cocos2d for iPhone

A fast, easy to use, free, and community supported 2D game engine

1. 

   rmwebs
   Member

   Ok....lets see...where do I start...

   Firstly, hello! I'm Rick. I'm a mobile app developer...but I cheat a little, I've always used Titanium as all the apps I've made to date are information apps. A few months ago, I became interested in making a game for iOS. I first played around with Corona, which whilst good... wasn't great. Dont get me wrong, its a fantastic piece of kit, but I am not a fan of its development style. It seems very geared towards flash developers. In addition I wasn't fond of the idea of having to pay them all that money, and still hand over my source code. If they ever went out of business, you're stuffed.

   So I started looking around and found Cocos2d and love the idea of making the app completely native. I've seen some great examples of what can be done and can see its a very solid platform.

   Programming wise, I've been a PHP developer for approx. 6 years and have been using Titanium Mobile for about 2 years. I've never touched Objective-C, C or C++. I did a bit of Java at Uni (2 years worth) a few years ago, but havent touched it since.

   So here's where my questions start...

   I guess what I was wondering is quite simply, where do I begin. Should I be learning some basic 'hello world' stuff in Objective-C first, or do I dive into Cocos2d right away? Based on my background, what sort of learning curve would you expect/guess I'll have?

   I've only really had minor dealings with X-Code as most of my mobile work has been done inside TitaniumStudio. Having said that, I'd consider myself fairly capable and confident at working my way around an application.

   Thanks for your time folks - really appreciate it :)

   Rick

   Posted 5 months ago #
2. 

   Karl
   Member

   You need to learn how Objective-C works first. Since you've done Java before, you're already familiar with the C family of languages which is a plus. That said, Objective-C has a very unique syntax that takes some getting used to.

   Start by learning how Objective-C classes work, how memory management works (VITALLY IMPORTANT!!!), how the standard collections work, and how to debug using the debugger and Instruments. You're going to need all of those skills for every further step you take.

   I can't stress memory management enough. iOS doesn't have a garbage collector, so you have to follow certain conventions to avoid leaking memory or accessing invalid memory. Get it to the point that you can debug memory issues in your sleep. I'm quite serious.

   Once you've got the basics, move into cocos2d stuff. You don't necessarily need to learn UIKit, but it can be helpful at times. It's probably best to use a UIKit environment when you're in the early stages of learning Objective-C because it's easy to build a user interface with buttons to trigger stuff.

   Posted 5 months ago #
3. 

   wadevondoom
   Member

   Apple has great resources for learning all of this. What their docs lack, I've found, is that beginner critical learning path. I found this to be an excellent book to both get up to speed on Obj-C as well as it makes a great desk reference. http://www.amazon.com/Programming-Objective-C-Third-Developers-Library/dp/0321711394/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1323887266&sr=8-1

   Posted 5 months ago #
4. 

   clarus
   Member

   @Karl's absolutely right about the memory management. The most common questions in these forums have to do with memory management problems. It's critical to understand the information at this link:
   http://developer.apple.com/library/ios/documentation/Cocoa/Conceptual/MemoryMgmt/Articles/MemoryMgmt.html

   Apple has good code samples, and those are definitely worth checking out for everything from reading the accelerometer to working with Game Kit.

   Other than that, get a book or two and work through them to learn objective-c and cocos2d. Also, look over the Apple frameworks so you know what's there.

   Finally, don't miss this list of cocos2d resources:
   http://www.cocos2d-iphone.org/wiki/doku.php/resources:iphone_recommended_reading

   Posted 5 months ago #
5. 

   abitofcode
   Moderator

   There's a great (and free) iPhone/iPad introductory course from Stanford by Paul Hegarty that's worth spending some time with;

   http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=480479762

   For getting your head around cocos2d specifics such as touches and Node spaces;

   http://bobueland.com/cocos2d/?page_id=31

   Ray Wenderlich has a great set of tutorials on his site;

   http://www.raywenderlich.com/tutorials

   (he covers ARC in there as well)

   The best approach I found when coming from action script was to take a simple idea/game and just build it, then iterate a few times until happy :)

   Posted 5 months ago #
6. 

   clarus
   Member

   Oh that reminds me. Don't forget about the WWDC videos.
   http://developer.apple.com/videos/wwdc/2011/

   Posted 5 months ago #
7. 

   davidlxk
   Member

   I feel that it is also important to have an understanding of the basics of Objective - C

   As with any other languages, the fastest way to learn is to practice and practice (at least that's how I learn)

   http://www.otierney.net/objective-c.html

   http://cocoadevcentral.com/d/learn_objectivec/

   Posted 5 months ago #
8. 

   Dragyn
   Member

   +1 for pure Objective-C first.

   The Apress book "Beginning iPhone 4 Development" by Dave Mark and Jeff LaMarche (aka the grapefruit book) is a pretty common next step for learning iOS. Some of the topics aren't too useful for a cocos2D dev (like using xib files), but it does give a good grounding in some of the core methodology of iOS.

   Once you get your grounding in Objective-C, besides Ray Wenderlich's tutorials that @abitofcode mentioned, Ray and Rod Strougo wrote the book "Learning Cocos2D", which is an excellent way to learn the basics of cocos2D itself. They cover all the foundational design approaches as well as more advanced topics like Box2D and Chipmunk (physics engines), GameCenter integration, and a lot more. I'd say it is a rare cocos2D dev who can't credit Ray as one of their teachers.

   Posted 5 months ago #
9. 

   Timbo
   Member

   Self plug : http://www.timroadley.com/tutorials-index/

   Specifically the iOS Newbie series for new starters. After that series there's a cocos2d game template series which should help you on your way with some common hurdles to creating games.

   Posted 5 months ago #

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