Iphone App development

Discussion in 'Public Game Developers Forum' started by sameerjoshi, Mar 25, 2013.

  1. sameerjoshi

    sameerjoshi New Member

    Mar 25, 2013
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    I would love to get into App Development, but at heart I'm just not a programmer.

    Preferably, I don't want to go to school and bet a Bachelor in Computer Science. That is time and money that I can't commit, especially already having a full time web development job. What I would love to do is take a credible online course (there are no local programs in the area to teach me exactly what I need). Does anyone know of such a thing?I only need the right direction to start the programming and recently got to this 1 of iphone and Ipad app development course http://www.wiziq.com/course/13809-iphone-app-development-xcode-cocoa-framework-jquery-phonegap, wonder this will work or not as I haven't got enough info regarding these online courses.
    Does anyone build apps for the iPhone? How did you start out?
     
  2. neilw711

    neilw711 Well-Known Member

    Nov 19, 2012
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    App Developer
    Virginia, USA
    Hey dude,

    Alot of first time app developers started to teach themselves over the years. There are alot of resources out there to help you get started. Over 90% of schools do not teach the importance of programming anyway so you're better off taking courses that are specifically for game development. Only few schools teach game development.

    I started a year ago and I had no clue about programming (only SQL) but I picked it up pretty quickly because of my knowledge using SQL. My first game is almost finished and I'm really excited and proud of what I did. I never knew I was able to create and program everything that I did so far. I pretty much took a year from my life just to focus on creating this game. That means no going out, no partying, no seeing friends and stay glued in front of your computer whether you're at work (I have an IT job so I'm lucky) or spending all day on the weekends. I studied alot and received alot of help from the SDK company that I was using (Corona SDK). The forum and the sample apps can guide you on how to get started. I know alot of developers who just started without any knowledge of programming and they created apps that generated alot of downloads and became really popular. Definitely check out the forums and documentations on the website of any SDK. They have alot of information on how to get started.
     
  3. JasonHPickering

    JasonHPickering Well-Known Member

    Sep 21, 2011
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    Indie Developer
    US
    you said you already work in Web Development? do you do web programming or are you more of an artist?
     
  4. batgirl717111

    batgirl717111 Well-Known Member

    Jul 9, 2012
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    app developer & artist
    brooklyn, ny
    +1 to everything here. i'm a corona developer too. my programming experience previously was mostly web design, and i was able to make the leap into corona-made apps pretty quickly (my first app took 5 months full-time). learningcorona.com taught me most of the things i needed to build the app, and there are tutorials for pretty much everything out there on the web (and if not, there are plenty of forums to ask).
     
  5. CharredDirt

    CharredDirt Well-Known Member

    Artist here, I just started a game company and so far have been doing pretty well. First app is in review so I can't speak for app sales yet.

    There's a couple ways you can go as some people mentioned.

    1. You can do it as a hobby and get serious later. If you don't want to code, try messing with Gamemaker or Game salad. Of the two, I think Gamemaker may be better for long term development because it has a powerful scripting language. Corona is a good way to ease into development if you don't mind learning some code.

    2. You can treat it as a business. If you go this route, you'd better have some capital to throw around. I'm finding, the better my business does, the less time I spend actually making games myself. It's all about hiring people to do it for you or outsourcing. Read App Empire by Chad Mureta. It's specifically written for people like you. http://chadmureta.com/

    3. Partner up with others for a revenue share type deal. This is a good way to start out cheap. Absolutely do a simple app first, don't do what I did and try to go for a killer game off the bat. Be willing to contribute a lot.

    4. Start with a reskin. I'm sure this looks down upon but you can buy source code and then pay an artist to reskin it for you. I typically charge clients $300-600 for a reskin, depending on the complexity. You can do a full reskinned game for under $1,000. That's not a bad way to get a quality game out on the app store.


    If you're really serious, be prepared to go all in. I keep getting customers who are trying to outsource on the cheap and it never works. 1 hour here and there isn't going to get your game made.

    Good luck, it's a bumpy but thrilling ride.
     
  6. Rainier

    Rainier Well-Known Member

    Apr 16, 2012
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    I also recommend reading App Empire by Chad Mureta. It'll help you avoid some mistakes and give you a little leap ahead of the typical learning curve.

    Good luck!
     
  7. Appvism

    Appvism Well-Known Member

    Feb 9, 2013
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    UK
    This is good advice, thank you for sharing! I'm new to all this as well, so i'm no expert, but just to let the OP know, i too went through the self learning route and am still learning as i go. Previously for the last few years i've been working as a frontend dev. I somehow don't feel the need to go to uni/college to get a degree for this, though i suspect it may be of use to an extent.
     
  8. rickermortes

    rickermortes Member

    Apr 2, 2013
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    Game developer.
    Minnesota
    When I was a kid, I learned a little bit of C/C++. I tried to make games, but I couldn't get myself to complete them. I worked healthcare for about fifteen years and then I got sick of it. So, I saved up some funds and went out on my own.

    I bought a book on Objective-C and grabbed a book on Cocos2D. I've got one game released and two upcoming, along with a non-game app.

    My suggestion would be to jump in. Not even on just my experience, but from every developer I know. I know plenty and they all bit the bullet and jumped in.

    When you get started, jump onto forums like this and ask questions. Hit StackExchange and ask questions. Hit the Google Plus Indie Game Developers Community and ask questions.

    Always. Ask. Questions.

    And read this article: Finishing Games.
     

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