Cocos2D game tutorials/game suggestions - iphone

I use Ray's link to learn Cocos2D, any other good links or tutorials I can use for developing?
Any suggestions about game developing?

Since you weren't too specific on what kind of links you wanted...
This is a bit philosophical but helped me stay focused on getting some simple games finished and polished rather than leaving them half done and moving to the next thing:
http://makegames.tumblr.com/post/1136623767/finishing-a-game
Here's a ton of links to all sorts of game related topics:
http://www-cs-students.stanford.edu/~amitp/gameprog.html
For cocos2d I'd suggest grabbing the full source code and opening up the cocos2d-ios workspace and then compiling and running all the test applications. They'll let you see a bunch of cocos2d's capabilities and give you a starting point to answer those "How would I do X..." type of questions. So after running the TileMapTest you'll know the different type of modes (ortho, iso, etc) it supports and know that there's sample code you look at to get it working.

Related

Tracking a 2 dimensional sprite in Java

I'm kind of new to this whole thing but I'll get started by asking my first question ever.
So a friend and I are working on a project in which we need to track the player character's head movement and attach items to it. Now is this something that needs to be done in Java or would this be something that would be done in Unity?
Sorry if this is a stupid question but I've never really worked on a project of my own volition before.
Thanks,
BadAssWalrus
Ok, so first things first. There is no java in unity, you can do scripting in C#, UnityScript (essentially JavaScript) or Boo.
Now to answer your question, according to my understanding you want to move some objects as the head of the character moves. Now depending upon how you are really trying to move the objects you could either do it with scripting or simply by making the object you are trying to move a child of the head of the character.
Unity has excellent documentation about the scripting API and a lot of tutorials. I suggest you get started by looking at one of these tutorials, and you should get an idea of how things work pretty soon and then you should be able to do pretty much anything you want to do with relative ease.

How to display a point cloud in Unreal Engine?

I'm attempting to display a point cloud in Unreal Engine using the technique described in this UE4 forum post.
I think I followed the description, but I'm not getting any points displayed. The code¹²³⁴ is here. Any ideas on what I got wrong would be much appreciated!
¹ "Code" is a bit of a misnomer, since I didn't write any actual code here, just strung stuff together in the Unreal Editor with Blueprints and the Cascade particle system editor using the instructions in the forum post.
² A secondary question would be how to do this in Unreal using pure C++ code instead of Blueprints and Cascade. For my purposes this would make things much easier. But since the forum post used the visual editors I figured I would try to get that working first.
³ Really off topic but I have to vent: I wish the Unreal Engine peer-help community revolved around sharing actual code, and especially sharing actual working projects, instead of forum posts with incomplete instructions describing how to do something in the GUI that you just might get working if you already know what you're doing. It makes it a tough way to learn!
⁴ I also realize that Stack Overflow wants to see code in the question itself and not just a link. But given the nature of the "code" involved, that wasn't possible. Sorry! :-)

Creating a plugin for CEF3 in Unity 3D

I was able to find a basic implementation of CEF3 in Ogre3D -- but I was hoping there would be something similar for Unity3D.
Link
I am currently using Awesomium, however, I now need to use RTCPeerConnection (which requires Chromium 29+). Currently, Awesomium is only on Chromium 18, and its unclear how long it will take for that to be udpated (not going to hold my breath).
CEF is open source and updated very frequently.
I would do this myself, but I have no clue where to start. I am hoping:
Someone with enough Unity experience has either already created a CEF3 wrapper that they would be willing to share with the community, or
Someone knows how this could be accomplished and can (hopefully thoroughly) explain
i took a look at your link and the video and i think i have some useful resources to share.
i have a bit of experience on unity3d. i've never tried to embed webpages within it, HOWEVER i've stumbled accross and read a few conversations on the subject in my travels.
there is one discussion here on the unity site, that i think would interest you
UnityWebCore plugin
Also on the unity boards - someone has gone ahead and done some of the paving the way, provided a project with some demos and downloadable source here.
its not exactly Chromium Embedded Frames, but from best i can tell from your link this will accomplish what you need. (or at least get you started)
EDIT:
another discussion specifically relating to doing this with awesomium here

