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Game play on tablets.

#1
Hi, will the game ever be available on tablet computers? Specifically iPad.

In the couple of years that have passed since the initial pledge i find, I rarely, if ever, use my desktop PCs, I now tend to use my iPad exclusively.

I'd still love to play the game BUT I doubt I'll have my pc for more than a couple of months.

Kind regards - Ozzie
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Re: Game play on tablets.

#3
Not released per se.

Android devices are Linux based, if you recompiled it for Arm, and wrote a new interface bod for it.
It would totally be possible to play LT on your phone, tablet, smart-tv.
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Re: Game play on tablets.

#4
I develop on iOS these days, and I have a great deal of experience in porting code from one platform to another.
There's nothing about LT that I've seen that would suggest it couldn't be done, but the procedural graphics would almost certainly have to be re-written from the ground up.
I'd be happy to have a go at it, if it ever came about.
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Re: Game play on tablets.

#5
Ringu wrote:I develop on iOS these days, and I have a great deal of experience in porting code from one platform to another.
There's nothing about LT that I've seen that would suggest it couldn't be done, but the procedural graphics would almost certainly have to be re-written from the ground up.
I'd be happy to have a go at it, if it ever came about.
No, I believe Josh has built the actual gameplay mostly in LTSL, the only system specific stuff is the rendering and audio code.
Which could likely be pulled out pretty easily, provided he is using an API to interface with graphics and audio.
If he isn't then it'll be hard to port to Windows anyway, which we know is going to happen.

So to Android will be easy, iOS I am not sure about (probably not).
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<Cuisinart8> apparently without the demon driving him around Silver has the intelligence of a botched lobotomy patient ~ Mar 04 2020
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Re: Game play on tablets.

#6
I'd be much more concerned about the graphics capabilites of the tablet than the ability to port over. Input control would have to be re-written (I have no idea how multi-touch devices look like from an API standpoint), we would have to cross-compile to ARM (not sure what kind of challenges, if any, would pop up here).

But LT needs a desktop-grade GPU, simply-put. Not Star-Citizen grade top-notch GPU, but I strongly doubt that a tablet is going to be able to handle LT, especially the procedural asset generation.

Short answer: no.
Long answer: let's talk again once we've got LT released and running on desktops :ghost:
“Whether you think you can, or you think you can't--you're right.” ~ Henry Ford
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Re: Game play on tablets.

#7
JoshParnell wrote:I'd be much more concerned about the graphics capabilites of the tablet than the ability to port over. Input control would have to be re-written (I have no idea how multi-touch devices look like from an API standpoint), we would have to cross-compile to ARM (not sure what kind of challenges, if any, would pop up here).

But LT needs a desktop-grade GPU, simply-put. Not Star-Citizen grade top-notch GPU, but I strongly doubt that a tablet is going to be able to handle LT, especially the procedural asset generation.

Short answer: no.
Long answer: let's talk again once we've got LT released and running on desktops :ghost:
Have you seen XCom on tablets/phones? most wont run LT sure, but some will.
And with graphics options, I bet some will run it pretty damn well. :D
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Re: Game play on tablets.

#8
[ninja'd by The Josh himself. :D Well, what the heck, call this some additional thoughts.]

Don't forget about libraries.

I think Josh said he's using Bullet for physics, for example, and at one point he talked about FMOD for audio. If those (and any other libraries) have Android/iOS versions, then the chance for a port goes up.

If they don't, it might be possible to replace them depending on how Josh has parametrized calls to those functions (and kept dependencies out of his code).

Beyond that, I have two practical questions:

1. How do you use the common touchscreen interface controls -- tap, double-tap, swipe, multi-touch -- to allow both real-time dogfighting and high-volume information management?

2. LT looks like it will be an information-rich game -- can the interface be modified to present the important info in a readable way on a tablet-sized screen? (I'm pretty sure the answer to this one is "yes," but it's worth asking.)
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Re: Game play on tablets.

#9
Flatfingers wrote:1. How do you use the common touchscreen interface controls -- tap, double-tap, swipe, multi-touch -- to allow both real-time dogfighting and high-volume information management?

2. LT looks like it will be an information-rich game -- can the interface be modified to present the important info in a readable way on a tablet-sized screen? (I'm pretty sure the answer to this one is "yes," but it's worth asking.)
Have you played GoF2?
https://play.google.com/store/apps/deta ... 2012&hl=en
It has the controls and such that one would expect LT to have.
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<Cuisinart8> apparently without the demon driving him around Silver has the intelligence of a botched lobotomy patient ~ Mar 04 2020
console.log(`What's all ${this} ${Date.now()}`);
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Re: Game play on tablets.

#10
Flatfingers wrote:[ninja'd by The Josh himself. :D Well, what the heck, call this some additional thoughts.]

Don't forget about libraries.

I think Josh said he's using Bullet for physics, for example, and at one point he talked about FMOD for audio. If those (and any other libraries) have Android/iOS versions, then the chance for a port goes up.

If they don't, it might be possible to replace them depending on how Josh has parametrized calls to those functions (and kept dependencies out of his code).
Currently the only libraries used are FMOD and SDL (physics is in-house). For networking I will throw in enet, and for some ancillary stuff I may add some of the very common open-source libs like libjpeg, zlib, etc.

Bottom-line, the only closed-source library used is FMOD. So that would be the dependent factor. I haven't checked the porting availability of the version we are using (the newest one) but I think it will (at least eventually) support pretty much every device.
“Whether you think you can, or you think you can't--you're right.” ~ Henry Ford
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Re: Game play on tablets.

#11
There are other audio engines that don't require too much change in code, should FMOD not be compatible.

The big problems are controls (although you could require an external keyboard or controller), and performance. In my experience, very few tablets are up to the task of coping with an action game with fairly high requirements; also in my experience, anyone who has the money to burn to get a suitable tablet can probably afford to pay someone to port it themselves. :lol: I'm obviously massively exaggerating.
Games I like, in order of how much I like them. (Now permanent and updated regularly!)
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Re: Game play on tablets.

#13
Flatfingers wrote:Thanks for the correction, Josh.

And nope, I haven't played GoF2 -- does it allow for controlling multiple systems quickly?
I'm not 100% sure what you mean.
If by flying and shooting at the same time, then yes.
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console.log(`What's all ${this} ${Date.now()}`);
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Re: Game play on tablets.

#14
Flying, shooting, power allocation, sensor management, and maybe other things Josh has implemented since the last time we saw it.

Edit: The point being that real-time uses a lot of mobile/tablet resources (at least from the mobile things I've programmed). I think basic dogfighting can be done; I'm just not sure it can be done well while also managing a ship in a more systemic way.

And that's just dogfighting. What about larger ships that need crew management?

I'm not saying it's impossible. I'm just wondering how hard it might be.
Last edited by Flatfingers on Sun Nov 01, 2015 8:19 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: Game play on tablets.

#15
Luckily for us, most of those wont need to be done all at once, so we could have buttons to change context for the UI to do everything.

It'd require a good think, but is perfectly doable.
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console.log(`What's all ${this} ${Date.now()}`);

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