Does anybody know if there is a running list of all iCade supported apps that we could contribute to? Preferably ordered by date of release/compatibility added. Or where we could set that up? Thanks!
I dont know of one. Ions list is pretty good, but not 100% up to date (Vectrex and Mrs. Pac-Man missing, for instance; but I dont know of anything missing that isnt fairly new.) http://www.ionaudio.com/products/icade-games I use that plus this thread, myself. Something we could add to would be nice, as you sayand by date so we could spot whats new!
I guess the esiest way to create such a list would be to create a wiki somewhere... There are many which are hosted for free such as wikidot... You can create a page for each game where you can add a description, pics, video, etc... and then the wiki can generate lists ordered by date. For an example, check this wiki for the Decktet card game system. Here's a page with a list of all the games which is automatically generated. It's ordered alphabetically, but that can be changed: http://wiki.decktet.com/all-the-games. You can even have different categories and make individual lists, which could be useful to generate lists by genre, etc...
Thanks for sharing this. iCade support is very good: it has iCade menu control and iCade multiplayer, both of which are rare. Great! And the vector graphics are a nice fit for iCade. The game itself could use some work, but it’s free with no IAP (will you charge later?) and I look forward to seeing where it goes! It sounds like there are some interesting gameplay ideas, but I find it difficult to actually hit the enemy (and it’s hard for new players not to crash and die quickly). These are two areas I’d suggest working on first: 1. The non-iCade controls. Most people don’t have iCade, and I for one can’t get either of the non-iCade control schemes to work at all. People need to be able to pick the game up and have it respond to their intentions. Games can have learning curves... controls should not. (Just my opinion.) I don’t think I could ever learn to use the controls as they are now. (Luckily I have an iCade!) 2. The help/instructions. The main screen and the game-begin screen both have LOTS of text and buttons all over, and it’s hard to focus on what you are supposed to be reading. The terms Brawl and Challenge aren’t clear either. What if the main screen just had 4 buttons? Settings, Help, Single-Player Challenge and Multiplayer Brawl? The resolution and control-mode options could be put inside of Settings. And then the help text is really long—people won’t read all that the first time, so maybe break it down so the most vital stuff is at the top in a different color or something. And then show the help before every game unless the user taps to skip it. Right now there is SOME help before every game, but it goes by too fast and I don’t understand easily what it’s telling me. Maybe some pictures would make the Help info more understandable. Good luck with the game!
Thanks for the feedback! It's great to hear others' experiences with the game because I basically did a game that I wanted to play, and I understand it's pretty hard... but I do like the controls, both touch and iCade. I'd love to know exactly what your issue is... for example, one thing I'm considering is adding an option for turning the ship with two on screen buttons. It seems many people prefer those to the analog stick currently implemented. Edit: Btw, maybe this is not the place to talk about this, but I'll mention that the way the ships turn is based on rotational acceleration and mass, so it starts slower and gets a bit faster (up to a limit). Bigger ships turn slower, smaller ships turn faster. I've seen this confuse a few players... About the shooting, you're holding the fire button, right? if you mash the fire button it won't work because you'll activate the special power instead of firing. If you just hold the fire button, it's not that hard to hit enemies... And yeah, I agree about the buttons in the main screen and instructions. I should make the short ones before the game last longer. I admit I didn't focus too much no the help because to me the game is pretty much self explanatory... although, yeah, maybe brawl and challenge aren't clear enough... The thing is both modes can be played multiplayer, so it's not enough to say 1 player challenge and 2 player brawl... Anyway... do send me a pm if you want to give me more details about what doesn't work for you about the controls. I'd gladly look into it when I have a bit of time. Maybe then I will make an update and add a few ships and maybe another 1 player challenge mode.... but I have to start a new project too
Cool—I’ll comment more via PM. And I hope the next project is iCade-ready too! Good idea. I don’t have time to set anything up, but I hope someone does! Maybe Ion would even link to it if it became well-maintained.
Setting it up is easy... I'd have no problem doing it as I've already started two wikis there... the hard part is filling in the content. If enough people get involved it should be no problem... Btw, I have a boardgame app ready (waiting to get approved) and wasn't sure what to do next, another boardgame or another arcade game. I. think I'm leaning towards arcade, as I'm really enjoying games with the iCade
Shamus Shamus just got icade controllers. I emailed them and it seems, shamus 2 and zeppelin! Are also going to be icade compatible.
