Beginning iPhone Games Development
by PJ Cabrera, Peter Bakhirev, Ian Marsh, Ben Smith, Eric Wing, Scott Penberthy
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Book Summary Information
Author: Ben Smith, Eric Wing, Ian Marsh, Peter Bakhirev, PJ Cabrera, Scott PenberthyEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2010-05-14
ISBN: 1430225998
Number of pages: 728
Publisher: Apress
Book Reviews of Beginning iPhone Games Development
Book Review: Not perfect, but definitely good enough for novice game developers
Summary: 5 Stars
INTRODUCTION
Last year, I had gone through Stephan Kochan's excellent Objective-C 2.0 book and then followed that with the other Apress beginner's book on the iPhone SDK (by Mark and LaMarche). I became comfortable developing apps that utilized the UIKit using the standard tab bar controllers, navigation controllers, UITableviews, etc, but wanted to venture into game development. There were very few books on the subject, and the reviews of the very few other books (which also only became available recently) were terrible. I suppose I had high hopes for this book based on the Apress Mark and LaMarche beginner's book.
CHAPTERS
Here's a list of chapters, since I didn't find this listed in the Amazon description:
01 pg 001 A Revolutionary Gaming Platform: Games for Everyone, Anytime, Anywhere
02 pg 013 Developing iPhone Games: Peeking Inside the iPhone Toolbox
03 pg 021 Moving Images on a Small Screen --UIKit Controls
04 pg 079 She Shoots, She Hits, She Scores!
05 pg 137 Flipping Out and Sweeping Away with Core Animation
06 pg 161 OpenGL Basics: Wrapping Your Head Around the OpenGL API
07 pg 203 Putting It Together: Making a Game in OpenGL
08 pg 261 The Next Steps: Atlases, Sprites, and Particles--Oh My!
09 pg 315 Introduction to Core Audio
10 pg 353 Making Noise with OpenAL
11 pg 423 3D Audio--Turning Noise into Game Sounds
12 pg 463 Streaming: Thumping, Pulse-Quickening Game Excitement
13 pg 537 Networking for iPhone Games: Introduction
14 pg 543 Going Head to Head
15 pg 583 Party Time
16 pg 637 Connecting with the Outside World
17 pg 649 Putting It All Together: Now Comes the Fun Part
I'm currently on chapter 6 and can say that this book's more than adequate for somebody of my beginning level. Nevertheless, there are some definite negatives that I noticed so far.
CONS
1. The text has the familiar format of taking the reader through the development of a single app (an Asteroids-like game). There are times in which the author(s) really hand-hold and explain every line of code, and then there are other times in which the authors will inform the reader of what code was added to the app, but gloss over any explanations. You may be thinking that perhaps the authors assumed some of the added code should be obvious to even beginners, however, the code they do not provide explanations of are not anything that a beginner or maybe even intermediate-level (non-gaming) programmer would know. Sometimes, the author will just say something like "If it sounded really confusing, don't worry, it is!" and just basically tell us to accept the code and don't worry about how it works. I got the feeling that the author(s) for some of the chapters truly do not know themselves or understand portions of their code expertly.
2. Although I do indeed remember the fundamentals of linear algebra, having taken a course on it in the past, the authors make little effort at explaining anything about transformational matrices to those who may know less than me. They use transformational matrices, of course, but I got the distinct impression that the author(s) themselves had no real idea of the fundamental principles behind the use of transformational matrices. Yes, I understand that the APIs do provide some level of abstraction, but they are still low-level enough that the reader should be given some general review of what transformational matrices do and look like mathematically. The APIs do not provide tremendous abstraction.
3. There is a moderate number of errors and you must use their website for the errata. Some of the errors are not obvious to catch. As an example, a previously used class is later subclassed, but the subclass assumes methods exist in the parent class which the text omitted when first describing the parent class previously. This may surprise you, but I don't find this too objectionable. The Mark and LaMarche beginning iPhone SDK book (first edition) was plagued with errors, too.
PROS
1. It's probably the only decent book out there for iPhone game development for beginners based on the lousy reviews of the two other books on Amazon.
2. Seems to have a lot of information on sounds, which I hadn't seen in other books or blogs regarding game development.
3. It's very comprehensive. Please see the earlier chapter listing.
4. You can buy the PDF version for $10 from the Apress website. You are given a certain amount of time to answer a question from the website about the book and if you succeed (proving that you own the book) they will send you a full book version in PDF for $10.
CONCLUSION
Like some of the other reviewers have commented, this book has frustrating moments, is uneven in its chosen level of hand-holding throughout the development of the Asteroid app, and has some difficult to spot errors, however, I still like it a lot. It's good enough and you have to give the authors a lot of credit for at least making a book for beginning game developers. I never expect a book to be the "bible" of its subject. It will allow me to throw away the book once I read it and move on to Apple's documentation and excellent blogs, like Matt Gallagher's excellent Cocoa with Love and forums like Apple's developer forums, the iPhone/iPad forum of the MacRumors website, and iPhoneDevSDK.
I will of course update this review as I finish reading it (on my iPad using the PDF).
Summary of Beginning iPhone Games Development
iPhone games are hot! Just look at the numbers. Games make up over 25 percent of total apps and over 70 percent of the most popular apps. Surprised? Of course not! Most of us have filled our iPhone or iPod touch with games, and many of us hope to develop the next best-selling, most talked-about game.
You?ve probably already read and mastered Beginning iPhone 3 Development; Exploring the iPhone SDK, the best-selling, the second edition of Apress?s highly acclaimed introduction to the iPhone and iPod touch by developers Dave Mark and Jeff LaMarche. This book is the game-specific equivalent, providing you with the same easy-to-follow, step-by-step approach, more deep technical insights, and that familiar friendly style.
While games are all about fun, at the same time, they?re serious business. With this book, you?re going to roll up your sleeves and get your hands dirty with some hardcore coding. While you may have written games before, this book will take you further, immersing you in the following topics:
- Game graphics and animation with UIKit, Quartz, Core Animation, and OpenGL ES
- Game audio with OpenAL, MediaPlayer Framework, AV Foundation, and AudioSession
- Game networking with GameKit, Bonjour, and Internet sharing
What you?ll learn
- Efficient methods for drawing in 2D and 3D to the iPhone screen
- Game-specific animation techniques with Core Animation
- To use OpenGL ES for more complex and realistic gaming backgrounds and action
- Numerous ways to add music to enhance the gaming experience
- How to give your users access to their iPhone libraries from within games
- The tools and techniques of 3D audio for creating even more realistic gaming experiences
- How to do networking right, including two-player games over Bluetooth and multiplayer games over Wi-Fi
Who this book is for
All game developers who desire to create iPhone and/or iPod touch games
Table of Contents
- A Revolutionary Gaming Platform
- Games for Everyone, Anytime, Anywhere
- Developing iPhone Games
- Peeking Inside the iPhone Toolbox
- Moving Images on a Small Screen?UIKit Controls
- She Shoots, She Hits, She Scores!
- Flipping Out and Sweeping Away with Core Animation
- OpenGL Basics: Wrapping Your Head
- Around the OpenGL AP
- Putting It Together: Making a Game in OpenGL
- The Next Steps: Atlases, Sprites, and Particles?Oh My
- Introduction to Core Audio
- Making Noise with OpenAL
- 3D Audio?Turning Noise into Game Sound
- Streaming: Thumping, Pulse-Quickening
- Game Excitement
- Networking for iPhone Games: Introductio
- Going Head to Head
- Party Time
- Connecting with the Outside World
- Putting It All Together: Now Comes the Fun Part
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