Making an app/game

[Nexrus]

So how hard is it to actually make a game for the iphone? I'm sure it depends on what type of game your making, etc... but is there any legal stuff involved? What type of coding? etc etc

I've googled for tutorials but cant really find anythign useful. Maybe you guys can shoot some links my way or help me out.

Thanks

 

[skubish]

So how hard is it to actually make a game for the iphone? I'm sure it depends on what type of game your making, etc... but is there any legal stuff involved? What type of coding? etc etc

I've googled for tutorials but cant really find anythign useful. Maybe you guys can shoot some links my way or help me out.

Thanks

http://developer.apple.com/

You need to be familiar with Xcode and Objective C
There is a legal agreement you need to sign when you submit and app to Apple.

 

[Nexrus]

is there a limit to how big something can be? and can make games that allow you to play with multi people around the world via a connecting to a server?

 

[moopf]

So how hard is it to actually make a game for the iphone? I'm sure it depends on what type of game your making, etc... but is there any legal stuff involved? What type of coding? etc etc

To be honest, if you're asking how hard it is, then you're going to find it very hard. I'm not being obtuse here, but developing anything of any worth on any platform is very involved. The iPhone is no different in that respect, plus it uses a language (Objective-C) that's rather different to other programming languages you may have used before (although wonderful once you "get it")

I've googled for tutorials but cant really find anythign useful. Maybe you guys can shoot some links my way or help me out.

Try http://www.iphonedevsdk.com/ as that has a whole heap of information on development and a very helpful community. There's also an iPhone/iPod Touch programming forum here on macrumors.com

is there a limit to how big something can be? and can make games that allow you to play with multi people around the world via a connecting to a server?

This really depends on what you mean by "big". If you mean in terms of total app size then there is a limit, but it's huge (something in the gb order if I remember correctly.) If you mean memory footprint then there are quite stringent limits due to the nature of the device and mastering memory management is of great importance on this device.

As for multi-player, yes this is possible but requires the development of your own game protocol (or leveraging protocols already available) and managing the hardware for the service. You also need to think about how you pay for that hardware service on an on-going basis, especially if your game is completely based around it.

Start small, learn the SDK, use the Apple documentation. Don't expect to rush straight into writing a game - that's not going to happen.

 

[detz]

As with anything else the more experience you have the easier it is. It took me just over two weeks to program my first game on the iphone working just nights but I have over 16 years programming experience so it was easy to pick up. If you're interested in programming for the iPhone I wouldn't start with games.

 

[Nexrus]

Right. I knew it wasn't going to be a walk in the park. I was just wanting to get an idea. Thank you all for your replies.

Another quick question - do iphone and touches use the exact same coding, etc? in other words are the apps cross platform from one to the other.

 

[liptonlover]

Almost. If your app uses gps, (both have location services but only the iphone has true gps) then it'll only be for the iphone. If your app uses the iphone's built in mic, then it'll only be for the iphone. But if either of those are optional/you don't use them, then anything you write will work on both.