"First time" developing.

[henr1kk]

So, I want to develop games for the iPhone.
Games have been my main form of entertainment since I was 5 years old (with movies being a close second) and I've had some, IMO, pretty good ideas for games but never got around to learn how to make them.

Now, with the iPhone, all that changes.
I can make a pretty cool game without spending a lot of money.
But I don't know where to start...

I decided to buy these books (and learn/read them in this order):

Learn C on the Mac
http://www.amazon.com/Learn-C-Mac-Dave-Mark/dp/1430218096/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1229814964&sr=8-1

Learn Objective-C on the Mac
http://www.amazon.com/Learn-Objective-ndash-C-Mac/dp/1430218150/ref=pd_bbs_sr_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1229814991&sr=8-2

Beginning iPhone Development: Exploring the iPhone SDK
http://www.amazon.com/Beginning-iPhone-Development-Exploring-SDK/dp/1430216263/ref=pd_bbs_sr_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1229815009&sr=8-3


Do you think this is a good way to start and will these books (combined with lots of practice and some tutorials) be enough for me to develop a simple game on the iPhone?

[THEDeliriumTrigger]

It seems like it, but what do i know lol. I mean, if i wanted to start dev'ing, i would give em a read prob.

Game Suggestion: iJello. Lol, i think that would be so fun, just jiggling it all day..... and since apparently boobs have already been rejected, its the next best thing!

[jonaswills]

your going to need art too... programming is only 1/2 the process

[henr1kk]

your going to need art too... programming is only 1/2 the process

Yeah! I had some doubts about that too...
What's the software used for "drawing" game art?

I'm a total noob at this, sorry...

[jonaswills]

Check this out: http://www.gamedev.net/reference/start_here/

[henr1kk]

Check this out: http://www.gamedev.net/reference/start_here/

Thank you very much :D

[henr1kk]

Just one more question...
What software is used to create (draw) 2D game art, like the characters, the environment, etc?
In what format must it be exported in order to be used on an iPhone game?

Are there any good and recent books or tutorials dedicated to 2D game art?

Thanks

[rootbeersoup]

Wear protection

[drunknbass]

Just one more question...
What software is used to create (draw) 2D game art, like the characters, the environment, etc?
In what format must it be exported in order to be used on an iPhone game?

Are there any good and recent books or tutorials dedicated to 2D game art?

Thanks

usually you refer to this as sprites, and you use any graphic design related app you want. i use photoshop and illustrator, and for animations of explosions or other pre drawn keyframe animation i use after effects or combustion.

designing good art is a skill of its own, just lik programming good games, apps.. it might be easy for some to learn obj-c or photoshop, but each of these takes time to really get good at.. so just start small if you want to do it and dont give up.. eventually youll start to hone your skills and decide where to focus your creativity

[henr1kk]

usually you refer to this as sprites, and you use any graphic design related app you want. i use photoshop and illustrator, and for animations of explosions or other pre drawn keyframe animation i use after effects or combustion.

designing good art is a skill of its own, just lik programming good games, apps.. it might be easy for some to learn obj-c or photoshop, but each of these takes time to really get good at.. so just start small if you want to do it and dont give up.. eventually youll start to hone your skills and decide where to focus your creativity

Thanks :D

[TheOZ]

If you're ever interested im trying to get into developing and the sorts, and I have been spriting for about 2 years. In the past couple years i've learned quite a bit of stuff in my first year of spriting and in my second year of spriting leaned more torwards perfecting the skill. I've learned things such as shading techniques, angles, etc. and would be happy to provide help(cooperation) with you once you've gotten everything together.

If you would like you could give me an example of what graphics(sprites) would be incorporated in your game and I could probably give you a little preview. If you consider my offer here's my email adress:

casinoz64@hotmail.com

We could even discuss this through pms if you'd like. Well hopefully you'll think about my offer, thanks for your time.

Regards,
TheOZ

[henr1kk]

If you're ever interested im trying to get into developing and the sorts, and I have been spriting for about 2 years. In the past couple years i've learned quite a bit of stuff in my first year of spriting and in my second year of spriting leaned more torwards perfecting the skill. I've learned things such as shading techniques, angles, etc. and would be happy to provide help(cooperation) with you once you've gotten everything together.

