iPhone Development Tutorials and Programming Tips

Developing A Simple iPhone App Programming Tutorial

Even with all the tutorials now available, getting started with iPhone development can be tough.   There are just so many sticking points, and often it seems like even top-rated book authors will try to avoid dealing with those points.

I found this great tutorial that stands out from most, and what I really liked about it was that it gets into so many of the concepts that people just starting out have trouble with.

The tutorial is from Ray Wenderlich and covers the creation of a simple app, and some of what you will learn is:

- Interface builder basics
- Table Views
- View controller switching
- Using A UIImagePicker
- Adding Images

©2010 iPhone, iOS 4, iPad SDK Development Tutorial and Programming Tips. All Rights Reserved.

iPhone Development Tutorials and Programming Tips

App Tracking – 10 Desktop, Web And iOS Based Tools For Tracking Sales And Users

There have been many tools for tracking app download, sales and reviews that have come and gone.  Some time ago I wrote a couple of posts showing different tools that were available for app tracking.  Since that time many new tools have come and gone, and since some users were still using and commenting on those pages I felt it was time to put things in a single list.

In this article I am going to list quality tools that are for Mac/Windows desktop, browser based and available in the app store for download.  The tools on this list get data through iTunes Connect, or through a tracking code you install within your app.  I decided not to list tools that simply organize data built from scraping the app store (as there are probably hundreds of those around now), but I did include some tools that use that data along with your iTunes Connect data to provide unique and useful data.

This list by no means displays every feature available within these tools, you’ll need to check them out for yourself.  I also didn’t include any tools which were in closed beta.

In the list beside each tool I have listed the platforms, and where the data used by each tool comes from.

App Tracking Tools

(Alphabetical Order)

App Annie (Web Based – iTunes Connect/App Store) – Currently in open beta (so free atm) provides historical and daily data on worldwide app stores.  Great for getting daily reports on competitor apps.

AppSalesGraph (Mac/Windows – iTunes Connect) – Open source (Python) tool that allows you to visually track app sales, reviews, and downloads on all your apps in the app store.  Simple, but the stats look good.

AppStoreClerk (Mac – iTunes Connect) – Simple OS X app that downloads and displays iTunes connect data into tables. Source code provided.

AppViz (Mac – iTunes Connect) – Downloads and displays iTunes connect data in beautiful into great looking charts and tables.  $29 for full version, free trial available.

Flurry Analytics (Web Based – Tracking Code) – Free analytics for tracking visitor data allowing you to see how many people are using your app, how often etc.  Useful info, but you’ll want to use something else to see iTunes connect sales data.

Google Analytics (Web Based – Tracking Code)  Not specifically for apps.  You can view this in your desktop browser, unfortunately in an iOS device you’ll need to download an app such as Google Analyticator.  Not specifically for apps, but can still provide useful data.

HeartBeatApp (Web Based – iTunes Connect) – Displays iTunes Connect in a beautiful web based interface.  Includes information on crash reports.

Localytics (Web Based – Tracking Code)  This is in the same vein as Flurry Analytics, has a free version that appears to have most of the features you would want, and a more extensive enterprise version.

MyAppSales (iOS) – A beautiful app for tracking your app sales data.  This is not available in the app store and you will need to purchase and compile it yourself.  Price 20 euros.

I can tell you though that AppFigures, and App Annie seem to have gained quite a following in the indie developer crowd so you may want to check those out.  If you simply want iTunes Connect data in a better interface, I don’t think you can go wrong with HeartBeatApp.  If you don’t want to use a web based tool AppViz is a beautiful app for the desktop, and MyAppSales for iOS.  If you want visitor data, Flurry is quite popular.  If you want something open source so you can figure out how to scrape the data AppStoreClerk or AppSalesGraph both provide source code.

If there is another tool that you like to use please post it in the comments below. Thanks!

©2010 iPhone, iOS 4, iPad SDK Development Tutorial and Programming Tips. All Rights Reserved.

Game Producer Blog

You’ve Tried PS3 Move Or Xbox Kinect? Share Your Findings

Discussion is taking place here. As a PS3 owner, I’d be really interested to hear from you guys how you liked that. (And of course Kinect info too)

Humus

New gallery

GameDev.Net

Weekend Reading: Tales from Journal Land (Returns!)

