Neat iPhone apps

[spleen1015]

Originally Posted by britrock88

Sent you one, spleen.

Good game. I knew I was in trouble when you started laying down the long routes.

[DataKing]

Pocket Planes: I ended up with two Starship Engines as a result of the Comic-Con event, but no Starship Body. If anyone is interested in a trade, let me know.

[Barkeep49]

DK what level are you at?

[DataKing]

Originally Posted by Barkeep49

DK what level are you at?

Just hit Level 21. I'm flying to all of the Class 2 and 3 cities in South and Central America, and I'm in the process of filling out North America as well. I've got terminals in Chicago, New York, and L.A. as well as a handful of U.S. Class 2 cities.

Current fleet is as follows:
1 Mohawk (2x extended range, runs exclusively between Lima and Easter Island)
4 Birchcraft (2 Passenger, 2 Cargo)
4 Pearjets (2 Passenger, 2 Cargo)
6 AeroEagles (3 Passenger, 3 Cargo)

The FogBuster (8-seater, Class 3) opens up at level 20, and I have the parts to build two of them, but I need to rearrange my hubs before I can use them properly. Currently all my cargo runs through Caracas and all my passengers run through Bogota, but those are Class 2 cities.

Probably more information than anyone here wanted, but too bad.

[wahoomac]

Originally Posted by DataKing

Pocket Planes: I ended up with two Starship Engines as a result of the Comic-Con event, but no Starship Body. If anyone is interested in a trade, let me know.

I got an extra Starship Body, if you want. I ended up with a full set + the extra body, so I don't need anything back.

Wahoo_Mac on Game Center.

[DataKing]

Originally Posted by wahoomac

I got an extra Starship Body, if you want. I ended up with a full set + the extra body, so I don't need anything back.

Wahoo_Mac on Game Center.

Thank you sir.

[Barkeep49]

So DK has a pretty firm Hub system. I've been going with a different tact: I generally try to fill a plane with the farthest distance possible. If I can't fill a plane this way I choose the nearest city I can brake even flying to (normally requires 2 or 3 slots) and then fill the rest with the most expensive non-layover passengers/cargo I can. Anyone have thoughts about which is the better method?

[BrianD]

Originally Posted by Barkeep49

So DK has a pretty firm Hub system. I've been going with a different tact: I generally try to fill a plane with the farthest distance possible. If I can't fill a plane this way I choose the nearest city I can brake even flying to (normally requires 2 or 3 slots) and then fill the rest with the most expensive non-layover passengers/cargo I can. Anyone have thoughts about which is the better method?

I'm doing something similar to you, except I don't generally deal with layovers much. I have mostly been letting the plane site idle for a job-refresh and hope to be able to launch the plan, full, then. I get good value for every minute in the air, but the more time spent idle is probably very inefficient.

I'd like to go with the hub strategy, but I have trouble pulling the trigger on it.

[DataKing]

I will say this much for the Hub approach; layovers become a bit of a balancing act. I'm actively trying to keep my layovers between 75% and 90% of capacity. This seems to provide me with the opportunity to usually fill my planes with cargo or passengers all headed to the same destination as soon as they have disembarked their current load in Caracas or Bogota. That being said...

1. Balancing gets a bit tricky when I'm pushing 90% of layover capacity, and sometimes I have to specifically return to my hub with planes at less-than-capacity to relieve the pressure (assuming I can't find enough cargo or passengers to fill out the plane specifically with Bogota or Caracas as their destination).

2. When I get under 75% threshold, I find myself filling out a plane with less-valuable, locally generated passengers or cargo, in order to get the 25% bonus and still build my layover levels back up.

3. It gets really annoying when one of your hubs is closed due to bad weather. I've had half my fleet stuck on the ground before when this happens.

4. There is a limit to how much a hub can support, even with a level 3 upgrade (that's where I'm at with both of my hubs), and I believe I am pretty much at that threshold with my current fleet. I have to move my hubs to bigger cities before I can expand my fleet any further.

[Passacaglia]

I've got a couple apps that started crashing every so often, but now crash all the time before I can do anything. Is there a common fix for this? Or is it just that my 3G can't handle them (even though they used to be able to fine)?

[samifan24]

Originally Posted by Passacaglia

I've got a couple apps that started crashing every so often, but now crash all the time before I can do anything. Is there a common fix for this? Or is it just that my 3G can't handle them (even though they used to be able to fine)?

Which apps are they?

Did you recently update these apps?

It may be possible that your 3G can't handle them, no matter what you do. I'd be willing to guess that's the cause of it but just wanted to ask to be sure.

[spleen1015]

Great game, brit. You almost had me. I got the last 2 cards I needed to finish my last route the turn before you went to 0 wagons. Very lucky, I was.

