Openfeint or Gamecentre ???

[mr.Ugly]

Originally Posted by miiifan

I initially included OpenFeint in Bubble Pets but pulled it before release and added Game Center instead. I would definitely suggest Game Center.

Apart from stability issues (OF was the only thing that ever caused my game to crash), removing it cut the package size in half and reduced compile time from minutes down to seconds. It was such a relief to remove all those crazy and unnecessary frameworks from the project.

Then again I know devs (and gamers) who swear by OpenFeint and love it, so that's just my $0.02.

the thing about package size is funny because most developers do not even read the documents regarding OF.. most developer do not delete uneccessary parts of the sdks ressources.. for example alot developer bundle all OF assets within their game.. both orientations for iphone and ipad.. even if most of the game use only ONE! of them.. yeah no wonder projects become bigger if i carry around a couple unused megabytes with me..

my personal problem with GC is that its a half assed approach.. to fully utilitze every Gc you need to use the actualy GC app.. how stupid is that.. i actualy love the integrated point of OF.. you can reach every OF information from within every OF game.. browse your other games achievements, use the integrated forums.. write the developer suggestions.. etc..

compared that to the (evenly buggy) GC options.. GC is quite basic.. and not even close to the features of OF... and it misses one of the most important points of all thoose xbox live copies.. one central gamerscore.. you can earn points from games but there is no general score.. the very important "e-penis" to show to you friends that you have spend tons of more time at gaming than them..
and thats only the tip of the iceberg thats the lousy atempt of GC.. the full implementation is even only avaiable for ios 4.1+ devices.. and don't get me started on the non avaiable support for legacy devices.. if OF works with tons of more features why should GC not work..

gnaa.. apple needs to put alot more effort into GC before it comes close to OF.. and i personaly would love if their service would be en par with what others offered for a long time..

[Ovogame]

mr.Ugly, even after removing all the unused orientation, OF is still pretty a FAT bastard and do takes for ever to compile.

I'm using OF for Tropical Mania, but that's because I coded it before GC exist. To be honnest, from now, I won't included any in my upcoming games. My games are pretty casual and I don't think the audience care. If I'm wrong for 1 game, I can still update it later with OF or GC integration.

One very big important +1 for OF is that it also support Android.

JC

[thewiirocks]

Originally Posted by mr.Ugly

the thing about package size is funny because most developers do not even read the documents regarding OF.. most developer do not delete uneccessary parts of the sdks ressources.. for example alot developer bundle all OF assets within their game.. both orientations for iphone and ipad.. even if most of the game use only ONE! of them.. yeah no wonder projects become bigger if i carry around a couple unused megabytes with me..

As Ovogame mentioned, it's still rather large even after being trimmed. For iPad usage (where you're encouraged to support all orientations) there's very little that can be trimmed.

my personal problem with GC is that its a half assed approach.. to fully utilitze every Gc you need to use the actualy GC app.. how stupid is that..

Surprisingly, not a big deal. Users have not complained, and I've rather grown to like that stupid app. It's really quite bizarre. One would think it would be more useful and interesting to manage scores through the game itself. Yet the only score anyone worries about is the GC one. *shrug*

Ultimately, I don't think Apple is trying to replicate what OpenFeint does. I think they're trying to encourage developers to make high scores more integral to their applications. Providing a straightforward API accomplishes that better than the centralized UI of OpenFeint.

[Beyondtool]

I think most are moving towards Game Center for the main reason that its a seamless experience. Seriously "I DONT WANT THESE AWESOME FEATURES!" that screen is irritating to look at. It pisses users off, I've had people rant for hours about how much they hate the OF screen and they think that it's a scam or information fishing technique.

Cocos 2D ended up removing OF after a user pointed out the hang bug when a network connection drops out.. and that's just not acceptable.

Sure some hard core gamers might like OF, but as an xbox live achievement freak I feel more comfortable going with Game Center backed by Apple. Just my 2c.