If you would like you could give me an example of what graphics(sprites) would be incorporated in your game and I could probably give you a little preview. If you consider my offer here's my email adress:

casinoz64@hotmail.com

We could even discuss this through pms if you'd like. Well hopefully you'll think about my offer, thanks for your time.

Regards,
TheOZ

Ok!
Thanks for the offer :)
I plan on learning C and Obj-C for now but will keep your e-mail address for future contact.
I have a couple of friends who are good with Fireworks, PShop, Flash and Illustrator but the more, the merrier :D

[blt3d]

I would consider Unity3d (http://unity3d.com) as well.

[stevec319]

Hello,

I had a little look around for books a while back, had the same idea as you but have too many thing to learn at the moment, from what little I read this is the bible for people programming on the Mac. Just read the reviews on its amazon page:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Cocoa-Programming-Mac-OS-X/dp/0321503619/ref=pd_sim_b_4

Hope this helps.

[InsolentDreams]

Hello,

I had a little look around for books a while back, had the same idea as you but have too many thing to learn at the moment, from what little I read this is the bible for people programming on the Mac. Just read the reviews on its amazon page:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Cocoa-Programming-Mac-OS-X/dp/0321503619/ref=pd_sim_b_4

Hope this helps.

I was just going to recommend this book, I'm glad you did steve. I will second this recommendation. This is the book I used to learn Objective-C. It is awesome. Everything it teaches directly relates to practices you should get used to in iPhone development. Its tips for memory management are phenomenal since there are some major quirks to managing your own memory in Objective-C.

Definitely get this book. I recommend it so very highly. I also slightly recommend not reading those other books first, as this book was recently updated to the third edition (Make sure you get third edition) and it works great on Leopard and the latest XCode.

All the tutorials and hints and tips of this book are very relevant for the iPhone platform.

And once you get halfway through this book, you should be confident enough to really start doing something with the iPhone SDK. Maybe not make the next big app, but at least do something cool to show off here. :)

Cheers and good luck!

[henr1kk]

I was just going to recommend this book, I'm glad you did steve. I will second this recommendation. This is the book I used to learn Objective-C. It is awesome. Everything it teaches directly relates to practices you should get used to in iPhone development. Its tips for memory management are phenomenal since there are some major quirks to managing your own memory in Objective-C.

Definitely get this book. I recommend it so very highly. I also slightly recommend not reading those other books first, as this book was recently updated to the third edition (Make sure you get third edition) and it works great on Leopard and the latest XCode.

All the tutorials and hints and tips of this book are very relevant for the iPhone platform.

And once you get halfway through this book, you should be confident enough to really start doing something with the iPhone SDK. Maybe not make the next big app, but at least do something cool to show off here. :)

Cheers and good luck!


Thank you so much for the tips!
I'm currently starting to learn C.
Should I go straight to that book after "mastering" C or should I learn ObjC first and then read that book?
I'm really happy with "Learn C on the Mac". The 4th edition is also updated to match the latest XCode and Dave Mark is a great writer/teacher, IMO.
I'm thinking about getting his "Learn Objective C on the Mac" book and then buying the one you suggested.
What are your thoughts?

P.S.: Thanks to everyone for all the help!

[InsertWittyName]

Another recommendation for Hillegass's book.

You don't need anything else but that, in honesty.

[Hippieman]

You are missing a crucial part of learning if you want to make games. You need to learn OpenGL ES. Fortunately about any OpenGL resource will work for you. I know Brian Greenstone (the man behind Pangea) wrote a book on OpenGL, and there are many others.

Also, be sure to download all the sample projects from Apple so you have something to reference.

[henr1kk]

You are missing a crucial part of learning if you want to make games. You need to learn OpenGL ES. Fortunately about any OpenGL resource will work for you. I know Brian Greenstone (the man behind Pangea) wrote a book on OpenGL, and there are many others.

Also, be sure to download all the sample projects from Apple so you have something to reference.

Most people told me to buy the OpenGL "Red Book" and I'm currently looking into it.
I also have the "Pangea Software’s Ultimate Game Programming Guide for Mac OS X" PDF (which is quite old, IMO - XCode 1.5).
And I've downloaded every sample project on the Apple dev site.
I'm really excited about starting to program and develop apps :)


I want my first game to be a 2D action-platformer. I have everything written down, from the concept, to controls, etc. Do I need OGL knowledge to create 2D graphics?

