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Why We Are No Longer Developing for the iPad

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Re: Why We Are No Longer Developing for the iPad

#51

Post by falcolas »

justinpaulson wrote: post #40

> My brain no longer has the time and energy to deal with Apple forcing me to relearn how to program every few years. Is this just kind of how developing software works on every platform?

Not at all. Most platforms are slow to add new features, and even slower to remove them. This is why we can still play videogames from 10+ years ago on modern Windows systems.

Has this held Windows back? Yes, a bit. But I for one appreciate that I don't have to buy all new software every year for it.

Re: Why We Are No Longer Developing for the iPad

#52

Post by jblow »

eridius wrote: post #39
rodgerd wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Would it have made any sense at all if anyone made the same claim about, say, Windows game development? In Windows game development you've have a long history of many ways to distribute your wares, with different pros and cons. Not so much for Androids or iOS. Note that similar complaints have been levelled at Steam, which is the closest thing to the iOS model.

Is there really that much of a difference between "Click [here](link-to-app-store) to buy this game!" and "Click [here](link-to-self-hosted-page) to buy this game!"? The only real difference I can think of is when software was primarily distributed via physical media, but that hasn't been the primary distribution mechanism for a while (and I would expect that nearly all software these days doesn't even have an option…

There are massive differences. For example, in the Windows world you are allowed to find out who likes your stuff and build relationships with them.

Re: Why We Are No Longer Developing for the iPad

#53

Post by mhd »

justinpaulson wrote: post #40

> My brain no longer has the time and energy to deal with Apple forcing me to relearn how to program every few years. Is this just kind of how developing software works on every platform?

He's developing isometric role-playing games. Where you can probably happily get by with the same stuff you used 20 years ago (and probably older, minus most Abrashian optimization and hardware trickery).

Re: Why We Are No Longer Developing for the iPad

#54

Post by frandroid »

eridius wrote: post #42
kbenson wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Whether the marketplace is profitable to a developer at their level is not always directly correlated to how popular that marketplace is. If the the App store is so competitive as to require a lot of up-front money to see a worthwhile return on investment, but other markets do not have that same problem, it may may sense to focus on those other markets.

How do you define "competitive" if you're not defining it in a way that correlates with "popular"?

Competitive is a question of demand versus supply; you can have super competitive small markets.

You have 1 yellow marble, 5 blue marbles, and 10 people. 5 people want a yellow marble, and five want a blue marble. Blue and yellow marbles are just as popular, but the competition for yellow marbles is much more intense.

Re: Why We Are No Longer Developing for the iPad

#55

Post by dragonwriter »

eridius wrote: post #39
rodgerd wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Would it have made any sense at all if anyone made the same claim about, say, Windows game development? In Windows game development you've have a long history of many ways to distribute your wares, with different pros and cons. Not so much for Androids or iOS. Note that similar complaints have been levelled at Steam, which is the closest thing to the iOS model.

Is there really that much of a difference between "Click [here](link-to-app-store) to buy this game!" and "Click [here](link-to-self-hosted-page) to buy this game!"? The only real difference I can think of is when software was primarily distributed via physical media, but that hasn't been the primary distribution mechanism for a while (and I would expect that nearly all software these days doesn't even have an option…

> The only real difference I can think of is when software was primarily distributed via physical media, but that hasn't been the primary distribution mechanism for a while

It was a major distribution medium until fairly recently, even if not primary. Heck, you can still go into lots of retailers and buy physical media for PC games.

Re: Why We Are No Longer Developing for the iPad

#56

Post by dyarosla »

izacus wrote: post #33
dyarosla wrote: post #16

I admire the developer, but the whole post feels like a cop-out blaming Apple. Too much competition? Let's give up. Engine broke from some change, don't want to try fixing it? Let's give up. Ads cost too much? Not, 'let's stop advertising on iOS', instead, Let's give up. I can understand as much as the next iOS developer that changes that require large workarounds due to software/hardware updates that aren't backward…

> Why do developers feel entitled to hardware devices that will always work with legacy code? Because that's how the world outside Apple bubble works. You can still run older Windows software, you can still run older Linux software, you can still run older Android software. Not forcing people to pay for new electronics (especially when it can represents their several months of earnings) just to keep their existing so…

I'm going to play devil's advocate and say that perhaps it's not a GOOD thing necessarily.

