I'd like to gauge the interest of Aquaria fans (and potential new fans) in the idea of an Aquaria game for iPhone. It wouldn't be a port - instead it would be a new game that features a character other than Naija and would continue the story of the original Aquaria game from the new character's perspective. It would also be very easy for a player who hadn't played through the first Aquaria game to pick up and get into the game. In essence, it would work both as a standalone game and a companion game to the original.

The game would be a bit more open-ended and feature a new magic system based on multitouch controls. The main character, not being Naija, has a different set of abilities. The game play would likely feature more on exploration and puzzle-solving than on action, but action would still play an important role.

Anyways, I'm curious if any Mac fans are interested in this idea, and if so, what price point and game play length would consider appropriate.

I was thinking anywhere from $2.99 - $9.99 for anywhere from 2 to 8 hours of gameplay.

Interested to hear your thoughts.

I would be very interested. Price and length are difficult to talk about without knowing what you are planning but I'm in the market for a quality story driven game for my iPod touch and I would pay $9.99 for it.

I don't have an iPhone, but I do have a Wii. Aquaria would be a perfect game for that platform. If you could get it on there, that would be awesome.

If you make an app for the iPhone, how easy is it to get it running on OS X too?

@guy, on Nov 14 2008, 09:52 PM, said in Aquaria for iPhone:

If you make an app for the iPhone, how easy is it to get it running on OS X too?

Depends on how multitouch is used. If its required to play the game, it might not be possible to port to a PC/Mac.

Also this new Aquaria would work perfectly fine on iPod Touches. (which is what I have)

I was going to ask about iPod Touches, because that's what I'd like to get. No iPhone for me.

Wouldn't mind $9.99 if it were eight hours of gameplay, especially because I could replay it, and with an iPhone/iPod Touch it's an easy game to play for a bit, set down or do something else, and then start up again.

Don't do it! It's a terrible idea! Nobody will buy it!

Heh. I'm just jealous because I have neither iPhone nor iPod Touch, and will probably never get to play it. It actually sounds like a great idea and a perfect fit for the platform.

Actually, when I started playing Aquaria, the iTouch platform was my first thought. Maybe it's because I've grown so accustomed to my iPod Touch, but playing Aquaria on the computer feels to me like it's not the right platform.

I like the game so far (bar my small problem with the

Spoiler

door in the Cave of Verse

(see the "Here it is" topic)), but it really feels like the perfect platform for it is the iTouch.
You know, some games you wouldn't want to have on an iTouch. Others, on the other hand, you can't really imagine as being as fun on a computer.

In terms of price, I tend to avoid 9.99 dollar games, because of the lack of demos for those ones. Usually, I wait, hoping that there'll be a sale (Imaginationland, for example, which dropped from 9.99 to 2.99 and even to 1.99 for a couple of days; another example is Nanosaur 2, though I'd already played Nanosaur 1 on a Mac), so that I know the quality-price ratio is (slightly more) in my favour.
This kind of explains the fact that I haven't bought a single ASW iPhone app so far (the other part of the explanation being that those aren't my kind of games anyway).

When you say "2 to 8 hours of gameplay", Alec, how does that compare to the computer version?

@pace, on Nov 15 2008, 04:48 AM, said in Aquaria for iPhone:

When you say "2 to 8 hours of gameplay", Alec, how does that compare to the computer version?

Well the released, original Aquaria tends to take players anywhere from 12-18 hours to complete the first time, I believe. (depending on how much they delve into secrets and exploring the world) I've also seen saves as high as 20-40 hours for some players. Once a player has played through the game and understands all the ins and outs of it, its definitely possible to do speed runs.

Some of the changes made to the game play might affect those numbers as well - I'm not entirely sure how yet.

@cheleball, on Nov 15 2008, 06:50 AM, said in Aquaria for iPhone:

Don't do it! It's a terrible idea! Nobody will buy it!

Heh. I'm just jealous because I have neither iPhone nor iPod Touch, and will probably never get to play it. It actually sounds like a great idea and a perfect fit for the platform.

Same here.

I needed 23 hours for the first play through Aquaria but I missed not a single secret or treasure and that was far more important to me than doing it fast.
(If there is a secret I missed than it's likely a very good hidden secret because it got never mentioned in the Bit Blot Forums.)

I'd definitely be interested in an iPhone/iTouch Aquaria game. I've purchased very few games, but something like this would be on my "must buy" list.

Assuming that I have enough credit in my iTMS account, or am old enough to get a debit card without parental permission (just under a year to go! WOO!), I would definitely buy this.

@bitblotalec, on Nov 15 2008, 09:04 PM, said in Aquaria for iPhone:

I've also seen saves as high as 20-40 hours for some players.

Yeah, mine was 38 :rolleyes:. I guess that includes testing though.

The more I play this game, the more I think it would be right at home on the Wii. You could use the on screen cursor to direct Naija, it would be far more accurate than a mouse, and I'm sure there are enough buttons/joysticks/hat buttons on the Wiimote+Nunchuck to replicate all the controls from the computer based version of Aquaria.

@jacabyte, on Nov 15 2008, 02:52 PM, said in Aquaria for iPhone:

The more I play this game, the more I think it would be right at home on the Wii. You could use the on screen cursor to direct Naija, it would be far more accurate than a mouse, and I'm sure there are enough buttons/joysticks/hat buttons on the Wiimote+Nunchuck to replicate all the controls from the computer based version of Aquaria.

Yeah, it'd be cool to do a Wii version. It would have to be a different game though, because the Wii has very, very limit file space, CPU and RAM. A direct port would just be insane. But maybe what I'm planning for the iPhone spin-off could work on the Wii.

Wow, I had thought about this but not in a serious way! An Aquaria story for the iPhone would be awesome!

That is a lot of controls to port, presumably gestures for songs/forms. Interesting stuff.

sounds cool!
It should make heavy use of the iphpone's features!
great

Seems interesting Well, I don't know if the Mac players are the best to answer this question (oh, who am I kidding? we are the best), if you've not already done so you should ask the PC players too (on the other hand, Mac devs probably have the best advice on iPhone program design, and not just on the programming part). Anyway, the concept of an "Aquaria: Chain of Memories"* seems interesting, and people seem interested, so I think you should try and do a proof of concept (probably with another innovative control system, which could differenciate your game even more than it does for Aquaria) to see if you really have something on your hands, and if then you feel like you definitely have something, then go for it! Only requirement I'd add at that stage: it has to be playable in relatively shorts intervals, as the uninterrupted consecutive attention given to this device appears to be pretty low

*may or may not be in reference to a mobile "companion" of frigging long games

Hey, sounds like a great idea! I haven't played much with the iPhone or iTouch, but how would the magic system work, because that seems like the most interesting part of the port, and, for me, the hardest part of of the game for me to work with a mouse.

Sounds interesting. I'd miss out on it, unfortunately (I own neither 'Phone nor Touch), but it would be fun.

Incidentally, as to play times: It took me about 17 hours to get through the game the first time. Then, I went back and found the few remaining treasures and the last hidden memory, with help from the forums. That bumped my total up to 18 hours.