Hello, my question may be dumb, but is developing iphone app / game easy? I mean how hard it is for somebody with no previous skills to start programming, make graphics etc.? I saw blog http://grannycoder.blogspot.com/ and there's some old lady writing about developing iphone games. WTF? Where should I start if I want to make my own iPhone apps? Thanks!
Google is a great place to start, there are a ton of free tutorials available online along with code samples.
Expect to put in hundreds of hours into something to make it worthwhile. Not impossible, but no, it is not "easy".
Making games for iPhone is easy - compared to other platforms at least. Making games in general requires a lot of knowledge and hard work however... If you've got no skills you really should start with the basics. Learn how to draw, and do some "hello world" programming tutorials. If you're not scared off at that point then just keep going. Everybody starts somewhere, but it can take months and years to learn this stuff.
I'm not even physically typing the code for mine and certain parts can be a PAIN to work out. Can't imagine the poor souls (that I hold with the utmost respect) that scan thousands of lines of codes to find the one pathetic typo that sent the simulator into fits.
flash development is easier than iphone for the most part. use cocos2d, it'll save you a whole wack of time, and they've got excellent sample demo code to work from. expect to put in 30 hours to start if you're building pong, to get to know the sdk, platform, compiling, provisioning, etc. expect to put in 400+ hours if you're building something that is a unique idea with plenty of depth.
haa. is getting a low score in golf easy? is running for public office easy? if you've never dealt with any coding, art, design, or marketing, there is a tremendous barrier of entry. by the time a person with no skills in any of those subsets had just got competent with at least one, the iPhone itself will probably be obsolete. okay I am being heavy-handed, I just get frustrated when I hear things like this from lots of people who have no idea how much work it is to make something (and I hear it quite often... "how hard can programming be, anyone could probably do it!") Sure lots of people can learn the basics, but getting over the hump to where you are not just cutting and pasting little bits of general code and actually are able to assemble something yourself is a different story. same goes for art, design, and project management/biz development of course. To be honest, I think as time progresses we will see some tools pop-up that will make mobile game development significantly easier, to the point that people with much less art/technical adeptness will be able to sort of follow a template and rough out different game "experiences," and then make that tweakable. It will be a long time before it becomes like... "Little Big Planet" simplified, but it will happen. To any prospective developer, game or app creation is not that difficult. It just requires a good amount of foundation and dedication to do it properly, but it really is not rocket science. If you are truly passionate about this, if you've got half a brain and a lot of free time - and a sincere amount of patience - you already have much of the tools required to start your journey. Now get to work
Thanks Kamazar! It isn't that hard if you are gifted with patience, otherwise... ...oh boy are you going to be bald from pulling your hairs out!!! No, I am not bald
That's why I keep my hair real short, makes it harder to get a grip on it and pull anything out! Seriously though, anyone who's never written a program of any sort in their entire life will have a nearly impossible task ahead of them if they want to create games. They will be frustrated by every step of the process, and the results will likely not be worth the effort. Games (especially the more cutting edge ones that everyone wants to make) contain some of the most complex programming out there. Advanced math, physics, multi-threading, networking, graphics, audio... Not only do you need to have an understanding of many disciplines, but also the ability to analyze code, find bottlenecks in performance and come up with clever solutions to get that last bit of speed... If anyone wants to make a game purely for the learning experience, by all means go for it, but the ship to riches sailed a long time ago in the App Store.
It's not easy. But it's not impossible... Download the sdk, and begin the learning process. There's no harm in trying... The developer program costs $99/year... I think that's quite a small price to pay for the learning experience of creating and putting out a product. Even if you don't make any money, it's worth the experience. I think it looks good on a resume that you've put out some type of product, and that you have some kind of programming skill, even if it isn't the greatest app. I don't know of any other "system" as well streamlined for developers as the app store. You get to create something from start to finish and put it on sale... I agree with CommanderData that the most cutting edge games involve a lot of skills that usually require lots of people... but not every game needs to be that way. You can still have a good game that's not as technically intensive... Plus the learning process is ongoing... If you wait to acquire all the skills you need, you'll be waiting forever... Try to make the best games with what you know... learn some more... create something better... learn some more etc...
I don't believe the bolded part at all. There's always room for a fresh idea. It's a good thing not everyone thinks like this, because if so, we'd never have an original idea ever again.
