[BOOK] Creating Games with cocos2d for iPhone 2

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[BOOK] Creating Games with cocos2d for iPhone 2

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Started 4 months ago by Dragyn
Latest reply from Buster2000

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Dragyn
Moderator

I am pleased to announce that my new book on cocos2d game development is officially in print, as of Christmas Day!

This book is aimed at intermediate cocos2d users. You've played a bit, but you are looking for some guidance on how to build your own from scratch. By taking 9 classic game styles from design through full coding, this book aims to educate as well as giving you a "toolbox of code" that you can drop into your own projects.

Here's the official write-up:

Master cocos2d through building nine complete games for the iPhone

Overview

Games are explained in detail, from the design decisions to the code itself.
Learn to build a wide variety of game types, from a memory tile game to an endless runner.
Use different design approaches to help you explore the cocos2d framework.

In Detail

Cocos2d for iPhone is a simple (but powerful) 2D framework that makes it easy to create games for the iPhone. There are thousands of games in the App Store already using cocos2d. Game development has never been this approachable and easy to get started.

"Creating Games with cocos2d for iPhone 2" takes you through the entire process of designing and building nine complete games for the iPhone, iPod Touch, or iPad using cocos2d 2.0. The projects start simply and gradually increase in complexity, building on the lessons learned in previous chapters. Good design practices are emphasized throughout.

From a simple match game to an endless runner, you will learn how to build a wide variety of game styles.

You will learn how to implement animation, actions, create “artificial randomness”, use the Box2D physics engine, create tile maps, and even use Bluetooth to play between two devices.

"Creating games with cocos2d for iPhone 2" will take your game building skills to the next level.

What you will learn from this book

Control sprites with touch, joysticks, and tilt controls.
Use sprite sheets, particles, and plists effectively.
Learn multiple approaches to solve common challenges.
Integrate cocos2d with the Box2D physics engine.
Use third-party programs for joystick control, tile maps, and more.
Implement Bluetooth to play across multiple devices.
Learn game-specific A.I. design methodologies.

Approach

There are nine complete games with increasing complexity built in this book. The process of game building is well-illustrated with screenshots and explained code.

Who this book is written for

This book is aimed at readers with an understanding of Objective-C and some familiarity with the cocos2d for iPhone 2.0 framework.

Currently available for sale on the following sites (more to come later):
PacktPub.com -- http://www.packtpub.com/creating-games-with-cocos2d-for-iphone-2/book
Amazon.com -- http://www.amazon.com/dp/1849519005
Amazon.co.uk -- http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1849519005

Posted 4 months ago #
HannKett
Member

Good stuff, just picked it up at amazon.co.uk to support your work.

Where are u from? Danish?

Edit: The other dude with the cocos2d cookbook sent the pdf to us as soon as he got the receipt that we bought the paperback version :) any thoughts on this?

Posted 4 months ago #
clarus
Moderator

Congrats, @Dragyn!

Posted 4 months ago #
Dragyn
Moderator

@HannKett: Thanks for your support! I'm American, but most of my family line traces ancestry back to Norway.
As far as the PDF, as I recall, I thought Nate was sending the "removed chapter" via PDF with proof that you bought it. Because the publisher sells both the eBook and the print book, I think I might get in a little trouble if I start sending out eBook versions. (I tend to buy both the print and the eBook versions of things, so I have it both ways!)

@Clarus: Thanks. Hope you like the book!

I will be releasing sample apps in the App Store in the next couple of weeks. (The publication date ran into my own holiday time as well as Apple's holiday downtime, so I didn't make it into the App Store before the book launch.)

Posted 4 months ago #
Dragyn
Moderator

*bump*

Posted 4 months ago #
varedis
Moderator

congrats on the book release. I will pick it up at some point just to add it to my collection.

I always seem to have an issue with the title on books like this. Creating Games with cocos2d for iPhone 2 makes it seem like the book is targeted at the second gen iPhones and already 4 years out of date.

Posted 4 months ago #
ajlondon
Member

Awesome. This will be my new years gift to me.
I am really looking forward to this. And I went to the publisher site (where the book is cheaper than on amazon and you get the .pdf) so anyone wanting to purchase it should get it there.
I read the sample chapter number 4, and you know how to teach -- so thats great too.
-- Knowledge is no good, if you can't deliver it properly.

