Yeah, that's a really great question. That was a worry for me too so I'm being very careful to take that into account. The game uses the same project file no matter which device it exports to, so all of the added detail is there, but a portion of it just shuts off for the A5 chip. I make sure to keep the essentials of the experience on A5 - all the people, flying, landmarks. But was is removed is texture resolution (necessary because A5 devices have in general only 512mb ram) and extra high detail objects like certain particles, mist, extra rocks and plants etc. So while you wont get all the detail you find in the A6 version it's still the core experience , the A6+ version can continue to have all it's extra detail, and it's better than a complete crash. One thing i am checking is to make sure i can bundle hi res textures with the game so that I can unlock an even more detailed version on iPhone 6 and up. Also i am guessing Apple will stop supporting A5 devices within the next 2 years so that's a good timeframe to continue to optimize this knowing that once an IOS version stops supporting A5 I can target that version and leave A5 support behind if I find it's crippling further upgrades. Another way im mitigating this is I'm designing the upcoming quests using a procedural approach so that I should be able to add a lot of Quest content potentially without impacting the game with too much added code. Basically i've been building an open world framework and now is the time that im making it work as smoothly as possible, and then use these existing, refined mechanics to add content to the world. The payoff though for adding A5 support is very high I think. I'm getting a ton of 1 star reviews from people understandably upset that the game won't run on their device so that will be a good thing. Also the optimizations im making will make the game faster on all devices and it's kind of forcing me to do what i needed to do anyways which is make the project file tighter and tighter and the game better. So while there is some danger to it I think with the proper planning the payoff will be worth it. And I have learned a lot about device fragmentation and market response too from this so the experience is worth gold.
Thanks curtisrshideler - I'm going to add full game save to update 1.2 or 1.3, with checkpoint based spawn points so you'll restart near where you left off. Unstablefan is right - your powers are the only thing saved for the moment - you can reset those too by going into the options on the Splash screen (wuth the deer eating) and choosing 'reset'.
Thanks bigjack66 Yeah i actually am on my way to my day job now - Im happy that A5 support is almost ready and with the 1.1 update in review I am going to take a little breather. I've learned that it's important to take care of yourself and your health no matter what you do
Good cause I'm a good example of what happens when you don't. I look forward to see you get this up and running on the mini. How can you tell if you've got retina display or not? I've lost the box so I'm not sure. Actually I just thought if you did this all by yourself, then you should be very proud of yourself. I may not have played the game but I've seen the video and it would have been impressive if a team had done it! To be made by just one guy, well thats a hell of an achievement no matter what anyone says!
iPad Mini with Retina Display display will have a model number of A1489 on the Wi-Fi version or A1490 on the Wi-Fi+Cellular version. The model number can be found on the back of the device in small print.
I've got the game to run on iPad mini, iPad2, and iPhone 4S. The frame rate isn't the best, it has lower resolution textures, and effects and extra details are turned off. But it works and the core of the game is the same (power ups, wildlife etc...) Istill don't support A5 officially, but since there's no way for the moment to stop A5 devices from downloading the game, this should be better than having the game crash. One reason i don't want to officially support A5 is because it might hold back the iPhone 6 etc version - im not sure i could stretch compatibility across 4 generations of cpu - its kind of like releasing a game for xbox one that has to also run on the original xbox. I'm going to test it this week to make sure i didn't introduce any bugs and then submit it to Apple as a 1.2 Update. Here's a comparison shot You can see the mini has no mist and blurrier textures (but weather effects and flying birds are still in there) oh and by the way, if you're a dev and experiencing fast skipping sound from unity on iPad, turn off doppler - it fixed it right up.
That still looks amazing on iPad mini, my gf will be so excited! When you're rich and famous (hey, I've watched Gameloft and Mountain Sheep et al rise from the dirt) perhaps make a Fairytales edutainment title, kids apps are big! Could you imagine happening upon the three bears cottage? Wow!
I DL the game since I have a long plane ride today. No save feature? I played for about 5 mins and could see how a save feature would be nice.
I agree with these suggestions and also hope they aren't viewed as criticisms but instead as cool ideas. Being able to be the near or fix would be cool.
Dude even A Pilgrims Progess would be awesome, given it's public domain. Seems the framework is all there. This dev rocks, definitly gonna follow him as I have others since the beginning of the App Store, like Tiger Style.
Thanks imdakine1 - I'm resubmitting an iPad update tomorrow (update 1.1) and after that in v 1.2 Ill be adding save game functionality
Update 1.1 Part 2 I pulled the 1.1 update I submitted saturday and am replacing it with a new 1.1 update that ive just finished. It has much better optimization, better frame rates, increased (but not perfect) support on A5 devices (ipad mini, iphone 4s and iPad2),and is a universal app, adding iPad support for iPad mini retina, iPad air and iPad 4. I'm not officially supporting older a5 devices but making it work is better than a guaranteed crash. A great side effect of optimizing it for older devices is that the current versions have sped up quite a bit - its also allowed me to increase the texture to 4 times the quality on A6 and A7 devices. So all around a good update. I was able to optimize a lot in the last 2 days, and im confident I can optimize things even more in future updates. Anyways it's a work in progress that i am actively working hard to improve. Ill test the update tonight and if all goes well submit it to apple Wednesday Thanks again to everyone who gives feedback, good and bad. even the bad feedback helped push me to make these optimizations so interacting with people like you who use the app has been a real blessing - thanks! Open World Wilderness for iPhone and iPad
@protopop... I can't wait for the save feature but I am old school gamer back to pong and the original Atari 2600 days! I don't get to play games as much and like universal apps since it is fun to be ae to play on both my iPhone & iPad. I hope you can find a way to do cloud saves so you can play the saved games on multiple devices. Your creativity and game is amazing! I'm blown away with what you've been able to do with this game. The world is fun to explore. The music and sound are top notch and work perfectly. Your controls are absolutely brilliant and work so well. Best .99 I've ever spent in my life. I bought monster hunter which was a total splurge for me since I just don't get to play much and know it'll be impossible to be immersed fully into a game... But I've only played that game for about 20 mins and enjoyed it... But on my five hour flight today I only played this game! I even took screen shots of places or things I discovered. Any chance for a map. I love playing in the cross arrow weapon mode since I prefer seeing the whole screen without the character. How large is the world?
Seriously could you write a book on being productive? Bc I need it! I'm also excited watching you grow as a dev when you didn't think you could make this work on an A5 and now look what you got goin on! Great job!
I too go back to Pong then Atari ProtoPop said earlier that he plans a sort of map after addressing some other issues like the Save. Also he mentioned the size of the land but it was in Km and I only know acres or miles, regardless it seems to be huge. Still hoping for a SEPERATE THREAD for tips, spoilers, and directions.
