Neat iPhone apps

[kingfc22]

Originally Posted by FrogMan

ok, now curse you TK. Downloaded the two lite versions of Sword & Poker and dang, this is addicting. Will certainly end up getting the full versions soon...

FM

Yea. I got those based off of that recommendation. Very addiciting.

[wade moore]

Originally Posted by PadresFan104

NBA Jam now available; initial impressions from the community are good...

Played one game so far.

It was fun, although defense is even harder than it was in the original just because of the controls.

[Vince, Pt. II]

So I have been dragged into the world of Pocket Frogs by my roommate, and it's a pretty fun time waster. On the Plus network, I'm vincecressio.

Also, if anyone is up for a game of Carcassone, I run the handle Fantasybandit.

[terpkristin]

Originally Posted by Vince, Pt. II

So I have been dragged into the world of Pocket Frogs by my roommate, and it's a pretty fun time waster. On the Plus network, I'm vincecressio.

Also, if anyone is up for a game of Carcassone, I run the handle Fantasybandit.

I'm not all that great (but getting better, though lately the cards I've been dealt are conspiring against me as are the pain meds...only so much you can do with a road piece every freaking turn!), but feel free to hit me up. Gotta do it by email addy though. I'm kpilotte at the good ol' gee-whiz mail...

/tk

[Raiders Army]

Originally Posted by PadresFan104

NBA Jam now available; initial impressions from the community are good...

At $4.99, it's pretty pricey considering that they charge micro-purchases for stuff that should be in the game anyhow. Is it worth it? Do you have to pay for the Big Man Package, the Central Division Package, Eastern Conference, Western Conference, etc?

[Vince, Pt. II]

Ah, email only. I'm Vince dot Cressio over at gee-whiz mail, myself.

[terpkristin]

Originally Posted by Vince, Pt. II

Ah, email only. I'm Vince dot Cressio over at gee-whiz mail, myself.

Unfortunately it SEEMS that since I don't have my Gmail on my phone, I can't send the invite. I wonder if I can, even though the email account sending it isn't my email associated with the game.

/tk

[PadresFan104]

Originally Posted by Raiders Army

At $4.99, it's pretty pricey considering that they charge micro-purchases for stuff that should be in the game anyhow. Is it worth it? Do you have to pay for the Big Man Package, the Central Division Package, Eastern Conference, Western Conference, etc?

Not sure, but I just played my first game and I would not call this game pricey at only $5. More polished than many of the games I used to buy for my DS. Great graphics, sound and gameplay. Seems to be tons of players to unlock by completing challenges, but not sure about the packages you are referring to. Sorry, was never a NBA Jam player, so this is all relatively new to me...

EDIT: Some folks are reporting that all of the DLC can be gotten for free by completing challenges, etc. So you only have to pay for it if you don't want to "work" for it...

[wade moore]

Originally Posted by PadresFan104

Not sure, but I just played my first game and I would not call this game pricey at only $5. More polished than many of the games I used to buy for my DS. Great graphics, sound and gameplay. Seems to be tons of players to unlock by completing challenges, but not sure about the packages you are referring to. Sorry, was never a NBA Jam player, so this is all relatively new to me...

EDIT: Some folks are reporting that all of the DLC can be gotten for free by completing challenges, etc. So you only have to pay for it if you don't want to "work" for it...

Yeah, I'm with Padres here. I haven't looked up the DLC stuff, but it seems like a lot of stuff can be unlocked, so I wouldn't bother with DLC even if it is different. It's a friggin' iPod game - I don't need every little tiny addition to the game.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by Raiders Army

At $4.99, it's pretty pricey considering that they charge micro-purchases for stuff that should be in the game anyhow. Is it worth it? Do you have to pay for the Big Man Package, the Central Division Package, Eastern Conference, Western Conference, etc?

That's no different than any other EA game. They offer full unlocks through purchases for the impatient gamers, but the game is set up that you can unlock all those things yourself.

[FrogMan]

Originally Posted by Vince, Pt. II

So I have been dragged into the world of Pocket Frogs by my roommate, and it's a pretty fun time waster. On the Plus network, I'm vincecressio.

I went away from Pocket Frogs for about a month but got back to it maybe a couple weeks ago and I'm having lots of fun with it. I've now done the first 60 awards and have only got the tougher ones to do now, starting with Endangered 3.

The weekly sets and frog requests are my fun now. Last week's set was a challenging one as it required 4 pingo frogs which are a level 14 breed but I was only level 13 at the time so I went on a big spending spree to level up as fast as I could. Got it done and by Tuesday this week, I had the set all done.

