iPhone/iTouch app and game thread

[ravenvii]

Can't believe no one's discussing R-Type. This game is friggin' awesome.

[wonderpug]

Game Dev Story is really really addicting. 

Cons: clearly ported from a non-iPhone cell phone game (Japanese) since the screen real estate is way smaller than it needs to be, some stats and game mechanics are obtuse

Pros: Run your own game company and try to make it the best game company ever in 20 years!  It mirrors in parody the history of gaming from the Sega Master System to modern day consoles!  Will your game change the balance of the Senga Exodus and Super IES battle?  Mix and match game types and genres to create a ninja racing game or a pirate educational game!  Hire and fire writers, sound engineers, hackers!  Hire booth babes for the big Gamedex expo!  Advertise your game via radio, TV, marching band!  Curse at the exorbanant development licensing fees for the popular consoles!  Maybe even get big enough to design and release your own console hardware!  Exclamation points!

[Dreamshadow]

Game Dev Story is really really addicting. 

Cons: clearly ported from a non-iPhone cell phone game (Japanese) since the screen real estate is way smaller than it needs to be, some stats and game mechanics are obtuse

Pros: Run your own game company and try to make it the best game company ever in 20 years!  It mirrors in parody the history of gaming from the Sega Master System to modern day consoles!  Will your game change the balance of the Senga Exodus and Super IES battle?  Mix and match game types and genres to create a ninja racing game or a pirate educational game!  Hire and fire writers, sound engineers, hackers!  Hire booth babes for the big Gamedex expo!  Advertise your game via radio, TV, marching band!  Curse at the exorbanant development licensing fees for the popular consoles!  Maybe even get big enough to design and release your own console hardware!  Exclamation points!

Seconded, it's all I'm playing right now.

[kathode]

Just came here to post about Game Dev Story   Stayed up two hours past my usual bedtime last night playing it.  It's got that "one more round" feeling down solid.

[mytocles]

I'm currently trying Runescape - according to the Runescape people - "the most popular free MMO ever."  I wouldn't know, since I don't play pure PC games, mostly just consoles and handhelds, but it seems pretty cool to me.  I'm having a little bit of a hard time because whenever I use the iPod, I feel like I should have a stylus in my hand, and I keep trying to point at the screen instead of pointing at the direction arrows... but that's me as usual.

Actually, I don't even know if I've played it online, or if it can even be played online on the iPod; my lowly iPod Touch serves my purposes just fine, so I often don't have 'Net connectivity.  When I play it, it looks like a single-player game to me, but I may have chosen that option early on.  Either way, it's free, so no harm/ no foul to try it.

 

[rittchard]

I'm currently trying Runescape - according to the Runescape people - "the most popular free MMO ever."  I wouldn't know, since I don't play pure PC games, mostly just consoles and handhelds, but it seems pretty cool to me.  I'm having a little bit of a hard time because whenever I use the iPod, I feel like I should have a stylus in my hand, and I keep trying to point at the screen instead of pointing at the direction arrows... but that's me as usual.

Actually, I don't even know if I've played it online, or if it can even be played online on the iPod; my lowly iPod Touch serves my purposes just fine, so I often don't have 'Net connectivity.  When I play it, it looks like a single-player game to me, but I may have chosen that option early on.  Either way, it's free, so no harm/ no foul to try it.

 

Can you clarify which version you are playing (price, developer, etc)?  The only one I saw was one called Runescape portable edition touch and costs $12.99.  A bunch of reviews say it's a scam but others say it's good.

[mytocles]

Can you clarify which version you are playing (price, developer, etc)?  The only one I saw was one called Runescape portable edition touch and costs $12.99.  A bunch of reviews say it's a scam but others say it's good.

Hmmm... I didn't personally DL it - a younger, more tech-savvy person did it for me, but I'll shoot him an email and ask.  All I know is that I have an icon that says Runescape, and I (i)Touch that to make it play.   

[mytocles]

Okay, sorry, Rittchard - I'm apparently a total idiot!  

I decided to fire up the game to see if I could answer your question myself... and I found that I didn't even have the name right, lmao.

The name of the game is "Undercroft" and it is apparently made by, or produced by Runescape - sorry I can't be more specific but I'm floundering in a sea of dopiness here.  I suspect if you Google Undercroft and Runescape you will find it.  If not, I did send the email inquiry to my friend, so a more complete answer should be forthcoming.  Sheesh.  


At least I still have my "Smileys" ability - as useful as that is, of course, particularly now.

 


Edit to add:  check out www.undercroft.com/ - if you see that it's an iPhone or iTunes App, don't worry, I only have the Touch and it DL'ed fine and plays fine.

Here are some bits from that site, which will give you a (tiny) sense of what the game is like and what the website provides:

About Undercroft
Undercroft is an epic adventure set in a fantasy world full of magic and monsters. With over 20 hours of addicting game play, dozens of quests and over 60 enemies to defeat. Download for FREE from iTunes.

