Hmm, I do not have the retina ipad. I tested using a 2, but looks quite good on there. It should scale without any blurring (which is a problem in a lot of non-retina games I play). But yes, the pixels will obviously be bigger. Thanks for playing!
I've been playing this on a 4th-gen iPad, and it looks just fine; the artwork is sharply-defined and not at all blurry, although it is obviously pixelated as per its design. You do need to fix a couple of things, though: right now the game doesn't remember settings, so I have to change from iPod to iPad controls every time I open the app, and I also have to scroll across to choose a level every time I open it instead of the game simply remembering the level I had chosen last. I'm always somewhat bemused by this type of criticism directed against a game that is deliberately aiming to evoke a 16-bit era pixel-art aesthetic. A game like that cannot have "pixel-invisible" retina graphics by definition, as the two concepts are mutually exclusive. It's like complaining about a game's chiptune soundtrack not being performed by a live symphony orchestra.
That bites man. Maybe this will bump the game up the charts enough to get some sales. I played the game some today, it seems really good. I like that there doesn't appear to be a timer. I like exploring in platformers and often a timer ruins that for me.
Not saying it is blurry or not playeable graphics wise. And of course I realize it is a retro game with the pixel style, so that is a strong consideration as you say. But there are a lot of ipad retina pixel games such as Mutant Mudds, Pix n Rush, Mikey shorts, and many more. Maybe this is a straight port and it is hard to do, but it just would be nice if there was a little more ipad graphics optimizations done. This game honestly to me looks like a 2x game, in fact, it just seems odd to me that Clash Force looks pretty good resolution wise on my new ipad and this game looks 2x. I'm not saying it has to be ipad retina, just that it would be nice if it looked a little better on my new ipad. But anyway, this is not a big a factor to me since I am playing on my hdmi tv, and tv tends to make iphone only or ipad 2 resolution games play much better. So it doesn't really bother me at all. I do agree with you about the ipad button config, it is a little irritating to change the options everytime you want to play on the ipad. Yeah, I do wish someone could invent a new technology with invisible pixels that are semi transparent, with 3d shading, with infinite colors. But maybe that's asking too much. Anyway, just meant to point it out, not make a big deal of the graphics on the retina ipad, looks good on iphone and tv. I will repeat what I said before that this is a great game, and plays very well similar to a Sonic type game. The controls are tight, gameplay is good, and fun factor is there. Highly recommended!
Hmm, I wonder if someone could figure out a filter to make pixel art games look the way they do on a CRT tv. . . I actually have another game in the works that adds scanlines and a bit of a glow, but games for the 16-bit systems were built with the blending that CRTs do in mind, which is why the individual pixels don't stand out.
Hey, thanks for providing us with this game! It is really well made. The game looks fine on my hdmi tv, so don't worry about my comments. Plus with my tv, I can use a zoom setting and remove the borders and stretch to full screen. So on tv, it looks fine, even though its LCD, not CRT, haha. Look forward to your new game you mentioned. Good luck!
How does it play on the TV? Is there any lag? Are you using apple tv, or just an HDMI connector? I will hopefully be releasing Polyroll on Ouya.
You may want to look into Panic Springs. It has an option to turn on and off scanlines to give it that extra retro experience. You can probably glean that off of screen shots and any video of the game (if there is any) on youtube.
I am using hdmi, absolutely no lag. Apple tv mirroring mode has some lag issues, but hdmi looks just like a console. The game plays well. Looks much better on tv, take a look. For more hdmi info, see this thread http://forums.toucharcade.com/showthread.php?t=173262
PR is as "retina" as MM or PnLR, in that they all have the same mix of cleanly defined, chunky pixels and old-school aesthetic. If anything, MM is the one that looks like it has been doubled (which makes sense given the 3D nature of the levels); that game just looks cleaner because it uses a simpler, less busy art style. You really need to define what you mean by "iPad retina" and "ipad graphics optimizations" because these terms are meaningless without a context. If you're referring to MS, then as I mentioned, many of these developers are trying to recreate a particular distinct look, one that MS doesn't replicate, so asking them to copy what that particular game has done doesn't make sense. It seems to me that what you're really asking for is an overhaul of the art style, not anything to do with "retina", which just confuses the issue. If, on the other hand, you actually are asking them to make the graphics "high-res" with heavy antialiasing, then I think you're missing the point.
Appletini, don't really want to hijack this thread about pixel based graphics, but pixel based games can be ipad retina or not. What I am basically saying is that this game looks like a 2x game because of the awkward borders and not as high resolution graphics. But anyway, it is not a problem for me cause I would play this on My tv where borders and resolution don't make a difference. If you want to discuss it in further detail, please post it in my hdmi thread, we can discuss it there. Was supposed to be a small mention, not a game changer for me. If you want to discuss it in the hdmi thread in the general forum, I would be happy to respond in more detail. Just out of respect to the developer don't really want to hijack this thread for one tiny complaint cause the game is a good one, and plays really well. This will be my final post about this matter on this thread. Highly recommended game!
Playing this game on tv reminds me of gaming on my super nintendo and sega genesis. The good old days, it brings back some good old memories.
Yea I hooked my iPad to my CRT tv and it does look good, perhaps an external control system would be good, for example the Joypad Game Console app, or Bluetooth enabled.
You also might want to peek into the emulator scene. They seem to always have that option available. Maybe see what they're using. Can I also make a suggestion to you(and all ios dev's making platformer games)? I played your game for the first time last night and it's reallly good. But I think using a floating virtual joystick would be much better in platform type games. Its much easier to control characters that way, IMO. Kind of like the controls in say Street Fighter 4 Volt. Thanks
Having played a lot of joypad console games using my iphone as a joystick, and more recently using getting a Gameloft duo gamer joystick, I too would love joypad app console support like games like Legion of Evil and Mikey shorts do, so it will play pretty much like a console game on tv. That is, if it is easy to do.
