Emerald Mine for the iPad

[iLes]

Greetings,

I'm working on the final touches for one of my all-time favorite Amiga games from back in the day, Emerald Mine. It's a Boulder Dash-ish type game where you must collect a certain number of gems in order to open the exit portals and finish the levels.

You can see a video of my port on my website along with screenshots and a more detailed explanation of the game and the port.

In general, it includes all the original artwork, original sounds and original game play of the classic Amiga game. There are 1,920 levels including the original set from Emerald Mine 1 through 3 plus many more from the Emerald Mine archive.

The controls were modified to fit well with the iPad touchscreen. Instead of using virtual buttons or a virtual d-pad, which I'm not a big fan of, you simply move your avatar around by sliding your finger in the direction you want to move. To grab objects from an adjacent square you just tap the square. To plant dynamite (which was not demonstrated in the video) you tap and hold anywhere on the screen.

Game Center is also integrated to track global high scores.

My plan is to release it for free with no ads and no in-app purchases.

Check out the details here: thegameprojects.com

Feedback is welcome.

- Les

 

[Enema Psycho]

Eagerly awaiting!

 

[albin]

Looks good.. when are you releasing the game???

 

[iLes]

Looks good.. when are you releasing the game???

I hope to submit it this weekend.

- Les

 

[iLes]

Greetings,

Just thought I'd let everyone know that version 1 of my Emerald Mine port has been submitted to the App Store. I'll let you know of the results when I hear about them.

- Les

 

[iLes]

Greetings All,

Emerald Mine for the iPad has now been approved and should appear on the App Store soon:

App Store link

The price is incorrect right now. It's listed at $2.99 but is supposed to be free. Wait until the price change goes into effect before downloading.

- Les

 

[Enema Psycho]

I just downloaded it and played a few levels, and all I can say is I wish I had seen it when it was listed at $2.99, because even that is a steal! Great work!

 

[ssee]

Greetings,

Just thought I'd let everyone know that version 1 of my Emerald Mine port has been submitted to the App Store. I'll let you know of the results when I hear about them.

- Les

that is great. is it free?

 

[iLes]

that is great. is it free?

Yes, it is free and is available on the App Store.

- Les

 

[Huacanacha]

iLes: Thank you for porting one of my favorite old-school Amiga games to the iPad! The nostalgic haze was in full effect

Great job on the conversion too, it's much more the original feel than some remakes like 'Speedball 2: Evolution'.

Some small issues:

• There doesn't seem to be a way to resume your current game if you go to the main menu... I've lost my level progress a few times. Maybe have a back button somewhere?
• It's easy to accidentally hit one of the menu buttons immediately after dying... again it's possible to lose level progress (if restart or main menu button pressed). A 1/4 to 1/2 second delay in displaying the buttons would fix this.

One suggestion: for more precise control, have an option for dedicated action buttons for clearing up/down/left/right and planting dynamite. I would suggest a 4-way controller with dynamite button in the middle, placed in the bottom right of screen... similar to the hastily scribbled image I attached (but with larger dynamite button / middle square). This could be used optionally in conjunction with the various movement control methods. Of course you would still need to hold down the dynamite button for the specified time.

Huacanacha

(broken... try https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B-erT6ZPPtVBMmNlZDEyOTctZjFmOC00YThiLTg1MDItNjk3ZGRlZTlkODUx)

ps. if you've stopped development I could help with these small fixes/additions...

 

[iLes]

iLes: Thank you for porting one of my favorite old-school Amiga games to the iPad! The nostalgic haze was in full effect

Great job on the conversion too, it's much more the original feel than some remakes like 'Speedball 2: Evolution'.

Some small issues:

• There doesn't seem to be a way to resume your current game if you go to the main menu... I've lost my level progress a few times. Maybe have a back button somewhere?
• It's easy to accidentally hit one of the menu buttons immediately after dying... again it's possible to lose level progress (if restart or main menu button pressed). A 1/4 to 1/2 second delay in displaying the buttons would fix this.

One suggestion: for more precise control, have an option for dedicated action buttons for clearing up/down/left/right and planting dynamite. I would suggest a 4-way controller with dynamite button in the middle, placed in the bottom right of screen... similar to the hastily scribbled image I attached (but with larger dynamite button / middle square). This could be used optionally in conjunction with the various movement control methods. Of course you would still need to hold down the dynamite button for the specified time.

Huacanacha

Image
(broken... try https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B-erT6ZPPtVBMmNlZDEyOTctZjFmOC00YThiLTg1MDItNjk3ZGRlZTlkODUx)

ps. if you've stopped development I could help with these small fixes/additions...

Hey thanks for the suggestions. I'll work on an update soon.

- Les