GameSalad iBook Textbook

App SurgeApp Surge Member Posts: 651
edited January 2012 in Miscellaneous
Hey there guys,
So after pondering over this idea a lot, I have decided that now that I have a lot of free time coming up and it'd be fun to write a how-to book on GameSalad. It is going to go over the complete BASICS, and then later copies will become more advanced. I was just wondering if you think this would be a good idea. It would be a huge commitment on my part and if you think that it is not really needed by the community, then it would be a waste!

Thanks,
Henry Abrams

Comments

  • LiquidGameworksLiquidGameworks Anchorage, AKMember, Sous Chef Posts: 956
    If you can do a book that provides more depth or a different perspective than http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/an-unofficial-gamesalad-textbook/id409726843?mt=8, then by all means, go for it.
    Warning There was an error rendering this rich post.
  • App SurgeApp Surge Member Posts: 651
    @LiquidGameworks, that would be my goal. I would be writing the book for complete noobs, with no experience in game development or programming.
  • diverdowndesignsdiverdowndesigns Member Posts: 25
    @redsky Since I'm a beginner at GameSalad, I would love a book like this!!! If you need someone to read over it to make sure its "noob-approved" I would be happy to do so!
  • calvin9403calvin9403 Member Posts: 3,186
    hey redsky do you think we can do this all together(all the members in the forums) and put it out for free

    that will be great for all the beginners that want to start to learn this engine
  • David_GryphonsRealmDavid_GryphonsRealm Member Posts: 459
    This would be awesome. Especially if u included videos as I believe iBook Author can do !! Go for it RedSky !! Go for it !!
  • App SurgeApp Surge Member Posts: 651
    Thanks guys. If you've got any topics you'd like to be included in the book, please let me know what they are. I am going to do my best to tailor this book to fit the needs of the community.
  • David_GryphonsRealmDavid_GryphonsRealm Member Posts: 459
    edited January 2012
    I know everyone wants it free but I'd be on favor of u getting some money back for all your effort and hardwork. The ONLY reason I havnt bought the unofficial gamesalad textbook from photic is because of the price. Not that I think it's too high, by all means if it works it works, it's just a much for ME. but just something to think about. If priced just right u might get A LOT of sales. If u were thinking about doing it for free to begin with then price wise u can keep it pretty low and at least get something back for all your hard work ... I'll stop rambling now :D

    David
  • App SurgeApp Surge Member Posts: 651
    Yes, @David_GryphonsRealm that would be my plan. Due to the longevity of the project and the immense amount of effort and work I would be putting forth I would have to make it paid. I would most likely set the price around $9.99 though, depending on how much time it took me.
  • David_GryphonsRealmDavid_GryphonsRealm Member Posts: 459
    Honestly $9.99 is a great price, now PLZ make available for ALL iOS platforms including the Mac App Store. Not everyone has iPads ( like me ) and if u made it available for the Mac App Store I would def pick it up :D

    David
  • The_Gamesalad_GuruThe_Gamesalad_Guru Member Posts: 9,922
    Redsky I would have someone else do you video's as your voice is very young and that doesn't play well. It's fine for free videos but people expect high quality work when they are laying out money. I mean no disrespect to you, as you seem very knowledgable, just my advice.

    Guru Video Channel   | Lost Oasis Games | FRYING BACON STUDIOS  

  • David_GryphonsRealmDavid_GryphonsRealm Member Posts: 459
    I agree with FBS on that one, I DONT MIND, i just want you to see the best outcome outta this because ur gonna put so much work into it :D

    David
  • App SurgeApp Surge Member Posts: 651
    @FBS and @David_GryphonsRealm I've always had a particularly high voice ;)
    Anyways it would be awesome if I could do a profit share (50-50) with Tshirtbooth. It'd be great exposure to gshelper.com and it would also accent my book nicely.
  • gyroscopegyroscope I am here.Member, Sous Chef, PRO Posts: 6,598
    edited January 2012
    All good stuff, redsky, I'm sure it'll work out if you go ahead and without "treading on anyone's toes" (and I'm sure you won't as well.) :-)

    On the subject of the Ibooks Author only Lion compatible, I've just found an article with a workaround for installing and running with Snow Leopard, if anyone is interested:

    http://osxdaily.com/2012/01/20/install-ibooks-author-on-mac-os-x-10-6-8-snow-leopard/

    Although, bear in mind: Quote from the article: "..This is not supported by Apple, although the app appears to work fine and if you just want to explore the application it’s more than enough. If you plan on publishing with iBooks Author, you should use OS X Lion though."