Flash cs6 and Flash Builder, workflow

I wish I could pose more specific questions on this topic, but what I'm really looking for is a bird's eye view - a blog post, something from Adobe, documentation or even a book that outlines an approach, because I've had a tough time finding something comprehensive.
I've primarily been developing in a 2 man team with Flash Pro for years - an artist and developer. I've also worked in larger teams, using the same workflow:
AS code written as class files using Flash Pro editor, with minimal code on the timeline (only stops and an occasional function call when the timeline hits a certain frame).
Library assets are linked to AS3 classes where needed
Assets are placed on the main stage & main timeline, for maximum convenience of the designer.
Apps are published and built by exporting to swf with Flash Pro
No source control whatsoever except telling each other if we are going to change the fla.
Our shop is on the verge of bringing in more coders to develop a series of Flash browser games, and I'm thinking it's time to bring this workflow into the current reality. We'll want to have something that suits both artists and coders (minimizing complaints from either camp), as well as git support for source control.
Finally, my questions:
How are most developers authoring games currently? I've read a popular approach is to create art assets in a fla using Flash pro, link them to classes and export to a SWC. Code is then developed in Flash Builder, where assets are embedded.
If I take the SWC approach, is all code stripped from the timeline of MovieClip assets?
I'm aware that Flash Builder has an option to create a 'Flash professional' project which integrates the two and seems ideal, but going back and forth between Builder and Pro seemed to be crash prone. Does anyone use this approach reliably?
Will CS6 give us any advantages over CS5.5 to make it more developer friendly; ie. code-completion, etc.
Is there a way to set up workflow so the artist could make changes and then build/run the game from Flash Pro, and the developers could do it from Flash Builder - or would everyone need Flash Builder to run?
Are there any good 3rd party tools that provide code completion and an all around better development environment then the flash IDE (as an alternative to Flash Builder)?
Do people see Flash Builder as a 'must have' when working in teams or in general Flash dev?
Thanks for answering any part of these questions, or just simply sharing your experiences, opinions, and personal preferences. Any knowledge will be a big help at this point!
That is a lot of questions for one question. I'll try to somewhat cover the main topic of workflow.
The approach you describe with a pure ActionScript project with swc:s linked in is probably the most common approach (at least when it comes to more complex projects) as you want to separate code from content as much as possible. Usually I work with one artist so we sync up on functional design and then I define how the scene objects should be structured (i.e. a container clip, with XYZ child clips, naming, linkage and everything) to make it fit in with current framework or new supporting code.
You do not want any code in the flash pro timeline whatsoever, you want it all in your ActionScript files. Ideally as a programmer you shouldn't have to go into the flash scene project. However, in reality you probably will. I usually try to keep this to my own placeholder scene so I don't contaminate the production files with test and placeholders. You also really don't want several people editing in the same scene at once. One approach is to split up into several different scene projects. If you make a card game you could have something like this: card.swc, mainScene.swc, opponents.swc. That also allows for some concurrency if you are working with multiple artists.
Keeping the flash pro files in xfl format makes it a bit more source control friendly and you could actually merge two versions of the same scene but it can be a bit complex at times.
I usually solve this by making quick functional placeholder graphics that can later on is replaced by an artist (or render graphics from code).
When it comes to IDE:s, I think the most popular ones are FlashDevelop, Flash Builder and IntelliJ IDEA (With Flash Builder as my personal favourite). Get started with one and try some of the others in due time. Make sure the functions you use all day long are really good. However, if you have only been working with the flash professional environment before anything will be a drastic improvement on productivity.
I for one prioritize searching, refactoring and ease to follow the program flow, which simplifies debugging and getting into other peoples code quickly. But it all really comes down to finding a tool that runs on a frequency you can tune your mind into.
I hope that answered some of your thoughts and questions. Do not hesitate to follow up with more of them.

How do I use a 3rd party C library in Xcode for my iphone project?

love this site and all helpful people! I'm newbie to Xcode and iPhone programming but I've pretty much got the hang of using the SDK to make programs in Obj-C (simple programs right now but make me happy). My experience is web programming (such as PHP and Perl) and I'm not really used to a lot of the new Xcode/desktopy-app stuff like static libraries and linking and such. I be honest, I am not total awesome programmer yet!
I have a problem right now, my (card game) program I am writing needs to use this C library. I don't really understand how I get the proper C files and integrate them into my project so I can start using the commands in that tutorial to evaluate hand values.
I hope I have been clear, please let me know if there is anything I am leaving out. Unfortunately, my newbieness may prevent from me making everything so clear and sometimes I can't english perfectly what I am thinking!
Happy thanks in advance, looking forward to any help!
Couple things:
The library you linked to is quite large. Pokersource appears to be a large C project containing all sorts of things like language bindings and some GUI tools as well. A project that large certainly has an IRC channel. I would recommend going there.
The library you linked to appears to be (I may be wrong about this), licensed under the GPLv3. This means that any program that you distribute to others that uses a GPLv3 library or piece of code must also be licensed under the GPLv3. The upshot is that if you use that library, you'll have to release the source for your game.
The site you linked to does seem to have a long list of other poker hand evaluators, so its possible one of them is suitable for your needs.
Good luck!
it's totally possible to use third party static libraries with your iPhone and using Xcode. This webpage illustrates the process of doing it.