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Old 04-16-2010, 02:03 PM   #19
Michael Babin
Mac Development
 
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Join Date: Jul 2002

Location: Rowlett, Texas
Posts: 199
Why is the iPhone/iPad version of MA 2.6? We first started work on the iPhone version of MA back in December 2008. At that time, it was a quick proof-of-concept type project. Would it work? What would the performance be like? At that time, the current iPhone OS was 2.2, and the iPhone 3G was the current model. MA 3 for Windows was still in development, and we had not begun work on the Mac version of MA 3. We got the basic aquarium working with a few bugs, mostly acceptable performance, and a first cut at a rudimentary settings UI. Other projects took priority at that time.

In mid-summer 2009, we had some time open up to work on MA. At that point, MA 3 for Windows was essentially completed. We decided that MA 3 for Mac took priority and we worked on it first. After it was released, we took another look at MA for iPhone. We decided at that point (December 2009) to finish MA 2.6 for iPhone, rather than start over with MA 3 for iPhone. We wanted to deliver a version that could work on all iPhone/Touch models and support back to iPhone OS 2.2.1 (since many original Touch owners had not upgraded to the newer OS). MA 3 required shaders, which required OpenGL ES 2.0 and would limit it to working on the iPhone 3GS and equivalent Touch models (32/64GB). Additionally, the larger tank and improved background in MA 3 were not as visually compelling, in our judgement, on the iPhone screen.

We were nearly done with the iPhone version of MA 2.6 when Apple announced the iPad. We decided at that point to finish MA 2.6 as a universal app for iPhone and iPad. Adding the iPad support was surprisingly simple, although we did have to bump up the minimum required OS for the iPhone to 3.0 (Apple wouldn't allow us to submit a universal app where the iPhone version has a minimum requirement less than iPhone OS 3.0).

We may look into creating a version of MA 3 for iPhone/iPad in the future, although we have no plans to do so at this point. The larger screen on the iPad, in particular, would make this version more appealing. Shader support is present in OpenGL ES 2.0, so it should be possible. We'd have to see what kind of performance we could achieve, which may involve reducing the number of fish in the tank or other measures to reduce the load. There are other factors to consider like the state of the market for apps (the App Store, pricing, level of sales for MA 2.6, etc). We're not making any announcements or promises at this point.
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