If it is too small - okay fine. Guess that's true, sadly. But this game is running on an iPad 2 with half the power and half the ram of an iPhone 5, mkay. So the hardware part doesn't make any sense. I don't even start talking about the 5S...the rogue chip blows the iPad 4 out of the water.
In this case I am just a messenger (and an Android user), so sorry for fuddling the answer a bit. The iPhone 5 does have good specs but we are still not planning on supporting iPhone.
I think this is going to be the issue that will be huge problem for the game on a mobile platform, and is going to account for a great many people getting refunds from Apple. Heck, it's one of the biggest complaints I've seen about the console version, so to now have it on mobile with the same issues, in an environment that is way, way, way more prone to memory management issues is almost killing your chances of long term App Store success. I've already seen the game drop out of memory on my iOS 7 iPad 4, so for anyone running iOS 7 on an iPad 2/mini they're pretty much screwed if they switch away from the game. And I'm sure the countless crashes can be artributed to memory issues. So say I've got a bit of time to play on my iPad, I get about 20 minutes into a section and then have to check my email or do whatever else. There's a good chance when I come back, especially with a 2/mini, the saved state will be gone and that time lost. No while that is bad enough, having the game crash for whatever reason, something that seems VERY common, without a refined safe system is going to be sure to get you so many bad reviews that it will make the crap minecraft and pokemon apps look worthily in comparison. I'm not sure why the decision about this current save system was made, or if it was ever brought before the beta testers who either didn't mention it as an issue (I doubt this was the case) or their concerns were ignored, but to combine a very non-mobile friendly save system with a game that seems very crash prone on a device designed for bite sized gaming is a sure fire way to earn yourself a place in worst app territory. I don't care about the game being linear, I don't care that it's a bit short nor do I care that we don't get user created content, at least not immediately. However, I do care that I'll get constant crashes and lose a ton of time I've put into a game, or I'll lose that progress because I switched over to check my mail and open a few webpages. I think everyone here will agree that shadowrun on the iPad needs to have some sort of system that will save the state of the game when it is closed no matter what. It doesn't need to be elegant or detailed, we don't need to have 6 different save slots, but we need a way to protect our time and not be terrified to switch to another task without completing a scenario. Until that is fixed, expect no more than 2/3 stars on the App Store. I see barely 3 on the us App Store with about 150ish reviews, and about the same on the Canadian App Store, it's gone down over the last couple of days. But worse than the star reviews will be the long term loss of sales. That's something that isn't deserved from a game like this, I think we all know that. So while you have a grim projection on the when/IF fix for the save system, I might strongly urge you guys to reconsider, at least some sort of kludge/janky is better than people losing all their progress. Crashes are bad enough, but crashes where you end up losing a significant amount of time playing the game will cost you dearly.
Save System First of all this is an amazing game and you should get it! It is ShadowRun after all. Also I recommend hiring a Dwarf Rigger if you get the chance. Even on the PC there was not a save anywhere system only at certain check points, which I actually liked as it increases the tension in certain scenes / firefights. But I could see the issue in mobile, maybe a pause option would work better. The iPhone5 is more than powerful enough to run this game but the developers would be looking at a major UI redesign. One option would be to have the game switch to portrait mode for conversations. Always easy to give this type of advise when you don't have to write the code ------------ Glen "Zenfar"
Despite all the critiques and the fact I wanted to wait for the sound patch to be out...I bought the game yesterday and, even without sound, I must admit my 'just 5 minutes to check out the game' turned out in a 2 hours in the middle of the night playing. Awesome two hours, btw. Didn't have crashes an iPad 3 (but I'm still at the beginning)...the only odd thing I noticed was that the model panning in character creation becomes spotty after a while (ie: at first a swipe turn the character model continuosly, after a while it's jumpy). Anyway it was really a great start and I can't wait to play it more. I really hope devs will sport out continued support to resolve any crashes and possibily a single save state on closing app feature, and Berlin adn user content (like Battle Academy does) will come. The game really deserves much more love. Controls are perfect...game seems almost native on iOS too.
should I get the mac or ios version..? enthusiasts who tried both please help to explain both cons and pros thank you if mac, should I get the deluxe version?
If you have a computer then it is a no brainer to get this game for that instead of mobile. The reasons are many, including access to UGC, all of the effects are implemented (assuming your hardware is up to specs), and it's probably a bit (or a lot) easier to read than on your iPad. In general, it was originally designed for computers and ported (imperfectly, it seems) to mobile.
It's amazing that some people can read this and still question the decision to not port this to a tiny phone screen. I know you think that your $400 phone should be able to do it all, but that is just not the case.
Completely agreed, it will not be a pleasant experience and would lose the company money for taking time to port it, if anything
So when you say 1.7 gig free COUNTING the space the game is taking (938+-) does that mean i just need the 762 kb free?
I hesitate to be so specific, but yes you will need around 800 KB free for save files and cached data while Shadowrun is running. This said, the more free space you have the less likely you are to have any problems or crashes. So the more the better.
I think he means 800MB free space, not 800KB. 800KB wouldn't do much of anything to help performance.
Are you absolutely sure about that number? An ADDITIONAL 800 MB for a game that uses less than a gig seems crazily excessive. Also, is there any info on the status of the patch? In a few hours it'll technically be Wednesday as per Apple's systems, and I've been watching like a hawk. I know it might seem silly that I'm waiting to play until the patch hits, but I've heard how tightly woven the music is to the atmosphere, and unlike Xcom, hearing the world around me in this game is actually important. Thanks much, oh and please consider an option for those of us on higher end devices to turn on the additional VFX. Did you test to see how it would run on the 4th gen iPad if things like rain were turned on?
I was told (and our store front says) that Shadowrun Returns needs 1.6 GB of free space (before installation) to run optimally. The 1.0.6 Patch has been in Apples hands since day 1, if I could convince Apple to move this patch through certification faster I would love to... Up for a Shadowrun anyone? If it helps the only sound that is not playing is ambient noise and background music, all footsteps, gunshots, and other sound effects are still playing! And I can talk to the Designers and Engineers about VFX options, but I doubt that this will be added due to the nature of what is needed to make that happen. If you feel really passionately about this or any other feature then I urge you to get on the forums at here and get people talking about it!
Thanks for the reply! With the port, it would operate in a very different manner on the iPad versus the PC. Without the editor and the added VFX, and being on a different OS with a different file management system, I think it's important to know that. I think there are a huge majority of people, myself included, who keep their device space at max. The mention about the 1.6gb of storage space doesn't explain the need to buffer for caching the data. Anyone seeing that would expect that it would relate to needing it for installation. If that extra space is necessary to prevent crashes, maybe it should be built into the file size somehow. I'm not saying this to be annoying, but if it requires that much free space to prevent crashes, a situation which is causing the majority of the negative reviews, then something else needs to be done. You can tell people instructions in app descriptions, but they won't read them and it'll ensure you continue to get a significant amount of negative reviews.
Also, do you know if the fix was put in as an expedited fix, or f it was just submitted in a standard way? There are special hot fixes that get expedited. Also, do you guys have a beta tester iOS group? I'd be happy to help, if need be.
Here's to hoping we get our sound patched today and the whole mini crash issue resolved soon. Would like to start playing again. Xcom will keep me company I guess.
I finally bought it, before the update, because of TA and the 4.5 stars. I appreciate it a lot, thanks for giving us the possibility to play such game on ios. Someone know if it will be translated in french one day? It would be really eaysier for poor belgian people like me
