I'm young, old enough to learn to programming though. I've picked up some languages in the past, including a little Objective-C. I want to start developing IPhone games as a hobby, so. I need to learn Objective-C. I have already read one book about Game Development on the IPhone. It didn't really teach much, more of examples and explaining what qualities a game needs. I can program small applications but nothing like a full game so. Which books should I get to learn Objective-C Game Development, so I can extend my knowledge and learn enough to work on a full out game.
If you're feeling good with Objective C, I would check out the tutorials at 71squared. They're pretty informative and give a good foundation for what goes in to putting images on the screen and making them do things. The guy who does the tutorials also has a book out, which I think is awesome. It contains the same sort of stuff as the tutorials, but more fleshed out and accompanied by sample code. I talk about it and a great iTunesU course here.
Also I can advice you to read this article How to learn Objective-C I have started from it myself. It describing the fundamental principles of Objective-C languages
Personally it would be far better to learn C/C++ for games programming because that language is far more portable across all the different platforms... And doing so your job prospects are much better because of it. Obj C is only useful for Apple hardware. What most iPhone devs do is have a small shell written in Obj C (which can be used for every game you do) and write the game in C/C++. By doing this you have instant portability because that C/C++ code can be dropped into an Android shell (which can be Java) with ease of use. But, of course, if you want to learn Obj C then go for it
I agree, C++ is a much better option since that language will carry over to all sorts of other programming activities outside of games. Even better, I suggest grabbing the free version of Unity and tinkering with that. It comes with complete games that you can tear apart and tinker. They have an asset store packed full of projects, models, scripts, etc. built into Unity, some of them free, most at reasonable prices. You can use Javascript or C#, and the workflow is unmatched. Learning a language isn't enough, there's so much more to getting a game out and workflow is a vital part of that. A couple other features of Unity that stand out: debugging is fairly painless since you don't have to wait for a compile cycle. And the pro version can use an asset server which lets your team work remotely and check in changes. Other than Unity, Corona which uses Lua is another good choice. Only thing I don't like is Corona's subscription model. Both Unity and Corona can build for iOS and Android; Unity will also build for PC, Mac, web, Xbox 360, PS3, and Wii (costs extra of course).
I tried a few, and coming from AS3 background it was challenging. Then I stumbled upon "Big Nerd Ranch Guides - iPhone Programming". This book takes you from the first chapter through a challenging but highly effective learning course. After each chapter there are extra tasks to do. If you actually go through them, you can learn the language quite quickly. I also recommend Apress "Learn iPhone and iPad Cocos2D Game Development" if you choose to follow the Obj C + Cocos2D path.
Just to make a correction on your statement You have actually not talk about two feature of Unity, but two problems: - Other engine don't need an expensif asset server or anything else. A svn/perforce works great right out of the box -> They announce that in Unity 3.5 this will be fixed. - Debugging: well that freeze your Unity when you debug the script. And on most configuration it crashed often. Most other engine have already fixed this kind of issue and breaking in a script don't freeze your editor. And monodevelopp is not great for debugging. Unity have many many advantages but not this two
