So new iPad version 2012 has been approved...yay?
senza
Member Posts: 10
Looking over the patch notes that Trent has tweeted (http://forum.baldursgate.com/discussion/12848/bgee-the-patch-change-log-archives#latest) I see tons of fixes to the general game at large. Unfortunately, I don't see anything thats related to major UI shortcomings specific to the iPad (spell slowdown, tool tips etc.) I appreciate any update to the game but wish that these issues, especially the touchscreen specific, would be addressed to improve gameplay.
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The slowdowns are not fixed.... Bah. The patch fixes a lot, but not many of the ipad problems
The new icon is better, though I'd also remove the reflection.
The slowdowns caused by spells are a tad less severe, but the lag is still intolerable.
Smart radius is rather good, but I'm having trouble picking up staves.
Good to see the voice pack in-app, however both the portrait and the voice packs currently cost more than advertised, ultimately making the iPad version more expensive than the PC version, which is, frankly, bollocks.
It is undeniably great to see gameplay bugs being fixed at such a pace, and it is even greater that extra STUFF is appearing and the game is becoming more stable...
BUT
Dragging the screen still registers as a tap
Splitting stacked items is still a nightmare (seriously, how hard can replacing the default double click with an extra button in the description be?)
In fact, none of the issues with the input, even the simple ones, save for the implementation of smart radius, have been fixed, which is rather disappointing.
Anyway, it is great that there is progress, and I sincerely hope that the devs will have enough time to make the controls of the iPad version decent for the next patch.
You have to press the spells icon on the main screen, then the Help button on the right hand side.
The help screen appear, you've probably already seen it, not realizing its more than one screen.
Press on the right side to enter page two, and your tooltips for the spells appear.
The same goes for the other buttons that have tooltips on the PC.
1. No tap on screen drag.
2. Gesture for tooltips, like hold and slide up to reveal tooltip or so.
3. Item split gesture or button.
Fixing the area spells may indeed require some low-level work and translations which were promised to be included "in the next update" (quotation from app desc in AppStore) may still be in beta, but these three were, and still are, the flaws that mark BGEE a beta-stage product.
That being said:
From what I can see, tool tips on tablets are done. They have been disabled intentionally and replaced with the help button. I don't see them coming back.
As for the other issues, these are all on record and will probably be looked at. This release addressed a lot of major cross-platform bugs, and gives us a synchronized baseline for multiplayer. Don't think this is the end of it...much more improvement to come!
It seems to me to be a very simple thing to do, as all they've got to do is implementing some swipe system to show the tooltips as they're already implemented in the game on the PC.
I'm frequenting other forums where the game is being discussed, and this is one of the things people always have problems with, some have completed the entire game, never knowing where to find the tooltips, not knowing there was more than one page when you press the Help button.
It's an unintuitive solution, and really not necessary.
As was mentioned before:
- dragging the screen registers as a tap and my party starts moving where I dragged
- there is enough screen real estate to show item properties or at least an item's name in the inventory or the loot screen. The press/hold/release mechanic is extremely counter-intuitive and cumbersome
- no spell descriptions in the memorise screen
As it stands, I probably won't play it any further until some issues are addressed as a game should be fun to play and not a nuisance.
I'll be trying to keep the known issues thread updated with the current status
I suspect the development staff has a mandate to make the release of Android and Mac OSX versions of the software a priority over support for the currently released versions of the game (PC, iPad).
Don't get me wrong, I fully believe there are people hard at work on UI updates and all the rest, but the bean counters over at BeamDog have GOT to be pushing more released platforms (= more money) over serious bug fixes to current platforms. If you look at the bug fixes they've put in place you'll find the majority of what's been fixed have been either exceptionally critical (smart tap) or more broad to better "all" platforms.
Just by looking at it, the bugs that are cross platform or game play related are obviously getting a higher priority put on them than bugs that are platform specific (Like a UI Overhaul for iOS).
Let the game get released across the rest of the platforms and you'll likely see some major interface changes come across.
I know the argument "I paid my $X for this game, I expect it working!" For every one of us who expect a perfect game NOW there are more of us sitting out there who can't play the game because our platform isn't supported (Android, Mac OSX).
We're all going to have to be patient with beamdog till they release the game on the other two missing platforms.