FM

[Vince, Pt. II]

I have yet to complete a single set - I opened with a set of Sol frogs, and I haven't run into any of them yet. I'm at 17% awards, currently working on the Nimblebits award.

[FrogMan]

Originally Posted by Vince, Pt. II

I have yet to complete a single set - I opened with a set of Sol frogs, and I haven't run into any of them yet. I'm at 17% awards, currently working on the Nimblebits award.

The Sol breed is a level 10 frog so unles you are level 10, you won't see any of them, unless someone sends you one and even then, you won't be able to breed them. I'd recommend you hit the "get new set" button as there is a new set available every week on Wednesday at midnight (between Wednesday and Thursday). This week's set is a set of roboris frogs which is a level 5 breed. If you've played even just a little, you should be close to level 5.

What I, and many other around here I believe, have done is keep in my catalog one the 23 primary colors combined with one of the 16 secondary colors in the anura breed. That way, whenever I need to make a combination, it's fairly easy/cheap to replicate.

FM

[FrogMan]

Originally Posted by brassmonkey32

I highly recommend StarDunkGold App.

second that recommendation. Simple basketball throwing game that plays in 2 minute online games but that you can also play offline. You have a basket, your ball and you adjust the trajectory to make the basket. Four little bricks make the backboard and once all four have been highlighted, you get one temporary boost, like a wider basket or triple balls.

IIRC, we had a link to a flash game similar to that a while ago and we had a sort of FOFC group going.

This version of the game, the Gold one, is the one without ads but it's free for now, just like the ad supported one is. I had the ad supported one but just upgraded to the Gold one.

FM

[FrogMan]

Originally Posted by FrogMan

The Sol breed is a level 10 frog so unles you are level 10, you won't see any of them, unless someone sends you one and even then, you won't be able to breed them. I'd recommend you hit the "get new set" button as there is a new set available every week on Wednesday at midnight (between Wednesday and Thursday). This week's set is a set of roboris frogs which is a level 5 breed. If you've played even just a little, you should be close to level 5.

What I, and many other around here I believe, have done is keep in my catalog one the 23 primary colors combined with one of the 16 secondary colors in the anura breed. That way, whenever I need to make a combination, it's fairly easy/cheap to replicate.

FM

and FWIW, this app is a free helper that gives you info regarding all breeds in PF:
App Shopper: Froggydex for Pocket Frogs (Reference)

FM

[Raiders Army]

Originally Posted by Mizzou B-ball fan

That's no different than any other EA game. They offer full unlocks through purchases for the impatient gamers, but the game is set up that you can unlock all those things yourself.

Thanks. $4.99 isn't so pricey now that I know that I can unlock all of the in-purchase apps.

[MikeVic]

Thanks for the answers for "unreading" a txt message.

Another question... and again not app related.

What do people recommend for a sound docking system? I don't want some crazy sound system, but not complete crap either. Or does no one use a sound system for their iPhone/iTouch? I have the iPhone4.

[terpkristin]

In terms of moveable/room-to-room speaker docks, I use iHome variants as well as this one from Logitech: Pure-Fi Express Plus™

The Logitech one actually isn't bad. I've had thoughts of buying the Bose or Klipsch docks but in the end, the Logitech does what I need it to do, which is allow me to play music while I've got friends over and we're playing Wii or we're grilling or while I'm relaxing on the main floor of the house. The remotes always seem to leave something to be desired, on all these systems, though. Between iLounge and Engadget, I've found enough reviews out there to discern between the "pretty decent" and "not worth the time." I wouldn't recommend the iHome anymore. I used to, but I think their quality has gone downhill.

As far as docks that integrate into home stereo systems, I'm still working on figuring out what I want to get for my home stereo (my house is wired so I should be able to do it easily just need to choose a receiver and speakers...and I'm lazy).

/tk

[moriarty]

Originally Posted by MikeVic

What do people recommend for a sound docking system? I don't want some crazy sound system, but not complete crap either. Or does no one use a sound system for their iPhone/iTouch? I have the iPhone4.

I have the Logitech S715 (or something like that), It sounds surprisingly good (much better than you would expect from Logitech) and it's only about $100 ... so maybe not too crazy.

[MikeVic]

Thanks, I'll try out the Logitech ones... Speaking of iHome though, Amazon's Deal of the Day is this:
Amazon.com: iHome iH51 2.1 Micro Bookshelf System with Dual Alarm Clock Radio for iPod (Silver): Amazing Deals Online

tk -- Are these the older iHomes that you still liked, or are these the newer ones that aren't so hot?