So anyway, to sum up. Awesome. So can purchasers of the book, can one free PM to the author of any question of their choice?

I think this would be a great added bonus to those on the cocos2d board.

One free question answered by the author himself...... Come on. (or at least on free question from me?)

ANDY

Posted 4 months ago #
Dragyn
Moderator

@varedis: Thanks. Packt (the publisher) is pretty set on their choice of titles. This one was a surprise title change about a week before the book went to press. They insist on having the version number of the framework in the title, and unfortunately it does look a little odd. On the bright side, there wasn't actually an "iPhone 2" made. As I recall, Nate had a similar naming issue with his Cookbook published last year. Still, those who might find this book useful will probably be able to figure out it means "cocos2d v.2.0". I hope.

@ajlondon: Thanks for the kind words about my writing. I'm still WAY too close to the book to be objective, and I was trying to pack a lot of content in as few pages. (I actually cut a 40 page chapter out of the book!)

I have no problems answering questions - been doing it on the forums as just some random guy for a few years. Makes no difference to me if you're asking questions of "the author himself". I'm open to PMs, if you've got a burning question that you think I can help you with. (Coding questions - no medical questions, burning or otherwise!)

Posted 4 months ago #
HannKett
Member

I just got the book, and I like the style of writing and the way you organized the book.

You are a good technical writer no doubt.

Give me a couple of more days and I will write a proper review on amazon and on here, but for now job well done! :)

Posted 4 months ago #
jmesmith
Member

Congrats on the release! I just bought the ebook and I'm excited to dig in!

Posted 4 months ago #
grillaface
Member

Nice! The more reference and code base the better, thanks for your work on this.

I'll definitely be purchasing the eBook to add to my collection..

If I may though, and this is just my impression from perusing the sample chapter 4 - why no ARC?

Surely Im from the "new school" of thought as Ive only learned cocos2d and objC this past (2012) year - but I cant imagine why someone wouldn't use ARC and unfortunately to me it gives the text and code samples an already outdated feel.

That and little stylistic things such as declaring private ivars in the interface file- to me the concept of an "interface" file implies "these are the things you can work with when using this class" - so private ivars should be declared in the implementation.

Granted its trivial to convert Non-ARC code - essentially just changing property declarations and omiting retains & autoreleases.. just my .02

but again, nice work and I'm sorry if the above sounds too picky or dickish - I really am looking forwars to reading the rest of the book.

Posted 4 months ago #
Dragyn
Moderator

@HannKett: Thanks for the props.

@jmesmith: I'm always open to questions or comments on the book. Happy reading!

@grillaface: Coding is full of differing schools of thought. (I think I address at least 2 or 3 of these "different camps" items in the book.) Personally, I prefer the style of private iVars (it's really a common practice) because organizationally it makes the header a single place where you can identify all the "stuff" that will be available throughout the class. Now, if I were creating a library that would be distributed in a compiled form only, with the header being the only human readable text, I would definitely keep the private iVars in the implementation. For projects like games, where all source code is usually visible to the user, that level of "variable secrecy" (for lack of a better word) seems more confusing than it is worth, to me.

As far as ARC, that is a more advanced coding practice that is still a "new kid on the block" in many respects. I've been coding in Obj-C since 2010, well before ARC existed. For the book, by using the "old school" non-ARC code, that also helps reinforce the retain-release cycle for readers who will likely also be dipping into other tutorials and books on cocos2d. Most of the existing resources are non-ARC, so trying to explain the code structure along with the "automagic" features of ARC was more than I wanted to tackle in this book. Perhaps a book all about cocos2d and ARC might be a valuable resource as well. (Feel free to write it. I'm exhausted after spending many moons on this one!)

Posted 4 months ago #
niw3
Member

Looks like great book. I will go over the free chapter (the classic snake game) soon.

Posted 4 months ago #
grillaface
Member

Thanks for the response Dragyn, makes sense to me.

Btw I just purchased the eBook from Packt - should be arriving via Kindle shortly. I plan on digging straight into the Box2d chapters to hunt for info on a ptmratio question I just posted..

Thanks again for your hard work!

Posted 4 months ago #
Dragyn
Moderator

@grillaface: Thanks for your support. I posted a brain dump of ideas on your PTM_Ratio thread just now. Good luck!