Entries from 7/23 - 9/3 Hey there everyone and apologies for letting this feature slack off the past month. I'm going to assume, given the fact that after two weeks AWOL I hadn't received a barrage of "where the hell are you??" emails and messages that you all were just being very understanding of the fact that sometimes I get a bit extra busy given that GDNet is by far not the only thing I work on these days. So, thanks for giving me a little vacation time ;) I decided to take the time to catch up on ALL the journal entries that were posted in my absence. I've left out the Pick of the Week for this entry but have bolded some interesting entries below. I'm also going to remind everyone to reference their journal entries as much as possible when they make new posts about previously-talked-about subjects. Yes, when someone views your journal's main page they see a lot of entries, but when I link to an entry or even when someone is taken to an entry from a search result (need I remind you all how much Google indexes this site??) they only see that single entry. If you'd like people to read more about your project or anything that you reference in your post, don't expect them to take the time to hunt it down themselves. Link everything you can, it'll make the difference when a mildly-interested person becomes hooked when they read more about what you're doing. Welcome new Journal Land citizens dx elliot and Richard Geslot!

iPhone Development Tutorials and Programming Tips

OpenFeint Going One Up On Game Center With Cross-Platform Multiplayer

A question that has been brought up ever since Apple announced Game Center was how other social gaming networks on the iPhone would survive. Recently OpenFeint announced that they would be adding cross-platform multiplayer between iPhone and Android gamers. This will allow players on both platforms to compete and communicate with each other.

It will be interesting to see how this plays out. The only developers who would benefit from those are those who are developing games for both Android and the iOS platforms, and Apple has certainly spoken up against cross-platform development.

You can sign up for the beta test for Playtime on the http://www.openfeint.com/developers if you would like to check out this cross platform gaming for yourself.

Thanks for reading, please share this by using the buttons below!

©2010 iPhone, iOS 4, iPad SDK Development Tutorial and Programming Tips. All Rights Reserved.

Geeks3D Forums

DX11 Mandelbrot and Julia viewer V1.8

iDevGames

Aquaria Goes Open Source

Creating Games in the Playground SDK

iCodeBlog

Adding Local Weather Conditions To Your App (Part 1/2: Implementing CoreLocation)

Knowing the latitude and longitude of your users can open up all kinds of possibilities in your apps. In an upcoming post, we’ll be discussing how you can use your user’s location to determine their local weather conditions and forecast. But for now, we’re going to focus on Part 1 of this two part tutorial: CoreLocation.

Apple’s done a great job of abstracting GPS, Cellular Triangulation, and Wifi Access Point location lookups into CoreLocation; making it extremely easy to determine the approximate location of your user regardless of their device and network connectivity. Additionally, Apple’s new iPhone Simulator finally supports CoreLocation as well. This significantly eases the process of testing your location code.

The first thing you’ll need to do is add the CoreLocation framework to your project. This is pretty straightforward. Command-Click on ‘Frameworks’ -> Add -> Existing Frameworks

Select ‘CoreLocation.framework’ and click ‘add’.

The class below implements the LocationManager delegate methods required to get the user’s location. You can just as easily implement the LocationManagerDelegate protocol in your AppDelegate or elsewhere in your App. Though I’ve found that having this class makes it super easy to drop in location support into new projects instead of having to cut/paste delegate methods (ugly). Anyway. Take a look:

//
//  LocationGetter.h
//  CoreLocationExample
//
//  Created by Matt on 9/3/10.
//  Copyright 2009 iCodeBlog. All rights reserved.
//
 
#import <UIKit/UIKit.h>
#import <CoreLocation/CoreLocation.h>
 
@protocol LocationGetterDelegate <NSObject>
@required
- (void) newPhysicalLocation:(CLLocation *)location;
@end
 
@interface LocationGetter : NSObject <CLLocationManagerDelegate> { 
    CLLocationManager *locationManager;
    id delegate;
}
 
- (void)startUpdates;
 
@property (nonatomic, retain) CLLocationManager *locationManager;
@property(nonatomic , retain) id delegate;
@end

Notice that we’re defining our own protocol with a method that takes the new CLLocation as a parameter. We’ll be implementing that delegate method in a minute. Now for the class

 
//  LocationGetter.m
//  CoreLocationExample
//
//  Created by Matt on 9/3/10.
//  Copyright 2009 iCodeBlog. All rights reserved.
//
 
#import "LocationGetter.h"
#import <CoreLocation/CoreLocation.h>
 
@implementation LocationGetter
 
@synthesize locationManager, delegate;
BOOL didUpdate = NO;
 
- (void)startUpdates
{
    NSLog(@"Starting Location Updates");
 
    if (locationManager == nil)
        locationManager = [[CLLocationManager alloc] init];
 
    locationManager.delegate = self;
 
    // locationManager.distanceFilter = 1000;  // update is triggered after device travels this far (meters)
 
    // Alternatively you can use kCLLocationAccuracyHundredMeters or kCLLocationAccuracyHundredMeters, though higher accuracy takes longer to resolve
    locationManager.desiredAccuracy = kCLLocationAccuracyKilometer;  
    [locationManager startUpdatingLocation];    
}
 
- (void)locationManager:(CLLocationManager *)manager didFailWithError:(NSError *)error
{
    UIAlertView *alert = [[UIAlertView alloc] initWithTitle:@"Error" message:@"Your location could not be determined." delegate:nil cancelButtonTitle:@"OK" otherButtonTitles: nil];
    [alert show];
    [alert release];      
}
 
