Ipad screen rotation/ orientation

[colej_uk]

The main obstacle with orientation is the inability to rotate objects like strings, counters etc. Otherwise I wouldn't even mind having to do it all manually.

[JoKa]

I'd expect Apple provides some standard functions to achieve this? MMF apps are the only I've seen so far with this problem.

[sinister]

I have seen in objective-c there are five simple lines of script to handle any screen rotation regardless of portrait or land scape. Is there something similar for MMF we can use?

[MJK]

Yeah, we really should have an option that supports 180 degree rotations so that if the player is holding the device upside down (from left landscape to right landscape or from portrait 1 to portait 2, or vice versa), it will turn automatically.

This is apparently what Apple requires from iPad-only applications. There is no need to support landscape AND portrait, but always both landscapes OR both portraits. (sure, some games have been approved with only 1 orientation, but this does not mean all games will go through with similar setup). Also it's a considerable factor in the overall gameplay experience.

Is there some MMF-specific restrictions that don't easily allow the implementation of automatic 180 deg rotation of screen orientation (which is said to be easily done in native Obj-C)? Or can we expect that to be added at some point? Maybe Clickteam could comment.

[MJK]

This is from iOS Human Interface Guideline provided by Apple:

If it’s essential that your application run in only one orientation, you should:
- -
Support both variants of an orientation. For example, if your application runs only in landscape, people should be able to use it whether they’re holding the device with the Home button on the right or on the left. And, if people rotate the device 180 degrees while using your application, it’s best if you can respond by rotating your content 180 degrees.

I would like to develop for the iPad, and obviously to minimize the risk of being rejected from the App Store, one should follow Apple's guidelines as closely as possible. Now, how should I go about implementing this in MMF2? I mean it's a HUGE task to support both landscape modes (left+right) manually by reconstructing the game for both.

Can MMF2 as a tool make this easier for developers in the future by adding automated orientation switch, or is this something that the devs need to do manually in the future as well? Would really appreciate some answer from Clickteam.

What is needed to support multiple orientations in my iPhone and iPad apps

[Koji_Kabuto]

MJK I think just like you, if this is reflected in the guideline of Apple, no one can say that the IOS Exporter can generate apps for the iPad. The solution should not be so farfetched.

[jjsonick]

I haven't tried them out, but maybe CT could look into incorporating these methods in the MMF iOS framework?

[Realnoize]

Any words about a possible solution yet?

I'm planning on starting a small game development studio for iOS devices using MMF and the iOS exporter, and I can't invest time and money into something that could be rejected by Apple because my games don't support 180 degree screen rotations.

I'm using MMF2 Dev at my job since many years already (making screen savers, various apps and flash stuff), and I would like to buy another MMF2 licence and the iOS export module for my game development company.

I know in some cases, we can probably manage by making everything rotate manually, but this would make things a pain to do, if not impossible in some cases. All object positions would have to be recalculated, movements would need to be changed or reprogrammed depending on orientation... I can't see myself (or anyone) developping a game this way... unless it's a very, very simple game.

So until there's a way to make automatic rotations work easily for MMF apps in iOS, I can't buy it.

It has been made very clear by Apple that for iPad apps (at least) they require proper 180 degree rotation. And one of the app I plan on creating would be iPad only...

I hope this feature can be implemented in the iOS exporter. It's just sad that the absence of this single feature is preventing me from buying the exporter (and another MMF 2 licence) since my main reason to buy those would be to make games for iPads, and right now, it seems my apps would probably get rejected because it doesn't support automatic 180 rotation.

I love working with MMF2 for flash and other things. It's a wonderful product. I'd like A LOT to be able to develop apps for iPads with it, and sell them on the app store.

I hope this gets implemented in a future update of the iOS export module. Because when it happens, is when I'll buy another copy of MMF2 dev and the iOS export module.

[Jeff]

Andos is currently testing the solution to this so hopefully we see it very soon.

[MJK]

Excellent news.