[Vince, Pt. II]

Originally Posted by FrogMan

The Sol breed is a level 10 frog so unles you are level 10, you won't see any of them, unless someone sends you one and even then, you won't be able to breed them. I'd recommend you hit the "get new set" button as there is a new set available every week on Wednesday at midnight (between Wednesday and Thursday). This week's set is a set of roboris frogs which is a level 5 breed. If you've played even just a little, you should be close to level 5.

What I, and many other around here I believe, have done is keep in my catalog one the 23 primary colors combined with one of the 16 secondary colors in the anura breed. That way, whenever I need to make a combination, it's fairly easy/cheap to replicate.

FM

Ah, as a completionist, I've been hesitant to "get new set" because I thought I may lose the old set.

For those who have played around a bit, how tough is it to find endangered/legendary breeds in the pond? I'm going to hit level 10 this evening, and I believe that means I've already opened up some breeds that I will only be able to get via gifts or the pond. I haven't really gone "hunting" yet, so I'm curious as to how random it is to find these guys. Also, while I'm all for supporting developers, I haven't sprung for the breeding in any habitat bit yet, so my Froggy Mill typically has a very full nursery - finding a rare breed in the pond sometimes will do me no good because I have no place to put the guy.

I have also set up my Catalog with one of every primary and secondary color. I didn't stick to solely Anuras, but I tried to keep them the cheap ones. I've also set up my habitats so that one of them has a full complement of Scenery. Frogs that are currently in development to be sold are placed in that habitat to increase their value. As Frogman pointed out earlier, the happiness:value correlation is pretty weak, but moving my frogs this way requires little effort on my part and does indeed increase their value, if only by little bits.

Three of my habitats are reserved for one of each breed I've collected so far, and then the others are set up in assembly line fashion. Once the recent batch of frogs matures, they're sold from the nice scenery habitat, and the next closest to mature batch are moved into the nice scenery habitat. It works pretty well, especially now that the frogs are taking so long to develop. I typically leave one of my habitats for the current Award I'm working on.

[FrogMan]

Originally Posted by Vince, Pt. II

Ah, as a completionist, I've been hesitant to "get new set" because I thought I may lose the old set.

You will lose the chance to complete that set but while you wait for a set of frogs maybe 2 levels higher than what you are, there are sets offered that will come and go and you will never be able to complete anyway. Sets are numbered by year and week, so once it resets on Wednesday night, the one for that week that you did not "get" will be gone. At least that's my understanding.

Originally Posted by Vince, Pt. II

For those who have played around a bit, how tough is it to find endangered/legendary breeds in the pond? I'm going to hit level 10 this evening, and I believe that means I've already opened up some breeds that I will only be able to get via gifts or the pond. I haven't really gone "hunting" yet, so I'm curious as to how random it is to find these guys. Also, while I'm all for supporting developers, I haven't sprung for the breeding in any habitat bit yet, so my Froggy Mill typically has a very full nursery - finding a rare breed in the pond sometimes will do me no good because I have no place to put the guy.

Level 10 is Ornatus and Sol and they're not that hard to find. Yeah, you need to spend some time in the pond, but just taming your newly hatched frogs will usually be enough for you to end up finding one of the higher frogs. Only need one...

Originally Posted by Vince, Pt. II

I have also set up my Catalog with one of every primary and secondary color. I didn't stick to solely Anuras, but I tried to keep them the cheap ones. I've also set up my habitats so that one of them has a full complement of Scenery. Frogs that are currently in development to be sold are placed in that habitat to increase their value. As Frogman pointed out earlier, the happiness:value correlation is pretty weak, but moving my frogs this way requires little effort on my part and does indeed increase their value, if only by little bits.

Three of my habitats are reserved for one of each breed I've collected so far, and then the others are set up in assembly line fashion. Once the recent batch of frogs matures, they're sold from the nice scenery habitat, and the next closest to mature batch are moved into the nice scenery habitat. It works pretty well, especially now that the frogs are taking so long to develop. I typically leave one of my habitats for the current Award I'm working on.

You'll find at one point that money really is no issue. I'm at about 200k coins and have been moving between 180k and 225k for about a week and that's by often breeding expensive frogs that I sell the moment they hatch, i.e. for a big loss.

I'll send you an Ornatus and a Sol tonight.

FM

[Lathum]

So I just created a MEatloaf station on Pandora and it may be the best thing ever.

In addition to Meatloaf it has played Billy Joel, American Pie, Journy, Bon Jovi, Aerosmith, Poison, Guns and Roses, Whitesnake, Styx, and others. Great stuff

[Vince, Pt. II]

Originally Posted by FrogMan

You'll find at one point that money really is no issue. I'm at about 200k coins and have been moving between 180k and 225k for about a week and that's by often breeding expensive frogs that I sell the moment they hatch, i.e. for a big loss.

