Universal App (need advice!)

Discussion in 'Public Game Developers Forum' started by Silverous, Nov 16, 2012.

  1. Silverous

    Silverous Well-Known Member

    Oct 21, 2011
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    Hi,

    Anyone who have experience in launching an Universal App? Is there any advice or things you would caution/suggest to look out for? :eek:
     
  2. Blackharon

    Blackharon Well-Known Member

    Mar 15, 2010
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    Game Designer for Ludia
    Canada
    Test test test test. Then test again. On all devices (and if supported, all orientations!).

    It's too easy to fix an issue for one device but not another.
     
  3. Silvanis

    Silvanis Well-Known Member

    Nov 2, 2012
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    co-owner of Silver Moonfire
    #3 Silvanis, Nov 17, 2012
    Last edited: Nov 17, 2012
    I'll second testing on both types of devices.

    The other big gotcha is that you're dealing with 2 different aspect ratios, so layouts will need to be adjusted.

    Given that there's Retina and non-Retina versions of both types, that's 4 resolutions you have to consider. This becomes more important if your game is sprite-based.
     
  4. Silverous

    Silverous Well-Known Member

    Oct 21, 2011
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    Did you all see observe any benefits of launching as an Universal App vs having it separate for iPhone & iPad?

    Do consumers care about whether is it Universal?
     
  5. Jez Hammond

    Jez Hammond Well-Known Member

    Oct 20, 2012
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    Universal is appreciated by the user. I've often seen people not want to buy a separate iPhone version for a buck after they've paid for an iPad version.

    I've always kept my apps universal and even working portrait-upside-down on iPhone. The customers love it couldn't give a monkey ball about that though.
     
  6. Although Universal apps are appreciated by users, evidence from the big publishers suggests that they make more money by releasing separate apps.
     
  7. LucaRedwood

    LucaRedwood Active Member
    Patreon Indie

    Mar 14, 2011
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    I go universal, I think it probably makes more money to split them, but I'm just not a fan of that.

    My game is pixel art, so it doesn't really rescale well at all, So for the iPad version, it runs at 960x640 with black bars around the sides. It looks fine and blends into the chrome of the iPad. Most people don't even notice.
     
  8. dprichard

    dprichard Active Member

    Oct 23, 2012
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    I usually try to go the universal route whenever I can. I did however find that it made more sense to make 2 versions for my one game called Wind-Up Maze. The aspect ratio difference turned out to be the deciding factor in this case. The game consists of rotating tiles arranged on the screen. I was able to place 70 tiles on the iPad but could not so so on the iPhone. Therefore, I was forced to create 2 separate games with completely different levels. The iPad version contains 30 levels while the iPhone version only has 27. You can check them both out here...

    https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/wind-up-maze/id572342577?ls=1&mt=8

    https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/wind-up-maze-hd/id567115831?ls=1&mt=8
     

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