// Delegate method from the CLLocationManagerDelegate protocol.
- (void)locationManager:(CLLocationManager *)manage didUpdateToLocation:(CLLocation *)newLocation fromLocation:(CLLocation *)oldLocation
{
    if (didUpdate)
        return;
 
    didUpdate = YES;
    // Disable future updates to save power.
    [locationManager stopUpdatingLocation];
 
    // let our delegate know we're done
    [delegate newPhysicalLocation:newLocation];
}
 
- (void)dealloc
{
    [locationManager release];
 
    [super dealloc];
}
 
@end

CoreLocation gives you a few options for the accuracy of the user’s location. The more accurate the measurement, typically the longer it takes LocationManager to call it’s delegate method didUpdateToLocation. It’s just something to keep in mind when deciding what level of accuracy to use.

Next we need to actually invoke this code and start getting location updates. I usually do this in my AppDelegate’s didFinishLaunchingWithOptions, though you could also do it in viewDidLoad somewhere if you didn’t need to know the user’s location on app startup.

 - (BOOL)application:(UIApplication *)application didFinishLaunchingWithOptions:(NSDictionary *)launchOptions {    
 
    UIActivityIndicatorView *spinner = [[UIActivityIndicatorView alloc] initWithActivityIndicatorStyle:UIActivityIndicatorViewStyleWhiteLarge];
	spinner.center = CGPointMake(self.viewController.view.frame.size.width / 2, self.viewController.view.frame.size.height / 2);    
    [spinner startAnimating];
 
    [viewController.view addSubview:spinner];
 
    // get our physical location
    LocationGetter *locationGetter = [[LocationGetter alloc] init];
    locationGetter.delegate = self;
    [locationGetter startUpdates]; 	
 
    // Add the view controller's view to the window and display.
    [window addSubview:viewController.view];
    [window makeKeyAndVisible];
 
    return YES;
}

Notice that I’ve set locationGetter’s delegate to self. So in your .h, make sure to add LocationGetterDelegate to the interface.

//
//  CoreLocationExampleAppDelegate.h
//  CoreLocationExample
//
//  Created by Matt Tuzzolo on 9/3/10.
//  Copyright iCodeBlog 2010. All rights reserved.
//
 
#import <UIKit/UIKit.h>
#import "LocationGetter.h"
 
@class CoreLocationExampleViewController;
 
@interface CoreLocationExampleAppDelegate : NSObject <UIApplicationDelegate, LocationGetterDelegate> {
    UIWindow *window;
    CoreLocationExampleViewController *viewController;
    CLLocation *lastKnownLocation;
}
 
@property (nonatomic, retain) IBOutlet UIWindow *window;
@property (nonatomic, retain) IBOutlet CoreLocationExampleViewController *viewController;
@property (nonatomic, retain) CLLocation *lastKnownLocation;
 
@end

I’ve also added a CLLocation *lastKnownLocation that we’ll use in our delegate method (which comes next):

 
# pragma mark -
# pragma mark LocationGetter Delegate Methods
 
- (void)newPhysicalLocation:(CLLocation *)location {
 
    // Store for later use
    self.lastKnownLocation = location;
 
    // Remove spinner from view
    for (UIView *v in [self.viewController.view subviews])
    {
        if ([v class] == [UIActivityIndicatorView class])
        {
            [v removeFromSuperview];
            break;
        }
    }
 
    // Alert user
    UIAlertView *alert = [[UIAlertView alloc] initWithTitle:@"Location Found" message:[NSString stringWithFormat:@"Found physical location.  %f %f", self.lastKnownLocation.coordinate.latitude, self.lastKnownLocation.coordinate.longitude] delegate:nil cancelButtonTitle:@"OK" otherButtonTitles: nil];
    [alert show];
    [alert release];  
 
    // ... continue with initialization of your app
}

This last piece takes care of storing the location, removing the spinner, and firing off an alert. If this was your code, you’d probably want to re-enable any UI elements that you’ve disabled and let the user start using your app.

For those of you who don’t know me yet, my name is Matt Tuzzolo (@matt_tuzzolo). This is my first iCodeBlog post; with many more to come.

Here’s the Example Project for this post. Enjoy!

Game Producer Blog

In the Future, All Gamers Are Athletes (PS3 Move/Xbox Kinect Stuff)

Several years ago, Nintendo Wii changed the way how families play games. Yes they did. A chap told me that he was never interested in games… but bought Wii and was hooked. So, this proves my statement.

Now, few years later, Sony brings Move for Playstation 3. Move is a odd looking stick with a light ball in the end. Bit like those yedi lightsabers, with a ball instead of blade in the end.

