Total War dev: iPad is a console
The studio behind the high-energy Total War PC strategy series releases its first iOS game.
After years of making the Total War series of strategy games for PC and console, The Creative Aseembly has hit the mobile market today with the release of Total War Battles: Shogun. And, while the iPad platform may seem different to outside observers, the project lead for the team said creating the game was much like developing it for a console.
In an interview with Develop, Creative Assembly's Renaud Charpentier said a brand new team was created to develop the game. But because the iPad is 'fixed hardware,' the development was much the same as creating games for the PS3 or Xbox 360. Developing games for the PC requires adaptation for less-powerful systems, while iPad requires no such limitations, he said. "From a working perspective now the game is finished I can say it is a console."
Total War Battles: Shogun debuts on the App Store offering 27 main missions, numerous side quests and plenty of unit upgrades. The game also offers three multiplayer modes for one-on-one combat. The game sells for $6.99.
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replyJohn Keefer posted a new article, Total War dev: iPad is a console.
The studio behind the high-energy Total War PC strategy series releases its first iOS game.-
Make that a TV - with Bluetooh connectivity (kb, mouse, controller) and expanding the iPad screen to a 42" display... Add Valve... And yes, you can play your traditional "console" on it too. Do everything on your "TV", by Apple.
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It's not exactly fixed hardware because there is a new version every year and a older versions that people are still currently using, and then the iphone. Then there are all the android phones and tablets which is a whole other can of worms if you go that direction too. So sort of multi platform development for say ipad 2, 3, iphone 4s, iphone 4 with the knowledge that there will be a new phone and a new ipad in less than a year.
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I'd invest more in iOS if they weren't such douches about version control.
I have an older model with quite a few apps invested. I made the mistake of upgrading firmware versions to play newer apps. This made the whole unit practically unusable and won't let me backtrack.
Now I have upgraded further and the device works adequately but is significantly slower than it was prior to the first upgrade. The other issue is some apps simply demand you update to the newest version. I have had a game upgraded to the newest version and now won't work on my device demanding that I buy the newest one. Another game I chose not to upgrade knowing this. I would get a prompt eventually that says I can't play the game in the game version I have. So reluctantly I updated. Luckily this one wasn't rendered unusable on my device but the threat of rendering the app unusable on my device w/o choice of using earlier version is ridiculous.
Basically I'm at the situation where the many apps I invested money in are becoming more and more unavailable to me. My device becoming unusable because there is no availability of firmware and app software optimized for my device. When I buy a PC, I may not have access to the latest and greatest software when my PC goes obsolete, but I at least can install the software and OS optimized for that PC's generation. When I get a console... say an xbox, I can still play xbox games and I'm not tricked into installing xbox 360 firmwares into my console. I can still play my xbox games and I'm not forced to buy a 360 to play them. If I get an apple device, this is not the case. If I want to have my apps purchased to continue to have value to me, I have to constantly upgrade to the latest and greatest every few years. I've sent Apple an E-mail about this and their answer to me was simply "buy more and you won't have this problem." Fuck that. Their devices can cost me upwards to $500-$700 w/o roping me into a phone plan I don't want to change to. As far as I'm concerned their digital marketplace culture is almost monopolistic.
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