"If there is an app for that"

Pilots of the Dawn

March 18, 2016 by macjeff

Pilots of the Dawn (Free) by Sapeli Studio Oy is an action-packed, retro dogfighting arcade shooter game. If you’re familiar with the highly-popular Vlambeer classic, Luftrausers, and have been clamoring for an iOS version, well, Pilots of the Dawn is the closest thing you’ll get … for now.

Ever since I heard of and bought Luftrausers on Steam back in 2014, it has earned a spot on my “favorite games of all time” list that I keep in my head. Luftrausers became one of my favorite games because it was from Vlambeer (they make awesome games like Ridiculous Fishing and Super Crate Box), had some awesome sepia-toned retro graphics, and the dogfighting action was downright amazing. Even though I loved playing the game on my laptop, I wished it was available on iOS, since I do most of my gaming that way these days (if not for my 3DS). But honestly, I’m not sure how the controls would translate to touch screen devices, so who knows if we will ever see Luftrausers on mobile. Fortunately, there is now Pilots of the Dawn (PotD) for your mobile dogfighting fix.

In terms of Visuals, PotD has a classic vintage aesthetic that closely resembles what you would find in Luftrausers. In fact, it’s pretty obvious that this entire game has been “inspired” by Vlambeer’s popular title, to the point where one could mistake it for the real thing if they weren’t careful. I do wish that the developers could have been a bit more original in how they chose to present the game, but since Luftrausers is not coming to iOS anytime soon, I guess it’s just something I’ll have to live with. A differentiating factor with PotD is the fact that the game does have different colors to represent day and night cycles, so everything is not just through sepia-colored glasses. The sprites used to represent aircraft and sea-ships are clearly visible against the colored backgrounds, and animations are smooth and fluid. The quirky chiptune soundtrack is fun to listen to, and the sound effects add a nice final touch to the overall package.

There are three game modes in PotD: Endless, Daily, and Campaign. Unfortunately, the Campaign has to be unlocked by scoring enough points in Endless. While it’s a fairly low threshold to cross to unlock, it does take a bit of practice (just like Luftrausers). In Endless, you will just participate in aerial and sea combat with enemy ships until you take enough damage or crash into the terrain, hoping to rack up some points before dying. Daily features a new challenge every day, which are randomly generated, so it’ll always be something different. Unfortunately, the Daily mission will become unplayable until the next day if you choose to go back to the main menu, which I found a bit annoying. Campaign features 30 different missions that players must go through in a test of skill and aerial combat prowess. These missions include objectives like “kill two enemies,” “defeat the boss,” or “survive for 15 seconds.” They are all different and will truly put your skills to the test, so be warned — this game is not for the faint of heart.

The controls in the game are a bit more straightforward than what you had in Luftrausers, but again, it takes a lot of time and practice to master. In PotD, your airship will fire its weapon automatically, so you don’t have to worry about having to manually attack. Instead, there are two buttons in PotD, which are both located in the bottom corners of the screen. The one in the right lets you steer your ship clockwise, and the other goes counter-clockwise. In order to do well in the game, you’ll need to time your turns so that your bullets actually hit the enemies. It can be a bit frustrating at first, but once you get the hang of things, and get a better ship, then it gets better.

Just like with Luftrausers, there are different ships that you can play as. Of course, PotD lacks the customization of different bodies, engines, and weapons, since there are only five pre-built ships for you to choose from. However, each one has its own set of attributes for handling, speed, and hitpoints, which you need to take into consideration before going into combat. These characteristics affect the durability of your plane as well as the controls, so practice is also needed for each one. To unlock the rest, you have to spend your hard-earned coins on them, and they must be unlocked in chronological order, so you can’t just save up 500 coins and go for the last (and probably best) ship without using the other ones first. But since PotD is a free game, you can get them early with in-app purchases.

In addition to just unlocking new and stronger planes, old one scan be improved through upgrades as well. While you’re in the Hangar, just scroll to the ship you want to use, and then select the attribute you want to upgrade. The higher the level, the more it will cost. During fights, you can also fly your ship up higher for the chance of finding power-up items, such as rapid-fire, repair kits, and shields. In similar fashion to Luftrausers, you don’t see how much health your ship has, but the more damage you sustain, the more red the screen becomes. Unfortunately, you don’t regenerate hitpoints if you don’t touch the screen, which is what Luftrausers does (repair your ship slowly by not firing your weapon).