[Hippieman]

I want my first game to be a 2D action-platformer. I have everything written down, from the concept, to controls, etc. Do I need OGL knowledge to create 2D graphics?

OpenGL is great for handling 2D graphics and you can do quite a lot with it.

Definitely rip open the apple projects and build form them. You should be able to get something up and displaying and interacting with touches in a day. Just start simple and build from there.

[henr1kk]

OpenGL is great for handling 2D graphics and you can do quite a lot with it.

Definitely rip open the apple projects and build form them. You should be able to get something up and displaying and interacting with touches in a day. Just start simple and build from there.

Will do!
Thank you so much for all the help! :)

[istopmotion]

Just wanted to wish you luck on developing your first game. :)

Merry Christmas

[oticon6]

Don't EVER think that CoreGraphics will be good enough. Learn OpenGL. This was a big mistake that I made.

[Hippieman]

Don't EVER think that CoreGraphics will be good enough. Learn OpenGL. This was a big mistake that I made.

Yes, and when possible avoid trying to mix the iPhone UI Interface Builder stuff with your OpenGL scene. If you can do it all in OpenGL, it'll make your life much easier (and the game will be faster).

Also, when it comes to loading, the iPhone seems to be better at lots of little graphic files rather than a few really big 1024 images.

[henr1kk]

Yes, and when possible avoid trying to mix the iPhone UI Interface Builder stuff with your OpenGL scene. If you can do it all in OpenGL, it'll make your life much easier (and the game will be faster).

Also, when it comes to loading, the iPhone seems to be better at lots of little graphic files rather than a few really big 1024 images.


Ok! Thanks for that tip :)
In most tutorials they advise against mixing IB with OGL. So I guess I'll use IB for menus and the rest is up to OGL.
Me and my girlfriend ( the development team xD ) are currently starting to learn C and we're brushing up our skills in PShop, Illustrator, etc. Then we're off to Obj-C, Cocoa and OGL.
We already have a few concepts written down for some simple time-wasting apps and one or two concepts for action platformers.
We hope that, in 6 months, we'll have at least one of the simple apps ready. We're fast learners so I think it's possible.

[HouseTreeRobot]

Just for a slightly different approach which may get you some results sooner (and results == motivation to continue, helps if you're like me and get bored of reading about how to do stuff and want to get stuck in :)

Learn just the basics of c/c++ or objective-c (After looking at obj-c I'd be tempted to say just learn one language if you've not done any OO coding before - If you're just going to do cocoa/mac/iphone coding, go for obj-c)
variables, functions, memory handling, classes

Fiddle with an existing apple demo that's basicly what you're going to use (a 2D opengl ES demo) and change it to see what it does. (and refer to the book as required) until you know what everything does in the demo

then decide what you want to make (tetris, snake, 3D stunt rider (http://www.cpczone.net/game/1261), whatever)

and fiddle with the code until it's what you want, when you're not sure how to do somehting, just google, whatever it is it's been done before :)
that's how I started making games 12 years ago :)
(well aside from the google bit)

then profit!

[henr1kk]

Just for a slightly different approach which may get you some results sooner (and results == motivation to continue, helps if you're like me and get bored of reading about how to do stuff and want to get stuck in :)

Learn just the basics of c/c++ or objective-c (After looking at obj-c I'd be tempted to say just learn one language if you've not done any OO coding before - If you're just going to do cocoa/mac/iphone coding, go for obj-c)
variables, functions, memory handling, classes

Fiddle with an existing apple demo that's basicly what you're going to use (a 2D opengl ES demo) and change it to see what it does. (and refer to the book as required) until you know what everything does in the demo

then decide what you want to make (tetris, snake, 3D stunt rider (http://www.cpczone.net/game/1261), whatever)

and fiddle with the code until it's what you want, when you're not sure how to do somehting, just google, whatever it is it's been done before :)
that's how I started making games 12 years ago :)
(well aside from the google bit)

then profit!


That's a great strategy!
I just feel I need to learn C so I can feel more confortable when I make the jump to Obj-C (or other languages).
But I will mess around with Apple's samples, that's for sure!
Thank you for the motivation! :D