Rod Strougo - Learning Cocos2D: A Hands-On Guide to Building iOS Games with Cocos2D, Box2D, and Chipmunk

A Hands-On Guide to Building iOS Games with Cocos2D, Box2D, and Chipmunk

Rod Strougo
Ray Wenderlich

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Strougo, Rod, 1976
Learning Cocos2D : a hands-on guide to building iOS games with
Cocos2D, Box2D, and Chipmunk / Rod Strougo, Ray Wenderlich.
p. cm.
Includes index.
ISBN-13: 978-0-321-73562-1 (pbk. : alk. paper)
ISBN-10: 0-321-73562-5 (pbk. : alk. paper)
1. iPhone (Smartphone)Programming. 2. iPad (Computer)Programming.
3. Computer gamesProgramming. I. Wenderlich, Ray, 1980- II. Title.
QA76.8.I64S87 2011
794.81526dc23
2011014419

Copyright 2012 Pearson Education, Inc.

All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. This publication is protected by copyright, and permission must be obtained from the publisher prior to any prohibited reproduction, storage in a retrieval system, or transmission in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or likewise. For information regarding permissions, write to:

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Fax: (617) 671-3447

ISBN-13: 978-0-321-73562-1

ISBN-10: 0-321-73562-5

Text printed in the United States on recycled paper at RR Donnelley in Crawfordsville, Indiana.

First printing, July 2011

Dedicated to my wife, Agata.

Rod

Dedicated to my wife, Vicki.

Ray

If youre looking to create an iPhone or iPad game, Learning Cocos2D should be the first book on your shopping list. Rod and Ray do a phenomenal job of taking you through the entire process from concept to app, clearly explaining both how to do each step as well as why youre dong it.

Jeff LaMarche, Principal, MartianCraft, LLC, and coauthor of Beginning iPhone Development (Apress, 2009)

This book provides an excellent introduction to iOS 2D game development. Beyond that, the book also provides one of the best introductions to Box2D available. I am truly impressed with the detail and depth of Box2D coverage.

Erin Catto, creator of Box2D

Warning: reading this book will make you need to write a game! Learning Cocos2D is a great fast-forward into writing the next hit game for iOSdefinitely a must for the aspiring indie iOS game developer (regardless of experience level)! Thanks, Rod and Ray, for letting me skip the learning curve; youve really saved my bacon!

Eric Hayes, Principle Engineer, Brewmium LLC (and Indie iOS Developer)

Learning Cocos2D is an outstanding read, and I highly recommend it to any iOS developer wanting to get into game development with Cocos2D. This book gave me the knowledge and confidence I needed to write an iOS game without having to be a math and OpenGL whiz.

Kirby Turner, White Peak Software, Inc.

Learning Cocos2D is both an entertaining and informative book; it covers everything you need to know about creating games using Cocos2D.

Fahim Farook, RookSoft (rooksoft.co.nz)

This is the premiere book on Cocos2D! After reading this book you will have a firm grasp of the framework, and you will be able to create a few different types of games. Rod and Ray get you quickly up to speed with the basics in the first group of chapters. The later chapters cover the more advanced features, such as parallax scrolling, CocosDenshion, Box2D, Chipmunk, particle systems, and Apple Game Center. The authors writing style is descriptive, concise, and fun to read. This book is a must have!

Nick Waynik, iOS Developer

So you want to be a game developer?

Developing games for the iPhone or iPad can be a lot of fun. It is one of the few things we can do to feel like a kid again. Everyone, it seems, has an idea for a game, and what better platform to develop for than the iPhone and iPad?

What stops most people from actually developing a game, though, is that game development covers a wide swath of computer science skillsgraphics, audio, networkingand at times it can seem like you are drinking from a fire hose. When you are first getting started, becoming comfortable with Objective-C can seem like a huge task, especially if you start to look at things like OpenGL ES, OpenAL, and other lower-level APIs for your game.

Writing a game for the iPhone and iPad does not have to be that difficultand it isnt. To help simplify the task of building 2D games, look no further than Cocos2D.

You no longer have to deal with low-level OpenGL programming APIs to make games for the iPhone, and you dont need to be a math or physics expert. Theres a much faster and easier wayuse a free and popular open source game programming framework called Cocos2D. Cocos2D is extremely fun and easy to use, and with it you can skip the low-level details and focus on what makes your game different and special!

This book teaches you how to use Cocos2D to make your own games, taking you step by step through the process of making an actual game thats on the App Store right now! The game you build in this book is called Space Viking and is the story of a kick-ass Viking transported to an alien planet. In the process of making the game, you get hands-on experience with all of the most important elements in Cocos2D and see how everything fits together to make a complete game.