With the monster fruit hint I gave you, you had no trouble guessing. Indeed, Survivalcraft is coming to Apple hardware!

It’s a massive step forward for the game, although those who don’t have Apple devices may not feel that way. Here’s a video of the game running on iPad 3:

http://youtu.be/ZtfmbhI_LEE

Although I am no great fan of Objective C (which is the native language in iOS), one thing must be said: Apple makes well optimized software/hardware combinations. My iPod Touch 3G runs the game at playable rates, despite having a measly 600MHz CPU dating back to 2009. It runs probably twice as fast as it does on HTC Desire, which has a 1GHz CPU.

Existing users need not worry: Apple guys are getting the same version that is already on Android and Windows Phone, which is 1.20. There are no new features in it, only a few bugfixes. The actual version number is 1.20.7.

1.21, when it comes, will be released simultaneously (certification permitting) on all 3 platforms.

Of course, it all depends whether Apple will accept it. They are known to fail apps frequently, and it’s my first venture into that market. I spent a lot of time making sure it will pass, but anything can happen.

Once Apple port is out of the way, I’ll resume working on 1.21. I think there’s about 2 weeks of work left to do there, but it’s a rough estimate. I still need to finalize the riding code. Most importantly I am not sure how best to let you control the horse once the player is riding it.