Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

doh123

macrumors 65816
Dec 28, 2009
1,304
2
Sim City Deluxe for iPad is on sale for $.99 for the holidays. I believe normally it's about $6. I had to buy it. I've looked at about 6 city simulation games available for iPad and this is by far the best.

Anyone playing?

It is not as full featured as the desktop version of Sim City and I have noticed a few issues, but it's still good especially for the sale price.

Issues:

* Can't build bridges or terraform after game starts. On a recent map a river cut down through the middle of the map and as far as I can see there is no way to connect one side of the city to the other side of the river?
* It appears to be difficult/impossible to build an economy with a substantial "commercial" component. I've tried half a dozen cities and "industrial" seems to be always in demand while commercial is always stagnant. As I recall, to avoid heavy reliance on industrial is to only use light industrial, and choose "green" ordinance, but every town I've developed, "commercial" is always weak.
* With my meager city management skills, it has been really hard to get a stable economy going. After a number of years, I am usually offered a Casino, which I jump on and get a real infusion of cash. What the heck are the real money makers? I've played several of the desktop versions and don't remember this issue persisting as it does in the iPad version.


Notes, not real issues:
* Before game starts, can add water or land areas, but can't build mountains.
* City loans can be found and originated under the "Budget" area.
* Water pumping stations only work on areas of fresh water. Rivers may or may not work as a source of fresh water.

I grabbed it for 99 cents... it runs very nicely on my iPad mini except it sort of "lags" now and then for a second... but hardly an issue.

You need flat land to flat land set right to build a bridge... keep moving your road around to find a good spot on a river where it lets you build a bridge... I think its a little too picky, but I've been able to get some built.

I've built a city with commercial overshadowing industrial... but it took a long time. Make sure you get tourism up... ordinances as well as tons of stuff for people to do if they come visit... then commercial will love being there, and make your commercial taxes very very low... I was running like 2% taxes on them at the time, but with the a third of the map covered with high density commercial, it was still a ton of money coming in. Industrial is definitely much easier.

They need to add terraforming tools... raising and lowering land and such...

Also, the water system seems weird.. I always get int he ticker at the same time about not enough water, but also that I boast a fantastic water system... and I always have over and above with everything covered, yet it still complains half the time about no water.
 

Huntn

macrumors Core
Original poster
May 5, 2008
23,395
26,518
The Misty Mountains
I grabbed it for 99 cents... it runs very nicely on my iPad mini except it sort of "lags" now and then for a second... but hardly an issue.

You need flat land to flat land set right to build a bridge... keep moving your road around to find a good spot on a river where it lets you build a bridge... I think its a little too picky, but I've been able to get some built.

I've built a city with commercial overshadowing industrial... but it took a long time. Make sure you get tourism up... ordinances as well as tons of stuff for people to do if they come visit... then commercial will love being there, and make your commercial taxes very very low... I was running like 2% taxes on them at the time, but with the a third of the map covered with high density commercial, it was still a ton of money coming in. Industrial is definitely much easier.

They need to add terraforming tools... raising and lowering land and such...

Also, the water system seems weird.. I always get int he ticker at the same time about not enough water, but also that I boast a fantastic water system... and I always have over and above with everything covered, yet it still complains half the time about no water.

Thanks for replying! So to confirm for a bridge, you just try to drag a road across the river? I'm going to have to see what attractions I can add that will up tourism. I did add one of those landmark buildings and my casino, well, lots of people go there. I can tell by how much income it adds to the city coffers. It just seem imbalanced to me. Whether there are attractions or not, all cities need a commercial district.
 
Last edited:

doh123

macrumors 65816
Dec 28, 2009
1,304
2
Thanks for replying! So to confirm for a bridge, you just try to drag a road across the river? I'm going to have to see what attractions I can add that will up tourism. I did add one of those landmark buildings and my casino, well, lots of people go there. I can tell by how much income it adds to the city coffers. It just seem imbalanced to me. Whether there are attractions or not, all cities need a commercial district.

Just make a long road then move it around over a river until you find a spot with no red squares.
 

TallManNY

macrumors 601
Nov 5, 2007
4,727
1,580
I played the excellent and free "Dead Trigger" yesterday. It is a zombie FPS. As with all FPSs on the iPad, I constantly get the frustrating feeling that I could own this game if I could just use decent controls. Maybe I could get better at this, but I'd have to put in owners of play and I'm sure I'd still be only 10% as good as I would be if I had Xbox controller or mouse and keyboard.