Is it true that they've removed the iCade support from the latest update of Fix-It-Felix? Why would they do that? I have iCade Jr, and I can't get the game to work with it.
I think most of us agree that a wiki is a good idea. What data columns would be useful. Some ideas I have apart from game name are menu control support, customizable buttons, 8bitty layout supported (start and select are bad action buttons), landscape support, portrait support (some people prefer using iCade classic always in portrait mode so it sits inside cabinet). We might need some sort of data set for iPhone/iTouch also.
That’s what some reviewers said—so I’m keeping the old version until they “fix it”! We should probably make time to write to their tech support so they know it’s important to people. Having that level of detail would be great—even if the data doesn’t all get filled in, it’s nice to have the option! I like your column ideas. Some additional columns I’d like to see: * iPad-only, iPhone-only (meaning iPad in 2x but not ideal, like Baby Monkey and maybe Pixl Party), or Universal. * How to activate iCade mode? Manually Enable / Automatic / Automatic but must turn iCade on before launching app * In-game documentation of iCade control layout? No / iCade only / Other iCade models * Uses of full keyboard in the game? Rarely (such as to enter player name) / Never / Frequently (which would be an annoyance but I haven’t run into that personally) * Auto-Fire? Always on / Hold button / No (manually stab-stab-stab!) / Optional * Unnecessary touch-control overlays visible during iCade play? * Can pause from iCade? (some games can do that even if the menus aren’t iCade-controlled) * Needs touch control in addition to iCade during play? (haven’t seen that too much, but I have some ideas of my own that could work well that way—might not be a bad thing, but for some setups it would be) * Screenshot
It's been a while, but I think wikidot supports one category per page, but then each page can have as many tags as you want. Maybe tags could be used for what each game supports, like portrait, landscape, menu control, and the others, and maybe use category as genre (arcade, adventure, puzzle...)
Yep it works great, i have to go back to Metal Slug 3 and test that again. I did write in the Metal Slug thread it needs the mapping done a bit better, not just for the 8-Bitty but on the iCade the buttons are the ones right next to the joystick, be better to be further to the right. Still cant moan too much, its great it comes with iCade controls and is a retro classic
Metal Slug 3 (best of the MS series?) and Blazing Star are both on sale now—and have iCade support. I found the videos to prove it so I’m buying them now: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jyy2vSCchMo (nice footage of various iCade games) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=svUgJ1isFkM Getting these games to work with iCade is tricky apparently—I have NOT gotten it to work yet. this tip is a little vague but seems to be saying that you simply launch the app twice with the iCade powered on. That didn’t work for me. I’ll keep trying. Also, judging by the videos, they do NOT hide the overlay controls with iCade is in use. EDIT: Yes, despite the video above, the overlays DO hide. EDIT 2: I have the trick! Thanks to this post, here’s how to get Metal Slug 3 and Blazing Star to work with iCade. 1. Launch the app and navigate the menus via touch to start the actual gameplay. 2. Once actual play begins (even the Get Ready screen is OK) exit the app (home button). 3. Re-launch the app (gameplay is already in progress) and iCade will “just work.” (No need to have it powered on in advance—that makes no difference either way.) 4. If you pause or use the menus at all at all, iCade control will stop working. You can get away with one tap to make the overlay re-appear (to find the Pause button for instance)—but if you actually tap a button (even Pause) iCade control is lost. But you can get it back: 5. Every time you pause/unpause, use the menus, or start a fresh game, you must exit and relaunch again to make iCade work. Annoying, but quick to do. (It’s impossible to unpause from the iCade alone.) That aside, these two seem like the ultimate iCade titles! I think they look great with video filtering (blur) turned off and scanlines at 50%. Sharp and yet retro at the same time. I’m also not instantly dying (then again, I’m on Easy). Some retro titles start out with a brutal learning curve, but these seem fun from the get-go.
Thanks, I just got on here to see if anyone knew if this game did. I really enjoy playing Metal Slug 3 with the iCade, feels like playing a Neo Geo arcade. I was hoping that this one would support it too.
