Control tweaks, full-screen portrait mode and more games!
Control Tweaks
This version brings some minor control tweaks, a full screen mode to portrait play and also a great list of new titles.
The control improvements for this release are relatively minor, but really help with games that don't use all 8 directions of the stick. If you start up Jupiter Lander or Lemans, you'll notice the controls are now restricted to left / right motions only, leaving less room for error when you're trying to land on the 10x platform or navigating past a some serious congestion. We can also restrict to 4-way directions for games like Nebulus and Boulder Dash® II.
Full-Screen Portrait Play
The next feature we want to draw attention to is full-screen in portrait mode. The feature is not immediately obvious (and we will fix that in an update), but you will see a transparent icon at the top of the display, which I have highlighted below
If you tap this, the tab bar and all the chrome (including the overlay) will disappear, leaving you with the joystick and the unobscured C64 screen. Tap it again to restore the chrome and your last selected control tab. If the game has a START or NEW GAME button, be sure to tap this before switching to full screen. No more mis-taps causing the OpenFeint or Shop views to appear during that crucial moment of game play!
New Games
This post wouldn't be complete without listing the new titles available, and so without further ado here they are:
Paid titles:
Space Taxi (OF)
Super Pipeline I
Super Pipeline II
Boulder Dash® II (OF)
First Star Software, Inc. I (99¢)
Bristles™ (OF)
Panic Button™
First Star Software, Inc. II (99¢)
Flip and Flip™ (OF)
Millenium Warriors™
Wizball
Free Titles:
Hover Bovver
Mancopter (OF)
Express Raider
O'Riley's Mine (OF)
Note: The (OF) indicates support for OpenFeint leaderboards.
A world first for the Commodore 64, version 1.4 now allows gamers to vie for global top scores in select titles.
Global Leaderboards
No doubt many of you may remember crowding around the screen with family and friends, as you all played the classics on your Commodore 64, constantly challenging each other for that elusive number one spot in the high score chart. Undoubtedly, you reveled in your glory when you grabbed the top score, whether it be Uridium, Paradroid or whatever happened to be the hot title at the time. Perhaps you were the best at your school, club or even town; but, are you the best in the world? Now is your chance to prove it with global leaderboards for select games using OpenFeint.
We’re very excited about this update, as it is the social and competitive aspect that makes gaming fun for many of us. Unfortunately, we can’t just flick a switch and magically all the titles have global leaderboards, for each title there can be quite a bit of work to achieve this so we’re starting out with a set of games that work well with this concept. Good candidates were those that are quick to play, so you can immediately keep trying to better your score. Paradroid is certainly the odd one out, we want to see everyone who can own the 999 droid
Round One
Arctic Shipwreck
Leaderboard for high scores
Lemans
Leaderboard for high scores
Achievements
Lemans Bronze Medal (5 OF points): Scores 10000+
Lemans Silver Medal (10 OF points): Scores 25000+
Lemans Gold Medal (15 OF points): Scores 50000+
Lemans Elite Driver (20 OF points): Scores 100000+
Jupiter Lander
Leaderboard for high scores
Achievements
Jupiter Lander Trainee (5 OF points); Scores 3000+
Jupiter Lander Navigator (10 OF points); Scores 15000+
Jupiter Lander Astronaut (15 OF points): Scores 50000+
Jupiter Lander Interstellar Traveller (20 OF points); Scores 75000+
Nebulus
Leaderboards for high scores
Planning to support achievements as you complete each tower (future update)
Uridium
Leaderboards for high scores
Paradroid
Leaderboards for high scores
Achievements
Command Cyborg 999 - Pwnd! (20 OF points) Achieved when you transfer / take control of the 999 unit, most powerful droid on the ship.
As you would expect, we’ll be adding leaderboards and achievements to more titles in the future.
Other improvements for v1.4
This update was almost entirely focused on adding support for global leaderboards; however, we did enable fixed 50 frames/sec refresh rate for iPhone 3GS and 3rd gen iPod Touch devices. You’ll really notice the difference in scrollers such as Uridium, Paradroid and Kikstart.
