| rss2email.ru | На что подписаться? | Управление подпиской |
 |  TheAppleBlogTheAppleBlog, published by and for the day-to-day Apple user, is a prominent source for news, reviews, walkthroughs, and real life application of all Apple products. http://theappleblog.com рекомендовать друзьям >> |
- App Developer Diary Part 6: The 48 Hour App
Taking you behind-the-scenes of a real iPhone app’s development, in this installment I attempt to make my own iPhone app in one weekend and learn from Ustwo about how to take an idea to the App Store in just 48 hours.
It’s been a few weeks since my last entry in the App Developer Diary. Markus, the coder based here in Helsinki, has been busy. This week he unveiled a playable prototype of our app, allowing me to test and refine the main game mechanic.
In the meantime, Matias coded up a cute little mini-game over the course of one weekend. While he worked on the programming, I created the sound, music and artwork (above). In one weekend we created a really great little game, almost ready to be released in the App Store.
We’re not the only developers who have been working on these quick-fire app concepts. Mobile development studio Ustwo also took an idea from hasty scribble to the App Store in just 48 hours. It’s encouraging to see that their first 48 hour app, simply titled .™, is now selling as a 99 cent download.
Have You Seen the Dot?
We didn’t do much planning for our own 48 hour app. Matias came up with an idea — a button-tapping game with a bizarre musical twist — and built it. Ustwo, being a little more strategic, managed to sketch out a few concepts before coding up their app.
Ustwo founder Mills sat down with his iPhone development team and threw together a development plan. Their app would be cool, simple and addictive. Most importantly though, it would stake a claim in the App Store, showcasing their ability to think fast and be creative under pressure.
Mills laid down a fundamental ground rule too: the scope of the project would go no further than two days. The app would be submitted to Apple on hour 48 of development.
Just the Basics
Stepping up to the challenge, the Ustwo team produced three simple sketches. Their hastily drawn plan outlined the game’s control system, look and feel, and gameplay mechanic.
The sketches only cover the essentials, but that’s really all that the team needed to get coding. The first image covers the game’s accelerometer-based control method, and main character — a dot — alongside succinctly stating that the app will have a, “minimal aesthetic.”
The second sketch contains an ultra-refined executive summary of the game: control dot to select smaller dots. The gameplay mechanic is revealed in the third sketch. Your dot is shrinking, he needs to eat dots to stay alive, triangles will kill him.
In just three images we’ve got a clear idea of how a typical game will play out. You’ll be tilting and twisting the iPhone, sliding a shrinking dot around the screen and trying to collect other dots while avoiding an onslaught of death-dealing triangles.
From Paper To Flash
After sketching out the game concept, the team took the concept to the computers. Their first step was to flesh out a quick playable prototype of the game concept using Flash. Focusing on look and feel, they tested a variety of different visual designs alongside taking a closer look at the controls too.
With the prototype working as expected and with the sketches for reference, the app was hastily coded up. After a quick round of QA — searching for bugs, design and gameplay issues — the team submitted the app for App Store approval. For Ustwo, the 48 hour app concept worked. It made development fun, it reduced costs and it challenged the coders and designers to think quickly and creatively.
It’s possible that we’ll be seeing more studios take on the 48 hour app challenge. Adobe recently announced that the forthcoming update of Flash, version CS5, will render files in the iTunes App Store format. This is a serious boon for Flash-based artists and designers everywhere, putting the tools for app development into the hands of even more creatives. In the case of Ustwo, they even created a fully-functional web version of .™, using Flash.
Our own 48 hour app still needs a few final tweaks before being submitted to the App Store. Ustwo’s successful 48 hour development, .™, is currently available from the App Store for 99 cents.
It is 3D Week at GigaOM Pro! Read our latest reports on the future of 3D TV, mobile, computing and movies.
