Hey I've got a couple of questions, I want to get into making some game apps with the iphone.(I've gotten as far as a design document, and some classroom hours studying Obj-C.)So here's a bunch of questions.
1. Did you code this in Objective-C, C or other language?
Objective-C, with some C required for the OpenGL stuff. Many people suggest C++ for speed, but I already had a background in C from some palm OS work and some PC work in the distant past. I didn't want to learn two new languages, so I stayed with learning Obj-C and have not regretted it.
2. How long did it take to code(duration/hours?) and/or how long after the first level did it take you to finish it?
It took about 6 months of working 6-12 hours a day, not counting weekends. The first level was playable three months ago - even with programming mostly complete you'd be surprised how much time art, animation, sound, further level design, and balancing takes.
3. Did you use a commercial engine to do this, or would you recommend one for 2d graphics?
Custom engine. If I started today I would probably use Cocos2D for this project - it was fun to learn OpenGL, but I spent a lot of time fiddling with pointers to arrays of vertices. I could have spent that time adding gameplay features instead.
4. What books if any would you recommend for an iphone game programmer?
I don't have any game-specific books, and no iPhone books were out when I started. I read the Hillegass Cocoa book (v2, since v3 was not out), The C book from K&R, and the OpenGL programming guide, along with many tutorials and messageboards. I list that stuff in my second blog post:
How to make your first game for less than $1,000
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