Since I’m a big fan of Luftrausers, I was excited to see this on the App Store, as it’s pretty much the closest thing to Luftrausers on iOS for now. However, most of the time I feel that the game is pretty dependent on luck, as enemies are already shooting at me as I spawn on the map, so I’m already taking a lot of damage as I try and position myself to take them out. I also don’t like that you can’t regenerate your ship if you just don’t touch the screen, as finding power-ups while trying to avoid enemy bullets is a frustrating and difficult. Despite these little annoyances, I am still enjoying the game, since it can differentiate itself a bit from the classic Luftrausers while also retaining a familiar aesthetic. At the end of the day, Pilots of the Dawn is a fun, time-wasting arcade shooter that tests your skills as a dogfighter. Like Luftrausers, the weak need not apply.

I recommend checking out Pilots of the Dawn if you like Luftrausers and have been wanting a similar game for iOS, or just enjoy intense, arcade shooters. Pilots of the Dawn is available as a universal download on the App Store for free with in-app purchases.

Source link: http://appadvice.com/reviews

Dirac

March 18, 2016 by macjeff

Dirac ($1.99) by Mediocre AB is a new connect-the-dots puzzle game that is fast and frantic. If you loved games like TwoDots but want something more challenging and arcade-like, then you’ll want to give Dirac a try.

Ever since Mediocre released hits like Smash Hit and Does Not Commute, I’ve been in love with their work. I spent a lot of time on Smash Hit when it was first released because it was a unique take on the endless runner style gameplay, and Does Not Commute was challenging and full of humorous personas. So naturally, when the news of a new game from them hit my inbox, I was ecstatic. And as a big fan of arcade and puzzle games, I knew Dirac was going to be a hit with me, and probably many others.

Visually, Dirac is beautiful, which is what you’d expect from the studio. I love the stylized CRT-like monitor screen that the game takes place in, as it is an example of some tastefully done skeuomorphism. While the game has a fairly dark background mixed with shades of blue and green, the molecule centered on the screen has a nice glow surrounding it, making it easy to spot. The atoms that are emitted from the molecule, which is appropriately named DIRAC, are tiny but easy to spot due to the bright, neon blue and red coloring. The lines you draw that connect the atoms to each other match the color that you’re connecting, but have their own set of nice animations while connected, or even fizzle out when they get interrupted by an opposite-colored atom or touch the DIRAC itself. The overall animations in the game are smooth and fluid, and there is a soothing, atmospheric soundtrack that is pleasant to listen to. The sound effects are also fun to hear as you play. In terms of design and audio, I believe Mediocre has hit another one out of the park.

In Dirac, players are given the role of an intern at a laboratory, which allows them to work with the DIRAC, the latest in computerized quantum disentanglement technology. Didn’t get a word of that last part? Don’t worry, it’s not that important to enjoy the game. With this intern position though, you have unlimited and unsupervised access to the DIRAC terminal, and your job is to manually disentangle and sort through the macroscopic existence of the microverse. Yes, I know — the terminology is so scientific it sounds like gibberish, but hey, they needed some background for it, right?

There are five different game modes in Dirac: Novicium, Medianium, Extremium, Beyondium, and Absurdium. While all of these modes are made to sound complicated and intelligent, they boil down to Beginner, Normal, Hard, Insane, and Absurd (or something along those lines). It’s pretty straightforward if you think about it. But before you jump into any of those difficulty levels, there is also the Tutorium, which introduces the basic game mechanics to you. I recommend trying that out first so you know how the game works.

Essentially, the molecule in the middle will be emitting particles of light that are colored blue and red. Your job is to “disentangle” them, which involves connecting the like-colored particles together by drawing a line between as many as you can to create a chain. If you can create a full loop for that chain, meaning the last connection is the one you started out with, then you convert all other particles inside that enclosed space to the color you’re connecting, and it nets you more points. There are also glowing molecules that float around, and if you can close a space with that inside, then your score multiplier increases.

