I've seen a lot of threads talking about retina support on iPad 3 and whatnot and it's clear that at least a small group of people won't buy a game that doesn't run at silly res if they own an iPad 3. We're about to ship our magnum opus and have been researching how to handle this situation. We have a build at the full new resolution and one at the "old" resolution but with MSAA enabled. (It's a full 3D game btw) We have two new iPads so we put them side by side for comparison. None of us here could tell them apart, even by putting our noses on the screen and squinting, so what's the big deal here? Am I missing something I shouldn't be? Unless I am, Great Big War Game will NOT be using retina on iPad3. Instead we'll be using the extra horsepower the GPU provides to add dynamic shadows and better terrain shaders - something that actually makes a noticeable improvement. Compared to the build running on iPad2, we seem to have 3 choices: 1) Leave it like the iPad 2 graphics and have an even better frame rate 2) Leave it at iPad 2 size and add more graphical fluff and effects 3) Run without extra stuff on a higher resolution we just can't appreciate Clearly 3) is the worst choice to me, so I have no clue why anyone would promote it as the best. Discuss?
I'ma gonna vote 2 because: 1) It won't blow up the file size as 3 probably would and... 2) It should be easier for you to toggle on/off said effects and... 3) I'm not dying for higher FPS in GLWG.
My vote was, if the framerate can be made smoother that's always my main concern. Nothing worse than beautiful, slow as molasses, games. 60 fps FTW!
That is a tough decision and one I thought about recently with the launch of NOVA 3. On the new iPad it looks great with the higher resolution but it doesn't include the effects that the iPad 2 has, which is a big let down. It really takes away from being drawn in to the game (can't believe I'm saying that about a mobile game). In a lot of cases I bet having great bells and whistles will look better than just more pixels. But to the mass consumers, if it doesn't say RETINA in the description, they won't buy it. Or they will rate one star for it, which I just saw this morning for a review of Defender Chronicles 2, where i believe I read their artwork was mostly done before the new resolution came out, but it still looks great. Anyways, can't wait for GBWG with all the bells and whistles!
iPad 2 res with more effects, hands down. Just keep the framerate stable. I can't wait to see what devs can do with the a5x.
Well, with 2D games you can't sometimes really tell the difference, but with 3D games hell yes I can see the difference. Take gangstar rio for example.
@JagerBomb, this is why I'm even considering these options. For my own personal sensibilities I'm a 2) man, but 1) isn't far behind, and 3) is off the table completely. An utter waste of available resources. However, the 3) option is the only one that might cost lost sales for not being picked. I'm still open for more discussion as I do find this an interesting subject. However I'm already coming to a conclusion for what to do myself - stick to principle, make the best game I think that I can and bugger the complainers. After all, there's usually a vocal minority that would find something to complain about anyway!
Can't say I understand this tbh. With 3D it's probably more about the texture resolution, but in 2D you either have to have higher res art or much smaller screen coverage. If you go with higher res art then it should look shit hot.
I vote for option 4, a toggle option between the new ipad mode and ipad 2 mode for new ipad owners. I don't see this option on your list but if you did go this route would the file size much bigger? Would it be hard to do? I know gamers have complained about Nova 3 and Asphault 6 about bad framerates and no effects. I for one hope more games come out with toggle options pile how pc games do. Sometimes I am in the mood for retina, sometimes want better framerates. But I wonder if more developers will go this route in the future. But maybe not because Apple is greedy about memory size on our idevices, so memory management is still a big factor. Anyway, under your vote, option 2 for me, and if possible toggles for the effects.
Option 2. No contest here. To me, NOVA 3 is the perfect example. The full retina version doesn't look half as good as the iPad 2 version. More effects will definitely make the game stand out better. Plus, ironically, when playing NOVA 3, I put down the iPad 3 and pick up the iPad 2. Plus I have played Gangstar Rio on both and can't see any real difference.
For our game it wouldn't kill us. We'll probably not ship with that as we've been prevaricating too long already, but the first update will doubtless have stuff like this in it.
Cool, I hope more developers have a new ipad retina toggle in the future. I always love games with graphic toggles cause I can sit and play with different toggles and compare them. Just as run as playing the game sometimes. Curious what this new game Great big war is about. Is it a sequel to your last game with more of a 3d effect? Or is it a different game entirely? Looking forward to it.
Really just want to play GBWG and don't care if the graphics are any different from GLWG. I have the new ipad and retina support has never influenced my decision to buy a game or not. And a smooth framerate is more important to me than shading, terrain, etc. It was the TBS gameplay that made GLWG awesome. If retina support were added in a future update, that would be great, but it's not like I'd wait until that to buy it.
I'd personally like a mix of keeping frame rates smooth and adding a few graphical enhancements if there's enough horse power. I'm not a fan of high res if it means frame rate will be choppy. Not sure of the details (and I could be wrong)..but I thought I read Infinity Blade 2 renders at a higher res than ipad2, but not quite full "retina" or something. But it really depends on the game for me. For games like Infinity Blade 2 or other fast action games, I prefer to have lower res but smooth framerates.