I'll send you an Ornatus and a Sol tonight.

FM

Money is pretty much already not an issue. I just make a batch of "to sell" frogs about once every three "award" batches. Plus I end up selling half my award batches anyway, because they don't turn out correctly.

Thanks for sending me the frogs

[terpkristin]

Originally Posted by MikeVic

Thanks, I'll try out the Logitech ones... Speaking of iHome though, Amazon's Deal of the Day is this:
Amazon.com: iHome iH51 2.1 Micro Bookshelf System with Dual Alarm Clock Radio for iPod (Silver): Amazing Deals Online

tk -- Are these the older iHomes that you still liked, or are these the newer ones that aren't so hot?

I'm not so sure. My old iHome was a few years old, my "new" one about a yaer old. The new one actually doesn't sound bad, it just has a crappy alarm (which is funny for an alarm clock).

Sorry I didn't see this when the deal was still active. It's been an absolutely ridiculous few days, I haven't been able to do most of my web surfing.

/tk

[Pyser]

does anyone know any app developers to hire?

[FrogMan]

Football kicks is a pretty cool timewaster in the "flick a soccer ball towards targets in a goal" category. It's new and can be played in three different ways: beat the clock, beat the wall and sudden death. Graphics are really well done and who didn't like to kick the ball at the net when they were young?

The game is free although there are many in-app purchases possible for gold coins. You don't really need to purchase anything though as every time you play, you earn some gold coin that can be used to customize your soccer player.

FM

[FrogMan]

dola, the animation is kinda funny in the "beat the wall" game, let's say that one way to beat the wall is to kick right at the face of one of the wall members...

FM

[Poli]

My fiance played Press Your Luck the other day. As the computer tried to avoid whammys, my sweet fiance said, "come on whammy!" My first response was, "Did you just call for a whammy on them??"

I had a realization at that point. Of course you want an opponent to have a whammy, but I had never thought about hoping an opponent fails/loses in a game show.

[terpkristin]

Originally Posted by FrogMan

Football kicks is a pretty cool timewaster in the "flick a soccer ball towards targets in a goal" category. It's new and can be played in three different ways: beat the clock, beat the wall and sudden death. Graphics are really well done and who didn't like to kick the ball at the net when they were young?

The game is free although there are many in-app purchases possible for gold coins. You don't really need to purchase anything though as every time you play, you earn some gold coin that can be used to customize your soccer player.

FM

Thanks for the heads up. I've picked it up, but probably won't get to it for awhile. Still going through Doodle God and playing a lot of multiplayer Words With Friends and Carcassone. In my "free" time I'd like to play more Carcassone vs. the computer but I'm spending most of that time either at work or reading. I gotta get my priorities straight if I want to be competitive against you strategy junkies!

/tk

[FrogMan]

for anybody interested, Boggle is free today.

FM

[FrogMan]

Tiny Wings is a new game that has taken the apps store by storm. Very simple controls, it's a one touch thing where you try to make a bird with tiny wings (duh) go up and down hills. Touch the screen going downhill and your bird folds his wings and becomes heavy, building speed then take your finger off the screen to fly. Goal is to go as far as possible during the course of one day, because well, your bird is afraid of flying at night.

Anyway, it's a sort of endless runnign type game with a finite amount of time. Very addictive, it's selling for 99cents.

FM

[PadresFan104]

Originally Posted by FrogMan

Tiny Wings is a new game that has taken the apps store by storm.

Love this game, and have been telling all of my friends about it. Perfect example of a well executed pick-up-and-play, $0.99 game. Still can't get past the 7th island....

And FM, that was a pretty epic 6 week (I think) game of Carcassonne!!! Congrats on the victory!

[FrogMan]

Originally Posted by PadresFan104

And FM, that was a pretty epic 6 week (I think) game of Carcassonne!!! Congrats on the victory!

yeah, that was my first win against you and I was pretty stoked about it.

I don't think we have restarted a game together, right? I have like 9 games going and some weeknights are kinda rough on free time with karate classes and all. I might send you an invite tonight.

FM

[FrogMan]

dola, and I'm still only on the 4th island, but having fun with it. Love the feeling of lightness when I hit a hill just perfectly and my bird goes flying way, way high.

FM

[Glengoyne]

I just stumbled across neuroshimo hex, a board game converted to the iOS. It is a small scale tactical war game played with tiles that represent units or boosters to unit abilities. Four armies or teams are included, each with differing abilities. It is quick, light, and very tactical.