However, while that sounds easy, things get difficult since the molecule will begin to emit more particles than you can keep track of, and if the connection touches an opposite-colored particle or the center molecule, then it will fizzle out and you lose those particles you were connecting. This leads to wasted time and less particles to connect for big points, and it also means the DIRAC molecule is depleted faster. Particles emit a sound when they near the edges of the screen, and if they escape, then you are penalized for it. Once the entire molecule is depleted and you don’t make enough connections to fill the gauges at the top of the screen for more molecules, then the game ends. Your score is determined by how many particles you connected, as well as the score multiplier you ended up with. At the end of a game, you also see how long you survived, how many boosts you made, how many points you got from your best move, and the highest multiplier you achieved. As I mentioned, things start out easy enough, but the particles get harder to track as more show up.

I’ve only spent a little time with Dirac so far this week, but I’m loving every second of it so far. The game itself is just beautiful, the music and sounds are delightful, and the controls are intuitive. When you add challenging gameplay and plenty of difficulty levels to satisfy everyone’s skill level, then there’s a winner. I’m a big fan of Mediocre’s games, and hope to see more premium releases like this from them in the future.

I recommend Dirac to anyone who enjoys challenging arcade-style puzzle games. You can find Dirac on the App Store as a universal download for the iPhone and iPad for just $1.99. There are no in-app purchases.

Source link: http://appadvice.com/reviews

Ulysses Mobile

March 18, 2016 by macjeff

Ulysses Mobile ($19.99) by The Soulmen GbR has finally been updated to bring the desktop-class writing experience to your iPhone. Previously, Ulysses was only available on the Mac, then it came onto the iPad. And now the trifecta is now complete with an iPhone version. If you love to write, and write a lot (especially on-the-go), then having Ulysses Mobile on your iPhone will prove to be an invaluable and essential tool.

Ever since I was a kid, I loved writing. I wrote my own stories (as corny as they were at the time), and I always had a lot to write for essays and assignments in school. When I got to high school, I made sure I joined the school paper, as journalism was a thing that interested me. When I got to college, I went after a journalism degree because I love the news and I love writing, so it was a perfect fit for me. Since I ended up at AppAdvice, I truly love what I do — write about iOS apps everyday. Because I am always checking out what is on the App Store and writing, I end up writing a few thousand words a week. For a mobile person, I need a writing editor that can work with me as well.

I only recently bought Ulysses for my Mac a few weeks ago, and have fallen in love with how it handles all of my files and lets me edit them without having to go through the traditional Finder method. While I have an old iPad 3, I hardly ever use it anymore, and so I’ve been eagerly awaiting the arrival of Ulysses on the iPhone, so that I can use it on my iPhone 6s Plus. Now the day has come where it is finally universal, and I put it through its paces. Basically, this is one of the best writing apps a writer could have on their iOS (and Mac) device.

Visually, Ulysses Mobile has a simple and clean aesthetic, which will appeal to all minimalists out there. Honestly, if you show Ulysses Mobile to someone who does not know much about apps, they may think that it’s just another app that comes pre-installed on the iPhone, because it has the barebones iOS look. But don’t be fooled by the simplicity of how the app looks — there are plenty of customization options, the organizational layout is intuitive and straightforward, everything is super responsive, there are plenty of power-user keyboard extensions (great for both writers and coders), fast iCloud syncing, and a ton of different ways to get your writing out of the app. While Ulysses looks like a simple text editor on the surface, it packs quite a punch when it comes to all of your writing needs in one place.

While I’m fairly new to Ulysses, one feature I did love about the Mac version is the fact that you can just add external folders to the file pane, I was a bit disappointed to see that this did not work the same in the iOS version. I’ve been saving all of my writings to Dropbox for the past several years, and it is the primary place where I store my files. Unfortunately, on the iOS version, I am not able to get access to my Dropbox folders, since they put the focus on iCloud syncing. It’s a shame, really, as I don’t entirely trust iCloud, but I’ll have to make-do with it for now, copying my completed files over to Dropbox while I’m using Ulysses on my Mac. Hopefully the developers can reconsider this in the future.

