[?]Advice on creating/using a 'super-format'

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[?]Advice on creating/using a 'super-format'

(10 posts) (3 voices)

Started 4 months ago by Duckwit
Latest reply from Duckwit

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Duckwit
Member

Heh, I'm still young and I still have time to make choices like these -> I've been 'developing a game' of sorts for a few months now (including learning C and Obj-C then that makes it over a year) but after really taking into the account the situation and where I was headed with the project I came to the conclusion that it was far to ambitious.
I have the skill to do all the art, animation, and programming (A lot of experience with Adobe Flash CS5 and love maths) but there is not enough TIME.

I also thought my game would not be suitable for the market/mobile technology/touch and accelerometer input/especially for the time it would take to develop.

New plan. :)

This game is on a much smaller scale and overall open to much more optimization to the efficiency of my workflow.

The game is platformer-ish (<- *Insert references to innovative secrets here*) and I want it to be really easy for:
A) Me to create levels (possibly using an external program)
B)The user to create levels ('simple' drag and drop from objects list)
--------------------------------------------------------
TL;DR
--------------------------------------------------------
I want to have a file format that allows me to easily store and transfer/upload/download levels.
I need a very minuscule set of variables because all the logic and such will be determined upon loading the level.

Variables per object:
Object: Type:(integer value corresponding to a collection of objects defined in code that each have individual logic patterns/graphics)
Position.x
Position.y
-(Possibly)Some other attributes

I'd like to be able to save/load this data REALLY fast and be in a very simple format that is easily transportable (e.g. online, through e-mail, social networks etc...)
Some ideas I had in mind were using strings of characters and numbers in a recognizable format like:
f247897 -> f (type of object represented by a letter) 247 (pos.x) 897 (pos.y)
Or even to allow for simple digit value changing:

f1036z12000 -> Where z is recognized as the divide between the two positions

This seams like a very compact way of storing data in just a simple NSString (Not sure how to actually save an NString other than overkilling with a .plist :P)
Perhaps there is a way to split a string into characters and store them individually in an array of sorts? Of course to compare the characters and load data corresponding to their significance/value.

I'm very open and looking forward to ideas/discussion about this topic - I don't see it/haven't seen it around very much. :)

Posted 4 months ago #
cocojoe
Member

No point reinventing the wheel, if you want a nice portable format especially for uploading/downloading look at JSON.

Posted 4 months ago #
Duckwit
Member

I'll take a look as I have seen that crop up around these sort of topics.

But I am still interested in storing data as a string :/

Also, I was thinking that to be REALLY fast, in my opinion, it is best to write/use a format optimized for your needs and nothing else. I mean, with no strings attached. As in not using any data that you don't need to to get your data around.

EDIT: Wow JSON looks so cool. http://www.json.org/

Posted 4 months ago #
cocojoe
Member

JSON is a string :-) If you read a bit more you can easily export an AS3 Object into JSON and then import that into Objective C and use it to create your level.

Posted 4 months ago #
Duckwit
Member

:D

Posted 4 months ago #
Duckwit
Member

I think it is interpreting the string that I'm interested in now -
Maybe you could brief me quickly on how JSON interacts with Obj-C in a nutshell - like really summarized?
Also, can I use it to save files to the system quickly/easily?

EDIT: Which framework do you recommend?

EDIT:Reading TouchJSON on GitHub - seems really complicated and whacky...

Posted 4 months ago #
cocojoe
Member
I don't work with Flash myself however look at https://github.com/mikechambers/as3corelib to provide additional functionality to export JSON.
For Objective C you already have it included with Cocos2D, look at TouchJSON

Example in AS3 to turn into an Array (Corelib)
```
var arr:Array = (JSON.decode(rawData) as Array);
```
Objective C create dictionary (TouchJSON)
```
NSString *jsonString = @"yourJSONHere";
NSData *jsonData = [jsonString dataUsingEncoding:NSUTF8StringEncoding];
NSError *error = nil;
NSDictionary *dictionary = [[CJSONDeserializer deserializer] deserializeAsDictionary:jsonData error:&error];
```
Pretty straightforard here is an example of JSON string for you.
```
{'x':320,'y':200}
```
Posted 4 months ago #
Martin
Member

Karl did a JSON parser shortly:
https://github.com/kstenerud/KSJSON

I haven't used it but I'm sure it's good:).

Posted 4 months ago #
Duckwit
Member
Right I think I get the picture now.
You can create JSON strings using a weird little syntax, you can save them in NSData using some fancy methods, and you can fancily deserialize that data when you want to load it.

So to define a JSON string I could just...
```
NSString* someData = @"{'type':52,'x':300,'y':400}";
```
Awesome!
Now I just need to learn how to actually save it :)

Thanks for the help @cocojoe :)
Posted 4 months ago #
Duckwit
Member

Thanks @martin for the link, it certainly looks reliable. But to me, I don't know, TouchJSON feels more 'official' and documented :)

Posted 4 months ago #

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