[britrock88]

Yeah, nice game. A shame I couldn't knock you off with a 45-car route!

[AnalBumCover]

One of my planes was flying upside down!

[panerd]

Originally Posted by Passacaglia

I've got a couple apps that started crashing every so often, but now crash all the time before I can do anything. Is there a common fix for this? Or is it just that my 3G can't handle them (even though they used to be able to fine)?

New Star Soccer did this for me. Was a really fun time waster but not enough so to go on the forums and get a fix. Shame though really enjoyed that one.

[rowech]

Originally Posted by panerd

New Star Soccer did this for me. Was a really fun time waster but not enough so to go on the forums and get a fix. Shame though really enjoyed that one.

Double tap the home key to bring up active apps, hold down on one, close the ones you're not using. I was told to do this daily. No clue if it's valid or not but I haven't had any crashes for a couple of weeks.

[panerd]

Originally Posted by rowech

Double tap the home key to bring up active apps, hold down on one, close the ones you're not using. I was told to do this daily. No clue if it's valid or not but I haven't had any crashes for a couple of weeks.

Thanks but my problem is problem a glitch that happened when I ordered the pay version. Now every time I attempt to start up New Star Soccer it brings up the "Enter Apple Password" notification box and then after I enter it crashes. I tried deleting and reloading and it still does the same thing. Maybe I will head over to their forum tonight its not like I am doing anything super productive.

[AnalBumCover]

Pocket Planes: a little time-saving trick I accidentally discovered. When loading a plane, tap and hold the Load button and after about a second the plane will fill available spots with passengers and cargo going to the same destination city.

[QuikSand]

My 6yo daughter and I are enjoying Pocket Planes a good bit, thanks for the tip, all.

We're still mired in the 1-2 seat stages, so anyone who has junk that's giftable, I'm Quik$and and in the FOFC group (whatever that means).

[terpkristin]

spleen: Thanks for handing me my tuckus in TTR. I very obviously don't get the strategy of that game (hell it was only halfway into our game that I learned you didn't have to pick from the face-up cards :facepalm. You up for playing again? I'll challenge if you are.

/tk

[britrock88]

GG, spleen. Quite a number of cross-country tickets you were able to punch there. I'm going to wait a couple days to send you a new one so I can get through studying/exams first.

[QuikSand]

Originally Posted by AnalBumCover

Pocket Planes: a little time-saving trick I accidentally discovered. When loading a plane, tap and hold the Load button and after about a second the plane will fill available spots with passengers and cargo going to the same destination city.

Tried this but didn't work - maybe just for larger planes?

[BrianD]

Originally Posted by QuikSand

Tried this but didn't work - maybe just for larger planes?

Check to make sure you hate the latest version. This functionality came with the most recent patch.

[Passacaglia]

Originally Posted by samifan24

Which apps are they?

Did you recently update these apps?

It may be possible that your 3G can't handle them, no matter what you do. I'd be willing to guess that's the cause of it but just wanted to ask to be sure.

New Star Soccer
Euchre Online
Dice Soccer crashes every so often, but is still playable.

[QuikSand]

Still way behind the hotshots in Pocket Planes, but I bet I outpace you all in pink aircraft. My daughter loves the painting and costumes, and is solid with flight strategy as well. We just broke into Bogota and Caracas, and can start using level 2 airports more wisely. Fun game.

[DataKing]

Busted out my first Class 3 aircraft yesterday (Fogbusters) in order to cash in on the Olympics in London.

[rowech]

What is he general opinion of Splashtop?n is it a safe program to use? How much info would splashtop get off my computer?

[terpkristin]

Don't know much about Splashtop. I use RDP Lite on my iPad to remote desktop. I use it in conjunction with the Cisco VPN software to remote desktop from my iPad into my work computer. Works like a champ. Actually, I can use both on my iPhone, too, but the screen is so small it ends up requiring a bit of navigation...too much.

On the game front, either Touch Arcade or TUAW did a little thing last week about the game 10000000 (7 0's). It's a $1.99 universal app that is a spin on the match-3 game. Kind of like Puzzle Quest, you match the items to make attacks, unlock doors, or gather materials to make your weapons and such stronger. It's simple in design and concept but I'm enjoying it a lot more than I did Puzzle Quest. The web-version of the iTunes store link is here: App Store - 10000000

Ah, it was Touch Arcade. This is the review I read that got me into it: 10000000 Review | Touch Arcade

Edit to add:Touch Arcade also did an interview with the guy that made the game as a part of their podcast, in case anyone is interested: http://toucharcade.com/2012/08/01/th...y-eight-games/

/tk

[terpkristin]

Dola,

Amazon today released an Amazon Instant Video app for iPad only. As on the Roku and other devices, Amazon Prime members stream the Prime Instant Videos for free. Or, you can rent or buy any of the other videos from the Amazon Instant Video store. If you buy or rent them, you can download them to the iPad for offline viewing (or so I've read--haven't tried it yet).