I wonder if anyone has set up a multiplayer experience in these games and had virtual controllers try to play against someone with physical controllers. I bet it is total carnage.
 

Huntn

macrumors Core
Original poster
May 5, 2008
23,395
26,518
The Misty Mountains
Just make a long road then move it around over a river until you find a spot with no red squares.

I'll try it!

I played the excellent and free "Dead Trigger" yesterday. It is a zombie FPS. As with all FPSs on the iPad, I constantly get the frustrating feeling that I could own this game if I could just use decent controls. Maybe I could get better at this, but I'd have to put in owners of play and I'm sure I'd still be only 10% as good as I would be if I had Xbox controller or mouse and keyboard.

I wonder if anyone has set up a multiplayer experience in these games and had virtual controllers try to play against someone with physical controllers. I bet it is total carnage.

Gosh, it's free. I'll try it out. :)

As far as ranking iPad games, right now I see.:

1. Plants vs zombies
2. Sim City Deluxe
3. Plague Inc
 

AndiS.

macrumors regular
Dec 16, 2012
181
0
I've looked at several upscale IOS games- Infinity Blade, and Zombie Infestation and the controls just don't cut it for any kind of serious gaming. The ipad is fine for very casual games like Plants vs Zombies or Angry Birds, but I don't see being drawn to anything serious as compared to my MBP.

I think Infinity Blade 1 + 2 are pretty good games, but iOS games target a different market, as many here already said.

For "serious" mobile gaming you'd probably have to get a PSP or a DS (I never tried any of those), as they have full console titles.

A controller for the iPad, as you mentioned, would be a nice idea, but the majority of tablet owners would probably not be interested enough to justify the development of something good. Personally, I don't care about sitting in front of a 10 inch screen with a controller either. Not to speak of a mouse and keyboard. Imagine how far away you would be from the display, and depending on additional peripherals would also take away from mobility.
 

Huntn

macrumors Core
Original poster
May 5, 2008
23,395
26,518
The Misty Mountains
I think Infinity Blade 1 + 2 are pretty good games, but iOS games target a different market, as many here already said.

For "serious" mobile gaming you'd probably have to get a PSP or a DS (I never tried any of those), as they have full console titles.

A controller for the iPad, as you mentioned, would be a nice idea, but the majority of tablet owners would probably not be interested enough to justify the development of something good. Personally, I don't care about sitting in front of a 10 inch screen with a controller either. Not to speak of a mouse and keyboard. Imagine how far away you would be from the display, and depending on additional peripherals would also take away from mobility.

Because of it's nature, I believe the iPad and tablets in general are relegated to casual gaming. :)
 

Huntn

macrumors Core
Original poster
May 5, 2008
23,395
26,518
The Misty Mountains
Somehow I got awarded a free copy of the Sims3 for iOS. It brings back those old memories of tell a joke, push a complement, confide, be friendly, be romantic all in the quest for not so satisfying "woohoo". :D Today it strikes me as a lot of busy work to keep your Sim going.
 

Hackfix21

macrumors member
Jun 1, 2011
69
0
I'm really hoping Legend of Grimrock will come out for iOS. Apparently they're working on it, fingers crossed.

I think that'll be the ideal "serious" game for the iPad. First person perspective, so not a problem that the screen size is smaller than on the Mac (with topdown games like SimCity it can get a little fiddly to try and control them with your finger). And the critical difference compared to FPSs is that you can only move from one square to the next, which should be much easier to control on the iPad than trying to do the kind of precise moving and aiming you need for FPSs.
 

doh123

macrumors 65816
Dec 28, 2009
1,304
2
I'm really hoping Legend of Grimrock will come out for iOS. Apparently they're working on it, fingers crossed.

I think that'll be the ideal "serious" game for the iPad. First person perspective, so not a problem that the screen size is smaller than on the Mac (with topdown games like SimCity it can get a little fiddly to try and control them with your finger). And the critical difference compared to FPSs is that you can only move from one square to the next, which should be much easier to control on the iPad than trying to do the kind of precise moving and aiming you need for FPSs.
It would be awesome on my iPad mini... Already having fun with Baldurs gate on it.
 

