Developing for ios before license

[MikeClarke]

Ok this may be odd query but im unsure. Am i able to develop a project for andriod/ios before I own the licenses. basically build and test for windows/mac then purchase the andriod/ios licenses close to completion and just convert it or do I need to start and reimport all the assets etc.

[Rick]

Yes. That's what I basically did with my game. Just be aware of texture sizes and how many models you have loaded and drawn and all that good stuff so performance doesn't kick your *** on mobile . Although iOS is much better from what I've seen than Android.

 

Honestly I don't even know if I would develop for Android again. Performance seems subpar when compared to iOS. Sound delay bug sucks. I've sold over twice as much on iOS than Android with my game. Less fragmentation to worry about with tech issues. As a developer the only thing Android has going for it is how many people have an Android device but that doesn't seem like it translates into sales all that much. This is probably why developers build for iOS first and if their game gets big enough they then build for Android and try to get those sales.

 

You might say why not release on both since LE handles it all for you. Maybe it was LE3 or whatever but I had to dumb down my graphics for Android for my game.

[MikeClarke]

That's great news, I had considered developing for andriod like 2 years ago when I got my old phone but none of the games at the time screamed out at me as particularly fun lol (im a late bloomer )

 

I have an iphone4s which is arriving any minute and my wife is getting on xperia something next week so will have both Andriod & Ios to work with so figured it would be a smart move to develop for them using LE and use any funds to help my bigger project.

 

V.glad to know I dont need to pay for extra licenses until im nearing success xD

[beo6]

i have heard multiple times that sales on ios are better.

But i think that can also come from the bad payment options from the google play store.

 

If you have no credit card and your mobile provider is not cooperating with google for payments over the phone bill

you have no other way to buy it.

 

 

And the performance on android is not that bad.

There are Games in the store that have very good graphic and are not slow at all.

It is just a matter of optimization.

 

Where the sound delay in LE3 comes from i have no idea. Haven't noticed that in Darkness Awaits but in my own game it is very noticable. That is the reason why i haven't posted it as a bug.

[Rick]

The sound bug is an Android bug. I've noticed it on other Android games too.

[beo6]

never noticed it on any android game. And i didn't noticed it on Darkness Awaits.

So my thought was that it must be something with the audio files or something like that.

[Rick]

Google for it and you'll see a ton of complaints from everyone. It's noticable when the sound is directly from user input. If it's not from user input then you won't notice the lag or it can be masked easier. This is why it's noticable on my game where you press the mole and you expect a sound to be played because of that input. Download some other wack a mole games and check it out.

[ZioRed]

I've sold over twice as much on iOS than Android with my game.

It's not a surprise to me, iOS users are just much more used to pay (it's not me saying that, it's just statistics)

BUT I'd suggest to not drop Android, for your marketing it's a good source to spread your title. What is usually done by other companies is to release the "awesome" version for iOS at first, after some weeks/a-month a "stable" version for Android (usually at lesser price or free of charge) but maintaining up to date more iOS than Android (I mean delaying updates on Android), the reason why they do this is because unfortunately most people on Android seems to be more reluctant to spend money (that instead is the reason why you code games), again I noticed this behavior also by my own with all my customers, they use Android only to make marketing but rely on iOS to make money.

[YouGroove]

Strange ??

I have NExus 7, i played and tried lot of games, even free online action RPG, racing, etc ...

I never had any sound problem or sound lag ??

And this tablet deliver great and fast/Smooth graphics in the great known 3D games i tested.

Android is good once you get good enought devices, specially if it has Tegra 3 (or 4).

 

I don't like Apple closed system and prices, even if i recognize Ipad 2 and upper ones, and Ipad mini to be great tablets with good power.

There is lot of people that will put less money and go Android, Nexus 7 is a good example, lot more cheaper (some 200$ or little more) and really enought powerfull for good 3D games.

 

Android is a good market as i don't have even today seen more than 4 or 5 really good RPG games for example.

I don't mean remakes, ported PC games, i mena new original franchises, and i don't mean super casual RPG made of cubic minecraft characters lol

 

You have a super eye catching game, complete , long , with stuff, good gameplay, go for Android this is place for it.

I tink if Ouya works well, we will see perhaps some games ported from Ouya to Android and Android to Ouya.

And before 2 , 3 years be rassured Android will not be full of quality games, actually only Gameloft really shines and some other indies, so yes it's really EMPTY in terms of indie quality games.