[Razoric]

Originally Posted by Beyondtool

I think most are moving towards Game Center for the main reason that its a seamless experience. Seriously "I DONT WANT THESE AWESOME FEATURES!" that screen is irritating to look at. It pisses users off, I've had people rant for hours about how much they hate the OF screen and they think that it's a scam or information fishing technique.

Cocos 2D ended up removing OF after a user pointed out the hang bug when a network connection drops out.. and that's just not acceptable.

Sure some hard core gamers might like OF, but as an xbox live achievement freak I feel more comfortable going with Game Center backed by Apple. Just my 2c.

I'm feeling the same way. I've watched how people are playing my game and I think most people would just skip the Open Feint stuff... which means I'll be putting a lot of code (and potential bugs) in the game for very little payoff.

Game Center is just so non-intrusive most people don't even know they are using it.

[Lightworx]

Looks like GC is coming out the clear winner....

[thewiirocks]

Originally Posted by Beyondtool

Seriously "I DONT WANT THESE AWESOME FEATURES!"

Yup. That pretty much sums up user reaction.

Sure some hard core gamers might like OF, but as an xbox live achievement freak I feel more comfortable going with Game Center backed by Apple. Just my 2c.

So I just ripped OpenFeint out of Coverfire HD. The result is amazingly clean and pretty. What's left is a Game Center logo in the corner of the title screen. The user can tap on it to see buttons for "Leaderboards" and "Achievements". Each button pops up the appropriate interface.

Simple to program, simple to use. I suspect users will really enjoy this update!

[JaredJudd]

I have openfeint and game center in my new project, and I like the idea of removing openfeint before launch for the package size issue... I think users will clearly trust game center more because they ALL know Apple.

My hesitation is that I think there are users who seek achievements. Having just one or the other leaves these users from discovering your app. It seems like if you want as much exposure as possible you really should include both.

[mr.Ugly]

Originally Posted by Beyondtool

I think most are moving towards Game Center for the main reason that its a seamless experience. Seriously "I DONT WANT THESE AWESOME FEATURES!" that screen is irritating to look at. It pisses users off, I've had people rant for hours about how much they hate the OF screen and they think that it's a scam or information fishing technique.

Then change it.. dont like the wording.. change it.. you can.

Dont like the look of the dasboard, dont use it, just strip the data and show it on your own implentation.. Ahh ohh wait that would be work, bummer.

I personaly dislike the gc look because its theme only fits to solitaire games and totaly breaks away from everything apple did before ( modern glossy design)

So what.. Fetch the data show it in your own implementation..

It seems nowerdays devs are even too lazy todo this.. If they dont like it they dont touch it.. But you can edit it to your needs.. But hey that would be work funny

At the end it doest matter people dont really care, cut the rope had only crystal, sold millions. Fruit ninja has of and gc...

Again use what suites you but i hope you guys dont think it matters to the mass out there.. It does not.. Maybee to touch arcaders... But thats a minority

Plus+ won 8]

[thewiirocks]

Originally Posted by mr.Ugly

TDont like the look of the dasboard, dont use it, just strip the data and show it on your own implentation.. Ahh ohh wait that would be work, bummer.

The punchline is that is exactly what Game Center requires you to do. OpenFeint provides more out of box functionality, yet most programmers would rather do the work to make Game Center function.

Remember, Game Center has no standard iconography, no standard popovers when achievements/score are earned, no standard friends UI, no standard notification design, etc.

About the only thing it provides is OPTIONAL Leaderboard/Achievement UIs. The programmer has do everything else.

The difference is that you can either go through the pain of implementing and maintaining OpenFeint AND take on the custom programming, or you can just do the custom programming with Game Center. As a bonus, Apple is unlikely to suddenly change the API and require you to do a massive reimplementation.

I personaly dislike the gc look because its theme only fits to solitaire games and totaly breaks away from everything apple did before ( modern glossy design)

Don't like it? So change it!

(At first, I didn't like the craps-table look either. It grew on me.)