Huntn

macrumors Core
Original poster
May 5, 2008
23,395
26,518
The Misty Mountains
It would be awesome on my iPad mini... Already having fun with Baldurs gate on it.

Is Baldurs Gate a big been there, done that or is it like playing a new game?

How do you control attacks- virtual buttons?

Here is a somewhat negative IGN review of Baldurs Gate Enhanced Edition. Curious how those who have played the game feel about the fairness of this review?
 
Last edited:

Paulyboy

macrumors 6502
Jan 26, 2007
361
17
Is Baldurs Gate a big been there, done that or is it like playing a new game?

How do you control attacks- virtual buttons?

Here is a somewhat negative IGN review of Baldurs Gate Enhanced Edition. Curious how those who have played the game feel about the fairness of this review?

It should be noted that they just released a massive update for the iPad version that fixes a lot of problems and provides some substantial interface improvements. At least that's what I heard anyways. I don't know if the update has gone live in the App Store yet though.

I have played the iPad version on a friends iPad but I don't have it on my iPad yet. This probably won't change either because I don't really use my iPad for these types of things. And while it was really cool playing such an epic game on the iPad it's just kind of awkward to me. I'd really much rather play it on a computer. In my case that would be a Mac whenever that version finally gets released.

There are no virtual buttons per se. You select one of your characters, select an action, then tap on an enemy to execute that action. You can do this all while paused as well and queue up actions for several characters in the process.

Unfortunately there's no demo but maybe you could find some videos on YouTube of people playing it? Even though it's dated there's nothing else RPG-wise in the app store that's currently even remotely in the same league as this game. When it comes to true RPG's it's about as good as it gets (although the sequel is better).

If you played it before the experience is really not that much difference although I suppose you could play it through as an entirely different character with different motives and so forth. I played the original all the way through only once so I plan to play through it again using an entirely different class and entirely different alignment. For example, I always play "good" characters so this time I'm going to play it through as a truly evil character to see what happens.

-PN
 

Huntn

macrumors Core
Original poster
May 5, 2008
23,395
26,518
The Misty Mountains
It should be noted that they just released a massive update for the iPad version that fixes a lot of problems and provides some substantial interface improvements. At least that's what I heard anyways. I don't know if the update has gone live in the App Store yet though.

I have played the iPad version on a friends iPad but I don't have it on my iPad yet. This probably won't change either because I don't really use my iPad for these types of things. And while it was really cool playing such an epic game on the iPad it's just kind of awkward to me. I'd really much rather play it on a computer. In my case that would be a Mac whenever that version finally gets released.

There are no virtual buttons per se. You select one of your characters, select an action, then tap on an enemy to execute that action. You can do this all while paused as well and queue up actions for several characters in the process.

Unfortunately there's no demo but maybe you could find some videos on YouTube of people playing it? Even though it's dated there's nothing else RPG-wise in the app store that's currently even remotely in the same league as this game. When it comes to true RPG's it's about as good as it gets (although the sequel is better).

If you played it before the experience is really not that much difference although I suppose you could play it through as an entirely different character with different motives and so forth. I played the original all the way through only once so I plan to play through it again using an entirely different class and entirely different alignment. For example, I always play "good" characters so this time I'm going to play it through as a truly evil character to see what happens.

-PN

Thanks for the info! I'll check YouTube and see what's there. :)
 

doh123

macrumors 65816
Dec 28, 2009
1,304
2
Is Baldurs Gate a big been there, done that or is it like playing a new game?

How do you control attacks- virtual buttons?

Here is a somewhat negative IGN review of Baldurs Gate Enhanced Edition. Curious how those who have played the game feel about the fairness of this review?

I've played the game through many times over the years, and its still the same game. Just like the desktop version which is all point and click interface, this is all tap and click 99% identical. It was always designed to be able to use 100% by mouse which makes it easy to go to touch.
 

