Show HN: Dropu – My first iOS game

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/dropu/id897092707?ls=1&mt=8

by riquardo2 • 12 years ago

35 28 12 years ago

itunes.apple.com

nanexcool2• 12 years ago

Looks nice, congrats! I'll give it a try once I'm home.

Dabbling with #gamedev myself, I have a couple of questions if you don't mind.

What framework/engine did you use?

What's the font on the menu? (I like it a lot)

If you have time, I'd love to read a post-mortem.

riquardo212• 12 years ago

Thanks! I'm using Apple's SpriteKit because I started with it in trying to make my first game (developed other iOS apps before though).

After a while had to disable physics because fps was getting too slow when many blocks were in contact, so implemented it without the physics but still used Sprite Kit to other functionality.

The font is Amatic-SC from Google Fonts.

Maybe I'll write a post-mortem :)

nanexcool2• 12 years ago

Thanks for following up!

niix• 12 years ago

Looks great. I'll have to give it a download. Did you use Swift?

riquardo212• 12 years ago

Thanks! No, not yet. Swift was announced when I was almost finishing the game so opted to finish it first, then move to Swift later on.

spigoon2• 12 years ago

You can't submit apps to the app store that use swift yet.

riquardo212• 12 years ago

Oh really? Good thing I didn't change then ;)

chrisBob3• 12 years ago

I see a bug where pieces don't always clear correctly. The play continues correctly, but it appears that a piece is there when it shouldn't be, and the next piece on that column just covers it up.

riquardo212• 12 years ago

Hmm I had that bug before, thought it was solved... Can I ask what device you are using? Would that be iPad Mini?

chrisBob3• 12 years ago

It is a 4th generation iPad.

OWaz• 12 years ago

I'll check it out too. To understand SpriteKit did you rely on any learning resources besides the docs that Apple provides?

riquardo212• 12 years ago

I sure looked at Apple docs, but mostly tutorials on the web like on raywenderlich.com (http://www.raywenderlich.com/42699/spritekit-tutorial-for-be...) and StackOverflow when needed of course :)

But it's pretty cool, particularly for physics based games, makes things a lot easier.

Of course one downside of using that is if you want to port it for Android.

ebilgenius• 12 years ago

I think it has a lot of promise. I understand the need for ads but I think you should offer a pay-out of a dollar or two for those who hate ads enough. I also think the blocks base movement should be a little faster, it would speed up gameplay a bit.

riquardo212• 12 years ago

Thanks for the kind words. I understand your concerns. My main goal in the pieces movement was each one to have its own speed, you know to give them a bit more individual personality as well, and I've had some complaints from beta testers that the 4 piece was too fast! Of course I loved that :)

But yeah, I get that a few pieces might be too slow, I'm going to test a few different speeds and see how it pans out.

riquardo212• 12 years ago

Thank you all for the comments!

For those interested in the design process (both conceptually and visually, here's a graphic I made with some of the phases:

http://riquardo.com/dropu_evolution_small.jpg

nsxwolf2• 12 years ago

I wish people wouldn't report bugs by leaving 1 star reviews.

riquardo212• 12 years ago

+1 :)

spigoon2• 12 years ago

If an app crashes immediately on start then what kind of star rating would you expect?

nsxwolf2• 12 years ago

Well, I consider such apps unreviewable, so I wouldn't review it.

riquardo212• 12 years ago

I understand that happened but could be happening to a very small percentage of people that download it, and by giving it a 1 star review immediately, it may take people away from it.

That being said, of course I would probably be pissed myself if I wanted to try an app and then it crashed as I started it.

andsmi2• 12 years ago

If they are reporting a bug in the app one way to prevent this is a help/about that has an e-mail address (or some other contact type--but e-mail is best) and also in your description note that they can e-mail you directly for any changes/suggestions/help -- this generally prevents 1's for bugs-- and you can deal with the "disgruntled" 1'r and calm them down and give them a fix.

riquardo212• 12 years ago

Good points.

chrisBob3• 12 years ago

That is good advice and works for me. I only leave negative reviews when there is no contact info, or they don't respond when I submit a bug.

jawngee• 12 years ago

Nice work!

Ads are annoying, I will gladly pay you 0.99 to remove them. :)

Very fun, but movement feels a little too slow. Also, I get the same number repeatedly a little too often.

Hitting the pause button is a game in its own right. Maybe make that a little more pronounced, easier to tap?

riquardo212• 12 years ago

Thanks for the notes, will take them very seriously as I'm doing the next update :)

rob313• 12 years ago

looks great, love the simple design

RTesla• 12 years ago

o no, it's crashing on me on open.

riquardo212• 12 years ago

Sh#t sorry. What iOS version and device are you using? Couldn't pinpoint this yet :(

Show HN: Dropu – My first iOS game

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