If this ever comes to Apple TV, I might trade out my Roku for an Apple TV. I'm surprised that Amazon offers the app and that Apple allows it...this is one thing that used to be "Amazon Fire only." It's nice to see it on the iPad now, too.

/tk

[PadresFan104]

Originally Posted by terpkristin

On the game front, either Touch Arcade or TUAW did a little thing last week about the game 10000000 (7 0's). It's a $1.99 universal app that is a spin on the match-3 game. Kind of like Puzzle Quest, you match the items to make attacks, unlock doors, or gather materials to make your weapons and such stronger. It's simple in design and concept but I'm enjoying it a lot more than I did Puzzle Quest. The web-version of the iTunes store link is here: App Store - 10000000

Ah, it was Touch Arcade. This is the review I read that got me into it: 10000000 Review | Touch Arcade

Edit to add:Touch Arcade also did an interview with the guy that made the game as a part of their podcast, in case anyone is interested: The TouchArcade Show - Bonus - Interview With Eighty Eight Games | Touch Arcade

/tk

10000000 is a great game. Very addicting....

[stevew]

Thanks for the heads up, tk

[samifan24]

Originally Posted by terpkristin

Dola,

Amazon today released an Amazon Instant Video app for iPad only. As on the Roku and other devices, Amazon Prime members stream the Prime Instant Videos for free. Or, you can rent or buy any of the other videos from the Amazon Instant Video store. If you buy or rent them, you can download them to the iPad for offline viewing (or so I've read--haven't tried it yet).

If this ever comes to Apple TV, I might trade out my Roku for an Apple TV. I'm surprised that Amazon offers the app and that Apple allows it...this is one thing that used to be "Amazon Fire only." It's nice to see it on the iPad now, too.

/tk

Yep. The only downside is that the iPad app doesn't support Airplay Mirroring to Apple TV.

[QuikSand]

Pocket Planes update.

Game has mostly run its course for me, though I'm still at it. We started in Central America, and now cover the major cities in both NA and SA, plus Honolulu and most recently into London, Lagos, and Istanbul. I am enthralled by loading up for the big super flight, even though I suspect it's an imperfect strategy overall.

Would be game for making a team effort on a global event at some point,mthat might be an interesting twist. for now, thinking Honolulu to Tokyo is my main goal.

[terpkristin]

On a related note, I've been playing Tiny Tower for ages and am still playing it. My tower is up to 148 floors, I've gotten all the achievements, and only have 2 of the "weekly" challenges left. I admit, I don't play it "a lot," but I play when I need to calm down...there is something I find oddly relaxing about stocking, finding homes for residents, trying to get the "optimal" residents, etc. Nimblebit has made two recent updates which are kinda cool:
1) you can now save VIPs. This makes it so that you can save up to 5 VIPs, such as real estate agents or construction workers, which is particularly helpful
2) You can now trade in bux (a lot of bux) to select which type of floor will be built, or you can select a random floor for just the cost of building the floor (no extra bux).

I've played so much that I only have 2 or 3 types of each floor type left that I can build. I don't know what I'm going to do when I've built all the floors that there are to build...

/tk

[Izulde]

Kairosoft releases Cafeteria Nippon for IOS.

[Neon_Chaos]

Hell yes. Something better, finally!

[Izulde]

Yeah I haven't bought it yet, but it's got to be better than the shitfest couple releases they had prior to this. Venture Towns and Epic Astro Story both sucked the big one.

[Neon_Chaos]

Originally Posted by Izulde

Yeah I haven't bought it yet, but it's got to be better than the shitfest couple releases they had prior to this. Venture Towns and Epic Astro Story both sucked the big one.

I am playing it right now. Definitely much much MUCH better than Veture Towns and Epic Astro.

[FrogMan]

I like match-3 games with RPG elements. I bought 10000000, then saw another one called Puzzle Dungeons that I bought too but both these were of the "switch two tiles to make matches" type of match-3 game and I have now realized that I like these games much more when you trace a line of similar items, à la Dungeon Raid. Now I think I've found one that's pretty awesome: Puzzle Craft.

Part town build, part match-3 line sequence game, it is very neat. You collect items by matching up, then use the collected items to improve your town. You can either harvest or mine, two places where you collect different types of items. You can after that hire people that will make you collect items faster, or build buildings that will allow you to increase what types of good items will appear when you play. Every mini game is a finite number of turns, so in that, it's a bit more casual, no clock battle per se.

I like it a lot, it's selling for 99 cents...

FM

[Passacaglia]

Originally Posted by Neon_Chaos

CURSE YOU FM!

I'm addicted.