Huntn

macrumors Core
Original poster
May 5, 2008
23,395
26,518
The Misty Mountains
Top 2013 iOS game apps- Candy Crush Saga came out on top. I don't care for it. I also don't care for the iOS version of Minecraft, because the Mac/PC version offers larger world sizes. Plague incorporated is pretty good if you enjoy wiping out humanity! ;)

THE TOP 10
1. Candy Crush Saga

3. Temple Run 2

10. Despicable Me: Minion Rush



TOP PAID IPHONE

1. Minecraft

3. Temple Run: Oz

4. Angry Birds Star Wars

5. Plague Inc.

10. Plants vs. Zombies



TOP FREE IPAD

1. Candy Crush Saga

3. Temple Run 2

7. Despicable Me: Minion Rush


TOP PAID IPAD

1. Minecraft – Pocket Edition

3. Temple Run: Oz

4. Plants vs. Zombies HD

5. Angry Birds Star Wars HD

7. Angry Birds Star Wars II

10. Bad Piggies HD

See complete list of top 2013 apps here: USA Today
 

txa1265

macrumors 65816
Aug 15, 2002
1,030
278
Corning, NY
I've looked at several upscale IOS games- Infinity Blade, and Zombie Infestation and the controls just don't cut it for any kind of serious gaming. The ipad is fine for very casual games like Plants vs Zombies or Angry Birds, but I don't see being drawn to anything serious as compared to my MBP.

I look at it this way - for the decades of gaming I have done on computers, my preferred genres are FPS and RPG, and then strategy (turn-based). Always computer-based (i.e. not a big console fan).

FPS games are MUCH better on keyboard and mouse (any physical controller, really) than on touchscreen.

Action-RPG is better on computer for same reason.

Party-based / isometric is better on PC because of precision of mousing compared to touch interface.

Casual games - stuff like hidden object puzzle adventures (G5, Bigfish, etc) I actually like playing better on a tablet due to direct control, but think it is arguably a wash.

So why do I play so much on iPad? Because I would much rather carry that around, and am willing to accept the limitations and compromises ... and have my gaming laptop Mac & PC for when I want to dig into more serious gaming.
 

txa1265

macrumors 65816
Aug 15, 2002
1,030
278
Corning, NY
These two, I disagree with. I'd say they play equally as well, provided you've got a good UI for the touch tablets.

I will say that the UI for non-real time stuff (like Baldur's Gate, Avadon, Ravenmark, and a few others) it is debatable ...

But for an action-RPG, I am talking about comparing Ravensword to Skyrim, for example ... there is simply no way to compare the virtual controls to physical, as physical determinism with feedback is simply a better control system for those ... everything else is simply trying to mimic the controller. And a copy will never supercede the original.
 

Renzatic

Suspended
I will say that the UI for non-real time stuff (like Baldur's Gate, Avadon, Ravenmark, and a few others) it is debatable ...

But for an action-RPG, I am talking about comparing Ravensword to Skyrim, for example ... there is simply no way to compare the virtual controls to physical, as physical determinism with feedback is simply a better control system for those ... everything else is simply trying to mimic the controller. And a copy will never supercede the original.

Ahh, gotcha. When you said action-RPG, for some reason I immediately thought of games like Diablo and Torchlight.

I think that anything point 'n click based works great with touch controls. X-COM, Baldur's Gate, Shadowrun, oldschool dungeon crawlers, strategy, both real time and turn based, I actually prefer playing these types of games on the iPad.

But anything requiring direct control isn't a good fit for touch. It's alright for slower games like Knights of the Old Republic, which I actually enjoyed quite a bit, despite the somewhat wonky and floaty controls. But for anything that requires speed and precision, the best you can expect is a somewhat compromised, merely good enough experience. Some games just need a good controller to get the most out of.
 

Huntn

macrumors Core
Original poster
May 5, 2008
23,395
26,518
The Misty Mountains
More times than not, I try but am not impressed with iOS games. Based on top app list, I downloaded Tiny Death Star (free) and Colassatron ($.99). Both of these games follow the typical "purchase help", in-game purchase model. As a rule, I'm not happy with this tactic.

TDS, mildly interesting, there is absolutely no combat, but it is humorous, a real time strategy game where you develop the death star with apartments, entertainment, assign employees and order supplies upon the orders of The Emperor. ;)

Maybe I don't get it, but having to add sections to Colassatron while it rampages (on it's own), just did not seem like all that engaging. Possibly I'm not really getting the proper method of adding components? Sometimes they link in and sometimes components I add, poof and disappear. Don't remember seeing any how to play text... Am I right is saying you don't control where the robot goes?
 

Plutonius

macrumors G3
Feb 22, 2003
9,018
8,378
New Hampshire, USA
More times than not, I try but am not impressed with iOS games. Based on top app list, I downloaded Tiny Death Star (free) and Colassatron ($.99). Both of these games follow the typical "purchase help", in-game purchase model. As a rule, I'm not happy with this tactic.