Переслать - 49 Tower Defense Apps for the iPhone
I was first introduced to the world of tower defense games a couple of years back with the venerable Desktop Tower Defense. I do have to admit that I wondered if the whole idea of the game, placing various types of gun turrets to try and annihilate a group of small creatures/people before they can escape from you, might indicate some deep homicidal impulse on my part. But when I realized that the creatures where aptly named “creeps,” my worries dissipated.
When the iPhone came along it was immediately apparent to me that this was the perfect platform for tower defense games, with the touch screen an excellent way to place my maze of death. Sure enough the genre has sprouted no fewer than 49 different iPhone games for those who share my intense desire to keep creeps from crossing the screen. I’m not going to tell you which are my favorite, that will come later, but I am going to try and give you a complete snapshot of what’s available in the App store today. Because, let’s face it, if you don’t have at least half a dozen of these installed you’re not really exercising your homicidal instincts to their full potential.
geoDefensePrice: $1.99 (free lite version also available)
Current Rating: 4.5 stars
Distinguishing Features: Futuristic Tron-like graphics, high-speed gameplay and path oriented maps.
geoDefense SwarmPrice: 99 cents
Current Rating: 4.5 stars
Distinguishing Features: Same purposefully (I hope) unsophisticated, futuristic graphics as the standard geoDefense, but with an open field approach to maps.
TowerMadness: 3D Tower DefensePrice: $2.99 (free lite version also available)
Current Rating: 3.5 stars
Distinguishing Features: This games gives you a reason for your killing, to protect your sheep from aliens. Also you get a 3-D interface, although the graphics leave something to be desired.
FieldrunnersPrice: $2.99
Current Rating: 4.5 stars
Distinguishing Features: Fieldrunners offers a relatively vanilla tower defense experience, but is distinguished by its extremely smooth interface and high quality graphics.
Star DefensePrice: 99 cents (free “prelude” version also available)
Current Rating: 3.5 stars
Distinguishing Features: This space-based tower defense game has you playing on small worlds that you can rotate and zoom into. The graphics are definitely the key feature here.
Dungeon DefensePrice: 99 cents (free lite version also available)
Current Rating: 3.5 stars
Distinguishing Features: In this version of tower defense you play the bad guys, in the form of skeletons, and you kill the heroes. I kind of like that idea. There does seem to be a limited amount of gameplay, however, with only three skeleton types to place.
Sentinel: Mars DefensePrice: 99 cents
Current Rating: 4 stars
Distinguishing Features: You place towers to defend Mars from aliens. There seem to be a good selection of tower types and the graphics look impressive.
Sentinel 2: Earth DefensePrice: $2.99
Current Rating: 4 stars
Distinguishing Features: The same idea as its predecessor Mars Defense, only this time the alien buggers are invading earth. Impressive graphics are once again the highlight of this tower defense game.
Navy Patrol: Coastal DefensePrice: $1.99
Current Rating: 4 stars
Distinguishing Features: Tower defense on the water, you place your navy to defend against an invader. Graphics are not overly impressive and the interface can get a bit cluttered, but gameplay seems to be deep.
The Creeps!Price: 99 cents
Current Rating: 4 stars
Distinguishing Features: This time the creeps aren’t just trying to innocently cross the screen, they’re trying to get under your bed! This take on the tower defense genre offers cute graphics and some interesting features like destroyable terrain.
TapDefensePrice: Free
Current Rating: 4 stars
Distinguishing Features: Solid graphics and gameplay seem to be marred by some user complaints about advertisements. Still, it’s hard to argue with free.
7 CitiesPrice: $2.99
Current Rating: 4 stars
Distinguishing Features: Coastal tower defense, you build towers next to waterways to destroy invading ships. Towers can gain experience to get more powerful. The graphics are impressive and you can even build your own maps.
Battle Field – Nuclear BombPrice: $2.99 (free version also available)
Current Rating: 4 stars
Distinguishing Features: A wide selection of towers, with 10 different types. There’s also a leveling system and, of course, nuclear bombs.
