I'm thinking of developing a simple platformer game. Really simple; 2D. Which path should I go: Unity or iTorque Game Builder? I don't know very much about game development and coding, so basically which one is simpler?
If you're looking for simplicity and 2D, I think Cocos2D might be a good way to go. http://code.google.com/p/cocos2d-iphone/ there are plenty of examples included that you can work off of.
You're going to have a lot of learning to do no matter which way you go - but there is an Unity3d demo on their site that you can download and try it out for yourself. I am using cocos2d and will second the recommendation for it (though it is a pure code situation without a gui for building your game).
cocos2d I second or third that motion cocos2d is the way to go for 2d. I use unity and it is really hard to beat for 3d, but if I am working a 2d game cocos2d would be what I use.
It's Unity, not Unity3D. Zombieville USA was made with Unity, so 2D definitely isn't out of the question, but somebody not familiar with game dev will take a while to get up to speed, especially since you still need to be familiar with 3D production in order to do 2D. --Eric
I can vouch for Unity in general terms as a great engine. I've never used it for 2D myself, but have seen it done many times with great results. (In my case, 3D was so easy in Unity that I tried my 2D concept in 3D just for the heck of it--and it was awesome, so my formerly-2D game is staying in 3D!)
I have only tried Unity a bit and that was not recently but from what I saw is that Unity seams rather friendly for people that isn't that into coding. But it still requires coding to make a game of course. TGB is great if you've done anything with TGE or TGAE before and the community is really helpful. But this question is all about personal preference. Try em out, both have demo versions available and see which one you like the most
Great clarification. What I meant to say was Unity is 'geared' towards 3D. I know several people developing with Unity, but they all do 3D and the thought of doing a 2D game in Unity has never really come up, except in the sense that it's doable. Granted, portions of their games (high scores, life left, loading screens etc.) are in 2D. I am an owner of TGB (not iTGB) and know many others who use it. I highly recommend downloading the 30 day TGB demo and checking it out. Seeing if it will meet your needs. Do you already have an idea of the type of game you want to make? I have been hearing about memory issues with iTGB, so you might want to dig deeper into this and find out exactly what issues people are having. As you get the complete source code, I know one developer is trying to figure out the memory issues himself and make updates to the source code.
Thanks for your opinions guys . I'm going to try the demos and see which one I like better - they both sound good.
Quick Question? Hey I'm starting to make a game. I started reading the apress books on coding (I'm brand new) but could I make a game completely in xcode or do I have to use some of the programs you mentioned?
you can definitely make whole games in xcode but an engine can simplify the process depending on what you are trying to make happen.
My game (somewhere in the arcade genre) will be ready to show off some time in May. (And will take much longer than that to complete.) Code name: Clockwork 360. For now the level design is too experimental and would give people the wrong idea... but I'm having fun with it on my own iPhone at least
you are wrong, Whether on an iPhone or an iPod Touch, you will be able to dazzle your audience with the finest content available in the App Store. 2D or 3D, touch or tilt — if you can think it, you will be able to build it.
For what it's worth, I had never developed a game in my life before, nor used a 3D app to make models, and in the space of 3 weeks with Unity I made this: http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=313110495&mt=8 The graphics are basic, but I'm getting better in my next project, but in any case, it is a 2D application that is really 3 dimensions, with the Z axis locked. My next project ( a spacies sort of game ) is also 2D. I used Cheetah 3D for the models, but that's still a battle for me, and it shows But heh, you gotta start somewhere! In summary, I think that Unity3D works just fine for 2D games - once you get past the lack of tutorials, and as long as you keep the poly count down. The advantage of Unity is a great asset pipeline, the ability to code in javascript or C# (I chose C#), and the fact that it is 3D gives some nice on the side benefits as well (for example, turning objects around, storing them off screen, and little things like the 'finish crepe' action in this game which spins the crepe into the foreground, ie using the Z axis to fly towards the camera)