TDS, mildly interesting, there is absolutely no combat, but it is humorous, a real time strategy game where you develop the death star with apartments, entertainment, assign employees and order supplies upon the orders of The Emperor. ;)

Maybe I don't get it, but having to add sections to Colassatron while it rampages (on it's own), just did not seem like all that engaging. Possibly I'm not really getting the proper method of adding components? Sometimes they link in and sometimes components I add, poof and disappear. Don't remember seeing any how to play text... Am I right is saying you don't control where the robot goes?

Some games I recommend to get (they are not free but they are worth the money).

Catan (my favorite)
TTR Pocket (Ticket to Ride)
KOTOR (on sale now)
Knights of Pen and Paper
Civ Rev (Civilization)
Medieval (SIMS Medieval)
 

Essenar

macrumors 6502a
Oct 24, 2008
553
186
An IGN article perfectly highlighted the comparison with a desktop review of Ravensword: Shadowlands.

On iOS: Ravensword is a heralded cornerstone of first-class development of a triple A style title on an iPad or iPhone. An open world RPG with great graphics, an engaging story, interesting encounters and hours of gameplay. An exciting technological achievement that is a testament to the platform of iOS as a gaming system.

On PC: A mediocre compromise of mobile gaming that achieves the bare minimum of requirements to be considered a "game". Elder Scrolls: Morrowind is the more worthy title and it's a decade old. I've only "paid" for a few iOS games and those had to fight hard for my 99 cents. I got Bastion when it was on sale for 99 cents, I picked up Oceanhorn when it was on sale and that's it. I think Galaxy On Fire 2 HD was on sale for 99 cents but I missed the sale and the F2P version is pretty atrocious.

On PC, you rarely and I mean, rarely, come across a F2P Platform that literally hampers you until you start swiping for upgrades, weapons and door unlocks. You spend time looking at a countdown timer for an app that you undoubtedly probably purchased to pass time to begin with. The game is a painful reminder that all you're doing is waiting for time to run out so you can move on with your life.

There's some F2P (P2W) titles on PC like Neverwinter or the like, but they fail and usually are forgotten quickly in the market. Every now and then a F2P title gains success on PC but for every successful F2P venture, there's over 20 other titles that end up being a painful slap in the face to developers that the PC doesn't welcome that platform and likely never will.

On iOS on the other hand, it's not just a successful platform, it's the predominant one. Developers seized an opportunity to mold the App Store into their standards and they were able to create a reputation for F2P. Now F2P is all you know on the App Store and any criticism of it is swiftly met with users defending it. (Apple is notorious for having apologists and blind-loyalists and those types of people help developers by doing their PR for them, free of charge, for developing atrocious money-hungry 'games' that wouldn't last 3 days on Steam).

I choose OSX and Boot Camp Windows. 7 days out of 7.
 

Asuriyan

macrumors 6502a
Feb 4, 2013
622
23
Indiana
This is a long-running thread but there have been a few games as of late that have encouraged me to take my iPad seriously for gaming. KotOR is a fantastic port and not once did I feel hampered by touch controls whilst playing. Deus Ex: The Fall is a very solid adaptation... though I'm much more comfortable with stealth than combat, as aiming is more difficult than I would like. Baldur's Gate and XCOM are on my iPad and on my list but I haven't spent enough time with them to form a proper opinion.

Faster Than Light (FTL) is supposed to have an iPad launch soon- that's a game that I've always thought would be ideally suited for the iPad.

In the meantime, if any of you Aspyr types are reading this, keep up the good work.
 

esapedrift

macrumors newbie
Aug 5, 2013
7
0
I do both...but my MBP is getting dated for gaming (2010) and I hate keyboard/mouse (for instance, trine 2 is unplayable with them) so I usually only buy a game if its cheap.

iOS games lack in the story department I find, so I lose interest quickly and then most games nuke the battery for instance Anomaly 2 on my 4s, lasts less than an hour and the missions take 10-15 mins each so having to recharge every 3 missions is annoying.

honestly, losing interest in gaming overall most games are just re-hashing the same experience & the story lines are getting worse. online gaming is just no fun anymore when people rage-quit constantly to protect their "record".
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.