[kingfc22]

Originally Posted by FrogMan

dola, and I'm still only on the 4th island, but having fun with it. Love the feeling of lightness when I hit a hill just perfectly and my bird goes flying way, way high.

FM

My wife this found this game this morning. Very fun and addictive. I've made it to island 6 twice now, but no further.

[terpkristin]

Tiny Wings might put a dent in the progress I make through the book I'm reading and the console games I'm playing.

Made it to the 4th island on my first try, going to have to give it some more gos....

/tk

[samifan24]

In Tiny Wings do you just repeat the game from the beginning until you make it to a certain point? It sounds like you just keep trying to reach the 2nd island, then the 3rd island, all from the same starting point, is that correct?

[FrogMan]

Originally Posted by samifan24

In Tiny Wings do you just repeat the game from the beginning until you make it to a certain point? It sounds like you just keep trying to reach the 2nd island, then the 3rd island, all from the same starting point, is that correct?

yes, it's correct, you always start as you wake up from your nest.

I've gone up to the 6th island and am doing kind of okay in scores but I just can't seem to get that last objective done for my next nest level. I need to get to the 5th island without using one speed drop and that is kinda tricky. Always seem to stumble onto a blue drop at some point. Interesting challenge though...

Another one I actually bought for 99 cents a couple days ago that is free for now (oh well) is Garage Inc. It's a time management set in the prohibition era where you manage a tiny garage, fixing cars and such. Well done, and free, at least for now.

FM

FM

[terpkristin]

Originally Posted by samifan24

In Tiny Wings do you just repeat the game from the beginning until you make it to a certain point? It sounds like you just keep trying to reach the 2nd island, then the 3rd island, all from the same starting point, is that correct?

Yeah, it's another Canabalt-esque game, this time with flying..

/tk

[FrogMan]

I think it's kinda neat that the islands are regenerated every day. That is if you play today, then tomorrow, they will not look the same and coins and speeddrops will not be at the same place...

FM

[FrogMan]

Originally Posted by FrogMan

I've gone up to the 6th island and am doing kind of okay in scores but I just can't seem to get that last objective done for my next nest level. I need to get to the 5th island without using one speed drop and that is kinda tricky. Always seem to stumble onto a blue drop at some point. Interesting challenge though...

You know how it is, went to have lunch and the first time I play the game after lunch, boom, get to 5th island without a speed drop.

was a bit luck though, avoided one drop by just barely jumping over it. Had I pulled my wings just a nanosecond earlier, I'd have landed right on it.

FM

[kingfc22]

Originally Posted by FrogMan

I think it's kinda neat that the islands are regenerated every day. That is if you play today, then tomorrow, they will not look the same and coins and speeddrops will not be at the same place...

FM

Interesting. Did not know that. I've made it to 7 once and haven't been back since.

I'm also on the 18x nest and one of the challenges is to reach island 5 while playing upside down!

[FrogMan]

I'd had Game Dev Story on my Touch for over three months now but had never even fired it up until today. Fun game and I can see it becoming quite addicting.

Game Dev Story's developper Kairosoft also just released their second game called Hot Springs Story.

FM

[Raiders Army]

Downloading Hot Springs Story.

I played Game Dev Story non-stop, but I haven't played it since because I don't want to start something that I can't quit.

[FrogMan]

Make sure to let us know what you think about Hot Springs Story, maybe in comparison to Game Dev Story.

I'm really digging Game Dev Story right now. Lots of fun with it.

In other news, the price of Infinity Blade has been cut to $2.99 from $5.99. I picked it up this morning. Looks like a gorgeous game.

FM

[FrogMan]

Originally Posted by FrogMan

In other news, the price of Infinity Blade has been cut to $2.99 from $5.99. I picked it up this morning. Looks like a gorgeous game.

and coinciding with the sale, Content Pack #2, a free update adding content to the game, was released today.

FM

[DataKing]

Would one of the Pocket Frogs players mind send me a Lanterna? I'm close to finished with the awards (92%) and will need one soon, but I've never gotten my hands on one for whatever reason.

[FrogMan]

Originally Posted by DataKing

Would one of the Pocket Frogs players mind send me a Lanterna? I'm close to finished with the awards (92%) and will need one soon, but I've never gotten my hands on one for whatever reason.

I think I got one when I clicked one of those "install this app and we'll give you this frog" kind of deal. I'll send you a couple tangelo aurun lanternas when I get back home this afternoon.

I'm at 96% done with the challenges. Only need #65 and #66 as well as the huge one, #73 but that I'm I'm a bit off from getting to. Currently have 1526 frogs in my froggydex but 100% done with the Anura breed.

Been doing the sets every week since New Year though.

FM