TowerDefensePrice: 99 cents
Current Rating: Not available
Distinguishing Features: Cartoonish graphics look decent but the description is strangely short and there aren’t enough ratings to merit a score. I kind of feel bad for the developer.
A Bugs DefensePrice: 99 cents
Current Rating: 2 stars
Distinguishing Features: The premise is pretty simple, bugs are invading the house and you stop them with various insecticides. The graphics are cute and cartoonish. Unfortunately there seem to be some game-play “bugs” that bother reviewers.
SG Tower DefencePrice: 99 cents
Current Rating: 2 stars
Distinguishing Features: Graphics are… unimpressive. There’s a strange wooden background to everything and the towers and creeps look like something out of 1985, and not in a good retro way.
BesiegementPrice: 99 cents
Current Rating: 3.5 stars
Distinguishing Features: Interesting mix of graphics for a fairly vanilla tower defense game. The point of view is different from most, and you do have a good selection of tower types.
Port Defender – 2D Tower DefensePrice: $1.99 (free lite version also available)
Current Rating: 2.5 stars
Distinguishing Features: Not a lot special here, the graphics aren’t anything to swoon over and the selection of maps and towers are pretty standard.
Warp DefensePrice: Free
Current Rating: 2.5 stars
Distinguishing Features: I was a bit curious to see how the “warp” in the title would be implemented in the game, but it turns out it’s just a path-based tower defense game with laser-showesque graphics.
Dragon Slaughter Episode IPrice: $2.99 (free lite version also available)
Current Rating: 3.5 stars
Distinguishing Features: Fantasy oriented game with excellent graphics. Interesting tower purchasing system requires you to combine orb types, with various strength and weaknesses.
Ninja TDPrice: $2.99
Current Rating: 4 stars
Distinguishing Features: OK, there are Ninjas, what else do you want? Well, there also seem to be some beautiful graphics here, along with magic based ninja powers. Unfortunately your enemies are not pirates.
Moonlight MinionsPrice: $1.99
Current Rating: 4 stars
Distinguishing Features: Impressive graphics, with an underground path-oriented theme. Your “towers” are various fungal compositions, I’ll let you make what you will of that.
Garden WarPrice: 99 cents (free version also available)
Current Rating: 4 stars
Distinguishing Features: A pest oriented tower defense game, in this one you defend your garden from various creepy buggers. Maps appear to be path-oriented and graphics are very good.
TriDefensePrice: $3.99 (free lite version also available)
Current Rating: 3 stars
Distinguishing Features: This version of tower defense offers decent graphics and some interesting features for example creeps can appear from anywhere on the screen and you can modify the terrain.
Bloons Tower DefensePrice: $2.99
Current Rating: 4.5 stars
Distinguishing Features: In this path-based tower defense game you want to pop the escaping balloons, but you get to use dart-throwing monkeys to do it, sounds good to me.
Booom BrigadePrice: 99 cents
Current Rating: 3.5 stars
Distinguishing Features: An interesting mix of shooter and tower game. You get three types of troops to fire at the incoming creeps, but they don’t do it automatically, instead you have to draw their attacks onto the screen. Reviewers indicate it’s a hard proposition.
Defender Chronicles – Legend of The Desert KingPrice: $3.99
Current Rating: 4.5 stars
Distinguishing Features: Fantasy oriented path-based tower defense game with a leveling system for your general that gives you bonuses for troop types.
Zombie Attack!Price: $2.99 (free version also available)
Current Rating: 3.5 stars
Distinguishing Features: There are zombies, you need to kill them…pretty self-explanatory really. The best part is the hand drawn (as in pencil on lined paper) tower picker.
Tribal Trouble Tower DefensePrice: $2.99
Current Rating: 2 stars
Distinguishing Features: Decent graphics and interface, but be warned that there’s only one level in this game.
Kill All Bugs!Price: 99 cents
Current Rating: 3 stars
Distinguishing Features: Basic tower defense game except the creeps are giant bugs. Graphics are nothing impressive, but there does seem to be a good depth of gameplay.
