Hello everyone! Where oh where to begin?
Hello everyone. My name is Merlin and Im new here! LOL
Ive been teaching myself Obj-C/Cocoa for about 6 months now. Been making utility type of apps and a simple multiple choice game but havent sent anything in to Apple yet. Regardless, Im loving it. I think its really starting to click. But of course I needed to complicate matters by looking into game development!
I feel a bit overwhelmed with my options for doing this though. I have a game idea... I have it sketched out, I can build my backgrounds and graphics in Photoshop, where do I go from here.
I started looking into OpenGL ES, I didnt realize it was as complicated as it is.
Ive looked into Cocos2d, again, fairly complex.
But I feel like if I focus and take my time, I can learn anything.
Then of course I stumble onto things like GameSalad and Corona. Of course the learning curve and drag and drop functionality make these choices very appealing.
So I have a couple of questions for the pros, or even the noobies with more knowledge then I...
1. I know the pros and cons of the third party SDKs, things like GameSalad's new model or Corona's no Game Center, IAP or iAds yet... however, is it a suitable choice for a first timer just to get my feet wet, or does it teach me the "easy way out" and get me started with bad habits??
Should I just bite the bullet and crack open my OpenGL ES book and get going!??
2. This is a question about animations in games...
Im good with Photoshop, very comfortable with it. Im also ok with Flash (would be better if I spent more time with it but good enough to make it work). Lets say I have my game concept sketched out (which I do) and lets say I can make some of the background animations in PS or Flash...
Should I bother with the animations in these programs or do I wait till I start coding and take care of the animations there? I guess Im still confused as to how the animations are constructed. Is it different depending on what SDK Im using? Should I be more concerned with getting the individual graphics built, put those into sprite sheets and then get to coding?? Im so confused.
3. This is regarding image size and scrolling games...
Lets say I want a MASSIVE stage. Picture a racing game with a large one-way track. How is that track constructed? Is the main background one giant png that just scrolls around the screen as I move my main character? Or is it many images that get drawn as they are called into view?
4. Another about image size...
With all these high quality images in may app, how do you manage to keep the app at a reasonable size?
Ive spent the last couple of weeks googling and on this forum, trying to get a handle on these things. Im sure as I learn more about iPhone game development Ill start to answer my own questions. I just thought I would open up a conversation about it.
Anyway, nice to meet you all. I appreciate any feedback or guidance and I look forward to learning some new things on my journey into iPhone game development!
Ive been teaching myself Obj-C/Cocoa for about 6 months now. Been making utility type of apps and a simple multiple choice game but havent sent anything in to Apple yet. Regardless, Im loving it. I think its really starting to click. But of course I needed to complicate matters by looking into game development!

I feel a bit overwhelmed with my options for doing this though. I have a game idea... I have it sketched out, I can build my backgrounds and graphics in Photoshop, where do I go from here.
I started looking into OpenGL ES, I didnt realize it was as complicated as it is.
Ive looked into Cocos2d, again, fairly complex.
But I feel like if I focus and take my time, I can learn anything.
Then of course I stumble onto things like GameSalad and Corona. Of course the learning curve and drag and drop functionality make these choices very appealing.
So I have a couple of questions for the pros, or even the noobies with more knowledge then I...
1. I know the pros and cons of the third party SDKs, things like GameSalad's new model or Corona's no Game Center, IAP or iAds yet... however, is it a suitable choice for a first timer just to get my feet wet, or does it teach me the "easy way out" and get me started with bad habits??
Should I just bite the bullet and crack open my OpenGL ES book and get going!??
2. This is a question about animations in games...
Im good with Photoshop, very comfortable with it. Im also ok with Flash (would be better if I spent more time with it but good enough to make it work). Lets say I have my game concept sketched out (which I do) and lets say I can make some of the background animations in PS or Flash...
Should I bother with the animations in these programs or do I wait till I start coding and take care of the animations there? I guess Im still confused as to how the animations are constructed. Is it different depending on what SDK Im using? Should I be more concerned with getting the individual graphics built, put those into sprite sheets and then get to coding?? Im so confused.
3. This is regarding image size and scrolling games...
Lets say I want a MASSIVE stage. Picture a racing game with a large one-way track. How is that track constructed? Is the main background one giant png that just scrolls around the screen as I move my main character? Or is it many images that get drawn as they are called into view?
4. Another about image size...
With all these high quality images in may app, how do you manage to keep the app at a reasonable size?
Ive spent the last couple of weeks googling and on this forum, trying to get a handle on these things. Im sure as I learn more about iPhone game development Ill start to answer my own questions. I just thought I would open up a conversation about it.
Anyway, nice to meet you all. I appreciate any feedback or guidance and I look forward to learning some new things on my journey into iPhone game development!