My first iOS game!

It's my birthday and I did get the iOS exporter! Anyone have a guide to my first iOS game?

No really.

Well I'd start with something very simple so you can get used to the whole procedure, perhaps a soundboard app (screen of buttons, press one and it makes a noise). After you've completed that and submitted it to the App Store, you can get a little bit more ambitious.
Even if you're quite experienced at MMF2 I wouldn't try converting an existing game until you've got the basics down.
Just my opinion - good luck!

You could make a DX-Ball clone, an arkanoid game - but with lots of cool powerups

Actually I agree with Ayreguitar, since it's your first game I'd also start with something simple.
Also, happy birthday :)

Unlike games for PC or flash, iOS games can become complicated. My best advice is to realize the limitations of resources of its devices; these are not computers with multiple gigs of ram, highly clocked processors, etc. They are limited, and you need to start early in your app (no matter how complex the app is itself) in ensuring you can manage memory well.

There's a great sticky in the iOS forum by a Clickteam staffer that gives some tips on how to keep memory low.

Awesome! Thanks for the tips! I'll get started on something interesting today!

Oh! Quick question: I have Snow Leopard on my Mac (10.6.6) what XCode should I use?

Xcode 3. That's the latest you can get on Snow Leopard, I believe.

Will 3.5.6 work?

Really, will it?

Not sure about XCode 3.5.6 - I Use 4.0.2 with Snow Leopard, but I reckon I'll be forced to upgrade to Lion soon, since Mountain Lion is coming out later this year. Also Clickteam have said they'd like to assume a base iOS of 5.0 to make coding easier.

PS Happy Birthday!

Patience my friend :)

Because you are on Snow Leapord, I cannot give good advice on which Xcode version, since on Lion I got it through the Mac App Store. I would dig around the Apple Developer website for older versions.

Ok! Now, I have a basic game, how do I compile it into an app?

Uh, File -> Build -> Application? And make sure your build type is iOS final project or application.

But what about having to compile it on a mac or something like that?

Well, you open that file on your Mac in Xcode (.xcodeproj), then Build and Run.

Ok, no matter what I do, I can't install X Code on my mac! (10.6.6) It goes as far as the installation and then it says Install Failed: Unknown Error. I reported it to Apple, but it's been days, and I haven't heard back... Maybe you guys can help?

Ok, well I'm working on upgrading to Lion, and so maybe that will fix it! Anyway, I had a question: What is the .cci extension? What is it for? Is this the file that an Ipad or Iphone app uses?

Just curious!

Correct. I do the project option, but .cci works just as well (for developing, use project for final).

So can you run the .cci on an Ipad and will it work?

Yup. Just make sure in the project file it's set for iPad.

That's it? But I thought Ipad apps were .ipa... I guess I was mistaken...

How would I move it onto the Ipad though? For you know testing! I can't move it through Itunes...

Any ideas?

There are a lot of writeups on testing on this forum and throughout the net. Just find the most recent ones (apple has changed the process several times). You'll need a provisioning profile for testing. Do you have an apple developer account yet?

You build and run through Xcode. That is the point of getting it, it's not a matter of file-moving or something like that. You open up the .xcodeproj as I stated above, and click the "Build and Run" play button with your iPad connected. You'll need a 99$ Apple developer account to run on device, or you can always use the simulator (not recommended).

Ok, I finally have Xcode installed! (After 29 tries, the 29th finally worked...) I also have the Zip file, now what do I do... I know I'm going step by step, but I don't want to mess this up! Should I extract the Zip and just open the .xcodeproj or do I extract it and open the whole folder or what? Oh and Verbage you have been a great help over all! Thank you so much!

Hey XStar, glad to see you got your birthday wish! :D Have fun making iOS games!

The first method. .xcodeproj, the folder is part of that XcodeProj file.

Oh... So I extract it and just compile the .xcodeproj folder?

Ok good! I know how to do all of this! But.. my Xcode is giving me an error saying NO Iphone SDK found... Does this mean I can only do it for Iphone/Ipod Touch? No Ipad?

Ok now it does it even for the specific Iphone ones: No SDK with the path or name iphoneos! What do I do now...

How exactly (Down to the finest detail) do I compile the app?

I don't know if there are any Snow Leopard differences (I'v been on Lion for a while now) but these are the general things you need to do...


Create an MMF iOS project
-- Set the bundle identifier
-- 30 or 60 frames per second
-- In iOS settings for the App choose the option to use reduced colour mode - you can override it on objects that need higher colour modes.
-- window size appropriate for the device or game you're making (MMF will ask when you first select an iOS project)
-- First time, export an Xcode project from MMF (makes a zip file) - later you can just export the CCI and copy it into your project folder
-- Unzip the file on a Mac

Install Xcode
-- Go to the Apple developer site (you have to pay $99 per year for a dev account)
-- Create a provisioning profile, there are some guides and FAQ's there, it's not complicated and it shows how to install on your mac+devices
-- Open up the Xcode project MMF exported and you can choose the destination (default is simulator but you can change it to your iOS device as long as you installed the provisioning profile correctly)
-- Choose build and run and if all goes well, your MMF app will run on your device

Later, when you are finished with your game you can generate a final Xcode project from MMF which creates a cut down Xcode project with only the things your game needs/uses.

I think that is all in a nutshell, most of it is easy and the only gotcha is to get your provisioning profile set up correctly but the Apple dev site is pretty good for the instructions on that. Hope that helps.

AndyH, that good summary of steps to build an app! :)

In my Xcode you can provision right from it. Think it's a Lion or higher feature in Xcode.

-- Set the bundle identifier

What's that?

I keep getting some sort of error when building the app... It'll be: No iphoneos SDK found or Iphone developer is not a valid (Something, I forget...)... No matter what, it fails.

I'll keep trying though!!!

Which version of XCode are you using? If it's an older/newer one it might not include the correct SDK for the version of iOS you're trying to use.
I used to get this kind of error when upgrading XCode to a new version, as it wouldn't have the older SDK - it was usually a case of changing the iOS version to build.
I suppose it can happen the other way, that your XCode is older and doesn't have the SDK that MMF2 iOS exporter wants,
eg My XCode (4.0.2) has Base SDK of iOS 4.3
If you select the project in the left pane, you should be able to select the Build Settings in the main pane:
Select Base SDK and Change the iPhone Runtime to the iOS version you do have.
Hope that helps.

I have the same Xcode version as you 4.0.2. I'll try it and see if it works! This is very complicated... None the less I will try! Thanks AyreGuitar!