Hi everyone! I've been thinking about making a game for the iPhone/iPod touch. I have no idea what the game will be, and have never created any game or app for any platform before. I'm just some 17 year old kid who wants to make a game Anyways, can anyone please give me some tips on where I could get started? I've already seen some threads with links to tutorials and stuff, but any beginner tips would be great on how to get started! I know some java, c++, basic, and LISP (lol), but I'm not sure if that'll be any help to me. Thanks! EDIT: Hey guys, thanks for the help. I have a few more questions too: Other than the SDK, are there other programs good for developing icons, and just the general art, characters, weps, enemies, and everything associated with an action game? In your opinion, do you think a single person could make a good, solid game, or does that usually require a group of people? Sorry I'm totally new to this, thanks for the help!
Any previous programming experience is a huge plus. Your first steps should be checking that you have the proper hardware and software, Intel mac running Leopard (10.5) Developer tools installed from the leopard disc A copy of the iPhone SDK, downloaded from http://developer.apple.com/iphone Then it's just a matter of finding what best suits your learning style. Some people prefer books, others videos, and others still prefer just tinkering around with source code.
Sadly not. Thee are round about ways but they are extremly limited so it is nearly useless. I don't have a mac either so I have not been able to Look into programming/developing either.
I believe GameSalad is used to make flash games only, not native iPhone applications Correct me if I'm wrong - it looks pretty cool!
Hey guys, thanks for the help. I have a few more questions too: Other than the SDK, are there other programs good for developing icons, and just the general art, characters, weps, enemies, and everything associated with an action game? In your opinion, do you think a single person could make a good, solid game, or does that usually require a group of people? Sorry I'm totally new to this, thanks for the help!
I'll put in another plug for Unity iPhone. I was only just today approved by Apple and paid my $99, so I haven't even started porting my game to iPhone yet. But I HAVE used the non-iPhone version of Unity, and it's great. It does require some programming (everything does) but the workflow and the capabilities of the engine are great. (Unity has a version that runs on Windows, but that's for developing Mac/PC games. You still need a Mac to make iPhone/iPod games.)
I think I'm getting a mac book soon, so I'll be OK with that...but what's the $99 you're talking about? Do you have to pay to put something in the app store? Are there any other charges? thanks!
Yes. My cost: Unity Pro $1499 (But you can use Unity Indie for $199, which has a free trial period.) Unity iPhone Advanced $1499, requires Unity Pro (But you can use Unity iPhone Basic for $399, which works with Unity Indie or Pro) Apple iPhone Developer Program $99/year All you NEED is the last item (and a Mac). But Unity is powerful and well worth the expense in my view. With the $99 dev program membership alone, you'll need to learn Xcode (which is nice, but developing a full game would take more time than with Unity--especially if you go 3D). You can also become a registered iPhone developer and download the iPhone Xcode tools for free--but that only lets you do limited testing on the on-screen iPhone simulator. To do any testing on a REAL iPhone/iPod, and to participate in the iTunes store, you must pay the $99.
If I convert the file using this guide http://www.davidtan.org/how-to-run-iphone-sdk-software-on-windows-pc/ (I don't know if I can post links, please edit if not) and develop an app, will I be able to publish it in the app store? Edit: if I was later to able to afford a mac, could I transfer all of my work over to that?
Forget about Unity. Get a Mac. Get the developer license. Play with it for a while. Decide if you want Unity. From my (somewhat limited) experiences in debugging Unity problems for other developers, it seems the Unity memory overhead is quite large.
Unity's not perfect--and I'm sure I'm about to learn some of the reasons why. But it IS actively developed, and only in its first version. In my time with the Mac version of Unity, it has received HUGE free upgrades, bigger than most companies' paid ones. So I feel good about Unity's future. Regarding memory, specifically: it looks like that is already being addressed. Here's Unity's iPhone road map: http://blogs.unity3d.com/2009/04/06/unity-iphone-roadmap/ And their general Unity road map: Pretty amazing stuff on the way--and soon, it sounds like. As free updates. On top of an already incredible product that made ALL the difference with my game (again, this was pre-iPhone). Today I'm starting to port my game to iPhone using Unity. I'm hoping I can get a rough alpha going in one day. We'll see. No. Converting a disk image so it opens on a PC won't let Mac software run on Windows, and Xcode is Mac software. The process described there sounds pretty useless to me. (You could theoretically buy OS X, install it on a PC of the right specifications--and the risk of a lot of fiddling--and then run the iPhone SDK on that. I'm sure it has been done. But converting the DMG would be irrelevant in that case. So I'm not sure what that link is getting at.) You definitely NEED OS X Leopard to deliver apps to iPhone.
PC Dev-ing is entirely possible. Trace was PC made, for example: Make your game in C++ on a PC, and then translate it over to the SDK at the end (Which you WILL have to get a Mac for, btw). It requires one more layer of stuff to do in the final translation, but if you're not sure if you want to take the plunge and buy a mac yet then this might be the way to go.
just for reference I know garagegames has an iphone version of their gamebuilder engine and 3d engine or you can make the games on regular versions and port them to iphone with the help of engine i think
True. Back before there was an iPhone I was interested in Torque for my game--but ran into sufficient Torque horror stories (including people switching from Torque to Unity) that I decided against it. My impression: Torque is more limited unless you're willing to tinker with the engine at a low level. Unity has a solid, flexible foundation that lets you focus on your game, not getting the engine to work. This will vary from game to game of course, and I have not investigated Torque specifically for iPhone. It's definitely a tool worth looking into. BTW, I have an update on my Unity game. Yesterday I hadn't even installed the iPhone tools. Today, my game is running on my iPhone Complete with custom splash screen and non-shiny app icon. Performance is borderline, but then again, my polycount is pretty huge--something I always knew I'd have to cut back. A little remodeling in Lightwave plus the upcoming speed improvements in the next version of Unity iPhone should make for a decent start! Now to get that pesky day job out of my hair...
Very encouraging news. I was hoping to get away with coding on PC and not buying a Mac, especially since Unity is now on PC & Mac. Upon lots of investigating, it was clear I was going to need a Mac if I was going to actually get serious about this, so here I sit typing on my new shiny Macbook. With any luck, I too can be talking about how "easy" it was to port my PC/Web/Mac Unity game to iPhone. So, really nothing's free... If you're SERIOUS about becoming a game developer and not just someone wanting to cash in on fart machines, do whatever you have to and get the proper tools. It's an investment.
