iOS 7 only

[jlub]

I know this is covered in the FAQ already, but I have to express my great disappointment. Battle of the Bulge is my favorite iPad game. I played the heck out of that game, I kickstarted it, and I was more than happy to pay a premium price for it.

But I won't be able to play Drive on Moscow. It requires iOS 7, which is not available on iPad 1. I'm really more angry at Apple than Shenandoah. That they are no longer supporting a device that is less than 3 years old is insane. I never had any intention of paying $500 for another iPad, but knowing that their lifespan is 3 years or less makes me even more certain that that decision is correct.

Anyway, I am very sad that I will never be able to play Drive on Moscow.

[s_nkarp]

Really sorry -- it was a tough decision, but iOS 7 has enough new capabilities it just didn't make sense to lose them. All the best.

[daviddunham]

At the same time, we are going to make every effort to keep Bulge running under iOS 5 if there are future updates, so that our iPad 1 players can take advantage.

(Given Apple is still selling iPad 2, nearly 3 years after it was released, it’s hard to know what the average updated lifespan of an iPad will be.)

[Th3Bishop]

"...[the ipad] lifespan is 3 years or less"

You're mistaken; the iPad 1 was released on April 3rd, 2010 which means it was over three half years since release before they introduced an OS that wouldn't run on it.

If I were you I would look into an iPod Touch or an iPhone to play DoM. If the game is not universal when it's released I'm sure it soon would be soon enough.

[jlub]

"...[the ipad] lifespan is 3 years or less"

You're mistaken; the iPad 1 was released on April 3rd, 2010 which means it was over three half years since release before they introduced an OS that wouldn't run on it.

Actually you are mistaken, for two reasons. First of all, the iPad 2 didn't come out until March 2011, so the iPad one was still a current product until then. The iPad 1 didn't get iOS 6 either, which was released in September 2012. So if you were unfortunate enough to buy an iPad 1 just before the release of the iPad 2, you got supported for 18 months. If you bought it on initial release, you got supported for 31 months.

[OWAC1st]

Oh my. I have an iPad 2 but I'm still not sure I want to risk the upgrade to ios 7. I've seen reports of laggy performance. I've learned to avoid Apple's major OS updates. They've kludged prior generations of hardware.

[s_nkarp]

I have a low-end iPad 2 with iOS7-- so far no regrets.

[daviddunham]

I used an iPad mini with iOS 7 as a development machine as well as my personal machine. Lag was never an issue.

[wargamer11]

The people upset over "iOS 7 only" will dominate the conversation about the choice, so I wanted to chime in with praise for the decision.

The enhanced game center features made available by iOS 7 will greatly enhance my enjoyment of the game, and I thank Shenandoah for having the boldness to take advantage of these new features instead of withholding them for the sake of supporting the first generation iPads. I hope Bulge will be updated with these new features at some point as well.

I'll also add another data point for iPad 2 owners still on iOS 6 - my iPad 2 has been running iOS 7 wonderfully from the first day it was released.

[daviddunham]

Updating Bulge and still supporting the people who bought it on their first-generation iPad would not be a simple proposition.

[wargamer11]

Updating Bulge and still supporting the people who bought it on their first-generation iPad would not be a simple proposition.

Understood, and as much as I'd like to see it updated, focus of efforts on bug fixes and new games should certainly be a priority.

Having said that, the additions in DoM that I'm most excited about are the win/loss record keeping and ELO tracking.
Could these features be retro-fitted to Bulge, or are they iOS 7 dependent?

After just a few games of DoM I can already see this is another superb effort by Shenandoah ... well done!

[OWAC1st]

I have a low-end iPad 2 with iOS7-- so far no regrets.

All right Nick. If you and David report no issues, I'll make the jump. Thanks for your excellent responsiveness to your customers past and present. I should be up and running for Moscow within a couple hours.

[daviddunham]

No, support for Elo ratings was added in iOS 7.

[JeffC]

Oh my. I have an iPad 2 but I'm still not sure I want to risk the upgrade to ios 7. I've seen reports of laggy performance. I've learned to avoid Apple's major OS updates. They've kludged prior generations of hardware.

Really? I have an Ipad 2 (about 18 months old and cheapest Ipad 2 available at the time) as well and updated to ios7 as soon as it was available and have had no problems with BoB, now DoM, or games from other makers like Battle Academy or any other app for that matter. Apple generally has a great reputation with regards to software OS and hardware intergration, I'm not sure what's holding you back.