Stuck on a quest?
If you need a bit of help completing Undercroft why not check out our game FAQ, with information on how to get started, or our walkthrough for a complete solution!

[rittchard]

Ah ha!  Thanks for the clarification lol!!!

[Gratch]

Archon Conquest is free through the end of October.  Pretty fun game in the spirit of the original.

[wonderpug]

iDOS is a DOSBOX emulator that's a buck. It comes with a couple games and apparently works with X-com and it's surely going to get pulled from the store really soon.

[wonderpug]

omg I totally just typed "cd\games" as well as "dir" on my iPhone

omg I hear Commander Keen works perfectly well

[shon]

I wish they would put out Baldurs Gate on the IPAd or any of those types of games it would be awesome

[shon]

And IDos is off the app store. 

[Kurt Stevens]

And IDos is off the app store. 

Damn. Just went to get it.

[CeeKay]

a Rock band DLC search app.

unofficial, of course.

[rittchard]

New screenies from Infinity Blade (formerly Project Sword from the guys who did the Epic Citadel demo using Unreal Engine 3):

http://toucharcade.com/2010/11/02/infinity-blade/

Graphics look stunning, crazy to see this on a phone.

[Crusis]

Game Dev Story is really ruining my life one new game release at a time.

[Gratch]

I grabbed a couple new iPhone RPG's this morning, both of which got good reviews:

-  Rimelands: Hammer of Thor ($.99).  Another review.  And another.  Haven't found a review yet that's been less than glowing on this one.  Just wish I wasn't at work so I could start playing. 
-  Ash ($4.99)

Will report back later...

[kathode]

New screenies from Infinity Blade (formerly Project Sword from the guys who did the Epic Citadel demo using Unreal Engine 3):

http://toucharcade.com/2010/11/02/infinity-blade/

Graphics look stunning, crazy to see this on a phone.

If you haven't seen the trailer, it's amazing.  A guy I worked with at Bethesda is working on this.  Pushing him for a preview copy (unlikely, but I can dream)

[Gratch]

Haven't even gotten around to Ash yet, because I can't pull myself away from Rimelands.  What a fantastic SRPG!

[Misguided]

Haven't even gotten around to Ash yet, because I can't pull myself away from Rimelands.  What a fantastic SRPG!

Rimelands is indeed excellent, though it's starting to feel stale at this point.

Spoiler for Hiden:

I just infiltrated a base to shut off the defenses

The game has some balance issues, but I like the system overall. I hope they'll continue to polish it up and make a sequel.

[Gratch]

Haven't even gotten around to Ash yet, because I can't pull myself away from Rimelands.  What a fantastic SRPG!

Rimelands is indeed excellent, though it's starting to feel stale at this point.

Spoiler for Hiden:

I just infiltrated a base to shut off the defenses

The game has some balance issues, but I like the system overall. I hope they'll continue to polish it up and make a sequel.

Balance issues as in too hard or too easy?  And which class did you focus on?  Just curious.  I'm only a few hours in, but can see how it might get a little stale.

I find the randomness of the dice mechanic is alternately genius and frustrating, and it certainly keeps you on your toes..

[rittchard]

Game Dev Story is really ruining my life one new game release at a time.

I have to say this is one amazingly addictive little game, thanks for the recommendation.  Just goes to show you don't always need the best graphics or tech, just a solid design and gameplay.

[rittchard]

Interesting news!

http://toucharcade.com/2010/11/22/dungeon-defenders-first-wave-launching-in-december-for-ios-powered-by-unreal-engine-3/

[Misguided]

At times I mow things down so easily it's ridiculous, and at other times regular fights are really long. I've gotten to a point where tactics aren't really required (or helpful) and every fight is more or less the same. This stands in sharp contrast to how the game felt earlier. I also think that some of the item stats are out of whack, though part of that stems from not having a visible item level as a reference, which can leave you wondering why this white item is better than that blue one.

I have a mixed stealth/barbarian tree character, which may account for some of my feelings later on. It may be that a hybrid style doesn't scale as well. I haven't played it much in the last week, but whether or not I finish or start over, it was still a great pickup and I had fun while it lasted.

Haven't even gotten around to Ash yet, because I can't pull myself away from Rimelands.  What a fantastic SRPG!

Rimelands is indeed excellent, though it's starting to feel stale at this point.

Spoiler for Hiden:

I just infiltrated a base to shut off the defenses

The game has some balance issues, but I like the system overall. I hope they'll continue to polish it up and make a sequel.

Balance issues as in too hard or too easy?  And which class did you focus on?  Just curious.  I'm only a few hours in, but can see how it might get a little stale.

I find the randomness of the dice mechanic is alternately genius and frustrating, and it certainly keeps you on your toes..

[Misguided]

BTW, Ash is free today, so go grab it.

[Gratch]

There are a metric shit-ton of iPhone games on the cheap right now.

Here is a good summary.

