After a short break, Superforce is now available on the App Store again.

I just got a notice from Apple that Superforce has been removed from the App Store. Oh no!

Luckily, it was not due to violation of any of the intricate compatibility or privacy rules… it just had not been updated for a while. Not fresh enough!

I’m going to prepare a new build, test it on as many recent devices as I can get my hands on and submit it for review. Superforce is coming back to the App Store soon.

Here’s a 3D rendering of a scene from Superforce, made with Blender. If I ever release another update (or sequel) to Superforce, I might get back to this, add some explosions & other SFX and use it as a proper cover image.

And here’s a quick animation. It’s just a concept so the 3D scene doesn’t match the screenshot but I see some potential for this kind of presentation.

OUT NOW!!! gargle and expel presents the Superforce videogame soundtrack featuring remixes by Filtercutter and Karaoke Tundra!

Listen on Bandcamp.

Superforce 1.2 is out now on the App Store. This version brings:

• iPad support
• High resolution textures
• Improved menu animations

Pushed a quick Superforce update to the App Store. Version 1.1.1 fixes an issue which could prevent the game from launching on some devices.

It turned out to be a rather nasty bug involving ARM memory alignment requirements and a memory mapped file… ugh.

You will not believe this… My new game Superforce is out now for iOS. Download it on the App Store. There’s lots of shooting and many, many explosions. Enjoy & take care.

I have a working build of Superforce running on Mac OS X. Am I going to release it? Nope. So what is it for?

The iOS Simulator is fast enough for running apps. It is way better than the Android emulator, but it’s not fast enough to run a game at 60FPS. And it is completely useless for running a game that is controlled by the accelerometer. There’s a way around that, but it’s too complicated for my taste. I want to iterate quickly, so I’ve invested some time to optimize my workflow.

Setting up a Mac build has paid off almost immediately.

The Mac version starts super quickly and runs smoothly at 60FPS. I can comfortably control it with keyboard and mouse. Another big advantage is that it can read and write files in the filesystem. This is required for the built-in level editor. It also helped me identify a few areas in my code which had problems on a 64-bit architecture. I was able to fix those without ever running the game on a 64-bit iOS device.

Superforce is a one man project. It has a limited scope. Instead of generating tons of content, I’m focusing on making the core mechanics as good as possible, adding some nice details and generally having fun making it.

Design goals

• Easy to play
• Simple controls
• Quick 5 minute sessions
• Destruction = fun
• iPhone only

Non-goals

• Storyline
• Enemy & weapon variety
• Boss fights
• Huge number of levels
• Launch on multiple platforms

Would be nice

• Achievements
• Global highscores

For a sequel

• In-game shop with upgrades
• iPad version
• Mac version with level editor

Pricing

• Single purchase game
• No ads
• No free-to-play bullshit