Hextop Tower DefensePrice: 99 cents (free lite version also available)
Current Rating: 3 stars
Distinguishing Features: Yes, it’s hexagonal, apart from that there’s nothing special here.
iDefendPrice: $1.99 (free lite version also available)
Current Rating: 3.5 stars
Distinguishing Features: A lot of gameplay with 36 levels, but you better be a fan of retro graphics.
Exal Tower DefensePrice: 99 cents
Current Rating: Not Rated
Distinguishing Features: A basic open field tower defense games with mediocre graphics.
Mote-MPrice: 99 cents
Current Rating: 3 stars
Distinguishing Features: Another basic tower defense game, this one with path-oriented maps.
Nemesis DefencePrice: $1.99
Current Rating: Not Rated
Distinguishing Features: Path-based tower defense game with a good selection of towers but only three different maps.
Circuit DefendersPrice: $1.99 (free lite version also available)
Current Rating: 3 stars
Distinguishing Features: The premise is that you’re defending a circuit board from viruses. The graphics are… not bad. The gameplay is endless, and by that I don’t mean that you will want to play forever (although you might) but rather that you keep on going until you’ve lost all your lives.
Retro DefensePrice: $3.99 (free lite version also available)
Current Rating: 3 stars
Distinguishing Features: Retro arcade style tower defense game with path-oriented maps and 15 levels.Sweetwater
Price: $2.99 (free lite version also available)
Current Rating: 3.5 stars
Distinguishing Features: This coastal defense oriented game features some very nice graphics and 3D effects. Be prepared, however, that this one is no pushover, reviewers rate it as one of the hardest tower defense games they’ve played.
Last PortalPrice: $1.99
Current Rating: 3.5 stars
Distinguishing Features: The graphics are a bit simple, but well designed. The interesting feature of this game is that you need to defend a central point rather than a maze or a side of the screen.
Galactic InvasionPrice: $1.99
Current Rating: 2.5 stars
Distinguishing Features: Your towers in this game are orbital emplacements to stop alien invaders from reaching earth. Unfortunately the interface seems a bit difficult to use.
INKomingPrice: $1.99 (free lite version also available)
Current Rating: 3 stars
Distinguishing Features: Interesting resource management features require you to turn towers on/off to make the best use of your capabilities.
touchDefensePrice: $3.99
Current Rating: 3 stars
Distinguishing Features: Simple but well designed graphics in this basic tower defense game.
Defense Station TouchablePrice: $2.99
Current Rating: 3 stars
Distinguishing Features: Average graphics and a pretty standard path-based setup without a ton of depth.
TowerDefendPrice: $1.99
Current Rating: 3 stars
Distinguishing Features: Nice if you like old arcade graphics, but not much else compelling here.
Mars DefencePrice: Free
Current Rating: 2.5 stars
Distinguishing Features: Very basic from graphics to gameplay. Reviews indicate this is a work in progress.
Tides of WarPrice: 99 cents
Current Rating: 3 stars
Distinguishing Features: A mix of real-time-strategy and tower defense. You have both units and buildings that you can deploy on the map to keep an invading horde of pirates from overwhelming you.
Power TowersPrice: $1.99 (free version also available)
Current Rating: 3.5 stars
Distinguishing Features: There seems to be a lot of depth to the gameplay, with nine tower types and eight different mission types. The graphics look like something from the DOS era, however.
StopTheBoxesPrice: $1.99
Current Rating: 1.5 stars
Distinguishing Features: The developer says it’s a tower defense game, some of the reviewers agree, but I sure can’t figure it out.
Defense Grid CompanionPrice: Free
Current Rating: 2 stars
Distinguishing Features: The graphics look nice, but there’s not a lot of information from the developer, nor a lot of reviews. Of course it doesn’t cost you anything to give it a shot.