Now, as with any writing environment, you’ll want to make it yours before you fully dive in to it, as it should help you focus on writing when things are set up the way you like. To change how Ulysses looks, just tap on the gear icon when you’re in a sheet (new or existing). You’re able to change all of the editor settings, including font, layout, theme, dark mode toggle for writing at night, text editing, sheet preview, and markdown format. As far as fonts go, users can choose from any of the installed fonts on their device, or install custom fonts by opening an OTF or TFF file in the Ulysses app. I’m a big fan of this, because having the right typeface while writing motivates me to write more and more, and it’s just nice to have a lot of choice when it comes to creating your perfect writing environment.

While Ulysses Mobile places the focus on iCloud, there is still an External Files section in the Library, though Dropbox does not work. However, you can import DOCX, Markdown, or text files from iCloud, or Google Drive, and edit those as you please. Hopefully one day, Dropbox files can be edited directly from Ulysses Mobile as well.

When you want to create a new sheet, just navigate to the Library source you want to add it to, and then tap on the “New Sheet” button that is located in the bottom toolbar. Ulysses will then go into the sheet in editor mode, so you can start writing. To edit files that you already have, just tap on the one you want to work on, and you’ll be in editing mode as well.

As you’re in editing mode, you can do a lot of different things. There’s a magnifying glass that lets you search for keywords in the document, in case you need to replace it with a synonym or just see how many times you used a single word. There is an undo and redo button in case of those writing boo-boos. In the middle of the keyboard extension are three buttons: a hamburger button, a format button, and a Command (⌘) button. Each of these has a different function, with the hamburger being for heading text, comment, code, or source blocks, lists, block quotes, line breaks, indent and outdent, and clearing your markup. The format button lets you format your text for strong (bold), emphasis (italics), links, comment, images, video, footnotes, annotations, and more. The Command button lets you insert the beginning and ends of brackets, parentheses, and other symbols. At the very end of the keyboard extension are two buttons for navigating the cursor left and right.

While there aren’t any workflows (such as Editorial) that you can use in Ulysses to make your life easier, Ulysses Mobile still has an impressive feature set when it comes to writing. Plus, you’re able to see all of the formatting, inserted images and video placeholders, links, and other fun stuff in your text as you write. They’re all color-coded so you can easily differentiate them from one another.

When you’re done with your writings, there are several different ways to get them out of Ulysses Mobile. Just tap on the Share button at the top of the document, and you can choose between HTML, Text, ePub, PDF, DOCX, and even Medium. Then you can change the style depending on the format you chose, as well as the paper format. Once you’re done making your choices on how to export it, tap on the “…” button to see what actions you can take. The file can be sent to or opened in another app, printed, or uploaded to iCloud Drive, Google Docs, or Dropbox.

Despite the fact that I’m still pretty new to the whole Ulysses family, I am in love with the app so far. On the Mac, Ulysses has replaced Byword, and Ulysses Mobile is giving Editorial on my iPhone a run for its money. I love the customization of the app, the super fast syncing (changes are almost instantaneous between my Mac and iPhone), and the powerful keyboard extension makes writing so much easier on-the-go. However, I’m just a bit annoyed that I can’t access my Dropbox folder directly for editing without some workarounds, and I do miss having workflows, though it’s something I can try to get used to. Still, Ulysses Mobile is an excellent writing tool for any writer, and having it available on all of your devices makes it a winner.

I highly recommend giving Ulysses Mobile a try if you haven’t already. It’s a powerful and comprehensive text editor that is flexible enough to work with you, for the most part. You can get Ulysses Mobile on the App Store as a universal download for $19.99 for a limited time (normally $24.99). Ulysses for Mac is also available on the Mac App Store for $44.99. If you already owned Ulysses for iPad, this is a free update. The Mac version was also updated today with many improvements, notably to iCloud syncing with the iOS version.

Source link: http://appadvice.com/reviews

Placeboard – Remember, organize and share your favorite places or locations

March 18, 2016 by macjeff

Placeboard – Remember, organize and share your favorite places or locations ($4.99) by Quentin Mathe is an app to help you remember and organize those places that you love or want to visit. It is similar to other apps that are already out on the market, such as Rego and Picplace.

