Universal Build prt. 2

allc1865

I've been looking up universal build tutorials to make my game fit all devices.
The thing is that I've already created my game - it's finished. But i did it on the iPhone 6+. The videos I watched were starting from scratch on a iPad. Is there still hope for my game being universal?

colander

Vertical scrollers are best done in iPad, this is due to the differing aspect ratios of devices. Of the platforms available in Creator using landscape, iPad at 4:3 is at one end of the aspect ratio and iPhone 6 at approximately 16:9 is at the other end of the aspect spectrum. Overscan increase or decreases magnification until it fill the screen. Depending on your starting platform and the device being overscaned to, the two sides or the top and bottom will be off the screen.

If you can imagine laying your iPhone 6+ over an iPad and increasing the magnification until the top and bottom of the iPhone 6+ screen touches the top and bottom of the iPad screen the two sides of the game will be off the screen on the iPad and you will not be able to see or play in these areas. This is not good for a vertical scroller but great for a side scroller and doesn't affect a map scroller.

If you reverse this situation and create your game in iPad the top and bottom move off the screen on you iPhone 6+, not a problem for a vertical scroller but not ideal for a side scroller. This is also true if you use stretch with camera adjustments.

Your choices are rewrite in iPad (Best option) or restrict your playing area so it is not off the screen on an iPad. I know I said "Yes you can" in my original answer but I should have said "Yes you can with some work and it may not be ideal", sorry about that.

If you have a HUD you will also need to use some rules in your actors to adjust their positions and maybe their size to fit different aspects. I have a paid template at http://gshelper.com/shop/gamesalad-templates/universal-binary-template/ you can use with all that in it or you can search the forums for a free solution and there are a few of them which might work just as well for you.

The link to the instructions in my signature below works and gives you a lot more information on this subject. The other links don't work. I have let my pro subscription lapse due to work commitments elsewhere. I will be renewing it soon and will update them then.

EDIT: Signature links updated.

colander

If you are going to rewrite it wouldn't use iPhone 4 platform for a vertical scroller only iPad it gives the best result. It is a major pain to change now but the result is worth it. Remember you are creating a UB so you can test it on your iPhone 4, you don't have to create it on that platform.

There are some project converters out there which will convert your game to iPad just do a search for them. They aren't perfect you will still have to adjust everything and change all your art to suit the new sizes.

I wrote my first game Kicka for Kids a vertical scroller on the iPhone 4 platform because I owned one at the time. Big mistake I ended up having to create two binaries one for iPad and one for everything else. A year and three more apps later I went back and rewrote it in iPad it is now one binary and it fits all devices. It took all that development experience and hundreds of hours to develop the code in the template, it was worth it. I now know what platform to start in for any style of game I might write and using the template it will automatically fit all the other platforms.

Most of us just jump in and start creating our first game and only think about UB's when it is time to publish. It is hard to say what you can do without seeing your game. If you want you can pm me and I will have a look at it and give you more specific advice.

colander

Yes you can. What type of game is it, side scroller, vertical scroller, map scroller, non scrolling or mixed?

allc1865

@colander, it's a vertical scroller.

allc1865

@colander, thank you for the explanation! I guess I'll have to fit everything to iPad manually...40 levels though...

Let me ask this.
Could I make my game universal for the iPhone 4?
I tried this in the preview and I think I switched it to "stretch" and it fit, but I needed to move my controls over and other items that were in my HUD.
Instead of me doing this for all my levels, could I just use a universal tutorial?
I ask because most of the tutorials I watched were for iPad.

I'm more so at a lost. I developed this for an iPhone 6+, but plans changed and I'm getting an iPhone 4 and that'll be the phone I test on.
The things you learn developing an app.

Thank you

allc1865

Hey @colander , thanks so much for the ton of advice you gave me. I'll create my games on iPad from now on.

As for this game that I need converted to legacy iPhone, I've figured it out, thank the Lord

Thank you for your help!