Sheeple On The iPad
Like all of the other iPhone developers, I too have been scheming planning how I can take advantage of the iPad with existing and new applications. As for my company, Tomato Factory, we plan on going down the Universal Applications route discussed here. The lack of information in the current iPhone SDK 3.2 beta seed is a bit frustrating. Also, the lack of information around when developers will have access to submit iPad native or universal applications is frustrating. I am sure that Apple doesn't want a horde of overly eager developers to submit iPad native applications without having ever tested their applications on a physical device. As all experienced iPhone developers know, the simulator is not the same as the physical device. I typically do not even bother using the simulator.
I decided to see how my application Sheeple looked on the iPad simulator. Here are screenshots of Sheeple running in both native iPhone 480x320 resolution (left) and scaled 2x resolution (right).
(click image to view full size)
It really doesn't look so bad at first glance, but it won't be long before users will not accept this compatibility mode. As soon as developers are taking advantage of the additional pixels they have access to on the iPad, this compatibility mode will probably be something that we will see less and less of. I am developing several games currently and we are using vector graphics, so creating a universal application should be a very straight forward process.
Indie Appolis
I am excited to announce the launch of my new site Indie Appolis! Here is the information from our about page.
We know how difficult it can be to gain visibility as an indie iPhone developer and we want to help! Advertising is very expensive on the main iPhone review sites and they are so swamped that your little unknown indie game might never be reviewed. That is where Indie Appolis comes into the picture. We want to help give your app the visibility that it deserves and also focus 100% on the core of what we think has made the iPhone an incredible gaming platform, the indie developer!
I was able to interview some incredible developers for the launch of the site and have others in the works. Check out these great interviews.
Trenches: Developer Interview | Game Review
MiniSquadron: Developer Interview | Game Review
Compression: Developer Interview | Game Review
I also wrote a custom ad tracking/management application that is in use on the site currently. I will be packaging it up and then offering it as a product of daGrind called AdMan.
Tomato Factory
The past year has been extremely busy with the birth of my son, moving back to Texas, and getting into iPhone development. In July of 2009 I started an iPhone game development company. Tomato Factory released its first game Sheeple on September, 18 2009. It has been an incredible experience learning about both the development (easy) and the marketing (hard) aspects of the iPhone app marketplace! I have gotten to know some good indie iPhone developers and look forward to what 2010 has in store.
We are currently working on two other games and have some exciting plans for 2010. I will be posting regular development related news on this blog. If you haven't already tried Sheeple, then please do so. There is also a Lite version available.