Today I watched some Move game trailers and it sort of hit me that these Wii & Move (and Kinect for Xbox) are helping change the whole nations. I think these things can really have impact on our health. I remember trying Wii at my bro’s house and after a few minutes of boxing I was sweating. It wasn’t “just a video game”, it was bloody exercise. With fun games coming out, I can imagine how these games can help get gamers in better shape.

I still think that nothing beats going out and getting some fresh air… but at least if our kids (and we) play a bit more of these games that get their asses off the sofa, we are heading to somewhere better place.

Here’s a video aobut a game called The Fight: Lights Out (reminded me about the Fight Club movie for some reason). I don’t know how much you can “cheat” nor how accurate the move stick – or two – are, but looks pretty slick to me.

I guess much depends how accurate the system really is.

I’m becoming more of a console man. (Yaiks.)

Gamasutra Feature Articles

Deus Ex: The Human Question

Stéphane D'Astous, general manager of Eidos Montreal, discusses the development of Deus Ex: Human Revolution, and how the fledgling studio was able to staff up and tackle such a challenging project.

Geeks3D Forums

PS3 - How Uncharted 2 set the technical benchmark

c0de517e Rendering et alter

International movement for code rights

Code is data. Data is code. Everyone knows that, and not only in homoiconic languages, it's a general truth. Code, data, languages, frameworks, APIs, they are all the same. So why code and engineers do not have the same rights that data and "creatives" have? Code is an art too!

Geeks3D Forums

NVIDIA 3D Vision Video Player v1.6.4 available

New Features in 3D Vision Video Player v1.6.4

    * Added hidden feature 'mono mode' (press Ctrl+Alt+M). It displays the left view on both eyes, but still using the sel...

iDevGames

cocos2d now with Mac support

iPhone Development Tutorials and Programming Tips

Communicating With iOS App Graphic Designers

At times I’ve had difficulty working with graphic designers.  Usually problems occur when the designer starts getting some great ideas and throws deadlines out the window.

I found a great post on communicating with designers from Mike Berg, and here are three concepts that I took out of the article that I think will be very useful:

1. Find reference material and put together a mood board showing different images so the designer knows what sort of mood the graphics should be in. (see the article to know what a mood board is).

2. Set clear deadlines.  If the artist starts to change scope make sure they can meet the deadline.

3. Always get the source image files from a graphics (eg. PSD files) .. do not just get the .PNG or other finished graphics files just in case you want to change or have the images changed.

You can read the article here that shares many other useful ideas for communicating with designers:
How To Effectively Communicate With Designers

Thanks for reading, please share this article by using the buttons below!

©2010 iPhone, iOS 4, iPad SDK Development Tutorial and Programming Tips. All Rights Reserved.

GameDev.Net

The GameDev.net Daily

It's about that time for yet another PAX! And, weirdly enough, it sounds like there's actually a fair bit of announcements that'll be coming out of PAX this year. Not least of which is the potential for Duke Nukem Forever which I guess is something people still care about? Anyway, here's a very special game-heavy GameDev.net Daily! A new game from Housemarquee, the developers of the superb Super Stardust HD, is debuting at PAX and it is called Outland. The game is citing influences such as Prince of Persia, Out of this World, and Ikaruga. ALL OF WHICH MAKE ME SO HAPPY. Ubisoft is doing... something strange. The game, entitled Bloody Good Time, is being developed by Outerlight, the developer of The Ship. The game apparently takes place on various movie sets. And it involves clowns. So, naturally, I will be killing all the clowns. All of them. Yakuza 4 is seeing a North American and European release in Spring 2011! This is great news! We should all rejoice. Speaking of 2011, a Take-Two earnings reports indicates that the much-delayed and fairly gossip/drama-heavy L.A. Noire has been delayed to the first half of 2011. This seems to indicate that the game is, in fact, still being developed, which is surprising. That said, it's a period noir game set in L.A. It is thoroughly impossible for me not to be completely excited about it. Finally, IndieCade announced its finalists for this year's event in October in Culver City, CA. This is one of those events that I really, really wish I could get out to, but, alas, it's not in the cards. So, someone go as my proxy! Here's hoping everyone at PAX this weekend has a grand ol' time! For the rest of us, at least in the US, it's Labor Day! So we get a totally rad three-day weekend. And that means: Valkyria Chronicles 2 and Metroid: Other M. I think!