 

I searched for example RPG , and 3D, and it was so empty on Google Market, only some known like :

-RavenSword: ShadowLands

-Chaos Ring 2

(FF3 and A Bard tales are ported games not original ones)

So yes i only found that two original, with enought quality on 3D graphics, so yes it's empty and a place to go for

 

Are all people Pro Mac here ?

(just kidding)

[beo6]

have looked at the wacky moles game again and it has indeed a huge delay if these "outch" sounds of the moles are supposed to play directly on touch.

 

But this delay is still a lot longer than anything i ever noticed in other games.

It feels more like a 500 - 1000 ms delay than 100ms like i read on the internet when i search for android sound delay issues.

[MikeClarke]

This is the first apple device i've ever owned lol I used to be completely anti-mac, anti-windows and just a pure linux lad. Then I started using windows as my main system. I still have no intention of buying a mac for my desk but will probably get an ipad down the line (v.far down it).

 

I was looking at a couple of games last night, graphics seem v.capable so could do some fun things I reckon. Looking more towards platform style but may explore other avenues.

[YouGroove]

I'll see if i can download the game on NExus 7 and i'll tell you if i have same bug ?

In this case it would be more specific of that game and programming or LE3 sound ?

[YouGroove]

Ok i just tested Wacky moles.

Really cool game, well done Rick.

 

What i noticed on NExus 7, it's strange, the music seems to be slow ?

And yes sometimes sounds are played a fraction second time after we see "Bang" text when touching a mole.

It seems to me more some programming problem.

 

Perhaps launch sound directly when mole touched before display text and before doing naything else.

If programing is ok, it is perhaps some LE 3 specific problem on some specific mobile sound function ?

[karmacomposer]

Too bad you MUST own a Mac to develop for IOS (and Mac). All engines that support IOS deployment export to XCode, but you still need a Mac to do the final Xcode compile and submit to the Apple App store.

 

DAMNIT.

 

I only own PCs.

 

It's a crying shame you can't compile XCode projects on an iPad - that would be sweet! I own two of those.

 

Mike

[YouGroove]

Nope, you can on Windows now :

 

Xamarin iOS for Visual Studio allows iOS applications to be written and tested on Windows computers, with a networked Mac providing the build and deployment service.

 

http://docs.xamarin.com/guides/ios/getting_started/introduction_to_xamarin_ios_for_visual_studio

[Furbolg]

Jesus YouGroove.... you still need a mac for this but i guess karmacomposer dont want to buy a mac and pay 99$ p. a. for developer license (you need it to deploy on iOS Store).

[MikeClarke]

Yougroove you quoted it "with a networked Mac providing the build and deployment service." Meaning you need a mac on the network, it just allows you to do it over the network.

[YouGroove]

YOu don't understand, you just need a distant Mac, could it be a friend letteing your compiler access it's mac.

It must exist some Mac access even if you would need to pay a little i think.

[Furbolg]

You can't assume that any of his friends/relatives have a mac.

[ESP]

My iMac wont run 10.7 I've already paid for the iOS/Mac licenses but cannot use them Expensive upgrade time....

[MikeClarke]

Surely if your friend had a mac you could "network" to, they have a mac you could lend to compile ur game

[ZioRed]

Too bad you MUST own a Mac to develop for IOS (and Mac). All engines that support IOS deployment export to XCode, but you still need a Mac to do the final Xcode compile and submit to the Apple App store.

That's why Mac's sales started to increase along the few years... I was in the same situation, I wanted to develop for iOS and MacOS so I needed to buy an iMac (and in the long run I'm now more than happy for this outcome). The main reason why I am really happy is because with iMac I don't need to have ALSO a PC to run the three systems, since with Bootcamp you can easily restart in Windows and Linux (I personally rarely reboot, I use Parallels Desktop to run the same bootcamp partition in a VM, not the best choice for performance but I just stopped to buy Windows-only games instead I'm buying only games that have native client for Mac too, and I'm pretty sure more and more games will come to multi-platforms support because Macs are now good enough to play with fun, for example I play Diablo3, GuildWars2 and D&D-Online at maximum graphics without any lag or issues, it never crashed since 2 years and OSX is definitely a good system [waiting for Maverick incoming, it looks very cool]).

 

However if you google "hackintosh" you'll see there are some chances you could build your own Mac with a PC (not really recommended, but it's an option if you have time, patience and low budget if you only need to compile Xcode; but I'd rather save some money and buy a real Mac if you're going to use iOS very much [Apple Store allows payments by installments and you'll receive a small higher discount if you call their phone service instead of using their website to make a purchase]).