Subscribe to GigaOM Pro and gain access to our Webinar, "Biggest Opportunities in the Smart Grid," on Oct. 7, 2009.Переслать - Rumor Has It: Foxconn Making Tablets for Apple
Taiwanese news and rumors site DigiTimes is stirring up the Apple tablet pot today with reports that regular Apple manufacturing partner Foxconn will be producing the upcoming device. Shipments of the device are said to be set to begin in the first quarter of 2010, which would be in keeping with earlier rumors that the tablet would arrive in January of next year.Sources speaking to DigiTimes placed initial shipment sizes at between 300,000 and 400,000, and that it will boast a 10.6-inch display using LCD panels provided by Foxconn subsidiary Innolux Display. Everything about the report makes logical sense, but that alone doesn’t guarantee reliability of information.
The source goes on to claim that Apple won’t be focusing on music or movies with this latest addition to its hardware line, and instead will be concentrating more on e-book functionality. Add to that a long-lasting battery, easy Internet connectivity, and trademark Apple UI simplicity, and you have the key selling features of the upcoming tablet.
DigiTimes also reports that HP will follow suit shortly after with a similar product of its own in the second quarter of 2010. Add to that the recent emergence of Microsoft’s Courier device, and we have what looks an awful lot like the beginning of a brand new hardware product category.
Depending on Apple’s price point, whether it intends to or not, I see this product and others like it eating away at the netbook’s market share. In the end, I think the description of this tablet’s features are exactly what people were looking for in a notebook alternative, and not cramped keyboards and questionable build quality. But again, price will make all the difference, and if Apple tries to create a new niche for this product by pricing it out of the netbook market, it could have a hard sell on its hands.
Subscribe to GigaOM Pro and gain access to our Webinar, "Biggest Opportunities in the Smart Grid," on Oct. 7, 2009.Переслать - 85% of Mac Owners Also Have a PC: Report
Mac users may be getting soft on Windows machines as time moves on, according to a recent report by consumer research firm NPD Group. It found that of those polled, a whopping 85 percent admitted to owning both Mac and Windows PC computers.That’s a far cry from the polarized days of yore, when even joking that you had a Windows PC, even if you actually did, would get you banned from the local Mac user group. But is the reason less die-hard Mac heads, or more PC users flirting with and even giving comfort to the enemy?
The stat was one of the headliners of NPD Group’s dubiously named “2009 Household Penetration Study,” which was released yesterday. PC World lists the details of the report, which includes statistics regarding the presence of PCs and Macs in U.S. households.
Mac ownership is up to 12 percent from only 8 percent in 2008, a 4 percent increase over the course of only one year. A lot of those new Mac owners probably aren’t in the habit of throwing away perfectly good computers, even if they are Windows machines, which could account for some of that 85 percent.
The study also found that Mac owners are unusually covetous of gadgetry. Two-thirds of Mac-owning households have three or more computers, and they also generally own at least twice as many electronic devices as the average PC owner. Specifically, Apple fans generally own 48 gadgets vs. the average of 24. Finally, I can tell my friends and family that what they think is a tech addiction is actually par for the course among people with Mac love.
Apple owners are also much more likely to go mobile, with 72 percent going with a notebook, vs. only 60 percent in Windows households. Sort of explains why the Starbucks window always looks like a Macbook showroom.By comparison, the number of Windows PC households that have more than three computers stands at only 36 percent, which is almost three times less than their Mac counterparts. If I was in Windows marketing, I’d probably ask why Mac users feel that they need more than three computers to do the same work as just one or two of their PC equivalents. I suspect the real reason has more to do with Mac users loving their computers as objects, independent of what they can do with them.
So I feel pretty pigeonholed following this report. I own five computers, one of which is a PC, and at least 48 gadgets are scattered around my apartment. I also own three notebooks. Anyone else feel like the nail being hit on the head after reading this?
Переслать
Новый эффективный вид рекламы - реклама в блогах!
| rss2email.ru | отписаться: http://www.rss2email.ru/unsubscribe.asp?c=6893&u=24004&r=311667163 управлять всей подпиской: http://www.rss2email.ru/manage.asp |
