 3-4 months to just work on adding more things to the game. New locations, events, characters. My big design goal with this game was to have so much rare stuff that you could be entertained for hundreds of hours and still find new things. The only way to do this is to keep adding content.
Exactly what I want from any rogue like game; being able to find new things even after mastering the game.

For hose wondering when they will get to play this on iOS:
The iOS version has been in testing for awhile, and soon that will be getting the latest update and achievements. Looks like the launch date for that will be in January or February. The last big thing we need to do is get in streaming support, straight from the device. We'd also like to sneak in PC and iOS cross-platform save sharing.
Link
 
Talking about Death Road to Canada, the devs recently posted a news update to steam community and I love this quote from them:

Exactly what I want from any rogue like game; being able to find new things even after mastering the game
You won't be disappointed. Played quite a bit on PC
 

SteveWD40

Member
I just hope they don't keep pushing back the iOS launch to "just add this next update", cos I would rather play it now, as it is on PC than in 6 months or w/e.

Also, fuck the SMB online requirement, it's not even like I have data issues, I just find it unnecessary in a game like this.

Does this mean if I get a call the game will lose my progress etc...?
 
Anyone find it funny how an autorunner is suddenly Nintendo trying to make the best possible game on mobile, according to some posters? Dont get me wrong, an autorunner can be awesome, but SMR looks pretty basic and slow compared to the Rayman games, Lost Socks, or even Adventure Beaks and Blown Away

Reminds me of how Fallout Shelter was received
 

killercow

Member
Anyone find it funny how an autorunner is suddenly Nintendo trying to make the best possible game on mobile, according to some posters? Dont get me wrong, an autorunner can be awesome, but SMR looks pretty basic and slow compared to the Rayman games, Lost Socks, or even Adventure Beaks and Blown Away

Reminds me of how Fallout Shelter was received

I don't think it's going to rock the mobile gaming world (and that reaction now is pretty funny indeed) but I do feel like it's different from Rayman (and even more so from Lost Socks) in its pacing, strategy and goals. I think that'll be more apparent in later levels of the game.
 

awp69

Member
Anyone find it funny how an autorunner is suddenly Nintendo trying to make the best possible game on mobile, according to some posters? Dont get me wrong, an autorunner can be awesome, but SMR looks pretty basic and slow compared to the Rayman games, Lost Socks, or even Adventure Beaks and Blown Away

Reminds me of how Fallout Shelter was received

I don't think it's going to rock the mobile gaming world (and that reaction now is pretty funny indeed) but I do feel like it's different from Rayman (and even more so from Lost Socks) in its pacing, strategy and goals. I think that'll be more apparent in later levels of the game.

I honestly haven't been all that impressed with what I've seen so far. For someone who has played mobile auto runners for years, it may be more difficult to be satisfied over someone who is just getting into it because of Nintendo.

We'll see. Maybe that demo before buying is a good thing.
 
I honestly haven't been all that impressed with what I've seen so far. For someone who has played mobile auto runners for years, it may be more difficult to be satisfied over someone who is just getting into it because of Nintendo.

We'll see. Maybe that demo before buying is a good thing.
I am impressed that they're going the premium price and handcrafted levels route, because a F2P endless version seems so much easier and probably earn them more money. So that's very commendable

But the gameplay itself? I'll definitely give it a try but I don't have high hopes
 
Lost Socks is on sale for $.99. If you don't have it, I consider it a must have on iOS for a hard as nails auto running platformer.

Forgot that it came out this year. Have to remember it for my GoTY list!

funny how that went from super hyped to forgettable in a couple of weeks.
 
funny how that went from super hyped to forgettable in a couple of weeks.
I blame the overwhelming amount of great releases :p

Considering there's at least one note-worthy release every week, in a few weeks, there are many more games and more recent games occupying your attention. Not a lot of time for a game to breathe
 

Matt Frost

Member
Anyone find it funny how an autorunner is suddenly Nintendo trying to make the best possible game on mobile, according to some posters? Dont get me wrong, an autorunner can be awesome, but SMR looks pretty basic and slow compared to the Rayman games, Lost Socks, or even Adventure Beaks and Blown Away

Reminds me of how Fallout Shelter was received

Forgot one of the best ones: Bit.Trip Runner. Level design, moves,... one of the best (on consoles and Steam is the best one). Adventure Beaks and Blown Away, Rayman, Lost Socks... Mario is going to have to some tough competition indeed...

I blame the overwhelming amount of great releases :p

Considering there's at least one note-worthy release every week, in a few weeks, there are many more games and more recent games occupying your attention. Not a lot of time for a game to breathe

There are at least 3 or 4 awesome games releasing each month so is easy for a game to get lost, or even go unnoticed even if is as awesome as Lost Socks (a favorite of mine)
 
I just hope they don't keep pushing back the iOS launch to "just add this next update", cos I would rather play it now, as it is on PC than in 6 months or w/e.
Admittedly I do feel the same. I want the game to be as great as it can be when it releases but the constant delay of the iOS release due to "we want to add this now!" feature creep has been a little annoying.
 

bjork

Member
I'm not sure why, but I'm always surprised to see Minecraft in the top paid apps. Not for the price point, but because I don't recall ever not seeing it. I wonder what the total player count is? I'm sure it's way up there.

On the 2016 top paid apps on the JP store, FFIX is on there at 2500 yen. Great game, but that's wild unless it was on some drastic sale for awhile?
 
I'm not sure why, but I'm always surprised to see Minecraft in the top paid apps. Not for the price point, but because I don't recall ever not seeing it. I wonder what the total player count is? I'm sure it's way up there.

On the 2016 top paid apps on the JP store, FFIX is on there at 2500 yen. Great game, but that's wild unless it was on some drastic sale for awhile?
Not sure about player count, but it had 21 million sold in 2014
 
Anyone find it funny how an autorunner is suddenly Nintendo trying to make the best possible game on mobile, according to some posters? Dont get me wrong, an autorunner can be awesome, but SMR looks pretty basic and slow compared to the Rayman games, Lost Socks, or even Adventure Beaks and Blown Away

Reminds me of how Fallout Shelter was received

It really depends on the levels. Personally I'd rather Zelda, or Super Punch Out, but I don't think they'd get as many folks interested as something with Mario in the title.
 

Pachimari

Member
I think Super Mario Run looks like a lot of fun, and put simply, I would rather play that, than something like Rayman or Lost Socks (especially as this game's art is a huge turn off). It's huge that this is Nintendo, and it is something most players should want to play on your mobile devices. Hopefully the content is there too for the asking price.
 

pdk27

Member
I think Super Mario Run looks like a lot of fun, and put simply, I would rather play that, than something like Rayman or Lost Socks (especially as this game's art is a huge turn off). It's huge that this is Nintendo, and it is something most players should want to play on your mobile devices. Hopefully the content is there too for the asking price.

No matter how much content is there I already foresee lots of negative reviews because of the price. Personally I can't wait to buy it.
 
On the 2016 top paid apps on the JP store, FFIX is on there at 2500 yen. Great game, but that's wild unless it was on some drastic sale for awhile?

I hope FF9 gets a sale in the US before the holidays.

I've had my eye on it since it came out, but I keep buying cheaper (but still great) games in its place. Any discount would probably get me to pick it up.
 
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