

Show HN: Dropu – My first iOS game - riquardo2
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/dropu/id897092707?ls=1&mt=8

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OWaz
I'll check it out too. To understand SpriteKit did you rely on any learning
resources besides the docs that Apple provides?

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riquardo2
I sure looked at Apple docs, but mostly tutorials on the web like on
raywenderlich.com ([http://www.raywenderlich.com/42699/spritekit-tutorial-for-
be...](http://www.raywenderlich.com/42699/spritekit-tutorial-for-beginners))
and StackOverflow when needed of course :)

But it's pretty cool, particularly for physics based games, makes things a lot
easier.

Of course one downside of using that is if you want to port it for Android.

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nanexcool
Looks nice, congrats! I'll give it a try once I'm home.

Dabbling with #gamedev myself, I have a couple of questions if you don't mind.

What framework/engine did you use?

What's the font on the menu? (I like it a lot)

If you have time, I'd love to read a post-mortem.

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riquardo2
Thanks! I'm using Apple's SpriteKit because I started with it in trying to
make my first game (developed other iOS apps before though).

After a while had to disable physics because fps was getting too slow when
many blocks were in contact, so implemented it without the physics but still
used Sprite Kit to other functionality.

The font is Amatic-SC from Google Fonts.

Maybe I'll write a post-mortem :)

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nanexcool
Thanks for following up!

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riquardo2
Thank you all for the comments!

For those interested in the design process (both conceptually and visually,
here's a graphic I made with some of the phases:

[http://riquardo.com/dropu_evolution_small.jpg](http://riquardo.com/dropu_evolution_small.jpg)

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jawngee
Nice work!

Ads are annoying, I will gladly pay you 0.99 to remove them. :)

Very fun, but movement feels a little too slow. Also, I get the same number
repeatedly a little too often.

Hitting the pause button is a game in its own right. Maybe make that a little
more pronounced, easier to tap?

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riquardo2
Thanks for the notes, will take them very seriously as I'm doing the next
update :)

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ebilgenius
I think it has a lot of promise. I understand the need for ads but I think you
should offer a pay-out of a dollar or two for those who hate ads enough. I
also think the blocks base movement should be a little faster, it would speed
up gameplay a bit.

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riquardo2
Thanks for the kind words. I understand your concerns. My main goal in the
pieces movement was each one to have its own speed, you know to give them a
bit more individual personality as well, and I've had some complaints from
beta testers that the 4 piece was too fast! Of course I loved that :)

But yeah, I get that a few pieces might be too slow, I'm going to test a few
different speeds and see how it pans out.

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chrisBob
I see a bug where pieces don't always clear correctly. The play continues
correctly, but it appears that a piece is there when it shouldn't be, and the
next piece on that column just covers it up.

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riquardo2
Hmm I had that bug before, thought it was solved... Can I ask what device you
are using? Would that be iPad Mini?

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chrisBob
It is a 4th generation iPad.

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nsxwolf
I wish people wouldn't report bugs by leaving 1 star reviews.

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andsmi2
If they are reporting a bug in the app one way to prevent this is a help/about
that has an e-mail address (or some other contact type--but e-mail is best)
and also in your description note that they can e-mail you directly for any
changes/suggestions/help -- this generally prevents 1 _' s for bugs-- and you
can deal with the "disgruntled" 1_'r and calm them down and give them a fix.

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chrisBob
That is good advice and works for me. I only leave negative reviews when there
is no contact info, or they don't respond when I submit a bug.

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niix
Looks great. I'll have to give it a download. Did you use Swift?

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spigoon
You can't submit apps to the app store that use swift yet.

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riquardo2
Oh really? Good thing I didn't change then ;)

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RTesla
o no, it's crashing on me on open.

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riquardo2
Sh#t sorry. What iOS version and device are you using? Couldn't pinpoint this
yet :(

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rob313
looks great, love the simple design

