I've been a little busy the last week learning and experimenting with the iPhone SDK and made some good progress. There's a lot to learn though, and I have to learn different aspects of the system at the same time, a new OS, a new IDE, a new language, new OSX libraries, and then the actual iPhone SDK. Trying to figure out all of these things at the same time makes it a little confusing, and makes the learning curve steeper.
As far as OSX, I've managed to figure out the basics and I can pretty much do what I need to do without a big hassle. But when it comes to Xcode (Apple's IDE), it's a whole different story. There's a lot of basic features missing from it, and I find myself having to do things manually, things that I'm used to having done automatically without effort in Eclipse like build-as-you-type and auto-format. It's not very customizable either, so I'm stuck having things done and look Apple's way.
Learning the OSX and iPhone libraries and APIs is just like learning any other platform, you start with the basics and you add and build on it. There's a lot of trial and error. Having a simulator allows you to do small changes and test immediately for a fast testing cycle.
Yesterday I decided to finally dish out the 99$ to be registered in the iPhone developer program, which allows you to test on an actual iPhone, and some other small things, and eventually publish your app to the AppStore. After I registered, there was a whole process I had to do to basically tie my account/Mac/iPhone/App all together and it was a little bit more complicated than it should have been. There was a lot of certification and signing involved. But it's finally done. and now I can test on my phone.
At this point I had a functioning game that I was excited to get on the phone and test. Unfortunately, and to my surprise, there was a huge performance difference. Obviously, I expected a performance difference between the simulator and the iPhone, but this was a big hit, and the game was practically unplayable and very choppy, which was a big disappointment. Now I have to go back and try to improve that or find another way of doing things faster. I might also try to work on basic iPhone UI apps which is easier to develop than a manually-rendered-graphics game until I get my basic knowledge up.
Exciting times ahead.
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Sunday, February 15, 2009
The Simpsons goes High Definition
Our favorite animated characters are finally coming to us in high definition glory. Live-action shows started switching to HD few years ago, but animated shows had slower transition for some reason, and the producers of The Simpsons have decided to do the switch. Tonight's episode will be the first ever in HD (not counting the movie). It will also have a brand new opening sequence to go with that increased resolution.
I've also read somewhere that South Park is also going HD when it returns this March. Could this be the year when everything gets broadcast in HD? One can only hope.
Here's the new Simpsons opening sequence, make sure to watch the high quality version on YouTube.
I've also read somewhere that South Park is also going HD when it returns this March. Could this be the year when everything gets broadcast in HD? One can only hope.
Here's the new Simpsons opening sequence, make sure to watch the high quality version on YouTube.
Labels:
The Simpsons,
TV
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
First MacBook Impressions
My new MacBook finally arrived yesterday. As expected, the packaging is very slick and organized, and getting everything up and running was a breeze.
The hardware is very well designed, everything is easily accessible. I find myself just holding and admiring this piece of technology. The magnetic MagSafe power connector allows you to just move the plug next to the connector and it would magnetically snap; very cool. The screen is bright and easy to read, not bad for a laptop LCD. And you barely notice the built in camera and microphone above the screen. Accessable and non intrusive.
I only have a couple of complaints with the hardware. The top surface of the laptop has sharp edges and can get quite uncomfortable when you have your hands rested on the keyboard while typing or using the touchpad; very frustraiting. The second issue is that it gets hot fast even when it's not using much CPU power. I haven't used a laptop for a while so maybe that's normal.
Now comes the software. The initial setup was straight forward with standard questions and procedures. It was all done and I was at the desktop in 10 - 15 minutes. Mac OSX is pretty and simple to use. So simple I think it's sort of shallow; there isn't much depth to it. It seems like it was designed for people who don't know much about computers. There isn't much to customize and configure compared to Windows. You can do what you can with other operating systems, but it seems like they want you to do it their way. I guess typical Apple businness model.
I've only used it for few hours yesterday and today. So maybe my opinion would change after a couple of weeks. But for now, I'll sum up my thoughts in few words. It's very cool and sexy on the outside, but once I started using it, I was a little disappointed.
The hardware is very well designed, everything is easily accessible. I find myself just holding and admiring this piece of technology. The magnetic MagSafe power connector allows you to just move the plug next to the connector and it would magnetically snap; very cool. The screen is bright and easy to read, not bad for a laptop LCD. And you barely notice the built in camera and microphone above the screen. Accessable and non intrusive.
I only have a couple of complaints with the hardware. The top surface of the laptop has sharp edges and can get quite uncomfortable when you have your hands rested on the keyboard while typing or using the touchpad; very frustraiting. The second issue is that it gets hot fast even when it's not using much CPU power. I haven't used a laptop for a while so maybe that's normal.
Now comes the software. The initial setup was straight forward with standard questions and procedures. It was all done and I was at the desktop in 10 - 15 minutes. Mac OSX is pretty and simple to use. So simple I think it's sort of shallow; there isn't much depth to it. It seems like it was designed for people who don't know much about computers. There isn't much to customize and configure compared to Windows. You can do what you can with other operating systems, but it seems like they want you to do it their way. I guess typical Apple businness model.
I've only used it for few hours yesterday and today. So maybe my opinion would change after a couple of weeks. But for now, I'll sum up my thoughts in few words. It's very cool and sexy on the outside, but once I started using it, I was a little disappointed.
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Conquer Club
I'm a big fan of RISK. In fact, I play it almost every day on my iPhone. Unfortunately, the AI can never be as smart, challenging or entertaining as human players. So I was glad when I found out about Conquer Club.
Conquer Club allows to play RISK matches with other player in your browser. But it does more. It has tons of maps (around 50) with various options and configurations, and it also provides rankings and a scoreboard. Best of all, the standard games are played over days/weeks which means you only have to invest 5 minutes of your day to play. The way it works is that every player is given 24 hours to finish a turn, once that turn is complete the 24 hours period is reset and the next player get to play. Some games go faster depending on the players, and games usually go faster on weekends because people have more time to check their turns and play.
If you're a RISK or board games fan in general, check out Conquer Club. It's fun and doesn't require a big time investment at all.
Conquer Club allows to play RISK matches with other player in your browser. But it does more. It has tons of maps (around 50) with various options and configurations, and it also provides rankings and a scoreboard. Best of all, the standard games are played over days/weeks which means you only have to invest 5 minutes of your day to play. The way it works is that every player is given 24 hours to finish a turn, once that turn is complete the 24 hours period is reset and the next player get to play. Some games go faster depending on the players, and games usually go faster on weekends because people have more time to check their turns and play.
If you're a RISK or board games fan in general, check out Conquer Club. It's fun and doesn't require a big time investment at all.
Labels:
Games
Monday, February 2, 2009
To Mac Or Not To Mac
I've recently been thinking of getting a new MacBook, mainly for iPhone app development. I'm not sure whether I should get it used or brand new. You never know what kind of problems a used one might have, and a brand new one just has a nicer feel to it.
Macs are expensive for what you get. I can probably get the same specs in a PC for half the price, but the problem is that iPhone development can only be done on a Mac. Although if things go well, it might pay for itself in a relatively short amount of time. If not, at least I'll be one of the cool kids.
Macs are expensive for what you get. I can probably get the same specs in a PC for half the price, but the problem is that iPhone development can only be done on a Mac. Although if things go well, it might pay for itself in a relatively short amount of time. If not, at least I'll be one of the cool kids.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
