For people in a hurry. :) You can just skim the bold sections and get the important points of the post. I tend to write way more than anyone would really want to sit down and read haha
iamwil: "My first inclination was, "but of course you need the splats where the rain drop line ends! How would it make sense otherwise?""
Exactly, I think that's default programmer-logic. "If there's a drop, it must have a splat." I used to do some programming but I'm more of an artist than a progger so I figure writing about little artsy tricks like that might help other devs out. It can be rough trying to fit cool stuff onto tiny phones haha
Luc: I'm a pixel artist at heart so I love color cycling, but ya, appearing in front of another layer blows it up. Also these days I don't think iPhone games use palettes much...I know older cel phones needed them, but for iPhone I seem to be able to get away with just using big ol' .PNGs with no palettes (which rules, 'cause I can get anti-aliased edges).
Thanks! I'm trying to cover the stuff that surrounds game dev, managing my time, keeping track of expenses, marketing the game, etc. 'cause I think that stuff gets glossed over a lot.
Like I'll be posting my financials for the month soon, even though I know they're going to be negative since my game isn't out yet haha But it's the principle of the thing, getting into the habit of keeping accurate records.
Glad you like the blog! I'm shooting for daily-esque updates so pop in again in a couple days!
haha awesome, you blew my server up. Upgrading now but it'll take a couple days they say.
Anyone reading: that's my game development blog, I'm starting an iPhone game dev studio and documenting the progress of starting it up and making the first game, day by day!
Check it out if you're interested in game dev and feel free to ask any questions!
I'm very interested in iPhone game development. I'm working on a title for PC/Xbox based on the XNA framework and finding it fairly easy to use. Is there anything like that for the iPhone? Any good place to find a comparison of frameworks? I'm not averse to coding interactions by hand (trying to make a 2D RPG, not a platformer, so Torque isn't appropriate), but I can't make sense of the options.
I've used Cocos2D, and it was great - I've been meaning to write some posts about it, haven't got around to it yet. I haven't used other frameworks, so I can't compare, but for a simple 2D sprite game Cocos2D was a great way to hit the ground running.
Cocos2D is the most popular 2D iPhone game framework. An alternative, if you're used to the Flash/ActionScript way of doing things, is Sparrow. You may also find that if you're doing an action/physics game in the future, Box2D will inevitably be necessary.
If you're looking for a GUI as opposed to a programming API, in addition to the fine options above, my startup (http://www.stencyl.com) also does this and is based on Sparrow (and Flash for exporting to the web).
However, I'll be realistic and say that if you're making an RPG, you'll find it much easier to build it by hand.
Thanks! The Balls in Space game scored several sponsorships that have collectively gotten it into the 4 figures range, which is pretty good by Flash standards.
I suggest you look into Unity 3D. It's easy to make 2D stuff with it, even if it's primarily a 3D engine.
The basic version is free, so you can use that for development. When your game is ready to ship, you can upgrade your license to an iOS one and then convert and ship your game with it.
If you want to stick with XNA, there's an interesting project to port XNA to iOS platforms (http://rockethub.com/projects/752-exen-xna-for-iphone-androi...), and there's XNATouch too. I haven't looked into those yet, but if you complete your game on XNA, by the time you'll be done there might be a viable solution to easily port your game to iOS.
Check it out, and let me know if you run into any problems. It's not finished yet, but the first four courses will give you a good foundation. I should have the next two courses posted within a week or so.
We made a Monkey Island-style point-and-click (well, point-and-tap) adventure. It was a fairly complex project, but Cocos always felt empowering rather than limiting. Happy to answer any questions!
I know little or nothing about iPhone programming. I figured I would plug a friend of mine's startup since it seems like just what you are looking for. (note: Not connected in any way other than having gone to high school with the founder.) http://gamesalad.com/
I'm going to be using Cocos2d, but I honestly couldn't give you many details on it because I'm going to be out-sourcing to a programmer to do that part. I'm making 2d games and Cocos2d is supposed to make it a lot easier to juggle sprites and everything...but we'll see if I can break it, hehe
- Quickdraw