What’s planned for v1.5?
We’re going to continue this approach of focusing on one major area per update, so 1.5 will be focused on usability and playability. Controls and the UI are going to get some work, which we’ll detail in a future post to solicit feedback.
More games please
We’re readying more titles for submission to Apple - some of which we expect in the coming week or two.
It's been packaged up and shipped off to Apple for review. According to the App Store Review Status on Apple's developer portal, 93% of applications are being approved within 14 days, so assuming everything goes smoothly we could see a release around Dec-24th.
What made it into 1.2?
So glad you asked! Here is a summary of the most interesting changes:
Left / Right handed control options. Default is now joystick on left and fire on right.
Joystick as icon in landscape mode.
Displays the joystick as an icon, showing it's position in a fixed location at the top left / right of the screen.
DPad style mode in portrait. You only have to touch the general direction to register movement.
Reduced sensitivity when tracking directional movements of the stick
Significantly improved performance of the Game Shelf scrolling
Reduced sensitivity when tracking directional movements of the stick
Apple in-app purchases. Appears under the Shop tab, showing both Paid and Free titles.
Titles available as a free 'purchase' at the time or release or shortly after
Bruce Lee, Laser Squad and Samurai Warrior
Paid titles will be available as approved by Apple
Thanks again for the continued support and we look forward to bringing you some classic games in the coming weeks / months. We have an amazing lineup of AAA C64 titles to be announced shortly, so stay tuned!
Why was the joystick on the right in the first place?
Traditionally these old computer systems used joysticks like the following
The vast majority of right-handed players held the joystick in their left hand and controlled movement with their right hand, and so we were looking to retain that retro feel. Most of the early joysticks didn't even have a fire button on the right, so left-handed players were forced to play with their right hand too.
A note about C64 In App purchases
Our in-app purchases are supplied as non-consumable. This means that when you buy a game you will be able to download it for free on other devices, just like regular App Store purchases. Under settings, there is a button to download all your previous purchases should you get a new device or reset your device to factory settings.
Back in 1983 you would pay $217 for a Commodore 64 at K-Mart, today the portable version is lowered by more than $200!
As a special celebration we´re now trimming an extra $2 off the price for the next few days.
This was the price of a C64 in 1983 - thanks to Mike for the image!
We want to use the occasion to once again thank all of you out there who have constantly supported us and patiently waiting for the new games!
Version 1.2 is almost ready for submission, with both free and paid games coming to an iDevice near you! We´ve got a tip on twitter about the game "Laser Squad" and it will of course be available as a free download together with Bruce Lee in the next update.
Version 1.2 will be a free update to existing customers. Our focus is in creating a retro experience for providing additional downloadable content (games) via Apple’s in-app purchases feature. We’re expecting to submit the update around the end of November, and hoping for a mid-December release.
Kiloo and Manomio are working hard at acquiring great titles and we’re very excited to announce these amazing classics as in-app purchases:
Druid and Bruce Lee screenshots:
We’ll continue to announce new titles on the blog and on Twitter once the deals close. Reports indicate in-app purchases go through a simpler review process, which is better for us all. Prices of individual games will range from free to USD $1.99 each, depending on the publisher.
Despite having seen it's day, the enthusiasm for the Commodore 64 continues to amaze us at Manomio. It is without a doubt that your passion played a huge part in the return to the App Store as it gave us the drive to keep trying. Therefore, Manomio and everyone involved wishes to thank you for your support and sticking with us for this tumultuous ride. We'd also like to thank those at Apple who worked with us and gave us another chance to share the venerable Commodore 64 with the world again.
What is coming for v1.2?