The Daily GameDev.net

It is the Eve of Earl, and while the storm's not predicted to hit too hard here near Sandy Hook, I'm going to be getting back to prepping right after this, just in case the sucker decides to linger or track back west. Me? I want a storm. BRING IT ON, EARL!! More layoffs hit LucasArts. Speaking of emergencies, what's happening over at LucasArts? It appears that with development on the Force Unleashed II having wound down quite a few people have become redundant, and some reshuffling of teams within the company has left as many as 60 people without jobs. Additionally, cutbacks in studio projects were included, such as no more Foce Unleashed III, and the cancellation of another Star Wars project has been said to have had an affect on the decline at Krome Studios in Australia. I'm seeing a less and less chance of a new X-Wing game :( iPhone gaming heats up with Unreal 3 also demoed in iOS. It hasn't even been a month since John Carmack wowed people at QuakeCon by showing id's Rage technology running on the iPhone and Epic is now firing back with their own demo of Unreal Engine 3. Even though Epic has been working on a port to iPhone for some time, this is the first we've heard of any real licensing opportunities. And what would those be, perhaps? Well, Gamasutra has the details in their interview with Epic prez Mike Capps but Develop has the short and skinny: Free. At least, until people start making some serious dough. Then Epic'll want a slice. Oh and don't forget you can download the demo off the App Store for free to oogle over it yourself. Cross platform iOS/Android multiplayer? OpenFeint makes it so. My buddy Jason Citron of OpenFeint had a cool announcement this week - the release of their PlayTime SDK, which allows for players from both iOS and Android platforms to join together in multiplayer game matches. If you're looking for another way to expand your game's community, this certainly sounds like a great option. A "Casual" and "Core" choice of SDK packages lets you decide how much you want to get PlayTime integrated with your title. TIGA offering individual memberships. UK trade body TIGA, formerly comprised of studio members, has started to accept individuals as members as well. Those in the UK looking to back an industry advocate body who don't feel they get anything from the IGDA might want to look into this. 2010 Game Connect: GDAA Calls For Papers. Get 'em in by Sept 10th! Hurry up! Oh and if you happen to remember Industry Broadcast, well site founder Ryan Wiankco is back to narrating some game development articles for you to listen to... wherever. Daily Remainders - more cool stories that didn't make the cut along with game dev articles/features. Still learning how to code? If you are, or know someone who is, you may want to point them towards Google Code University. I know, the first thing you think is "Google Code"? I mean, they got their own OS, why not programming language? Well, really it's more like "Code University, by Google" featuring languages like Python, Java and Go. Do you think Blizzard will let this iPhone/iPad SC2 app make it to the App Store? I'd so use it, just because I hate keyboard shortcuts. What's Inside An Atari 2600? Read this post in Chinese

The Brainy Gamer

Zoe's choice: iPad games

A couple of days ago I wrote about my recent infatuation with the iPad as a gaming device. Since then, I've heard from many of you suggesting other games for me to try - board games, baseball games, puzzlers, interactive fiction, platformers...who knew Mirror's Edge on the iPad was such a terrific game?

So today I'll return the favor by suggesting several games I've enjoyed recently with my daughter Zoe. These titles have passed the rigorous "Brainy Gamer Pre-Schooler Double-Screening Test." Zoe (soon to be 3 years old) and I have played all the games on this list many times, and we heartily recommend each. Some of these games are explicitly designed for kids; others aren't.

I should note that one of the charms of the iPad as a gaming platform is the way it encourages playing together. Zoe usually sits next to me on the sofa, and we hold the iPad in the middle of our laps; or, for certain games, we pass it back and forth. Like all kids her age, Zoe's responses are pure. If she doesn't like a game, no amount of nudging from me will sway her. She hits the home button, and we're on to something else.

I should also mention that we typically play right after dinner for no more than 20 minutes. The iPad has some wonderful reading and storybook apps (including 2 on my list), but we continue to read real books too, and bedtime would be unthinkable without them. No skipping pages either. She's wise to that trick.

Here's the list:

• Miss Spider's Tea Party: Zoe's favorite and one of the most beautiful games I've seen on the iPad. This animated picture-book features lovely animations and lively narration. You can also read the book aloud and touch the interactive pictures. Miss Spider includes several well designed mini-games (matching, painting, jigsaw puzzles) that integrate with the story.
  
  
• Magic Piano: Tap on the screen to play a piano. Freestyle, spiral piano, built-in playlists - you can do pretty much anything you want. In easy mode, you can play tunes from the song book (including "Final Fantasy Prelude") by tapping anywhere on the screen. This is one of those game-as-toy apps that's hard to put down once you discover all it can do. You can even play duets with other players around the world.
  
  
• Dr. Seuss' ABC: A pitch-perfect digital rendition of Dr. Seuss' classic, and the same can be said for the other Dr. Seuss books available for the iPad: The Cat in the Hat, Green Eggs and Ham, and The Lorax. Kids can choose "Read to Me," "Read it Myself," or "Autoplay," which will treat them to delightfully Seussified narration. These books make Dr. Seuss's original artwork look better than ever.
  
  
• Osmos: Its developer describes Osmos as "Asteroids meets a lava-lamp," and I can't think of a better description. Osmos isn't a kids game, but it delivers such a hypnotic tactile/musical experience that age, rules, objectives, win/lose don't need to factor in if you don't want them to. I first saw this game at the IGF competition last year, and I've played it on both Mac and PC. The iPad version beats them both. This may be the be the best iPad game around. Zoe loves the music.
  