[Blackjack]

I hadn't gotten any new games in a while. Now that I got a 4th gen Touch, I've been trying to back into it.

I like Fleet Command (99 cents for now; guess regular price will be $1.99), which seems like yet another "line drawing game" at first glance (Flight Control), but there's no real line-drawing involved, and the play is maybe closer (esp. at faster speeds) to the Atari arcade classic Missile Command:
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/fleet-command/id369211624?mt=8

You have an aircraft carrier with 4 fighter jets. Touching a spot on screen sends a fighter jet to the area where it patrols in a circle and attacks any enemy choppers, aircraft or fleets that come into its spinning circular range. You have to keep an eye on the fighters' fuel meters so you can't just have them patrolling for ever. Tapping the center circle within the patrol circle automatically sends it back to the carrier to re-land.

As with Flight Control you do get a visual cue about incoming aircraft (when they're offscreen and about to approach). I imagine this might be more fun on a larger iPod screen if it takes advantage of the larger size (less scrolling around).

As you unlock different levels, they throw more and nastier things at you, including eventually stealth fighters. There are two different speeds, and you get more points per enemy downed if you use the faster speed. Ships require you put two fighters on them (within each's patrol radius). Eventually it can get pretty frantic trying to protect the carrier (which takes damage if enemies get close enough to fire on it or launch missiles).

My only qualms are that the early skill levels just don't vary. There isn't sort of a sense of building momentum in difficulty until you're on maybe the 3rd level. Supposedly the latest update adjusted balancing so it ramps up more in the higher difficulties at least. And there's no optional music, which might add a bit more drama to play.

The patrol radiuses remind me a bit of the ground-to-air explosion radiuses in Missile Command, which is why it reminds me of that just a bit. I agree with one rater there that the creator could use its basic gameplay in other settings (whether in the air, on ground or even in space). Will be interesting to see what his ambitions are.

[Clanwolfer]

Holy hell... I wasn't terribly interested in Game Dev Story originally, but I grabbed it this weekend and I'm glad I did.  It's about as addictive as anything I've played in the last couple of years.

[rittchard]

Holy hell... I wasn't terribly interested in Game Dev Story originally, but I grabbed it this weekend and I'm glad I did.  It's about as addictive as anything I've played in the last couple of years.

It really is, I love to sneak in some time at work every now and then, but it's so hard to put down.  I can't quite explain the appeal, but I do love it.

[Gratch]

Holy hell... I wasn't terribly interested in Game Dev Story originally, but I grabbed it this weekend and I'm glad I did.  It's about as addictive as anything I've played in the last couple of years.

I finally broke down and picked this up today, and holy crap is it ever addicting.  I'm still having a little trouble seeing how some of the pieces fit together (i.e. is there a trick to placing points on the 'game world', 'innovation', etc. sliders?), but it's incredibly fun regardless.  Now if I could just get a game ranked over 7... 

[Clanwolfer]

By the way, Driver is free today. Downloading it now, might post some impressions later, but... you know... free.

[wonderpug]

A Game Dev Story sequel was recently confirmed to be in the works, albeit with a "not soon" caveat.

[whiteboyskim]

I fell in love with Galaxy on Fire over Thanksgiving. Totally old schoolnspace trading/fighting sim. Takes about an hour to open up the galaxy. The galaxy is freaking huge too. Repetitive to be sure but so were these games back in the day. Lots of fun and free at the moment.

[Gratch]

A 10-minute developer walkthrough of Aralon:  Sword & Shadow, the open world 3D RPG due out in a couple weeks.  Looks pretty awesome.

[Eightball]

I fell in love with Galaxy on Fire over Thanksgiving. Totally old schoolnspace trading/fighting sim. Takes about an hour to open up the galaxy. The galaxy is freaking huge too. Repetitive to be sure but so were these games back in the day. Lots of fun and free at the moment.

Galaxy on Fire 2 is so much better in so many ways.  I liked the first one, but the second one is really fantastic.

[denoginizer]

A 10-minute developer walkthrough of Aralon:  Sword & Shadow, the open world 3D RPG due out in a couple weeks.  Looks pretty awesome.

That game just looks so generic to me. It looks like every other 3rd person rpg. Right down to the fetch quest and boy with the lost puppy in the beginning.

[rittchard]

I'm still loving Game Dev Story - it's weird how they make stupid little milestones like getting your first million seller mean so much to you.  Or how happy I was when I unlocked "Action RPG" and "Fantasy" so that I could make Diabloz lol.

- - -

Another side release:  We Bowl!  Anyone interested in playing?  It's free!!

[Gratch]

A 10-minute developer walkthrough of Aralon:  Sword & Shadow, the open world 3D RPG due out in a couple weeks.  Looks pretty awesome.

That game just looks so generic to me. It looks like every other 3rd person rpg. Right down to the fetch quest and boy with the lost puppy in the beginning.

I don't entirely disagree, but the fact I can play it on the bus or during a boring meeting makes it pretty damn cool.