Beginning iPhone Games Development – Book

Posted by on Aug 30, 2010 in iOS Apps | 1 comment

I recently ordered and received the Apress – Beginning iPhone Games Development book. You can check it out here from Amazon. So far the book has blown my mind with tons of different concepts and approaches to different games. A lot of the book so far focuses on a game called Space Rocks! which is just like the old Asteroids game. The first few chapters have us make the game using Quartz/UIKit the later chapters have recreated the same project using OpenGL ES 1.1 but entirely in 2D (so far). The book does an awesome job of explaining the various aspects of game design including the all important game loop. Another great concept that is followed throughout the book is the MVC (Model View Controller) architecture. The book teaches you key concepts about what each part of your game should be doing and what it should not be doing. For example during a rendering phase you should not be updating the game, during the update phase you should not be rendering etc. I am not even half way through the book yet and already have a few ideas for different games. The only issue I am having is what engine I want to use should I stick with Quartz/UIKit or make the leap to OpenGL and a much more upgradable game? Well I am going to keep reading and keep working so like always Enjoy!

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iPhone Application Development for Dummies

Posted by on Nov 1, 2009 in iOS Apps, Reviews | 0 comments

I have finished reading iPhone Application Development for Dummies. All in all it was a good intro into development, if you have experience with C or even Objective-C. Since I do not have a background in either of these languages the book really just served as a tool for brushing up on Xcode and Interface Builder.

A few things I didn’t like about this book include:  Read more here...

  • The author is continuously making comments about advanced things you could do, but it is not covered in the scope of the book.
  • I think the book requires to much prior knowledge in C development especially for a dummies book.
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