Posted 4 months ago #
AndyCai
Member

hi, i am in China, how can i buy your book???

Posted 4 months ago #
Dragyn
Moderator

@AndyCai: The book is available at quite a few online bookstores worldwide, including Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Safari Books. I'm sorry I don't know which stores ship to China.

You might want to contact the publisher directly. Their web site, http://www.packtpub.com, has contact information specifically for questions about buying books. I would assume they would be able to assist you with finding a bookstore (or sell it to you directly).

Thanks for your interest!

Posted 4 months ago #
Dragyn
Moderator

The book is based on the stable 2.0 version of cocos2d. There are a few tweaks to the source needed if you are running any of the 2.1 beta versions. Most of what I have found so far is changes in the Box2D projects because of the change from PhysicsSprite to CCPhysicsSprite. There's a little reordering of way you create physics objects. I'm working on a doc that details exactly where the "2.1" changes would be. Hopefully I'll have it available in the next week or so.

Posted 4 months ago #
macgeo
Member

Congrats @dragyn!

Posted 4 months ago #
AndyCai
Member

thank you for reply.

Posted 4 months ago #
AndyCai
Member

in fact , i cannot find this book in Amazon

Posted 4 months ago #
Dragyn
Moderator

@AndyCai: Apparently, the book is on every Amazon site worldwide, except for Amazon.cn. I will check with my publisher to see if they can help.

I missed a very important credit in my original post. The amazingly fun "spaceman" graphics I used in the Endless Runner (Chapter 9) were created by @macgeo. Thanks for the wonderful art! His original thread about the art was at: http://www.cocos2d-iphone.org/forum/topic/38063

Posted 4 months ago #
Buster2000
Member

I just got a review copy. Not started reading it properly yet. Just had a flick through and it looks promising. I like the concept of showing how to do several complete games. It is pretty useful and can be applied outside of Objective C or Cocos2D.

Posted 4 months ago #
Dragyn
Moderator

@Buster2000: When I started outlining the book, I knew that we didn't really need another absolute beginner's book. I think the single biggest challenge for any coder is how to fit all of these wonderful pieces together into something that works well. The projects do cover a lot of different styles, and I intentionally tried to show a few different design approaches. (I'm a strong believer that coding is more art than science!)

I look forward to hearing your feedback on the book.

Posted 4 months ago #
AndyCai
Member

but why i can not find this book in Amazon.cn , can you show me the link ???thanks

Posted 4 months ago #
abitofcode
Administrator

@AndyCai: Apparently, the book is on every Amazon site worldwide, except for Amazon.cn. I will check with my publisher to see if they can help.

Posted 4 months ago #
Dragyn
Moderator

News for all: We have a few e-copies of “Creating Games with cocos2d for iPhone 2” available for review. If interested, send an email to Kavita Pandey ( kavitap@packtpub.com ) at Packt Publishing and include following required details:
1. Email address to use to contact you.
2. Choice of website for posting your book-review (can be your blog or website, or Amazon.com)

Thanks for your support!

Also, if you've already bought (and hopefully enjoyed) the book, please blog, tweet, or write a review on Amazon about it. (You can follow me on Twitter as @trollcavegames)

@AndyCai: Sorry for the delay, but I have received confirmation from my publisher that you can buy the book from the publisher's site at PacktPub.com You can buy either a print copy or eBook version through that site, and they will ship to China.

Posted 4 months ago #
HannKett
Member

Hi Dragyn, has there been any progress on the 2.1 update for b2d?

Thanks,

Posted 4 months ago #
blueskimonkey
Member

Hi,

I got the book on Friday its been a great read so far :)

Thanks Aaron

Posted 4 months ago #
Dragyn
Moderator

@HannKett: I'm close to having something together. I just need to get my notes organized into something legible. The main changes I found for the Box2D chapters is that in 2.1b4 you need to change all "PhysicsSprite" references to "CCPhysicsSprite", and you need to reorder the way the objects are built. In my code, it is built as sprite, then body, then fixture. With the tighter integration of the CCPhysicsSprite, you need to build the sprite LAST. There's a couple lines that need to be adjusted because of this, but mostly it is just reordering the elements. I'll try to get a good document (and replacement code) together tonight.

@blueskimonkey: Thanks! Let me know if you have any questions.

Posted 4 months ago #

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