iPhone: Getting started

[Adam Schmelzle]

Now that I have FINALLY got everything download/installed/configured and working for iPhone development, I thought I'd start to share my experiences.

Objective C: WTF? So it's quite obvious that I'm not a Mac developer, sicne I just bought my first Mac last week. What I don't understand is why Apple chose to use an obscure language like Obj-C as their preffered and only option for iPhone development. IF they want to be developer friendly, it's an obvious choice to use something that we are all familiar with, like C++. If they want Object-Oriented features, with C pointers, that's pretty much why C++ was invented. I'm not opposed to learning a new languarge, but is it really necessary?

I suppose you could say that Zune development isn't much better, with the default being C#, but it doesn't appear to be forced on you. I believe you can still use C/C++ if you want to.

Xcode: I couldn't figure out how to open the documentation. That's right, I felt extra stupid while trying to find out where all the docs were located. Everything I read on the net said just go to Help->Documentation. Well guess what? There was/is no 'Documentation' option in the help menu. All I get is a 'search' box. I gave up, went into the key-bindings, and found/changed the shortcut keypress that opens the docs. This worked, but why the heck was it not available in ANY of the on-screen menus?

No 5.1?: I hooked up a mini-optical to me 5.1 receiver for the digital sound output from my Mac mini. I didn't really expect to get 5.1 like I do with my 'X-Mystique' PC soundcard, but I was hopeful.

iPhone app development: I haven't really don't anything yet. I've been watching videos from this site:

iphonedevcentral.org/

Which I highly recommend for anyone starting out on iPhone development. The videos go step-by-step thought all the code/settings needed to create some simple applications. The guys doing the video's don't alyways know the correct terminology, or explain things in the best way, but these videos are super helpful anyway. Seriously, go to this site and watch the videos. I'll probably watch most/all of them before doing too much myself.

...I want to make a monkeyball style game, that does NOT use the tilt sensors of the iPhone. I know exactly how I want to control the game, and I think it'll work fantastically, but still need to fiugure out how to actually program it. mmmm monkeyball with good controls.

I have played the iPhone monkeyball, and unfortunately it is actually worse than I expected it to be There is a noticable delay when tilting, so you have no real sense of control over the game. Sucks worse than the Wii version.

[kallin]

I think a great Iphone game would be that maze game where you scroll the dials to tilt the table, maneuvering the ball past the holes. Personally I can't justify spending $500 or whatever on a phone right now so I'm not about to try. I imagine you could make a pretty vanilla version without too much fuss though.

[Adam Schmelzle]

Yeah, it's pricey. Even an iPod touch is expensive(more so up front).

I'm lucky enough that the price doesn't bother me, and I can imagine that it'll pay itself back pretty quick after releasing my first game.

That game you are describing is called 'Labyrinth', and it's pretty much how the original 'Monkey Ball' game played, except there were not as many walls to stop you from falling off.

[chrisl]

May I ask you a legal question regarding the distribution of (non-free) games on the Apple Store?
What kind of agreement does the publisher/developer have with Apple:
1) Is it a "distribution" agreement, where the publisher receives a share (70% AFAIK) of the price invoiced by Apple to the customer?
2) Or is it more like a "service" provided by Apple and invoiced to you (30%), kind of like PayPal?

I guess (hope) it's 1) : my question may sound silly as it should make no difference at all (you get the same money anyway). BUT where I live this could make a big difference, since a way to declare this publishing activity implies being taxed on the turnover, not the profit.
So to recap:
- Case 1) your turnover is the same as your profit = 70% of the price (-> fair taxes)
- Case 2) your turnover is 100% of the price (-> big taxes... bad...)
I hope it makes sense in English...

[Adam Schmelzle]

Sounds like it makes sense to me! It's pretty much like 1). You get 70% of the sale price.

Payment is kinda odd though, as you only get paid if you read over $250 in one region. So if I made $200 of sales in the US, and $200 in UK, I wouldn't be getting a payment from Apple yet. It seems silly, but it must have to do with the way they collect the money from the different countries. After it goes over $250, you'll get paid for that region at the end of the month.

I'm pretty sure the minimum is $250, though I haven't looked at the agreement for a while.

[chrisl]

OK, this is what I expected then. The minimum payment per region is a bit rude but, well, they make the rules.

P.S. When will you tell what iK is ?...

[Adam Schmelzle]

It's been out for days now in the app store. Just a silly knuckle cracking sound machine.

[chrisl]

Is it doing well?

[Adam Schmelzle]

Not really. I'm giving it away for free 'cause nobody bought it