I love going out and exploring new places to eat or hang out with my friends and family, but when you live in a big city like Los Angeles, keeping track of all of that can be quite a daunting task — it’s a huge city with plenty of smaller cities in it, after all. As I am constantly getting recommendations on new places to eat or check out, I have to keep a list somewhere that I can refer to it later. I use Yelp often for bookmarking, but it’s a damn shame that they think of bookmarks as an afterthought — it’s incredibly hard to get to within the app and even the website. I have been using Rego often since I gave it a whirl in 2014, but I’m always up for checking out new apps that do things similarly to what I already use. I mean, how else will I determine which app works better for my needs? So when I got the news of Placeboard in my inbox, I was intrigued in giving it a try as well.

The design of Placeboard is pretty simple and barebones compared to the competition, so if you are a fan of minimalism, then Placeboard has it. The app features a lot of white with a soothing mint green accent, which I like a lot. The typography is fairly plain and easy to read, the iconography is straightforward, and everything is organized by groups and tags, making it easy to navigate. Instead of relying on just folders and lists, Placeboard makes use of tags, which is the more popular and efficient way of organizing things it seems (this is how I use Evernote). You can even collaborate with other users to create lists of hot spots, which is fantastic for vacations or fun trips with friends and family. If you’ve used other apps like Rego, then it may take a bit of getting used to Placeboard, since some things are a bit different. However, once you get the basics, the app is pretty easy to use.

When you first launch Placeboard, the app will be empty, naturally. To add an item, just tap on the “plus” button in the top right corner. This brings up three options: Place, Tag, or Share List.

If you choose to add a place, Placeboard brings up a screen where you can select the range radius (from 500 feet to infinite), then type in the point of interest that you’re searching for. Placeboard will give you results instantly, and you can see just how far away the place is from your current location. Another option is to drop a custom pin wherever you want, in case you can’t find it in the search results. When you find the one you’re looking for, just tap on it to select it, and then tap the “Add” button in the top right corner. Then it will be under “Unclassified,” though you can tap the item to view it on the map, get business details like address, city, phone number, and even website link. Other things you can do with the spot is give it a rating out of five stars, add tags for organizational purposes, add notes, edit the business information if needed, and add photos to better recognize a spot. There are also buttons so you can get directions in Apple Maps, directly call a business, or visit their website.

When you deal with tags, you can add as many tags as you want, and assign a color to each one. Placeboard is pretty smart about this, as it will automatically hide colors that you’ve already used, though you can tap a toggle to show used colors. Tags will show up on the main view, with the icons shown in the selected color, and you can see how many locations have been added with a particular tag. Once you have accumulated several spots in the app, you can tap on the “Cities” section to view all of the different cities that you have spots added in, and tapping them lets you see what you have. Unfortunately, there is no number badge on the Cities section, so you can’t see how many items are under each location — perhaps the developer can consider changing this in a future update. You can also view “All” if you prefer to see everything you have in the app with one glance, rather than going into separate sections.

By default, Placeboard will show you collections in just a plain list view. However, you can view everything on a map with a tap of a button, and it will display all of your points of interest on the map with pins. This is more of what I’m used to since that is the default view of Rego, so I appreciate being able to see all of my spots on a map at once. You can use multitouch gestures to zoom in and out and pan the map around if need be.

The last option in Placeboard is to create a Share List. This lets you create a new list by giving it a name and color, and you can choose between a Tag List or Share List. A Tag List is similar to just creating a new tag and grouping several places under it, but a Share List lets you invite other users and then collaborate on the selected list, so you are basically crowdsourcing points of interests with your friends and family. Just tap on the “People” section to invite, and then tap on the “plus” button in the list to add places.

Placeboard also keeps a history of all actions that occurred in the app, which is pretty nice. You can view your history by tapping on the clock icon in the bottom tab bar, and you can switch between List or App History. The List History only displays changes that were made to lists, such as adding or removing items, and App History has a full list of what you’ve done in the app, such as editing information, giving ratings, adding items, and more. You can tap on the “Edit” button in the main view to do things like delete lists and tags, or even edit the name and color. The settings in Placeboard have options for changing your distance unit, history size (from 500 to 10,000 actions, though the slider is very inaccurate once you lift your finger from the screen), and how often Shared Lists should be synced. You can also import or export data to and from iCloud Drive, Dropbox, or even Google Drive.

