iPhone Game Development - Chris Craft [133]
Summary
This chapter discussed a few technologies that our examples did not cover. There are many more technologies to learn about in the iPhone SDK that may appear to be completely outside the realm of games. However, technologies that are uncommon in games can sometimes be incorporated in creative ways to produce unique and appealing games. If you can pull this off, you might just invent the next great genre in the gaming industry.
In this chapter you learned how to capture images with the camera and select images from the camera roll and Photo Library. You also learned how to read data from the compass so you'll know which direction your device is headed. The details of incorporating sound into your applications were also covered in this chapter. You first looked at AudioToolkit, which can be used to add simple sounds and alerts. You then got a more in-depth look at the powerful sound library OpenAL. Adding video to your applications can incorporate an element of excitement, and you had a chance to see how using the movie player accomplishes this. You also learned how to track positional data so you will know the precise location of your device if it has the correct hardware.
We ended the chapter with a short but exciting 3-D primer. You broke down the details of the OpenGL ES Application Template. After that you got to create an example of a 3-D cube with volume that you can spin with your finger.
We hope you find these additional technologies useful in the applications you build. There are many more technologies you can leverage for the iPhone and more are being added with new hardware and software releases. Continue to watch the news feeds in iPhone Dev Center and at http://appsamuckcom. Stay on top of new developments and be the first to write a game that leverages the latest and greatest new feature of the iPhone!
Chapter 10: Understanding the Business of Software
In This Chapter
Learning marketing strategies
Making the best apps
Exploring App Store concepts
Customer reviews
Using App Store search secrets
Marketing yourself
Epilogue: Looking ahead
There is more to writing a successful application than simply creating a great application. Even if you have a great idea and great code to go with it, there are still literally thousands of other applications that can say the same thing. It is possible for you to have the best app in a given category and still not have the app that everyone is purchasing.
Like anything else, sometimes life is just not fair. But there are many things you can do to help stack the odds in your favor. This chapter provides you with an in-depth foundation of what it takes to ride an application all the way to the top.
Consider the following quote (with apologies to William Shakespeare): “Be not afraid of greatness. Some apps are created great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them.” With almost no effort, great apps rise to the top and dominate the charts. Many times this occurs when a company with an already successful application creates an iPhone version of their software.
Other times an application is simply lucky and has greatness thrust upon it. The application is just in the right place at the right time. A good example of a lucky application is when someone decided to create that first farting application. Apple rejected this app for being crude. The developer then gained massive media attention and people worldwide wondered why Apple rejected this harmless novelty application.
Eventually the developer got Apple to accept the farting application due to public outcry. The media immediately did a follow-up story on how an underdog developer was able to overcome great challenges and obstacles and finally get his farting application on the App Store. Thousands of users downloaded the farting application to find out for themselves what all the controversy was about. Finally, the developer bought a small island in the tropics and retired at the ripe old age of 23 (at least that's what we might imagine!).
Learning Marketing Strategies