Maybe keeping existing software/services running on legacy mode isn't really GOOD... perhaps Apple indirectly forcing developers to keep their apps updated is an even better situation for the end user?

That's not to say we should drop backwards-support with every revision. But I think that there's plenty of occasions where it's acceptable to expect up-to-date software running on up-to-date devices being a norm.

Re: Why We Are No Longer Developing for the iPad

#57

Post by eridius »

jnem wrote: post #38
eridius wrote: post #12

> Competition on the App Store has risen to a frenzied level. This is a curious argument to make. The platform is too popular ? Would it have made any sense at all if anyone made the same claim about, say, Windows game development? I suspect what this really means is "there are more games than ever, and the iOS App Store is becoming increasingly difficult to rely on as a discovery mechanism, thus requiring advertisin…

I don't think Vogel was saying the platform was too popular for users, but rather too popular for developers, resulting in too much competition. Besides, if you've ever read his blog, you know hes been self ridiculing his own marketing skills for over a decade, and has a charming way of not caring.

I didn't say "popular for users", I just said "popular". And I strongly expect that "popular for users" and "popular for developers" are extremely closely correlated anyway, at least when it comes to consumer-targeted platforms (i.e. not Linux, where every user is also a developer).

> hes been self ridiculing his own marketing skills for over a decade

There's a difference between "haha I'm not good at marketing, I'm glad people are still buying my stuff" and "haha I'm not good at marketing, therefore I'll stop developing for probably the fastest-growing gaming platform ever and say it's due to competition".

Re: Why We Are No Longer Developing for the iPad

#58

Post by walterbell »

svarrall wrote: post #8
untog wrote: post #4

I'm interested to know what changed in 8.3 that broke their game engine. It's supposed to be a minor update, after all.

Could be tied to the forced 64bit support for iOS apps and updates from June 1st? https://developer.apple.com/news/?id=12172014b

That will orphan apps who just want to deliver updates (e.g. app security, unrelated to OS) for older versions of iOS. Orphan apps will need a distribution channel that can reach older and still-useful devices.

Re: Why We Are No Longer Developing for the iPad

#59

Post by pivo »

aresant wrote: post #31

It is fascinating how much the "micro-transaction" model on the iOS platform continues to bury everything else. Spiderweb throwing in the towel I would guess has a lot more to do with their #1 point "Competition on the App Store has risen to a frenzied level." than the others. The top two grossing games - Clash of Clans and Game of War - receive metacritic scores of 74 and 67 respectively. Whereas the most recent Spi…

> And as anybody who's spent 5 mins on app-store "optimization" knows - the better your paid, the better your organic - by a right mile.

Sorry, I guess my English is bad. I do not understand this sentence. Could you explain?

Re: Why We Are No Longer Developing for the iPad

#60

Post by jblow »

takasc2 wrote: post #48
Fr0styMatt8 wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Spiderweb games are very highly regarded RPGs that came from the PC. I definitely know TouchArcade has covered their games a few times over the years.

I looked up the company on pocket tactics, the site I menioned after I posted this. Infact they have had numerous mentions there as well, but no real detailed coverage, no real follow up. I don't think iPad games journalists are failing to cover companies like this - I think these kinds of companies are so anti-marketing in the presentation and design of their games that they fail to stand out or get noticed even by…

You are saying "anti-marketing" but what this really means is that they are putting less investment into production values than you prefer.

The whole point is that it is doubtful that they will stay solvent if they put more money into production values on that platform.

Nice graphics are very expensive. (They are more expensive than any other aspect of game development, in fact). If it seems unlikely that enough people will buy their game given that type of investment, then it may be a good choice to stay away from that.

On top of which, maybe they just don't want to spend all their time doing graphics. Maybe they want to work on the story / world / etc.

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