  
•  MyReef 3D Aquarium HD: A gorgeous virtual aquarium full of tropical fish. That's pretty much it, and, believe me, that's enough. We just love watching the fish, feeding them, and observing their behavior. It may sound silly - and I suppose someday maybe we'll try a real aquarium - but for now this little app is a relaxing and oddly transfixing diversion.
  
  
• Drawing Pad: My favorite moment watching Zoe discover the iPad came watching her play this game. She chose a color, drew a line with it on the screen, then raised her finger to look for the paint on it. :-) Nothing beats drawing and painting with real media, but when you're traveling or you simply don't have time to clean up a mess, this app is the perfect solution. Crayons, pencils, paint brushes, stickers...Zoe has spent more time with Drawing Pad than any other app. You can even import your own photo and draw a mustache on Mom!

Happy gaming! 

iDevGames

2D Game Making with Novashell

Geeks3D Forums

TechPowerUp GPU-Z v0.4.6

CGSociety

VIEW conference

The premier Italian CG Conference lists program of speakers, workshops and exhibitors for the show in Turin.

MAAC 24FPS Awards

The 7th Annual 24FPS Awards, run by the Maya Academy Of Advanced Cinematics is Calling for Entries. One month to go.

Geeks3D Forums

GPUs to Gain Horsepower and Programmability - Chief Scientist of Nvidia

Intel Sandy Bridge Graphics Update

Game Producer Blog

And the Contest Is Ended

I have a problem. The very first that I wanted to buy is goddamn free!. I demand a possibility to pay $4.95 to get that game.

I’ve read & checked out half of the games on that list, and so far especially these got my attention. Especially the oddly catchy phrase got my attention.

I’ll go through the list and grab some games.

Thanks everybody who participated.

Geeks3D Forums

Maxon Cinema 4D R12 available

Microsoft takes care of your kids

I don't think that's really MS' job, maybe it's just slack season 

Anyway here are MS' advices:
Family Safety Brochure
[url=http:...

Epic Citadel showcases the technical capabilities of Unreal Engine 3 on iphone

Gamasutra Feature Articles

Game Dev Collaboration: Google Docs Style

Unsure if Google Docs is the right way to manage online collaboration with your video game team? This article takes a hard look at its strengths and weaknesses, offering examples, praise, and criticism.

Geeks3D Forums

MSI Afterburner 2.0.0 FINAL

Download here

Morgan3D / Twitter

morgan3d: Jolly's Fast VNC was the highest performance VNC I found for OS X http://www.jinx.de/JollysFastVNC.html

morgan3d: Jolly's Fast VNC was the highest performance VNC I found for OS X http://www.jinx.de/JollysFastVNC.html

iPhone Development Tutorials and Programming Tips

Beta Builder For Easily Distributing Easy To Install Beta Apps

The entire process of building and distributing apps for the app store has always been somewhat painful.  Things have gotten considerably better since the early times with improvements from Apple, and knowledge about the build process being shared amongst developers.

Something that has made things even more painful is distributing ad hoc test apps to those who may not be very tech savvy.  Even though it was supposed to be as simple as getting the UDID and dragging the created beta app in iTunes occasionally you would run into errors that  would make the whole process a nightmare.

In a more recent version of the SDK the ability to distribute beta apps easily, and wirelessly was added.  This requires the creation of some files which are uploaded to your web server, and can get someone tedious.

Fortunately, Hunter at Hanhor LLC has generously distributed their beta builder which easily builds all the files required for distribution, and can even zip things up neatly.

You can read more about it and download the iOS Beta Builder here:
Introducing iOS Beta Builder

Thanks for reading, please share this using the buttons below!

[via Under The Bridge]

©2010 iPhone, iOS 4, iPad SDK Development Tutorial and Programming Tips. All Rights Reserved.

CGSociety

The Art of God of War 3

Ballistic's latest Game Art book, 'The Art of The God of War 3'. Now available to Pre-Order.

XNA Creators Club

New Extra Credit Samples for Phone

Introducing four new AI and graphics samples for Windows Phone 7!

GameDev.Net

gDEBugger V5.7 - Enhances iPhone and iPad on-device user workflow

Graphic Remedy is proud to announce the release of gDEBugger Version 5.7 for Windows, Linux, Mac OS X, iPhone and iPad.

jMonkey Engine 3 - Alpha2 Released

The second alpha release of the Java game library jMonkeyEngine 3 is now official. See the jmonkeyengine.com blog for the complete news article, and download the SDK install (jMonkeyPlatform) from the open repository. Highlights include a new input system, PSSM & SSAO, many physics improvements and intuitive material editing.

