How did you deal with the controls, given that C64 games were joystick based—and joysticks don’t tend to work terribly well on iPhone? If you get the app into the App Store, presumably you’ll look into supporting any relevant external controllers that get released?
I’ve played many titles with a fixed, virtual D-pad and generally found them frustrating, since you have to constantly keep an eye on your finger placement due to the lack of tactile feedback. We developed our own ‘touch stick’ and successfully launched the first incarnation in our Flashback port. Since its release we have received many compliments for this virtual joystick, once you get used to it.
Essentially you tap anywhere on the right-hand-side of the screen and move your finger in a direction as if you are pushing the joystick. As a guide, a transparent stick appears, indicating your movement. This means you can move your finger and thumb around the action and never have to look for an overlay that might obscure your view. The fire button is relegated the left-hand-side and you simply tap to trigger it. Again, it’s not in a fixed position, so you aren’t constantly keeping an eye on your thumb placement.
We do plan to support external controllers and have already emailed the makers of GameBone Pro for an SDK when it becomes available. Not only that, we have been contacted by other vendors, and so you can look forward to the real deal in the future.
What aspects of iPhone itself did you use to enhance the app experience?
We use the accelerometer for handling screen auto-rotation, and you can give the device a slight shake to toggle between the virtual keyboard and joystick when in portrait mode.
How important is it for you to do things the right way, getting full rights to everything within the app? How hard was it to secure said rights?
It’s extremely important. First, we want to reward the original authors of these classic games. Secondly, if our customers are paying for these titles, we want them to know they are buying something legitimate. The C64’s heyday has long passed and so have many of the great game studios of the day, and so tracking down the rights-holders to titles like Bruce Lee is proving a challenge—fortunately, we’re persistent! To be frank, it’s hit-and-miss as far as the process for obtaining rights goes—some owners are excited to join the ride and others are difficult to deal with. We’re quickly learning that nothing is sure until it’s signed on paper.
Were you surprised at Apple rejecting your app?
Yes and no.
Yes, because I believed our original discussions with Apple indicated our approach was in-line with their expectations—that is, only content purchased through the App Store could be installed and therefore Apple received its cut. This was further reinforced when Apple announce in-app purchasing for 3.0 some time later—again Apple gets its 30%.
No, because all the reports I read of arbitrary rejections. It was a really ‘luck of the draw’, and if your review fell on the right desk, you’d get through unscathed.
What have you done to try and make the app acceptable to Apple?
We’ve removed the startup to BASIC, so you can only launch games. We’ve also renamed the ‘C64 Store’ tab to ‘More Games’ and made it obvious to Apple this is just links to other titles in the App Store. Hopefully we’ll be able to re-enable BASIC in a future update. [At the time of writing, Manomio posts on Twitter that “Apple has denied C64 again, simply quoting the SDK 3.2.2 and NO explanation.” — Ed.]
If the app gets approved, where do you see it going in the future? What games would you most like to see available for it?
The list is endless, and all of us had personal favorites, so it’s a tough one. We’re primarily looking for titles that play well on the device and are generally fairly easy to pick up and play. A personal favorite for me is Bruce Lee, and so I hope we can track that one down. I’ve tried a number of platformers such as Bomb Jack and Nemesis the Warlock. These do great and the frameskip is generally not noticeable.
Epyx titles would be great, such as the Summer, Winter and World Games titles, along with Impossible Mission. I’ve tried a few scrollers like Paradroid and Wizball, and those look good too. We’re also looking for community input—if there are titles you want to see, email us at [email protected]. Some games will be much better with an external controller or after I optimize performance to reduce the frame skip, like Uridium, Alletkat, Delta Force and most horizontal or vertical scrollers.
Keep track of Manomio at www.manomio.com/ and follow the company on Twitter via @manomio.