    ----------------------------------------------
    http://davidgriffinapps.co.uk/

    ""You are in a maze of twisty passages, all alike." - Zork        temp domain http://spidergriffin.wix.com/alphaghostapps

  • App SurgeApp Surge Member Posts: 651
    Thanks Gyro :)
    I've got Lion and am all set to start :)
    I'll think about the videos for a little bit more, but this project is most likely a go;)
  • Rob2Rob2 Member Posts: 2,402
    edited January 2012
    @Red Great idea good luck :)

    @Gyro Great find David I was going to upgrade to Lion because of this - but people need to be careful - software update will think you are a Lion so make sure you switch it off as before you know it you will have unusable copies of various core applications.

    ps are you setup with testflight for your beta yet ?
  • gyroscopegyroscope I am here.Member, Sous Chef, PRO Posts: 6,598
    edited January 2012
    Excuse I, @redsky (that rhymes!) while I divert your thread temporarily....

    Hi Rob, @Rob2 thanks for asking: I've signed up with Test Flight but haven't started the ball rolling yet... the reason:

    Despite the fact that I'm so relatively close to finally finishing my first app ( End of the Earth ) two things have got in the way of it being finished: one, the Rules for the extra levels are longwinded and laborious to change names and values for each new level, something I didn't forsee so it's taken me longer than I thought... (on that score, I've learned a lesson not to guestimate a finishing time in future otherwise I'll get a reputation for the guy who cries wolf ;-) .... and two, I interrupted the "finishing-up" process by jumping into another brand new project, something I told myself I wouldn't do....

    For interest here's the story there: my wife has an iPhone and she was asking for a particular utility app which she would find very useful and use a lot. I naively thought there would be only one - or if I was lucky no apps which covered it... there are five! I still have made good progress, even if the only eyes to see it will be my wife Susan... then I've been thinking, hey, if there are five different takes on this particular app, why not six? (By the way, I thought I'd be only getting projects together for tablets and the Mac desktop, so this is a first for me, getting a project together for the iPhone... or at least it will be when it's finished...

    So to cut a long story short (a bit late now!) I'm getting back to End of the Earth starting tomorrow, and hopefully it'll be ready to roll for beta testing in another week... I've really got to get it finished and I'll resist jumping back to this iPhone utility until it is.

    Apologies for blabbing on when you only asked about Testflight! Hope I didn't bore you; I've crystalised my thought process anyway! :-)

    ""You are in a maze of twisty passages, all alike." - Zork        temp domain http://spidergriffin.wix.com/alphaghostapps

  • App SurgeApp Surge Member Posts: 651
    Thanks for the comments :)
    This is a very early version of the table of contents. If you think I've missed anything or the order is confusing please let me know!

    Why make a game?
    Common Mistakes
    -NOT QUICK CASH
    What a Game Needs
    Concept Design
    GameSalad Basics
    -Actors
    -Attribute Types
    -Behaviors
    -Tools of the Trade
    Basic Prototyping
    4 Way Keyboard Movement
    Accelerometer Movement
    Joystick Movement
    Slingshot Movement
    Spawning/ Destroying Actors
    Gravity
    Health Bar
    Keeping Score
    Shooting Bullets
    Enemies
    Enemy Movement
    Enemy Attacking
    Particle Effects
    Testing on a Device
    Publishing to iOS
    Publishing to Android
    Publishing to Mac
    Marketing Your Game
  • gyroscopegyroscope I am here.Member, Sous Chef, PRO Posts: 6,598
    edited January 2012
    Hi @redsky, looking a good list. A few things that sprang to mind:

    The GSC GUI
    Tables
    Music and Sound
    Assets (best practices for images and sounds)
    the Pro features (In App Purchasing ,etc)

    :-)


    ----------------------------------------------
    http://davidgriffinapps.co.uk/

    ""You are in a maze of twisty passages, all alike." - Zork        temp domain http://spidergriffin.wix.com/alphaghostapps

  • App SurgeApp Surge Member Posts: 651
    Thanks @gyroscope.
    I was planning on putting the GSC GUI into GameSalad basics, seeing how intuitive it is. However it will most likely be in-depth enough to take up its own chapter.
    I'll see once I finish that section...
    Anyway the rest of those ideas (especially tables) are definitely things I should implement.

    Thanks again mate!
  • David_GryphonsRealmDavid_GryphonsRealm Member Posts: 459
    What do you consider your ETA on this project ? Cuz it sounds very time consuming ! :D

    David
  • App SurgeApp Surge Member Posts: 651
    edited January 2012
    @David_GryphonsRealm, at this point in time I cannot say. However, judging by the complexity of this project, I would estimate sometime around 43.5 years... ;)
  • David_GryphonsRealmDavid_GryphonsRealm Member Posts: 459
    hahahaaa =)) I LOVE SARCSM !! I literally laughed out loud !! aight buddy i wait patiently :D

    David
  • David_GryphonsRealmDavid_GryphonsRealm Member Posts: 459
    @redsky : how's this little / big project going ??
Sign In or Register to comment.

© Vanilla Keystone Theme 2024