GLBasic V8 is now available

GLBasic V8 is now available. Dream Design Entertainment is proud to announce the release of version 8 of GLBasic, it's popular BASIC programming language. Following feedback and suggestions from its users, GLBasic has been vastly updated to include many new features.

Next major release of iAuxSoft's audio/networking/sql db C++ programming engines.

iAuxSoft has just announced a next major release of the advanced programming engines dedicated to audio, networking and sql db interaction. This release introduces new interesting features along with bug-fixing.

c0de517e Rendering et alter

Google reader sharing

iPhone Developer News

iOS Developer Program

The iPhone Developer Program is now the iOS Developer Program. You will continue to access the same program benefits and technical resources for developing and distributing your iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch apps.

iOS SDK 4.1 GM Seed Now Available

iOS Developer Program members can log in to the iOS Dev Center to download iOS 4.1 GM seed and iOS SDK 4.1 GM seed. Review the Xcode 3.2.4 Readme and the iOS SDK 4.1 GM seed Release Notes before installing and developing with these new releases.

Getting Started with Game Center

Game Center is Apple's new social gaming network that allows your users to invite friends to play a game, start a multiplayer game through auto-matching, track their achievements, and compare their best scores on a leaderboard. Learn everything you need to know about developing your apps for Game Center, from understanding the fundamentals to updating your Game Center app once it’s on the App Store.

Morgan3D / Twitter

morgan3d: The Epic Citadel Unreal Engine 3 demo for iOS has very compelling mobile graphics. http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/epic-citadel/id388888815

morgan3d: The Epic Citadel Unreal Engine 3 demo for iOS has very compelling mobile graphics. http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/epic-citadel/id388888815

Real-Time Rendering

Rendering Equation in Wired

I’ve been on vacation this week. Kayaked this morning, biked this afternoon (I sound so studly. but it’s all been fairly easy stuff, though sweaty). Catching up on my Wired magazines while waiting for the shower, I ran into this surprising article. Who would have thought the Rendering Equation would be a little article in any popular magazine, ever? Sure, it’s mostly Wired establishing geek-cred – the equation could really use a figure and a bit more explanation to appreciate it – but still fun to see.

CGSociety

Xfrog 5 for Maya

Xfrog 5 is now available for Maya, adding six new procedural Objects.

iPhone Development Tutorials and Programming Tips

Sept. 1 – Quick Apple Special Event Roundup For Devs Who Missed It

Just in case anyone missed the Apple  special event today, here’s a very quick roundup for all the busy devs out there.

1. iOS 4.1 with GameCenter was shown, so this social networking feature is finally going to go live.  Looks like other social gaming networks are probably going to become obsolete soon on the iPhone and iPad.

2. iOS 4.2 was previewed for the iPad and it looks like iPad users still have to wait for all the cool new features.

3. New iPod Touch was introduced with dual cameras for facetime, retina display, gyroscope and upgraded processor so it looks like there is no excuse now to create apps that don’t support the retina display.  Also noted was that the iPod Touch outsells Nintendo and Sony portable Gaming devices combined.

4.  New social network called Ping was introduced with iTunes 10 for sharing songs, but looks like there was nothing in there to share apps.. what’s up with that?

5.  New Apple TV was introduced with TV show rentals, Netflix, and wifi streaming content from an iPhone/iPad but from the looks of it no streaming of apps, and no way to use apps whatsoever was shown.  In fact it was noted that people with Apple TV don’t want a computer on their TV (apparently Apple TV users hate gaming consoles).  The device has no storage.

Overall, very little new for devs here, Apple did come through with the updated iPod Touch, and GameCenter, and the new iPod Touch looks like it will be a big seller so it continues to be a good time to develop iOS games.  Really can’t see a reason why anyone would buy any Sony PSP device with the quality of games now on iOS.. at least Nintendo has 3D (sort of).

Thanks for reading, please share this using the buttons below!

©2010 iPhone, iOS 4, iPad SDK Development Tutorial and Programming Tips. All Rights Reserved.

CGSociety

Animation Mentor Student Showcase 2010

The Student Showcase 2010 from Animation Mentor brings short exercises from 2010 students.

Game Producer Blog

August Contest… Ending Soon

August is pretty much over, I’d say… but August contest will remain until tomorrow morning (or day, depending when I – or at least my brain – wake up).

Last chances to convince me (for now).

There’s already couple of good looking purchase candidates. See you here.

CGSociety

Steven Spielberg - Part Two

Flickering Myth profiles the career of legendary Hollywood filmmaker Steven Spielberg in the second of a five part feature.

Geeks3D Forums

Gineiden - japanese DX9 game benchmark REDUX

Slow newsweek = time to fill my notebook with old stuff 

It appears that NAMCO Bandai said sayonara to this benchmark
Therefore i have uploaded a [url=http://www.filefront.com/17223926/SetupG...