For my front-three, I have

MID Steve Jeopary
FWD Ray Beeze - CF
FWD Antonio Lucacci

Damn near unstoppable because of the Through Ball mechanic, and Ray Beeze's 1-1-1-2-6-7 stat!

Breeze and Jeopardy together just rock. I put them together somewhere in Season 2, and I've finished Season 4 without ever replacing them, just bringing in new center forwards. Since Season 5 is "Coming Soon" I'm getting bummed that I can't figure out how to do multi-player. It keeps telling me to use the most recent version, but when I go to the app store, there's no update for it.

[stevew]

The Epic Meal Time game is pretty fun if you like the show.

[Barkeep49]

Originally Posted by FrogMan

I like match-3 games with RPG elements. I bought 10000000, then saw another one called Puzzle Dungeons that I bought too but both these were of the "switch two tiles to make matches" type of match-3 game and I have now realized that I like these games much more when you trace a line of similar items, à la Dungeon Raid. Now I think I've found one that's pretty awesome: Puzzle Craft.

Part town build, part match-3 line sequence game, it is very neat. You collect items by matching up, then use the collected items to improve your town. You can either harvest or mine, two places where you collect different types of items. You can after that hire people that will make you collect items faster, or build buildings that will allow you to increase what types of good items will appear when you play. Every mini game is a finite number of turns, so in that, it's a bit more casual, no clock battle per se.

I like it a lot, it's selling for 99 cents...

FM

You might like Cradle of Rome 2 (which I guess is selling for 4.99 now; I know I got it for either free or .99).

[law90026]

Just got PuzzleCraft (99cents), which is combi Match-3 game with a townbuilding aspect. There is IAP involved but I haven't reached a stage yet where I actually need to spend real money to progress.

[QuikSand]

There's a global Pocket Planes event in Delhi for the next few days, Elisa and I are going after the bonus as part of the FOFC flight crew. We were already there, now upgraded our airport there, we're in.

[Raiders Army]

Originally Posted by law90026

Just got PuzzleCraft (99cents), which is combi Match-3 game with a townbuilding aspect. There is IAP involved but I haven't reached a stage yet where I actually need to spend real money to progress.

I'm addicted to PuzzleCraft right now. Great game and well worth $0.99. I'm at the point where I get a bunch of diamonds and gold nuggets as well as cows and apples. My next step is to get a City Hall.

[FrogMan]

Originally Posted by Raiders Army

I'm addicted to PuzzleCraft right now. Great game and well worth $0.99. I'm at the point where I get a bunch of diamonds and gold nuggets as well as cows and apples. My next step is to get a City Hall.

Dang, you must be playing a whole lot more than I do. I've yet to see diamonds and cows in my game... But I really like it. I find it casual, yet with a purpose. And all the bonus you get in game make it fun to play the minigames without feeling like you absolutely have to spend realy money...

FM

[Raiders Army]

That's true, but it's pretty easy to get to the diamonds/gold and apples/cows. (BTW the apples look like tomatoes to me)

Strategy-wise, workers are your best bet. Don't buy the workers in the hire workers screen. They really make it easy to get materials.

I'm having a hard time getting enough building blocks and dirt at this point. I have diamonds/gold and apples/cows appearing sporadically when I mine/farm, which makes it easier. I don't even use many tools at this point.

[Raiders Army]

Got my castle yesterday in PuzzleCraft. Nice game and I didn't have to do any in-app purchases to get everything. Still working on getting all the workers though.

[FrogMan]

Originally Posted by Raiders Army

Got my castle yesterday in PuzzleCraft. Nice game and I didn't have to do any in-app purchases to get everything. Still working on getting all the workers though.

that's cool. I've really slowed down my Puzzle Craft playing lately as I just rediscovered Junk Jack.

JJ is a Terraria type 2D mining/crafting/farming/breeding type of game. They added breeding or at least I realized it was in the game with the latest update. I'm playing it kinda hardcore in that I'm not looking on the web to get the crafting recipes. In game, you get them from crates you find while digging, so I'm digging around and learning. Not even up to farming or breeding yet but looking forward to it...

FM

[terpkristin]

The iOS App of the Week at Starbucks this week (until Tuesday) is Scribblenauts Remix. I found this out from a number of Apple-related websites that said it was worth picking up. It's normally 99 cents, so I guess it isn't that much of a deal, but if you have a Starbucks near you, you might want to try to get a code. Scribblenauts Remix Site (beware the site makes noise at you by default and you have to hit TWO off switches...this alone makes me not want to pay them 99 cents). Apparently the game is for iPhone and iPad and uses iCloud synchronization to allow seamless switching between devices.

Anyway, I have 3 codes to give. If you want a code, post here in the thread. First 3 get 'em. Valid only in the US app store, per the back of the card...

/tk