So far, I’m finding Placeboard to be a handy little app to have to keep track of places I love and ones I want to hit up someday. The app itself is minimalistic, pretty easy to use, and has a lot of flexible features to make it work for you. However, I don’t think it will be replacing Rego for me, personally, but it’s a good and cheaper alternative to consider, since it’s a $4.99 price tag versus the $14.99 of Rego. I hope the developer makes some improvements, though, such as adding a number count for spots under each city and an easier and more accurate slider option for app action history. It would also be nice to see other options for directions in the app, such as Google Maps and Waze, instead of just Apple Maps.

I recommend checking out Placeboard if you want a simple app for keeping track of your favorite spots and ones you want to visit one day. Plus, the ability to collaborate with others make this a great app for trip planning.

Placeboard is available on the iPhone App Store for just $4.99. There are no in-app purchases.

Source link: http://appadvice.com/reviews

_PRISM

March 18, 2016 by macjeff

_PRISM ($2.99) by Clint Siu is an atmospheric puzzle game that takes you on a journey through a microcosmic galaxy. If you need to unwind after a long day with an immersive puzzle game on your iOS device, then _PRISM is worth checking out. It has a similar vibe to some other games out on the market, such as Cobe the Gallery and Maestria.

During my time here at AppAdvice, I’ve covered hundreds of games in the past several years. I’ve tried many different genres, and while I pretty much love anything that can just help me pass the time, my favorite is still the good old puzzle game. These are the types of games that stimulate my mind while also putting me at ease, which is something I need even more as of late. I think I’ve tried pretty much every popular puzzle game that there is on the App Store, but as you know, I’m always on the lookout for the next big thing, because variety is definitely the spice of life. So when I got news of _PRISM in my inbox, I was intrigued and had to check it out.

The visuals in _PRISM are absolutely gorgeous. Since it takes place in a self-described “microcosmic galaxy,” the game features dark color gradients in the background that are filled with particles of light that closely resemble stars. The level selection screen resembles a geometric solar system, as there is a large orb in the middle (like a sun) that has different shapes surrounding it, though nothing moves as if in orbit. All of the shapes are fully rendered in 3-D, with silky, reflective surfaces thanks to the stunning lighting system and soft particle effects, and seamless transitions as they expand and collapse during gameplay. The animations in the game are smooth and fluid, with no lag or choppiness on my iPhone 6s Plus. The ambient soundtrack is peaceful and calming, which is delightful to listen to as you play since it should help you focus. Sound effects are whimsical and somewhat mysterious, which only add to the overall charm of the game.

Like other puzzle games, _PRISM features a variety of puzzles that come in multiple stages that you must solve before moving on to the next. The game has a total of 13 levels at the moment, which only total about an hour of gameplay. This is a bit disappointing since it seems so short, but it can also serve as a way to just sit back and relax due to the graphics and music. Hopefully the developer is considering adding more stages in the future, because at the moment, the price is a tad high for what you get.

Controls in _PRISM are simple enough to understand, as everything is pretty straightforward and intuitive. As you go through the puzzles, you’ll be using a combination of multitouch gestures to adjust the camera angle and move lines around in order to find the solution. The objects can be rotated by dragging your finger around, you can pinch to zoom in or out, lines can be rotated by using two fingers, and drag the solid dots to move line patterns into their proper places on the side of the object. When you figure out the answer to one side of the object, another face will light up and you’ll have to go there and solve that part. You repeat this process until you find the solution for all of the lit up sides and complete that shape in the galaxy.

So the game is made up of various shapes and lines, but there’s more to it than that. According to the developer’s app description, each piece of geometry is a symbol of the classical elements that build up our lives and the rest of the world. It’s a bit philosophical for a puzzle game, but I believe it is done incredibly well. The game serves as your own camera lens into these elements and the exploration of each can be done at your own pace, so it’s a nice, meditative experience. For a game that is only made by one person, it’s rather impressive.

I’ve only begun to scratch the surface of what _PRISM has to offer, but so far I’m enjoying the ride. The visuals are downright beautiful, the music is captivating and immersive, the controls feel natural, and the gameplay is rather interesting. If you need a way to relax, then this is the perfect little gem to do so. I just hope to see more content in the future, if at all possible.

I recommend giving the game a try if you want a zen-like puzzle game that you can play at your own pace after a long, hectic day. You can get _PRISM on the App Store as a universal download for your iPhone and iPad for just $2.99. There are no in-app purchases.

Source link: http://appadvice.com/reviews