Gamasutra Feature Articles

A Journey Across the Main Stream: Games for My Mother-in-Law

Telltale designer Dave Grossman says gaming's limited appeal could come down to "some very basic assumptions we make about the audience versus the actual thought processes of that audience." So he tested Sam & Max on his mother-in-law.

AMD at Play

Evolving the AMD Brand Portfolio

The voice on the other end of the call said, very clearly “You’re doing what?”

“We are replacing the “ATI” brand with “AMD” across our market share leading Radeon graphics family, starting in the fourth quarter of this year.”

(Silence)

“Well, I wasn’t expecting that…”

This is an example of the kind of exchange I had with some of the editors who cover our ATI graphics family.  And it was not surprising.  Brands are intended to evoke emotions and create connections, even feelings that can transcend logic.   In that respect, the graphics business is very much like sports and politics in that people take their emotional positions and enjoy participating in the dialogue about the competition.   It’s part of the “fun” of the business.

Even so, many brands have come and gone, and there comes a time when the real value of a brand wanes, often before the sentimental value.  This is exactly the position we face now with the ATI brand – based on the hard facts of market research undertaken in early 2010, it is clear our strongest foot forward is actually a combination of AMD and product brands such as Radeon™ or FirePro™.  But we’ll share more of that later.

A bit of background – hopefully grounded in the ‘realm of reason.’  First, we at AMD believe – actually, we know – that processor brands (CPUs and GPUs) are largely irrelevant in the PC buying decision.  Time and again, our research confirms that the average PC buyer is unaware of what processors are under the hood of their PC.  This is why we invest very little in ‘brand-building’ with the mainstream market segment.

And, it’s why we launched our VISION Technology program.  If you want the most visually-compelling PC experience for your money, you want the one with the “VISION” sticker on it.  If you’re a retail sales associate, everything you need to know is on that sticker.  The VISION brand is simple and memorable, and it’s focused on what people are trying to do with their PC, not what is in it.  For that reason VISION is a big hit across the industry.

But I digress…most brands and logos in this business are aimed at what we refer to as the “processor aware” audience.  For AMD, that’s everyone from OEMs and ISVs to channel partners, investors and IT professionals.  And for the ATI brand, it means enthusiasts and gamers.  So, earlier this year, we asked over 4,000 “graphics processor aware” individuals in seven countries – China, Brazil, Germany, Russia, UK, Japan and the US – which brands they know about, consider and prefer.  The results may surprise you, at least a bit.

First, we learned that the “Radeon” brand is as strong as any other product or company brand in terms of awareness and consideration.  Oh, there are regional differences in favor of one brand or another – but in general, Radeon is well established as a leader in this segment.

Second, preference for the AMD brand is stronger against the competition than the ATI brand.  This isn’t to say the ATI brand isn’t strong… it says that enthusiasts assign higher brand preference to the AMD brand.   And it is a nice complement to the Radeon-related finding mentioned above.

Third – and this was the clincher – those who know that AMD and ATI merged score their brand preference for AMD three times higher than those who are not aware of the merger.  In other words, if you know we are one company, you believe in us more.  On the other hand, by keeping the brands distinct, we were actually limiting or handicapping our own brand strength.

In short, we needed to make ‘the move.’

So, with our new product refresh in the fourth quarter of this year, you will see the beginning of an industry-wide shift to AMD Radeon™ and AMD FirePro™ graphics processors.  The timing couldn’t be better, as we just regained the market share lead in discrete graphics, and have launched an unprecedented number of processors and solutions for the professional graphics market.   Not to mention that in Q4 of this year, we intend to begin shipping our first AMD Fusion family of APUs, featuring world-class AMD Radeon graphics.

So, all emotion aside, we know this is a solid decision, based on feedback from a large customer base, numerous partners and our own sense of the industry.  We hope you agree.  But whether you agree or disagree – rational or emotional – please take a minute and let us know.  Because, as always, we are interested and care very much about your opinion.

I look forward to your comments.

John Volkmann is Corporate Vice President – Corporate Brand at AMD.  His postings are his own opinions and may not represent AMD’s positions, strategies or opinions. Links to third party sites are provided for convenience and unless explicitly stated,  AMD is not responsible for the contents of such linked sites and no endorsement is implied.

Geeks3D Forums

Muvizu 3D - beta August 2010

The Muvizu website is a place to meet fellow creatives and, using our site tools and downloadable free 3D animation software, make your own movies or collaborate with Muvizu members on larger projects. Muvizu 3D soft...

OpenGL

jMonkeyEngine 3 releases SDK Alpha2

The second alpha release of the Java game library jMonkeyEngine 3 is now official. See the jmonkeyengine.com blog for the complete news article, and download the SDK install (jMonkeyPlatform) from the open repository. Highlights include a new input system, PSSM & SSAO (OpenGL 3 enhancements coming later), many physics improvements and intuitive material editing. Anyone with an interest in Java game development would be wise to check it out!