The primary feature is in creating a retro experience for providing additional downloadable content (games) via in-app purchases. We're expecting to submit the update around the end of November, and hoping for a mid-December release. Kiloo and Manomio are working hard at acquiring great titles and we're very excited to announce the first will include these amazing classics:
Wizball,
Druid I and
Druid II
We'll continue to announce new titles here and on Twitter once the deals close. Reports indicate in-app purchases go through a simpler review process, which is better for us all. We expect the typical price of individual games to be USD $0.99 each.
Beyond v1.2
It was exactly 1 year and 1 week ago that Brian and myself first connected via email. Brian is a Dane living in Sweden and I'm an Aussie living in the USA and incredibly we've never met each other! If we were questioned about what the year ahead looked like for C64, I know we'd have been way off. That's not the case now, we're savvy with social media, know all the right Google keywords and we're listening to you where ever you raise your voice. If it's features, games or issues - we'll collect them and seek to make C64 better.
We decided to keep this to a FAQ style post, and answer some of the most common questions we've seen on twitter, forums and comments. We all know why C64 for iPhone was pulled and we're very grateful Apple is giving us another chance.
Q: Will I have to pay again?
No, this will appear as an update, like any other app.
Q: When can we expect to see v1.1?
Version 1.1 is in review, and based on current approval times, we are expecting feedback from Apple early next week.
Q: What's new in v1.1?
We spent a lot of time on this update to resolve the issues with our initial launch:
Compliance with the Apple SDK agreement
Up to 30% improvement in performance - better battery life and smoother game play
3 additional games, International Soccer, International Basketball and International Tennis
Minor UI improvements
Q: What about more games?
Our original model was designed well before Apple announced iPhone OS 3.0, which introduced in-app purchases. Version 1.2 is already well underway and is primarily focused on incorporating this feature into C64 for iPhone. We are very excited about the user experience and the steamlined approval process, which ultimately means more titles to you, faster. We anticipate a mid December release.
Q: What is beyond v1.2?
We're listening to you, and so v1.3 will be the most important requests we gather from twitter, community forums such as Touch Arcade and comments on our site. Beyond v1.3, we're tossing around some exciting ideas, such as support for external controllers, network play, alternate touch-based control schemes, social gaming and more.
Unfortunately, Apple has pulled the C64 Application from their store as it was discovered by some users that it was possible to enable the Basic program through the interface. We have now fixed the issue and our application has been re-submitted for approval by Apple.
We thank you all for your support and fingers crossed we hope to launch again over the next few days.
It’s true, the wait is over and Commodore 64 for iPhone has been approved by Apple. The road was bumpy, but we remained persistent and made the changes Apple was looking for. Ultimately, BASIC has been removed for this release; however, we hope that working with Apple further will allow us to re-enable it.
Despite it’s absence, BASIC is not our focus, ultimately fans of the C64 want games. To that end, we’re working on lots of additional titles that will be available as a separate free or paid download. These game packs will have an option to activate in the C64, and become visible on your ‘game shelf’. We’ll announce the titles on this blog as we secure the rights, so keep in touch!
We’re extremely excited about the release, and hopefully the experience and 5 bundled games will whet the appetite of retro fans as we get to work on more titles. If you have specific requests or hold a license to an original C64 game, please fill in your request here.
We’re already receiving requests via email and twitter. We’re listening, so expect an update in the near future to provide an option to switch the controls for left-handed players.
You can find C64 for iPhone here on the App Store.
Manomio, together with Danish software house Kiloo Aps and Commodore Gaming, has developed a fully functional Commodore 64 for your iPhone.
We´re eager to get it in your hands; however, Apple’s approval team has unfortunately rejected our submission. As we know, there are already many titles that are very similar in nature to C64, so we´re working hard to convince Apple to reconsider.
We hope you´ll support us by blogging, tweeting and simply talking about C64 for iPhone, in the hope Apple will change their mind. We all know this would be a terrible waste if we couldn’t share!
Feel free to drop any questions or comments on this subject here, or take a look at our Commodore 64 website, www.c64iphone.com.
You can also check following sites for the full story and reviews:
