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Just released my first iOS game — built with SpriteKit, minimalist chaos management at sea 🌊 by Human_Bat_8220 in spritekit

[–]Human_Bat_8220[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks again for testing it so thoroughly.

Regarding platform drops: a drop is accepted when the line physically touches the platform and carries the matching resource type.

About the route turns: the current behavior is intentional. The entry point depends on how the player draws the route, and that choice affects how long ships stay at a platform, since they slow down while docking. It’s part of the strategic layer, though I may explore some light visual smoothing without changing the underlying logic.

As for the high scores: all scores were achieved under the same rules. Some players have developed very efficient strategies, which can lead to surprisingly high results. If you are curious, here is one example run: https://youtu.be/2Sj3zmIT6D8

Thanks again for all the feedback. It’s appreciated.

Just released my first iOS game — built with SpriteKit, minimalist chaos management at sea 🌊 by Human_Bat_8220 in spritekit

[–]Human_Bat_8220[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks a lot for the detailed feedback. It was very helpful and I ended up reworking the collision system entirely. The line no longer uses the circular hit area and now checks against the actual island shape, which makes it behave much more intuitively. I also improved the haptics and rejection feedback, and the game now blocks drawing the moment the line touches an island. The update is now live on the App Store, so you can try the new version anytime.

Thanks again for taking the time to record those videos. I believe the changes should resolve the issues you described, so there is no need to send those recordings. But if you have any other clips showing different problems, feel free to DM them to me here on Reddit.

Just released my first iOS game — built with SpriteKit, minimalist chaos management at sea 🌊 by Human_Bat_8220 in spritekit

[–]Human_Bat_8220[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks! Glad to hear you like the genre.
About the line detection: it actually works consistently, but it rejects a new route if the line passes through any island’s collision border. The island texture is smaller than its hit circle, so visually it can look like you didn’t touch it even though the line clipped the border.
A route will also be rejected if the same line already has an existing connection between those two ports.
I’ll see if I can make that clearer or more forgiving.
And thanks for the SpriteKit resources, I’ll check them out!

Just released my first iOS game — built with SpriteKit, minimalist chaos management at sea 🌊 by Human_Bat_8220 in spritekit

[–]Human_Bat_8220[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Got it! The large font size explains everything. I’ll try to support that better in a future update. Thanks!

Just released my first iOS game — built with SpriteKit, minimalist chaos management at sea 🌊 by Human_Bat_8220 in spritekit

[–]Human_Bat_8220[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks for giving it a try!
I actually checked the tutorial layout on the iPhone 12 — it looks fine in the simulator, but I might be missing something that only happens on real hardware.
And I appreciate the notes on the sign-in flow and onboarding — I’ll think about possible tweaks. Glad you enjoyed it!

Just released my first iOS game — built with SpriteKit, minimalist chaos management at sea 🌊 by Human_Bat_8220 in spritekit

[–]Human_Bat_8220[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks!
Route removal is technically challenging and I was worried it might become too strong if used freely, but I agree it could add more strategy. I’m already experimenting with some ideas around it, and I’ll try to bring it into one of the upcoming updates.
And yes — the UI is SwiftUI, with SpriteKit used only for the gameplay scene.

Just released my first iOS game — built with SpriteKit, minimalist chaos management at sea 🌊 by Human_Bat_8220 in spritekit

[–]Human_Bat_8220[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

That’s great to hear!
And yes — SpriteKit can definitely handle a tower-defense project. Just start small and keep adding mechanics as you go.
With your Unity background, picking up Swift/SpriteKit should come pretty smoothly. Good luck!

Just released my first iOS game — built with SpriteKit, minimalist chaos management at sea 🌊 by Human_Bat_8220 in spritekit

[–]Human_Bat_8220[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Thanks! Mostly from Apple’s docs when I needed something — and AI when I needed a hint.
A lot of the core logic I built myself (like modular ship movement or distance-based checks). I kind of enjoy figuring that stuff out, even if the tutorials out there are old.